Liliana watched as most of the non-Stalker company piled into one of the large flatbeds, while Viktor's crew climbed into the other. She reached out and gave the corner of the tarp covering the nearest flatbed a sharp shake; it seemed fairly sturdy, if noisy. How much easier would life have been for the harvesters if they had trucks like these, even just one, instead of a tortoise that needed frequent bribing? Her flat stare cased the tarp-cave of the vehicle, then swept over the tops of Rock Hammer’s shoulders. He might need to hunch a bit, but there should be enough room.<br/><br/>After everyone loaded up, she perched on the end of the truck, just far enough back to be able to securely loop the second rear-most steel frame with her forearm. She listened silently to her travel-mates, eyes staring listlessly at the road as it stretched from the rear tires. Dziecko chuffed a bit and squirmed close to her stomach, then wriggled free of her jacket with a flop over her shoulder and onto the unstable surface of a moving truck. His nostrils flared and he looked distinctly alarmed for a moment, but seemed to acclimate quickly enough. The blonde woman threw the piglet a thin rope of dried vine. It wasn’t usual for her to still have any left, but the little creature was getting some of the leftover tortoise bribes.<br/><br/>There was a pit stop, but at the sight of the Boilers, she opted to remain in the truck and behind the comparative protection of the tarps. The old man with the scratchy voice and the lead Stalker got out, heading over to something hanging in the trees not far from the anomalies. Liliana scooted forward and leaned up on her knees, eyes narrowing; it was definitely a body. Human, probably, and fixed between the trees like a ship’s mast.<br/><br/>Immediately she put her back to the tarp and faced the inside of the truck-cave, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. A steady ripple of apprehension disturbed the glassy surface of her face. At least when ten mutated bears came flying, the danger was straightforward, predictable. Psychological warfare was another story entirely, and Liliana felt the distinct desire to make herself very scarce, very quickly.<br/><br/>It wasn’t much longer before the convoy started to rumble its way back along the route, for which the hooded woman was invisibly thankful.<br/><br/>Her feet were fairly close to the ground the entire trip, so when the trucks finally came to a stop within the concrete walls, she was one of the first few to have boots down. She turned in a slow circle, blank eyes flying over every inch of the walls they could reach, as if she were speed-reading. Dziecko tumbled out after her, landing on his face before scrambling to his feet, obviously eager to find some trouble.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Darren chuckled as Viktor's words wafted back to him; it looked like home, alright, in that it was clearly very defensible and wasn't currently under attack or on fire. It was also nice and big, a far cry from the stuffy, insufferable stillness of the Underbelly. The open gates beckoned to him, and he landed heavily on the ground near the truck and swung his bag over his shoulder next to where his crossbow already was. The bag Viktor had taken from his deceased former acquaintance he held in the hand that wasn't gripping his quarterstaff as he limped forward, falling into step behind a piglet he had only just realized was a part of their group.<br/><br/>As he moved, he wondered if he was gaining weight; jumping down from the flatbed had led to a surprising impact, which was hardly an isolated incident. He'd been noticing it more and more lately, but he wasn’t aware of any additional mass on himself, fat, muscle or otherwise, that could really explain it. He shook his head, deciding it was all in his mind as his attention returned to the small animal.<span style="font-style: italic">Been a while since I had bacon</span>, he thought, smiling as he wondered what kind of rations would be available in his new home. That was, so long as they let him stay. They didn't know him, after all, and these were cautious times.<br/><br/>A flag overhead, bearing the same symbol he'd seen on the hoods of the trucks that carried them, flapped lazily in the breeze as he looked up to study it; he wasn't the only one doing so, as he noticed the stoical, silent woman with dark blonde hair and a face that seemed to be eternally blank examining the fortress' exterior. He'd never interacted with her, but she seemed to be on good terms with the giant mutant with the love for smashing his own head against things. As such, he figured she might not have very high standards for company.<br/><br/>"Hey there," he said with a broad smile, catching up to her as the other side of the gates crept into view. He saw a number of buildings inside, including one close by that looked like some kind of warehouse. He also noticed several armed guards patrolling on the wall overhead, watching them all intently. "I don't believe we've spoken."<br/><br/><br/><br/>Her stare landed on his boots, then slightly hesitantly stuttered up to a face almost a clear thirty centimeters above her own. Her blank expression lingered for a moment; half of his one eyebrow was gone, scarred over, but his jawline was strong and masculine. The blonde woman’s blank countenance may not have made it obvious, but now that she observed him face-to-face and… well, not as the Man With a Dangerous Apology and Sandpaper Pipes, she could make out chip-sized scars and skin-deep imperfections around one of his eyes, vaguely peaking any semblance of curiosity she still had. His hooded state made it difficult to positively discern much more, similar to her own.<br/><br/>He looked as if he were waiting for a response. Strange. While holding eye contact, she responded,<span style="font-weight: bold">“No, we haven’t,”</span>in a toneless voice, before following Viktor rather closer than she previously had.<br/><br/>Dziecko trotted after her for a few paces, then decided that the strange, hooded man’s pants smelled chewable. He sunk his flat little pig teeth into them, shaking the bottom of his pants almost like a dog in a tug-of-war.<br/><br/>Without turning her head, Liliana softly barked,<span style="font-weight: bold">“Chodź, Dziecko.” </span><br/><br/>The rebellious Razorback jerked his head in her direction, but looked back to his most recent chew, obviously contemplating. He grunted amicably at the older man, wide eyes staring directly and with far more positive (or any) emotion than that of the woman.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Darren let out an involuntary bark of laughter as the woman turned to continue on behind Viktor; it was jarringly reminiscent of a time, a lifetime before, when he'd been turned down by a woman he'd approached after spending the bulk of the evening admiring her… personality. In any case, this particular failure of a conversation wasn't based around the same kind of intent.<br/><br/>He moved to follow her, but stopped when he felt a tugging near his boots. He looked down to see the piglet hard at work, trying to chew through the fabric of his pants. With a grunt of amusement and a widening of his smile, he leaned over and deftly scooped the pig up, watching as it twisted momentarily in his grasp before settling down as he stared into its curious eyes. He hooked his staff into the loop at his waist and brought his other hand over so he could flip the animal over and begin scratching its belly.<br/><br/>It writhed joyfully, the soft squeals of happiness obvious, as Darren limped heavily forward, his movements slightly more labored without the support of his cane. "I can see you're eager to speak more with me, so I'll oblige you," he rasped, projecting his voice towards the hastily departing figure of the woman in front of him. "Also, I wanted to give you something, if that's alright."<br/><br/>He concluded his scratching of the piglet and gently lowered it back down to the ground, before straightening up and returning his attention to the skilled conversationalist it belonged to.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Liliana slowed gradually, coming to a stop after another three steps, then looked back over her shoulder toward the heavily-limping man. What could he possibly have that he would want to give to her? She didn’t know him, and she was fairly certain she hadn’t dropped anything. She made no effort to speak, but her unreadable stare held steady on him.<br/><br/>Dziecko allowed himself to be set on the ground totally supine, his eyes still closed and obviously still enjoying a phantom sensation of belly-scratching.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Darren met the stare, wondering what existed behind it. He'd encountered many strange people on his travels, and he was hardly one to talk, really, but she was the first of her kind as far as he knew. She betrayed nothing; a closed book hardly came close to describing her. More like a sealed vault, with mounted guns protecting it from all sides.<br/><br/>"I don't have much use for this," he croaked, reaching into the bag he held and bringing out a gleaming, pristine firearm. He hadn't used a gun in years, but he knew a prime specimen when he saw one. The pistol was a HK USP-C, complete with laser sights and a custom grip. "I hate the things, and you know how to use them. Better than I can, I’d wager. So take it," he said, extending it out to her, flat on the palm of his hand.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Her stare dropped to the gun. She could tell him that she didn't know how to use firearms, at least, not very well and certainly less than the vast majority of their company. Hell, he was in a Stalker base. If he wanted to curry favor with someone, she wasn't the smart pick in terms of either his bribe or her potential. Still, it was rare that anything was just given away, and even rarer that the gift was clean, functional, useful and/or valuable. In fact...<span style="font-weight: bold">"What do you want in return,"</span>she finally said, not really inflecting it as a question, eyes snapping back to his.<br/><br/>Dziecko finally blinked from his state of reverie, scrambling to his feet with a highly offended expression. He bolted after Liliana at full force, barreling into her ankles, which she ignored completely.<br/><br/><br/><br/>"I want to live in peace again, like I did before I became what I am. I want to be able to take a walk and have a drink with a friend, and not have to wonder if I'll see the next day. I want to see the sun rise in the morning."<br/><br/>A rare melancholy had settled over him, but he shook his head and the smile returned, though not with the same strength as before. "I also want to play checkers and get laid, though not<span style="font-style: italic">necessarily</span>at the same time. But don't worry - from you, I want nothing. I have no expectations, although, who knows? Maybe one day you'll save my life with it," he rasped, chuckling as he raised the palm slightly, moving the weapon closer to her. "We found a safe place, somewhere with walls that can actually keep all the shit out. It's a good day for being good to each other. I'll give you the gun, and you… you just tell me your name."<br/><br/><br/><br/>Her stare, which had taken on an uncharacteristically receptive intensity, snapped back to the usual murk the second he mentioned checkers. She couldn't easily think of a plausible situation in which giving her a weapon was a trap, and as long as he asked nothing for it... She was positive that there was no such thing as 'free', but this seemed fairly close. One hand slipped out of her pocket and took the gun from him, careful not to come in contact with his glove.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">"Liliana,"</span>she said quietly, slipping the pistol into her pocket even as she continued to follow the Stalker's leader, albeit at a slower and less frosty pace.<br/><br/><br/><br/>"Nice to meet you," he rasped cheerfully towards her back, as he extended a hand and pretended to shake nothing in particular with it. "Darren Blight, at your service." He wondered how she'd ended up with a piglet for a companion - at least the animal was friendly enough to compensate for her astounding distance, but it was still an unusual sight. Of course, he wasn't going to ask about it; he felt like he might get only a finite number of words out of her and he didn't want to waste any of them.<br/><br/>Idly, he noticed that many of the others didn't seem to have followed them inside; he turned and stared out beyond the gates, watching as some sort of commotion took place. Weapons were drawn, and for some reason, meat was being waved.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Okay, then...</span><br/><br/><br/><br/>It was the silence lasting for more than five seconds after Darren’s introduction that caused her to stop once more, and follow his quiet stare. Rock Hammer was waving around one of his shoulder pads, not aggressively; it almost looked like he was just waving, and happened to be holding a slab of meat. The pirate-woman, however, did not look nearly as amicable. She looked like she meant business, her weapon aimed and words echoing against the walls. Liliana finally let her eyes trickle down to the source of the commotion, and noticed what appeared to be… a man, and a couple of big dogs? Her eyes narrowed, then relaxed as they flicked down and noticed Inga approaching Viktor. The blonde woman sidestepped just slightly, moving out of the girl’s path and intending to step back between her and the source of conflict. She casually wondered if the gun in her pocket was loaded.<br/><br/>Dziecko dropped his butt to the ground at Liliana’s feet, legs splayed as he watched the goings-on with nonchalant, misplaced ease.