Cameron fought a smile as Justin spoke, but ended up succumbing to a chuckle. “A little bit of both,” she joked, but soon she began to ponder the question he asked her. 

“Well, I guess if the men from Chesapeake taught me anything other than how to fight, it was what a scum bag is. And you, you’re not one. I can tell. You took me in when you didn’t have to, plus you didn’t hate me after what happened to Omega.” She cleared her throat before continuing. “And, I mean, no pressure or anything, but you’re kind of the only friend I got left in the world. I’d hate it if you went out without me and something, I don’t know, [i]happened[/i] to you. Especially if I could’ve been there to stop it.” She made the hand motion of throwing a knife and chuckled.

“Well,” Cameron started as she stood up from the chair, “I’ll let you get some sleep. Something tells me we’re gonna have a long day tomorrow. Good night, Justin.” 

She quietly exited the room and began to navigate her way back to her quarters when the distant sound of men shouting attracted her attention. She veered off the path she was taking and began following the voices until they were in her line of sight. 

It looked as those two of the men were dragging in a body from the line of trees encompassing the area, and awaiting them were four other guards. Cameron still couldn’t understand what they were saying to each other, though, so she began to inch closer until their words were audible. 

“You were supposed to be with him, Smith!” A man shouted at one of the guards pulling in the body.
“I was! He told me to go back to camp and that he’d be right back!” Smith pleaded to the man. “We went to go find him when he didn’t come back.” 

Cameron had enough with hiding in the trees, and she stepped out of the shrubbery towards the men. “Hey, what – “ she gasped in shock. 

The body that they were dragging in was an Omega guard, and he was in the same condition as the body they saw on the highway: arrows jutting out of his body and eyeballs removed. 

“Who the hell would do this?” Another guard shouted out for someone to answer. 
“From the North,” Cameron replied quietly with her eyes glued to the man on the ground. 
“Who!?” Smith asked as he approached her. 
“The more primitive villages to the north. Justin and I saw someone with the same injuries up there. It’s, uh, it’s a message,” Cameron explained, feeling a lump growing in her throat. “They must have followed us back.” 

At the realization of her own words, her head snapped up to the man that seemed to be in charge. “If they followed us back her, they may attack. You need to alert everyone. We aren’t sure what they’re capable of.” She grabbed the boots of the lifeless body and signaled the other two holding his arms to pick him up. “We gotta hurry. Come on.” 

They carried the man to a room nearby that had medical equipment sitting on wooden shelves, along with vials of different liquids and powders. 

“Smith,” the same man called out again. “Go alert the other guards. Make sure all women and children are inside. Also – go get Justin.”
Smith nodded and dashed out of the room quickly. He turned to Cameron. 
“What do you remember about these savages? Anything helps.”
She squeezed her eyes shut as she attempted to replay everything that occurred. “We were knocked out, then put in a makeshift prison deep in the ground. The, uh, the camp. It was large. But, they were definitely primitive. No guns or advanced weaponry. Justin may remember more.” 
He nodded. “Thanks.”