Cameron was brought back to consciousness by the feeling of a strong grip on each of her thighs, yet was still very groggy from the injury she sustained.

“What’s going – “ 

Her voice trailed off when she realized what Justin was about to do: pull out the arrow from her side. “Shit,” she muttered as she squeezed her eyes shut and bit into her left arm moments before used his strength to remove it. An involuntary shriek was released from her lips as it exited her stomach, and if it wasn’t for Jes’s arms holding her, she probably would have kicked Justin forcefully. 

Waves of adrenaline, pain, and heat coursed through her body as her muscles relaxed, causing her to fall back down onto the table with a thud. Cameron didn’t move as the two worked to bandage her – only to wipe the sweat that had accumulated on her forehead – and felt relief once she was tightly bound by gauze at her waist.

Her eyes were closed, but Justin’s question caused a faint smile. “I’ll be fine,” she replied with a breathy voice. “Didn’t expect to go down that quickly,” she chuckled as she popped an eye open to look at him. “I don’t mean this as sarcastically as it sounds, but thanks for ripping that arrow out of my stomach.” She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath; she was dizzy from the blood loss and the pain of the extraction, causing her attempt to sit up to be futile. “Can you get me to a chair?” 

She wrapped an arm around Justin’s shoulders and grunted as she hobbled over to one of the chairs near where the group had settled in. 

“We need to be more careful,” a man spoke passionately. “We can’t afford to lose anyone else. Saul was one of our best fighters.” 

“He’s right,” a woman chimed in. “At this rate, only three of us will make it up to Portland whole.” 

Cameron’s thoughts focused on the possible survivors of Omega that were left behind. “How many attackers were there?” 

“Looked to be about seven, maybe eight.” 

She rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Is there a possibility that any of them escaped?” 

“We have no way of knowing,” the passionate man spoke again with a scoff. 

“Then whatever survivors trying to find us could be in danger. They’ll never make if if the savages know where our safehouse is.” Cameron looked to Justin with lips pursed in thought. “We should do [i]something.[/i] They’ll get slaughtered.”