Justin’s apology took her by surprise, but not more than what he explained to her afterwards. Her face slowly faded into a frown as he spoke, as he spoke about his friend, his people, being attacked and getting killed. “I’m sorry,” her raspy voice quietly replied. “I didn’t know what the box meant. It took me too long to put all the pieces together, to realize what happened to my village. I shouldn’t have let you bring me to Omega.” Her eyes darted away from him and down to her boots, guilt and regret crashing over her in waves. Her mind flashed images of the bodies she had seen laying on the ground – still and lifeless with their eyes still open. The thoughts made her get the chills. “I’m sorry about your friend.” 

Kneeling in front of her pack against the wall across from Justin, she released her hair from the braid, bending over shaking it out with her fingers to release the twigs and leaves that had made a home in it, and then she dug down to the bottom to pull out a small, gold case. Upon opening it, she plopped down to the floor and took out a single cigarette and a Zippo lighter. “I was saving it for a rainy day, but I think this counts,” she smirked as she pulled it out of the band that held it in place. Cigarettes had been extinct for a long time, but Cameron knew someone who had hoarded them and sold them village to village. It cost her a good amount more than the normal hand-rolled one, but she had always wanted to try one from the old days. Something about smoking the same kind that the old world used to was exciting.

She used her Zippo to ignite the cigarette, and after exhaling, she spoke quietly. “I didn’t really have anyone at Chesapeake. They found me on the bay when I was five. Alone. I don’t remember much before that, though. The settlement sort of collectively raised me.” She paused for a moment and closed her eyes as she took another drag from the cigarette and offered it to Justin.  She wasn’t used to telling the details of her life to someone she barely knew. Everyone she had lived with already knew her. Thought of her as a lost soul. A charity case. “The only reason I survived the attack was because I was on house arrest. My door was bolted shut. They tried to get in, but they couldn’t. Someone slipped the keys through the bars on the window before they got killed in front of it.” Another pause before she lifted her eyes up to Justin. “After they left, I found John. That’s when he told me where to find the box and to head north. He, uh, he passed before he could tell me anything else.” 

This was when her voice began to waver with emotion. [i]Stop it, stop it, stop it[/i] she kept repeating to herself in her mind. “I-I’m so sorry for what happened, Justin. If I knew, I’d…” What was the point? A thousand apologies weren’t going to make up for what happened to his people. Her head found a resting place on her two bent knees in front of her as Cameron attempted to compose herself, but her tears were creating a spot on each knee. Without looking up, she spoke with a voice mumbled by her legs. “We’ve got to find all the pieces so no one will have died in vain.” 

She finally lifted her head up and laughed at herself as she wiped her tears from her red-rimmed eyes. “I’m not usually this emotional, I swear,” she chuckled as she took a deep breath and grabbed the cigarette back. “This wasn’t as good as I thought it would be,” Cameron exhaled as she observed the filtered cigarette, rolling it in her fingers. 


"How old are you, Justin? If you don't mind me asking, of course."