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Time: 8:20 AM/Month: REDACTED/Location: Camp Currahee, Outside of Mess Hall/
Cameron Black remained silent and collected as he did push-ups, which he counted in his head.
One hundred and three, one hundred and four.
Cameron had never counted this high before, nor did he expect that he'd be doing so many push-ups. But he wasn't one to complain; it was a learning experience, an aspect of life that he had to deal with from now on.
One hundred and ten, one hundred and eleven.
All of this got him thinking about things, like the training potentially getting harder and punishments worse than what was happening now. This day was certainly different from the first five days here. Plus, he wanted to ask one of the adults why the schedule he had grown used to had changed.
One hundred and thirteen, one hundred and fourteen.
Was it because of his team? Was it all planned? He just wanted to know the answer to why things had changed.
Cameron felt beads of sweat run down the sides of his face. He heard his teammates' sounds: the soft whimpering of Ruby, the ragged breathing of James, Lisa with her panting, Winter with her groaning.
Each one possessed a unique way of expressing their exhaustion. Except for Mason and himself, well, actually, in the last case, he was breathing through his nose a bit harder than usual. An attempt to mask the exhaustion his body was feeling was made. It failed. His observantness was weird; he always took note of stuff when he likely shouldn't and then didn't take note of things when he should.
But that wasn't the point.
He didn't hear Mason panting, whimpering, or groaning. It made Cameron wonder if Mason was used to this level of physical activity. He knew that on the way to Mess Hall, Mason had quietly expressed some exhaustion, saying his body was on fire from the obstacle course that was The Playground, or something like that. So Cameron expected to hear at least something now. Thinking about it once more, Cameron wondered if Mason was extremely tolerant of activities like this or if he just hid his exhaustion pretty well. Either one made a decent amount of sense to Cameron, making it rather pointless to think about it any longer.
There were better things to think about, like counting, or how long had it been since he started counting, or if the other candidates had finished with the Playground and were eating.
One hundred and thirty, one hundred and thirty-one.
One of the nearby instructors spoke, "Hey, keep moving, candidate." Ruby let out a small yelp; Cameron felt the temptation to look, stop, and see what had happened to her. Yet, he knew that whatever happened to Ruby would likely happen to him if he stopped.
One hundred and fifty, one hundred and fifty-one, one hundred and fifty-two.
The numbers kept going up, and Cameron felt his stomach start to grumble. Pain prickled across his body as his arms wobbled. The last stretch of push-ups came and went, and Cameron collapsed onto the ground, face in the dirt after he reached two hundred. He was breathing heavy, and he didn't think he could get back up. But slowly, he pushed himself up and moved to sit on his rear. His stomach growled and rumbled again for food. It demanded satisfaction! Cameron knew that wasn't going to happen, at least for the moment. They wouldn't leave them without food, would they?
Cameron looked over his shoulder to the rest of the team and noticed that all of them were practically on the ground, except for Mason, who was barely standing up. His gaze then shifted to the left, seeing the two instructors assigned to them were standing off to the side, talking to themselves. He couldn't help but wonder why they didn't yell or rather react to them for sitting or laying on the ground. Were they trying to be nice, or were they told to let them have a break? Thinking about it a bit longer, Cameron didn't want to know the answer. After a minute of resting, he moved to the cafeteria's wall, leaning his back against the grey metal material.
Occasionally he glanced at the two adults wondering if they were going to do anything, but when they didn't, he just went back to looking at the ground. It was relatively silent until Mason decided to speak to him. It wasn't loud or obnoxious like he had experienced first hand with James when he had helped him back to the start after failing to get far into the Playground and being trampled and pushed around by the other kids.
No, Mason was far quieter and out of breath, "So, Cameron, right? Can I ask something?"
Cameron did not respond verbally. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and allowed Mason to draw his own conclusions.
"When did you realize that we had lost, and how?"
Cameron turned to look at Mason; he noted that his fellow teammate was resting the top of his head against the wall while looking at the sky. Cameron thought about it a bit; he wasn't sure how he figured it out. If anything, it was more of a gut feeling that told him things were not going they were supposed to.
So he responded the best way he could, another small shrug and a brief reply, "I don't know, gut feeling?" Cameron fell silent for a moment, only to then ask, "Why did you start a food fight?"
Mason was quick to respond, "Was the right thing to do. You can't get people like him to shut up through normal means. Plus, that girl didn't deserve it." Cameron watched as Mason's right hand shifted, lifting a bit and pointing his index finger at the prone James and then to Ruby. "Now, why did you join in on the food fight?"
Scrunching his nose a bit, Cameron thought back to the previous day and tried to think of the best way to vocalize what had been running through his mind at the time. "Someone needed to stop the fight." That was Cameron's only response as he returned his gaze to the ground.
"Fair enough." Cameron heard Mason adjusting, grunting a bit before continuing to talk, "So, you're just about as tired as I am. You... you used to this type of physical activity?"
Cameron rolled his shoulders, "I guess, maybe. I was always bigger than the kids back home at the orphanage."
Mason's voice perked up a bit, clear interest in it, "You were in an orphanage when they came to you?"
Cameron shook his head a bit, "Not exactly. I was raised in an orphanage, don't know who my parents are, and nobody bothered to adopt me." Dragging his hand against the dirt ground, Cameron waited for a response from Mason.
"Then why are you here?"
Cameron's answer was quick and easy. After all, it was relatively simple. "The same reason you came here, I lost my home. Plus, it feels right, you know?"
Cameron noted the bitter chuckle from Mason. Cameron listened intently. "No, we're not here for the same reasons. I'm here to learn how to kill those aliens bastards and make them pay for taking my home, my family away."
Cameron couldn't help but snort at that. "You sound like some of the kids I knew, the ones that were watching crap way too much."
The two chatted it up, talking about small topics and generally opening up to one another.
A brief silence fell between the two, only to end when Mason spoke.
"What type of orphan-"
Cameron cut Mason off, "The type that is around a lot of violent stuff. It wasn't bad or anything, just a whole lot of violence took place in the area." Cameron raised his hand and scratched his thigh, "I hated how it caused people to react." He paused for a moment before continuing, "I never understood why, why the orphanage was ever in that place, to begin with, or why there was so much violence in the area."
There were a lot of things back home he didn't like, like his 'teachers.'
Silence fell between the two, roughly lasting a minute before it was broken once more.
"You don't sound like a kid who grew up in an orphanage. You know that right, you sound like an adult?" Mason's voice lightly joked, an attempt to lighten the mood.
Cameron couldn't help but crack a smile. A slight laugh escaped from his lips not a moment later, "Yeah, well, the same can be said for you too, and everyone on this team, especially James." Raising his head from the ground, Cameron looked at the rest of the team; he noted that all of them were still prone and face-first on the ground. "Is it just me, or did everyone else pass out?"
"No, I'm thinking it as well," Mason all but agreed.
But a second later, James' muffled voice was heard, "I'm not passed out, you stupid fucking idiots. How long has it been? When are we getting food?" His voice was a mix of tiredness and anger, though it started to turn more into fatigue and whining.
Lisa was quick to quiet him down, "Shut it..."
At the very least, she tried. But James was stubborn. "Fuck you," he replied.
A small argument broke out between Lisa and James as they were face-down in the dirt, quiet, whining, and tired. Winter was groaning, and Ruby was still silent.
Cameron listened to Mason, who sighed heavily, "So ignoring them, wanna talk about how you ended up here more?"
"I hate people like you..." James bickered.
"At least I can throw a decent punch," Lisa retorted.
Cameron rolled his shoulders, "Sure." Adjusting his position, he spoke, "Followed an adult that was involved in this stuff, came previously to my orphanage before the attack... He wasn't really good at his job." Pausing for a moment, Cameron scratched the back of his head before adding, "I also snuck past some adults, not really sure how I managed that one... Come to think about it, and I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done it... Huh."
"Stupid fatass," Lisa grunted.
"Dyke," James faintly snarled.
"What does that even mean? Do you even know what you're saying?" Lisa questioned James.
"I don't know. Fuck you, cunt," James spat back.
Cameron hadn't thought about how he had accomplished such a task, and thinking on it some more, he decided it wasn't worth the thinking anymore, but his answer was simple. "I'm just good at sneaking, I guess," Cameron said.
"Least, I'm not fat..." Lisa quickly retorted.
"I'm not fat," James growled.
Slowly the bickering between James and Lisa faded, tuned out of Cameron's mind.
Mason chuckled at this, "Well, you might wanna find something else you're good at."
Cameron quirked a brow at this, "What do you mean?"
Mason cleared his throat as he spoke, voice a bit more lively as if he was trying to mimic someone, "Isn't it obvious? With how tall you already are, you're going to keep growing and sticking out like a sore thumb... At least, that is what... my uncle would say..." Cameron noted how Mason's tone shifted, became cold and distant.
It took a moment, but Cameron figured it out, "I'm sorry you lost your-"
"I didn't lose him. I don't know what happened to him, and neither does my sister." Cameron listened to Mason shift, grunting, bones popping a bit as the boy stood up. "So that means there's a chance he's alive, and knowing my uncle, I doubt he'd let himself get killed... He's surprisingly talented."
Cameron looked to Mason and watched how his eyes shifted to the two adults briefly before looking back at him. He spoke, "Other than that, I got not much else to say." Mason offered his hand out to Cameron, who took it firmly, then pulled himself up off the ground and dusted off his rear to get off any dirt on his butt.
Cameron watched as Mason turned his gaze to their still prone teammates. He couldn't help but roll his eyes as he refocused on the conversation that had been going on in the background.
"Fuck you..."
"Fuck you..."
It appeared that James and Lisa were still going at it, though it had devolved into simple cursing instead of whatever they had been verbally slinging at one another a few minutes prior.
Somehow, Cameron knew this could be much, much worse.
Time: 9:40 AM/Month: REDACTED/Location: Camp Currahee, Classroom B/
Cameron was silent, quiet, just patiently watching, writing, snacking on crackers, and a bit of water provided after breakfast to him and his teammates. The crackers were shit, stale, or on the verge of it, like a lot of what they were given the last few days. It was food, though, so he knew he shouldn't complain about it. But then again, the seating wasn't as good either. It was very stuffy, hot. Though that's what happens when you shoved over a dozen kids into one dimly lit circular room and had them all take seats next to each other. But still, he knew he shouldn't complain; it wasn't all that bad. Besides, it was better to be grateful for what was given to him rather than be rude about it.
Speaking of rude, Cameron couldn't help but wonder what James thought about the crappy food. James hadn't said a word since their punishment and mealtime, so it got his attention. Thinking about it a bit longer, Cameron figured that his teammate was probably complaining about it in his head. Regardless of that, though, Cameron needed to stop thinking about unimportant stuff. Instead, he needed to focus on what was being taught before him.
It was another change in the schedule that he had been getting used to since arriving at this place. They were now teaching them things. He didn't understand much, which was a shame, but he didn't mind. Their 'Teacher' - if you could call them that - was one of the adults, a woman with short-cropped hair, wearing a green short-sleeved t-shirt and camouflage cargo pants. Cameron couldn't remember her name because he hadn't been paying that much attention at the moment. But that didn't matter. It wasn't like he was ever going to have to refer to her by name. After all, he rarely ever did with the 'teachers' back home.
God, his home was shit.
Anyway, the 'Teacher' sounded nice and wasn't nearly as harsh as he had expected. Wait, he was getting off track again. Refocusing once more, Cameron listened to the 'Teacher's' lecture, "And that is why we use our identification system, any questions?"
Cameron cursed at himself slightly; that was probably important to know.
"None? Alright then, let's switch up topics then and talk about the Covenant." The 'Teacher' had an upbeat tone as she spoke, though it was slowly becoming more somber as she continued, "As you're all well aware, the Covenant was what took away your homes, though I can assume none of you know why they took them away."
That was something Cameron wished to know, so he listened intently to the 'Teacher's' explanation, "The reason the Covenant took away your homes is simple: it is the will of their gods, and they are their instruments. They want nothing more than to exterminate every last human they find, though I don't need to explain that to you all. You've already had a taste of that first hand." The 'Teacher' then continued her lecture, with the projection next to her shifting to a world, another planet which was one giant landmass separated in the middle by water. "The Covenant war began on February 11th, 2525, on the colony of Harvest, a major producer of agricultural goods, supplying entire colonies with food from its harvest alone."
Getting a good look at her face, Cameron noticed that she was one of the younger adults instead of the older adults he had seen around the camp and during training. He wondered why that was. Was there a prior group of kids? Had there been an entire group who had come before them? It would make sense given how prepared everything was here and explain why everything was changing suddenly.
Something brushed against Cameronbriefly, shaking him from his thoughts. Glancing briefly to his side, he noticed Ruby, who had been sitting next to him and was the only person he had kept track of where they sat, before returning his attention to the 'Teacher.'
He couldn't help but think about how different Ruby was. She was indeed a strange girl, but those were thoughts for another time. He needed to focus on what was being taught instead.
"After the fighting on Harvest finally settled, there was nothing left." The projection of a once bountiful world had shifted to one that was desolate, dead. A vibrant green that had flourished across the surface was replaced with hostile muted greys, and a few burning bright spots dotted its surface. It was horrible to look at, and no doubt his old planet, his old home was just like that now—a husk of its former self. "The UNSC used to possess over eight hundred worlds at the beginning of this world, but now, we don't... The Outer Colonies have all but fallen, and the Inner Colonies, most of which you are all from, have begun to fall one by one." Those words truly put into perspective just how dangerous the Covenant was. For a moment, Cameron felt fear. Indeed, he was scared. It made him question why they were even fighting back at this point. How could anyone continue to fight?
If there had been eight hundred or so worlds before the war, most of those worlds were gone now. How was the UNSC keeping up? How could they keep up? Putting a pin in that thought for later, Cameron then continued to listen to his teacher. "I used to live on an Outer Colony, was a kid like all of you. I even joined the previous company here. Washed out, of course, and now I'm working here as an instructor for you all."
That answered one question for Cameron.
"That sucks she doesn't get the chance to kill those monsters. Hope I get my chance at them," Cameron heard Ruby whisper in a happy tone. Well, that was something to hear. Never had Cameron expected words to be spoken like that, so happily. He honestly expected a more sad tone than happy.
"I can't wait to get everyone working together; then we can kill the bad guys."
But Ruby just continued to surprise him. Whether this was a good thing or not, well, he didn't know. Then again, he never would know. Cameron didn't come to this place for revenge. No, he came here to protect people and ensure no one else suffered.
Everyone else was incredibly vengeful.
"Everyone can be happy, and uh, covered in guts... Yuck."
Except for himself and maybe Winter?
"Then again, maybe we can use the guts to scare the aliens?"
Thinking about it for a minute, he agreed with that idea. It certainly fit himself, and in Winter's case, it suited her. Nearly everything about her was off. More so than Ruby, who seemed way too eager to be here. So that was saying something.
"Then we can kill them while they're screaming."
Indeed they were the odd ones out.
But that was all unnecessary information.
Returning to the class at hand, Cameron leaned to his left, pushing his right elbow into Ruby's side before pulling back and returning to his original posture.
"Now, I'm sure most of you may have seen many of the Covenant species, but I'm sure none of you know about the names that are associated with the species in question."
It was only fair to return the favor. Ruby did seem to be getting a little into her own whispered thoughts. Maybe he could teach her to think in her head a lot more. After all, he was very experienced there.
The image of Harvest was replaced with a large bipedal creature. It was covered in bright orange armor with a triangle placed on its back, a mask covering its face. It had reasonably large arms with all sorts of points and bumps along them as well. Its hands were equipped with claws.
Cameron recognized this creature. It was hard not to; they were everywhere back on his homeworld's invasion. If he remembered correctly, some of the UNSC soldiers had called them-
"The first species we will talk about is the Grunt. I will say this real quick. I won't be saying their proper species name, though. I'm not that great at pronouncing them," their teacher continued. "They're the most common Covenant troop you will see deployed on the battlefield: poorly equipped, can be frightened relatively quickly, and in general are meant to die in en masse."
Grunt. A fitting name for the alien, but the way she talked about them irked Cameron a bit.
"That doesn't mean they are not a threat, though, because it is through their overwhelming numbers their real strength is revealed. They will have more guns than you, and they will be firing them as if their lives depend on it." There it was, just as he thought. Their numbers were an advantage. "There is also the fact that they're incredibly spontaneous in the heat of battle. A frightened grunt is just as likely to run away as it is to charge at you with live grenades in an attempt to take you down."
"The Covenant makes good use of this strategy; it is not uncommon for them to deploy Grunt suicide squads into battle."
Cameron was taking every note that he could in his head. He wanted to remember this information; it could save his life someday. Now, if he only had something to place this information on so he could review it. Cameron had to thank that one 'teacher' back home at his orphanage for teaching him that nifty trick.
It was one of the few good things he had learned from that place.
But that person was dead, maybe.
Maybe he could learn some more from this instructor. They were a lot better of a teacher than the ones back home—Cameron liked that a lot.
It was nice.
Shifting in his seat a bit, Cameron scratched the bridge of his nose before continuing to listen to the remaining lecture. Time flew by in an instant for him; an hour or so became only minutes in but a few brief seconds from his point of view as the topic shifted from Grunts to Jackals. At the end of it all, when the teacher was finishing things up, he felt... He wasn't sure what he felt; it was like he wanted... more? Yeah, that was it. He wanted more. Cameron wished to know more about the enemies of humanity.
"Just wait a few minutes, and you all will be led to your next training session. Chat amongst yourself."
But keeping himself in check, Cameron stood up from his seat as others began to do the same. Kids started to speak, as their teacher silently watched them.
Cameron looked around, finally getting his bearings in the dimly lit room. Further to his right beyond Ruby was the rest of his team, Winter, James, Lisa, and Mason. In that order. Winter was up and quietly standing, James was sitting, the same for Lisa and Mason, but the two were chatting. His gaze then fell back to Ruby, who was also sitting, but she was clearly and visibly excited almost—bouncing in her seat?
She was also talking, but she was talking to herself about the same as earlier—gleeful delight in the prospect of killing other living things. "So cool, so cool, I learned so much, and that is just the uh, tip of the uh... Well, whatever, it is. I can't wait to learn more, and I wanna learn all the ways to kill those monsters." Cameron watched as Ruby turned to look up at him. "Oh hey! Cameron, right? I got your name right this time, right? Well, uh, are you excited to learn more?"
Unsure of how to answer, Cameron shrugged his shoulders and responded quickly and shortly, "Sure."
Time: 11:20 AM/Month: REDACTED/Location: Camp Currahee, Outskirts/
Another day, another failed game of Ring The Bell.
What was this, the third time they had failed to work together as a team?
On day nine?
Maybe that is why they were here. Their failures as a team were getting them into more trouble.
It was about the only thing that made any sense at the moment.
Cameron scratched his right leg and slightly sniffled as he stood firm, still, and quiet. He was surprised -though he shouldn't be-. to find that he and the team were being pulled aside from the rest of the other kids and were led, well, somewhere. There were trees, logs, dirt, bugs making their insect noises. They were in a large open clearing. Mendez was there; he was busy talking to the instructors that had brought them here. Something important as well, given they had been talking for the past ten minutes or so.
It piqued Cameron's interest, but then again, it was something he'd never understand. Sometimes adult things were just that, adult things that confused him. But he made do with that.
After another few minutes or so of waiting, Mendez walked over to them before standing in front of them, arms clasped behind his back, "Team Delta, good to see you all."
No one spoke.
Mendez began to pace in front of them, eyes never truly breaking contact with any of them, "Now, you might be wondering why you are here, and no, it's not because you're in trouble." His gaze briefly flashed over to Ruby, who had raised her hand but sheepishly put it back down. "Instead, this is an exercise of sorts, one meant to push you to the limits of your abilities and get you all to work together."
Mendez then asked, "Are any of you familiar with capture the flag?"
Cameron shrugged his shoulders and looked to the rest of the team, noticing that everyone was in a similar state except for Mason and Lisa.
Lisa was the one to speak up a second later, "I played a lot of the King of The Hill, sir. Is that similar enough?"
"Close enough." Mendez paused before continuing to explain, "The objective is simple: your team must capture the enemy flag and return it here, you'll have the rest of the day to complete this task. Any questions?"
Ruby raised her hand briefly before getting a nod from Mendez to speak, "Um, what happens if we fail? Sir."
Mendez was quick to respond, "You're one step closer to getting washed out, and your team is very close to that happening. I suggest that you all win this." The older man asked the same question again, "Any other questions?"
Cameron couldn't think of anything and looked at his teammates. It was apparent none of them could think of anything, except for Ruby. She once again raised her hand only to ask her question a moment later after acknowledgment from Mendez.
Cameron kept his focus on both of them to the best of his ability without breaking out of the line.
Ruby curiously asked, "So, are we facing other kids?"
"No," Mendez calmly stated.
Her tone grew a bit more worried, "Oh, are we facing adults?"
"Yes," he said, his voice still calm.
Ruby stuttered, "D-do we get anything to fight back against them?"
"No." Mendez shook his head calmly.
"Do they h-have w-weapons?"
"Yes." The older man gave an affirmative nod.
That was only going to go so well, Cameron thought.
"Ok, um, can you at least tell us where we need to go?"
Mendez smiled and looked to his left before pointing, "Keep heading east for a few miles, and you'll know it when you see it."
"Oh. I don't have any more questions." Ruby sounded dejected, deflated. Her head leaned down towards the ground.
"Well, if there are no further questions, then I will take my leave," Mendez then walked away from the group, heading back towards Camp Currahee.
There was a brief silence that felt like an eternity.
No one broke the line. No one moved. No one did anything.
Until a familiar whining voice broke that silence, "BLOODY HELL, this is just FUCKING GREAT!" Cameron flinched at the shrill sound of James' voice. His eyes focused on the chubby boy who strode out from the line, hands in the air waving about, followed by clear stamping of feet on the ground.
There was a word to describe. Cameron knew it; It was on the tip of his tongue.
Cameron watched James stamp about in front of them. It was sort of funny to watch. "Like, REALLY? How the fuck are we going to get anything done when we don't get anything to fight back with. That isn't fair. What does he want us to do, fucking wail on them?" James' face was turning an angry shade of red as he continued his ranting.
It was also during this that Cameron realized what that word on his tongue was.
Temper tantrum.
James was having a temper tantrum.
"Calm down, fatass, you're going to be fine. We'll all be fine," Lisa spoke out with evident confidence in her voice. "I've played King of The Hill enough to know how to do this right. It's the same thing basically, plus my brother Mason, he's got this in the bag! He's our strongest person here besides..." Lisa stepped out of the line by a few feet and looked to Cameron, "Cameron."
James snarled and turned around, looked at Lisa and walked closer and closer before they were just inches away, and began shouting, "WHAT GOOD DOES THAT DO! WE'RE KIDS! ADULTS ARE BIGGER THAN US! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DROWN THEM IN OUR CORPSES, YOU BLOODY-"
To everyone's surprise, it was Winter who interrupted, "SHUT UP! Holy shit, all you ever do is complain and complain. Sure, you got a reason to complain, but it's not going to do us any good in this situation!" Cameron noticed that her hands were tightly clenched and at her sides. It was clear she was resisting the urge to repeat the incident from the fourth day.
Winter turned her attention to Lisa, brows furrowed, "And you, all you're doing is pissing him off! You're not helping the situation by just name-calling!"
Cameron glanced over to Ruby; he noted how she stepped back and attempted to make herself look small.
He felt terrible for her.
She just wanted everyone to get along and be friends.
His attention then snapped back to the conversation at hand.
Lisa, having turned around, snarled at Winter, "Oh yeah, like you're any better! Miss fancy fucker! You didn't even try to fucking fight, and when you did, it was at the wrong time! You attacked James out of the blue, and even I have to say that is so-." She stepped closer towards Winter getting right up into her face a second later.
Winter frustratingly growled, "You don't get to decide what was wrong! You are no better than me!" Cameron watched as Winter placed her hands on Lisa's chest and pushed her away.
Lisa fell on her ass, slowly getting back up a second later.
Cameron blinked a few times as he continued to watch. Things were getting out of hand. Even James, who had initially started this entire thing, was taken back by the events. James had even visibly clammed down. Ruby was off to the side.
Cameron looked to Mason and noticed that he was walking towards the two bickering girls. It was quite clear what his intent was.
As such, Cameron followed. He took a step forward, and another, and another—the dirt ground against the bottom of his shoe. Sweat ran down the side of his face. Things slowed down for him; he watched for movement from either of them.
Cameron glanced to Mason and then to Winter, and then to Mason again one last time.
He had a plan.
Cameron hoped Mason could catch someone well enough.
Anticipation ran through his body.
Lisa got up and charged at Winter, screaming at the top of her lungs.
Winter stood her ground silently with fists raised.
Cameron took his chance and grabbed Winter by the shoulder, pushed her out of the way and into Mason's path. A second later, he felt the brunt of Lisa's charge slamming into his stomach and chest, but he stood his ground, wrapped his arms around Lisa's shoulders, and hugged her.
That way, even if he fell, Lisa would still be in his grasp.
Unable to move.
But, his bigger body and strength held out, and a second later, Lisa came to a screeching halt. Cameron tightened his hug, leaned forward so that Lisa's head would rest on his left shoulder.
Cameron never looked away from the ground, not even to check on everyone else. Instead, he focused on the dirt below and silently listened to Lisa's sobbing. His shoulder slowly grew damp, tears and snot mingled with the sounds of muffled sobbing.
Cameron continued his hug and softly spoke, "Let it out, let it out."
Honestly, Cameron wasn't sure why he had done this, why he went for a hug. There was no reason for it to happen. Frankly, he could've just taken the hit and landed back on the ground, with Lisa likely falling onto his chest.
It would've likely achieved the same results as the hug, with only him on the ground and with minor pain. But no, he went for the hug and was continuing to do it. It just made no sense to him in the end.
But, then again, why should it? Many things in life never did make sense. Slowly, Cameron let go. As soon as Lisa quieted down, he took a step back and looked at her. A smile was on his face as he watched his teammate clear her eyes and then look towards him. "T-thanks," she managed to get out and then proceeded to walk away towards Mason.
Cameron then looked to where Mason was, noticing that he had a relatively annoyed expression on his face, arms crossed, brows a bit furrowed, lips in a frown. But as their eyes crossed, that frown turned into a small smile.
Cameron then looked for Winter, who had seemingly disappeared. Had she run off? It took him a moment to get his answer.
No, she hadn't runoff. She was just at the edge of the clearing, leaning against a tree while looking out into the surrounding forest.
"You're all so fucking weird," Cameron barely heard the whisper of a complaint coming from James. He looked to James and shook his head slightly.
"That was so cool!" Cameron heard Ruby chipperly declare from behind. He could even hear the bouncing in her voice. "They were running at each other, and you step in and push Winter out of the way, and taking that head on it, it was like, like so cool!"
"Let's get going; we don't get all day to sit around," Cameron heard Mason call out, followed by a quick retort from James.
"Who died and made you boss?"
Cameron turned around to look at Ruby and swore he saw stars in her eyes. "How'd you know that was going to work?" Ruby asked.
Cameron shrugged, "I didn't; I expected much worse to happen."
Ruby stared in disbelief before furrowing her brow and puffing her cheeks up, "Well, whatever! Now we can talk about how we can improve on each other, right?"
"I don't think that is going to happen," Cameron noted the way she frowned and pouted at such an answer. It was cute.
It was childish, sort of like James, but far more innocent.
"Then why do that?" Ruby curiously inquired.
Cameron shrugged his shoulders and answered Ruby's question, "Felt like the right thing to do." He proceeded to make his way to the edge of the clearing, where the rest of the team gathered. All the while, a single thought ran through his mind: Were they going to complete this exercise, or would they fail just like they did with Ring The Bell?
/
Author's Note:
Hey there boys and girls, it is me, Firestarter09 coming right at with this new, hot fucking released chapter. Got nothing much else to say other than that I have been busy with IRL stuff and working out some of the stuff with this story, including planning for the feature. Feedback is greatly appreciated, and I hope that you all enjoy this wonderful chapter.
Wait a minute. I should probably talk about the chapter, or lore, or something shit. Hmm. Well, I guess I can say that I enjoyed this chapter a bit, it was fun writing for Cameron, and I feel like I did him a bit more justice than his introductory chapter did; which is overall a good thing. I also hope I am getting across that the team is slowly developing and coming together, albeit not exactly at the best of paces. Kind of, they sort of all hate each other if that isn't apparent enough. I also hoped I did Mendez's characterization well, as I am sometimes afraid I don't exactly nail most canon characters -ignoring Ruby and Winter- that well. I also am taking some liberties with the Spartan-III program and generally adding my own touch to it, we don't have as much depth with the program as we do with the Spartan-II two program, and by that, I mean like what it would be like on a day to day basis, we knew how things were structured for the most part. Still, we never got the nitty-gritty details of day to day life, if you know what I mean. So I am taking some liberties; hopefully, you guys can enjoy that.