Malia glanced to Carson, shrugging. “Long story.” She huffed, flicking her eyes back towards the blonde. He was probably her height, if an inch taller, he was just small compared to Carson’s build. “You see, he —the egotistical, arrogant, entitled little shit, if you will— is a bit of a familiar face. As much as I’ve missed him, I missed thinking that he got himself into some trouble with a raider group, maybe even stumbled into the arms of a savage mutant.” She raised her eyebrows, a hint of a smirk crossing her lips as she turned to the boy. “Hi, Max.”<br/><br/>Malia couldn’t help but smile as Carson stepped between them, and she silently placed a couple fingers against his back, letting him know it was fine. Max had the tendency to annoy people purposefully, it seemed to be working on Carson.<br/><br/>It was strange, watching Max’s generally playfully and flirty personality fade, exhaustion lacing his features. That’s when Malia knew that, whatever he had to say, it was serious. She stepped forward, standing beside Carson and exchanging glances with him. This skull-bearing individuals were far more advanced than they had originally anticipated, to say this worried her was an understatement. If the Striders was only one of their fronts, and they had three more, it would be an uneven fight.<br/><br/>Malia raised an eyebrow, suppressing a smirk and crossing her arms as he winked to her, shaking her head. As far as her dislike went, he was an easy individual to get along with. She wasn’t sure what to make of the new information, all she could hear was that they had to hurry to Central, hurry to the huntsmen. She stepped up, tilting her head. “Selfish motives and ego aside, do you know where we could find some of these groups. I mean, as a weasel you move around more than the Runners do, you had to have heard something, about their next attacks maybe?” She looked up to Carson, biting her lip with a sigh. “Either way... thank you, I guess. It kinda makes up for taking my knife.” She offered a shrug, “and, you know, everything else you’ve probably snagged.”