Curiosity Rewritten

Chapter 21; They Have Curiosity For Story Time

Cameira heaved a breath and dropped her dagger on the ground as she sat upright. Her eyes were shut tight and she ran a hand through her short hair. When she opened her eyes, Sabrina and Kai were staring at her with concern.

"Your lip is bleeding and your jaw is bruised," Kai pointed out moving to touch her face.

She swatted his hand away, "I'm fine. There was one time in training when Mills beat the shit out of me for practice," she looked up and laughed, "Mills was a guy there. He was from Harrisburg. He was my partner for some of the training. 19 years old when he rolled in, William Mills. Fiery, passionate about fighting for the war."

Sabrina scoffed, "So he was like you?"

"Yeah actually. He was younger than me, felt like a little brother."

"What happened to him," Kai asked, his head tilted and his fingers trailing the white swirls on his neck.

Cameira laughed and instinctively pulled her hand up to cover her mouth as she laughed. She calmed down and looked at Sabrina, "Remember how I said that I got kicked out for sleeping with someone. That was Mills."

Sabrina burst out laughing, so did most everyone on the bus. Exceptions being Riyazara and Kale. Riyazara counted her ammunition, before loading 3 guns and putting them somewhere on her body.

"He got booted too. He said he didn't regret it, it got him out of inevitably dying out in some Asian country. I don't regret it either, if I hadn't of done it I'd be dead or stranded in China or Korea," she paused to take a look at everyone before jumping back into her story, "I got back about 3 months before the bombs and I went back to my college life as normal. I was held back, obviously, but I didn't care."

"Why haven't you told me this?" Sabrina asked suddenly.

"You were busy freaking out of Tanner being drafted. I made your week when my smug ass showed up on your porch," Cameira grinned before wincing and settling on a smile, "Tanner came back for what exactly?"

Sabrina tilted her head back slightly as she thought, "Some.. Some holiday. His parents couldn't make it so he came up here. I don't remember what holiday though."

"What's your story, Bri?" Kai asked.

"It's not that interesting, it was just a lot of crying and anxiety."

"Oh shut up, I'm sure there was more to it than that," Kai grinned and helped Cameira stand up. They moved to their seat, but their eyes remained on Sabrina.

"Yeah, come on, Rina. Explanations are key," Cameira joked and began folding a paper airplane out of an old newspaper that rested on a table.

"Well fine. Cami leaving was hard on me. I was a little distraught and terrified of the war. Then Tanner...the one you met, Kai, he got drafted. It didn't last long because he came home for the holidays. I visited him then and then the bombs came. He was saved. Well, I don't even know if he's alive right now so-" she took in a deep breath, releasing it as she spoke, "The war was not fun for me.

"I-I miss him. I'm afraid he's not okay. I-" a nervous chuckle slipped past her lips into the air, "I'm getting off track, sorry. Someone else tell their story."

Darren slid forward in his seat, clapped his hands and looked to the ceiling, "I'll go," his deep voice reverberated through the air. His eagerness to speak shocked Cameira and made her lean forward in curiosity.

"I was living with my uncle in some rundown country house in the middle of no where when the bombs hit. Kale and I struggled to find each other for the first month. We only found each other because of Kai," Darren looked to Kai and nodded, a deep respect was evident in his eyes, "She and I watched the draft every night. Neither of us were drafted, but I taught her to shoot a gun just in case.