Long Walk, Long Talk Pt. 1 (JP)

Lydia nodded, "yehp we only have one vehicle and it's not really built for driving through the woods" she said, rolling her head a bit to pop her neck as they walked. "Cyrus, why don't you come up here and walk next to me." she added, speeding up so that there was some distance between her and the others.

Cynthia followed behind, but respected the distance Lydia had put between them - it was likely she wanted to talk privately. Cynthia instead turned to Kyra "Do you know where this... secret location is?" She asked in a near whisper, more so out of curiosity than anything else.

Cyrus was hesitant to interact with this girl any more than was absolutely necessary. After a life spent in military service, taking orders from a child was not something he adjusted to easily. Nevertheless, Cyrus complied. His purpose was not to challenge existing power structures. He sped up a little, catching up to Lydia and walking side by side. The height difference was certainly amusing. "How can I be of service commodore?"

Kyra looked to Cynthia and shrugged as she adjusted the strap to her box. "No, not really." She admitted with a hint of concern in her voice. "Lydia and I haven't been in contact for a while now, so I'm still catching up. About that Demitri guy, by the way...I know I wanted you to wipe his memory, but I've changed my mind about that. I found out some information through continued talk and gave him an ultimatum that has him on our side. He's going to be giving El all the information he knows while we're gone." What she didn't say was that Demitri had a daughter held captive by those EAST bastards and he wanted her back. Said daughter was a mutant...

Lydia kept her focus locked on the path she was walking, or lack thereof. She had it mapped out in her head, but that was all she had to rely on. There were no significant land markers. "I wanted to explain how things go with my team." She started, keeping her pace as they walked. "They listen to what I say and wait for my command, but no one is forced to do things my way. If there's disagreements within the squad, we voice them and consider our options. So if there's something you don't agree with, or an adjustment you'd like to make - I want to hear it. You've been in the shit before. I'm hoping your experiences and training in combat and strategy will help us in the future." She grabbed the water bottle from the side of her backpack and offered it to him.

Cynthia thought to herself for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons of having a man that just tried to tranquilize her sister stay in their community. "As long as you feel he's safe. If he hurts Lydia, you get to kill him." She said, a bit of a mischievous grin playing at her lips.

Kyra couldn't stop her own grin from forming. "Oh, I already gave him the warnings, don't you worry." She chimed to the other woman. "The man knows exactly what he's getting into and he finds it much more appealing to him..." Her face fell a bit, going serious now. "I promised we would get what's most important to him back from EAST." With a shrug, she kept walking with everyone, hoping things wouldn't go south.

Cyrus took the water bottle and swigged some. He hadn't eaten in a bit so he decided to pair his drink with a jerky stick from his jacket pocket. One of the few things he had left from that gas station. "I just don't want you all to get killed, and frankly you freak me out a little bit. If I see anything wrong, I'll let you know. How far are we going?"

Lydia stifled a laugh. "I freak a lot of people out. If it helps at all - I'm able to absorb experiences from other people and gain some of the skills they have." She explained. It wasn't something many people even asked about.

Cynthia nodded. "Good." She said, not quite understanding what Kyra ment by gettings what's most important. "Who hired him?" She asked after a few seconds of silence.