Curiosity Rewritten

Chapter 23; She Has Curiosity For Mockery

    She woke to the bus coming to a halt and the door being opened. A single set of footsteps got off the bus. She looked around, she knew people were behind the curtain. She saw Farris' sandy blonde hair since the curtain was opened ever so slightly. She heard Kale and Sabrina's laugh. Darrens laugh was there as well. Kai was speaking.

    Sno sat across from her, glancing at her slightly as she adjusted to the world that lacked dreams. He stood when they made eye contact. He picked up both if their bows and a quiver of arrows. He handed a bow to her and nodded towards the door.

    She took her bow and followed him off the bus. They stopped in a field of tall grass, he crouched and pointed towards a building, "The Southerners live in a few buildings over there. There's good animals over this way though. Lots of deer and rabbits."

    He handed her an arrow and pointed at a deer as it neared the field. She took aim and leaned towards him with a whisper, "So you want me to kill the deer?"

    He prepared his own bow, "I'm sure everyone's tired of canned foods," he paused, aiming at the deer, "On 3, shoot."

    He counted slowly, taking a breath between each number. One the final number, he nodded before speaking, "3."

    Two arrows shot at the deer. She didn't have a chance to run. An arrow hit her in the stomach just as one hit her in the throat. Sno shot a third arrow in turn with Cameira shooting a fourth. The deer dropped then.

    Sno approached the dying deer and he took a knife and slid it into the deer's chest. She stopped kicking her thin legs shortly after. Sno and Cameira hefted her up and walked back to the bus as snow began to fall around them again.

    Small flurries fell, sticking to the fur of the deer but melting as soon as it hit the hot blood. The snow stuck to Cameira's clothes and she watched it collect on Sno's dark hair. She knew it was on her hair as well but she could only focus on the back of his head.

    White flakes glistened on his near black hair, it fell on his black and grey jacket. She looked at her own jacket, it was on her black and blue jacket.

    By the time they got to the bus, it was everywhere. A small fire was built inside the Gas Station they were parked behind. Darren and Farris cut up the deer and began cooking for the night. Riyazara was putting up defenses around the station, blockading doors and locking each of them heavily.

    Board games were brought into the shop, curtesy of Kale. Alcohol was found and put into place, curtesy of Cameira. Food was cooked and readied, curtesy of Darren and Farris. It was good, their night was okay. They knew the area was safe because it was close to the Southerners.

    The Southerners may have been known to be insane, but they knew how to defend their area. Their leader, Jace Cunningham, had been an important man in the war. He was in an Asian country when the war had first begun in 2021. Russia had begun nuclear bombing China and a few other countries while he was over there. Severe radiation exposure from the bombings had affected him, inevitably driving him insane over the course of his stay in Korea.

    Before the radiation hurt his mind, he was tasked with planning intricate ways of defending the American soldiers. He'd done well and continued to despite the insanity. He proceeded to plan for defense after the severe radiation exposure. Other soldiers in Korea had thought him to have been a mad genius, but he was merely insane.

    His plans got more and more extreme and dangerous; easily shifting to a more offensive plan than a defensive one. He stopped caring for the safety of his soldiers and began focusing more on how to effectively eliminate his enemies. It eventually got to the point where he was forcefully sent back to America and charged with manslaughter.