Triple Point

Chapter 59: Pieces of Home

"Bev?" Camilla asked, audibly surprised.

Bev would've looked like she just stepped out of a hospital in her dark blue scrubs, if not for the tactical vest she was wearing over it. She, too, looked like she got caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing, and she raised a hand in a tentative wave.

"Hi, Camilla," she greeted innocently.

Camilla had not expected to see Bev at all, and especially not dressed to be in a warzone. After quickly regaining her bearings, she turned to the other guardians.

"All of you, get lost," she ordered.

The crowd of spectators dispersed instantly, all of them with their heads bowed trying not to be recognized. Even Ngo and Donahue ended up helping each other escape as they regrouped with their friends and scurried to safety. Camilla made sure they had all left before approaching Bev.

"What are you doing here?" Camilla asked. She thought Bev was supposed to be working in a hospital in Flagstaff, but here she was in a warzone in Phoenix.

"Promise me you won't tell Elsie," Bev pleaded. "Or anyone in my family."

Camilla shrugged. "I couldn't even if I wanted to," she explained, not mentioning that being unable to talk to Elsie for almost three weeks physically pained her. "All nonessential communication lines are down throughout the entire coast. Have been for weeks."

"Oh..." Bev said meekly, her gaze dropping to the ground. "Right..."

When she didn't continue, Camilla pressed on.

"Your parents don't know you're here?" she asked.

"I told them I would be at the university in Tucson," Bev replied nervously. "The less critical patients are flown there since the hospitals here are over capacity, and a bunch of us from Flagstaff were sent over to help. I left before the lockdowns and curfews were in place, so they were worried but fine with it." She inhaled sharply. "But I ended up volunteering to come here and work in the field."

"That's way too dangerous," Camilla said immediately. "Didn't you hear what happened in Tempe the other day? Exodos blew up an entire college campus. That's not something you want to see, let alone get in the middle of. I would know, I was one of the first ones there."

"We're the same age, you know," Bev argued, suddenly defiant. "And I can take care of myself."

"That's what I told myself too," Camilla replied, keeping her voice low. "But honestly, I would've lost my mind ages ago if it wasn't for your sister."

Bev continued to glare at Camilla sternly, but her facade seemed to waver slightly at Camilla's mention of Elsie.

Camilla sighed. Arguing wasn't going to change the fact that Bev was here, and it wasn't Camilla's place to tell her what to do. Besides, it would take a lot more than a friend of her sister to convince Bev to leave.

"Fine then," Camilla conceded for the time being. "What are you doing at a guardian camp then?"

"I got lost in the dark," Bev admitted, slightly embarrassed. "I couldn't tell it wasn't the medic camp until I got closer, and by that time, that weird Ngo guy spotted me. I figured that since he already saw me, it would be better to be surrounded by people rather than alone in the outskirts in the dark, so I followed him into camp. But I had a taser ready though, just in case he tried anything, so don't worry."

Camilla thought she was going to get a headache just from listening to her.

"Elsie would freak out if she heard you say any of that," Camilla said.