𝓕𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓐𝓰𝓮𝓼 - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

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As the bus trundled down the highway, Cameo went through the contents of his backpack.

“Short-range walkie-talkies, shirts, pants, socks, necklace-” His voice caught. The necklace had been his mother’s. It was on a thin gold chain and had a small golden heart, engraved with a short sentence. ‘I cannot live without you.’ It had been a gift from his father. He had given it to his mother as a wedding gift on a beach in Hawaii.

Shoving his parents out of his mind, he clambered over to Infinity, who was dozing against the far wall. He poked her in the shoulder. She punched him.

“Ouch! Fine, I guess I won't give this to you!” He turned up his nose and crawled away, promptly entangling himself with his backpack straps and falling on his face. Infinity sprang up.

“Wait, wait! What is it?” She laughed, unknotting the straps tangled around his ankles. He held up the necklace, still on his face, the pendant dangling from his fingertips.

“For you, Бэ,” he addressed her in Russian, still afraid to call her something he couldn’t take back. He sat up and clasped the chain around her neck.

“Oh,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful. Thank you!”

“Ah!” he exclaimed, holding his hands to his heart. “Это красота не может сравниться с твоей! Aх, любовь моя, мой великолепный цветок!”

“I have no idea what you’re saying, but I'll take it.” She laughed and wrapped her arms around him. The instant she touched him, he dissolved into her, trying not to lose control of himself, not again. She tilted her face towards his, eyes half-closed in anticipation.

His lips had just found hers when they lurched to a stop.

“Ack!” Cameo landed on his head, Infinity on his stomach. He pushed himself off the floor and looked at her dolefully. “We’ll finish this later.” He kicked open the hatch to the storage bay, the door nearly whacking Tanner in the face. He ducked just in time.

“Good night, Cameo, you trying to kill me?” Tanner had meant it as a joke, but to Cameo, it was a real question, and it hit him like a freight train.

“No, no, no. I'm not. I’m not trying to kill you. I’m sorry, I… I… Нет, прости, я не хотел тебя убивать, прости.” He fumbled over himself, scared now.

“Oh no,” Infinity whispered. She crawled over to Cameo and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Hey, hey, it's okay, you’re okay.” She held him tight against her body, whispering calming words in his ear. He shook his head, trying to clear it.

Tanner held his hands up. “Hey, sorry Cameo. I didn’t mean anything. It was a joke. Sorry.” He stood there for a moment, looking uncomfortable.

Infinity cleared her throat. “Um, did you need something?”

“Oh, yeah, um, Cameo, were wondering if you would teach us how to fight. Like, we can throw a punch, or knock a guy down with one hit,” he snickered, “but we don’t know how to actually fight.”

Cameo nodded slowly, wondering what he was about to do. “You’ll need to learn hand-to-hand combat, weaponry, shooting-”

“Shooting?” Infinity looked excited.

“Yeah,” he continued, breezing over the question. “Spears, swords, archery, throwing knives, we’ve got a ton to cover. Gather everyone up! We’ll take a few days here,” he finished, clambering out of the compartment and gazing around the deserted highway. “It’ll make a great sparring environment. We start now!” He raised his finger in an overly dramatic gesture. Kids started piling out of the buses. “Tallyho! First, oldest boys, ages 16-19, you’ll be learning MMA. Is anyone familiar with this?” A few hands rose into the air.

“We took it in Yellowknife,” someone shouted.

“Okay, perfect. You can help me instruct. Girls, ages 16-19, I'll be teaching you how to shoot. Does anyone know how?” Only one hand rose this time. “Infinity?”

“Yeah,” she smiled sheepishly. She reached behind her, grabbing something. She held her hand up, a handgun held in perfect form. “Want me to prove it?”

“Sure,” he agreed. She walked to the edge of the road, raised the gun, released the safety, and squeezed the trigger, blowing the branch off of a tree a hundred and fifty yards away. A squirrel dropped to the ground, dead. She shrugged.

“I’ve shot farther before, but whatever.” The crowd and Cameo were staring at her, slack jawed.

He came up to her and put a hand on her elbow. “You will be teaching the shooting portion.” He grinned. “Very impressive, Infinity. Ladies sixteen and up, come see Infinity.” He shook his head. “You are full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“Meh. I try.” She led the girls off the road and down the side of the hill that that particular stretch of highway was situated on. Cameo waited until he heard the sounds of gunshots, then he called out the remaining groups.

“Ladies fifteen and under will be working on knives and swords, boys fifteen and younger will be doing archery. Please divide up.” He stood in silence until they had split up. Satisfied, he sauntered over to the third bus and, opening the storage compartment, started yanking out weapons. Knives, swords, bows, arrows, rifles, pistols, tasers, spears, every weapon he had found in Yellowknife’s museums and armories. Walking over to the edge of the road, arms full of guns, he called to Infinity. “Here! Each kid needs one. There’s more ammo in the second bus!” He had also raided an ammunition factory.

Infinity traipsed up the hill, awestruck girls trailing along behind her. “Everyone,” she yelled, “grab a gun. I don’t care what it looks like, you’ll be learning how to shoot everything. Just grab whichever one you like best. And make sure the safety’s on!” She looked at Cameo and rolled her eyes. “It’s like they’ve never shot one before!” He laughed and walked back to the bus.

“Okay, who wants swords and who wants knives?” The girls yelled over top of one another, putting in requests. Cameo held up his hands. “Calm down! Make a line! ONE AT A TIME, LADIES!” The girls hushed and lined up single-file. “Ugh. Okay, who’s up first?” The first girl, a petite, brown-haired, green-eyed teen, stepped forward timidly. “Would you like a sword or knives?”

“Um, a sword please,” she said shyly.

“And what’s your name? I can get custom engraving on these things,” Cameo said with a wink.

“Holly Carter,” she whispered, blushing.

“And how old are you? You know, for the sword size?” He smiled.

“Fifteen,” she breathed. He handed her a gleaming sword with a golden hilt, encrusted with emeralds and rubies. She looked at him.

“Hey, I never said they were modern swords. I robbed a museum. It wasn’t that hard.” He grinned.

“Oh,” she murmured and fluttered her lashes at him.

“Am I interrupting something?” Infinity demanded angrily.

“Gah!” Cameo whipped his head around, nearly tripping on his own feet. “Infinity! Don’t scare me like that.”

“Be quick,” she said, turning and flipping her hair over her shoulder. “You have a line."

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