The tension was a bit thick at the moment. It was apparent that they might not get anything from this woman. Alexandria didn't want to give up just yet. There was no ship anywhere and them being on the island was a bit strange. Most people never left the walled cities ever unless they were going to find someone. Wrinkling her nose getting down to the woman's level as Lyric backed off a bit. "So are you ready to talk without the bullshit? If not, we can send you to your friends."
Coughing into the ground a bit more after the cutlass was removed from her chin. Letting out a final cough looking up at Alexandria. "Alright no need to be so rough. We stole the suits from some guards who were stationed here. We were just resting minding our own business before you attacked us." Leaning back and sitting down on the floor pulling off the mask to reveal her face. She wasn't that much older than them. Now Alexandria was questioning just attacking them out of the blue like that based on their outfits.
"Why didn't you stop and say anything? Your friends could still be alive if you had done that." Alexandria didn't think the story added up. Aside from the fact they didn't have any firearms. How did this group take from a walled city guard unit without being killed? Not every female gained awesome powers from the virus. Some just had something that didn't mean or do much at all. Of course most of the time women were killed on site if they approached a city just to be sure they weren't a threat.
"Would you have fucking stopped to ask questions if your friend was killed in front of you? We thought you were more guards coming to kill us." Throwing the mask on the floor scoffing at Alexandria's question.
The woman had a point. She would have reacted almost the same way if Lyric was killed in front of her. Alexandria wrinkled her nose. "From what I know about guards they never sent less than three people for a mission. Plus have you ever seen anyone like us in a guard unit before?" She was being a bit harsh with her questions. There was no way to confirm her story. No base on the island and no transportation anywhere. Either they had a ship wrecked on the island or she was lying.
"That doesn't change the fact you both came out of nowhere. An invisible woman and someone who can shift into a bird. Those sound like tailor made guard abilities to me." Alexandria stepped forward back, handing her across the face. That was the second time she had grouped them in with the walled cities. Lyric took a step forward but was stopped by Alexandria's hand.
"I guess you are a slow learner. Don't compare us to those damn people." Shaking her hand a few times to get the feeling back into it. "We don't have time to play twenty questions with you. Tell us where you're from and maybe we will send you back there. Provided you stop pissing me off." Alexandria was through the bullshit. This girl was either going to give them something useful or join her friends in a hole. Lyric walked up behind the woman keeping her hand on the hilt of her cutlass.
Rubbing her jaw a bit looking up at both of them. Yawning and flexing her mouth before she finally responded. "Fine, I am from a settlement not far from here. We are laying a trap for any walled city guards that come by. We need some supplies and trade has been very sparse lately."
Alexandria threw her hands up in frustration. It was about time they had some halfway decent information. The problem was they just called her friends. "We are on our way to a settlement right after this island. If you are looking for some supplies we have plenty to trade." Looking around at the scene, especially V snacking on one of the woman's friends. "Is there a chance all this could be overlooked or are we out of luck?" There was a good deal of carnage to answer for. Hopefully the woman and settlement could overlook it in the name of trade.
She did the same look around at the carnage. Looking up at Alexandria sideways. "How about we go to the settlement first and see what happens?" Alexandria didn't like that plan. There was no telling what was waiting for them there. The settlement story was more believable than them stealing from a guard unit and not getting any firearms. An introduction would be nice had they not killed five other people. She looked up at Lyric shrugging her shoulders.
"This is your call captain. We were going to visit the settlements anyway. Maybe food and other supplies will smooth this all over." Lyric wasn't about to try and make a tough call. Alexandria was the captain. They could easily just kill this girl and move on to the settlement. There would be no one to speak of what they had done. Of course with this girl with them they might get better deals if a story was spun. Alexandria let out an exasperated sigh trying to figure out what to do.
"Alright we will go to your settlement. First we need to store some things here. However even on wrong move and your fucking head rolls into the water." Alexandria motioned to Lyric who motioned her cutlass across the throat. She wondered if showing this girl what they had was a wise choice but there was no time. They needed to unload the excess cargo and get to trading. No telling how long they had before the walled cities started looking for their treasure ship.
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She nodded, standing to her feet slowly. "We should take the bodies back with us. No matter what story is given to the leaders. If I come back alone without the bodies no telling what they will do." Alexandria nodded in agreement. She walked over shooing V away as they started to prep the bodies for transport. Once that was finished the three of them walked back to the ships. Tyra had come down from the crow's nest and was waiting on the bank.
"You all had an interesting encounter. Are we still hiding the cargo here or not?" Tyra had heard a good potion of the conversation. She was ready to go since waiting around wasn't fun at all. There was a lot of that when she lived on her island. There were already some crates and barrels sitting next to her.
Looking down at the pieces of cargo Alexandria nodded. "Yes we are still using this as a stash island. If we all do this together we can get down and be on the way to the next settlement in no time." Turning back to the woman. "You are going to help and afterwards forget this ever happened. Is that clear?" She nodded her head in response as they all grabbed a container and started walking back into the island.
Alexandria had noticed a nice cave overhead when flying with V. It would be the perfect spot to stash their goods. Now all that needed to be done was getting it all loaded. After that she needed to decide if they were leaving one of the ships there or not. That was a tough choice knowing that a settlement not too far away set up ambushes here. It took them a few hours to get all the supplies she had marked safely hidden inside the cave. Tyra helped disguise the cave so that no one would be able to find it.
Once they were back at the ships Alexandria pulled the girl to the side. "I need to know you won't come back here and mess with my things. Killing you would not be difficult at all."
The woman rolled her eyes. "That is obvious by the way you dispatched everyone so quickly. If you are open to trading what you still have on that other ship. We should have a good trading day. The killing of my friends though is another matter altogether."
Alexandria clenched her fists waiting to slap the woman around for rolling her eyes. She was right about killing the friends. They needed to answer for that in some way. This one was going to be played closer to the chest. Even if the settlement leaders wanted blood for blood. There were many ways to settle that in her favor. "Well we will see what happens when we get there. Get on board. I want to make it to your settlement before it gets dark." She shoved the girl forward with a smug look on her face.
"Are we going to leave a ship here or are we waiting for a safer spot?" Lyric asked making preparations to leave the current island. She giggled a bit happy to finally be underway. Having been able to spill a bit of blood had her in a good mood. Even though that could have been avoided with a simple conversation. It was done and over with now. All that was left was the feeling of excitement.
"We will find another place to store one of the ships. For now I just want to make it to the settlement before dark. There is no telling what we will encounter. Are we all good to go?" Alexandria asked as they all boarded the ship. V had just landed on her shoulder while Tyra was climbing up the mast to the crow's nest. It was time to make some deals. Whether or not it was with friends or enemies remained to be seen. Lyric nodded, running off to get the ship ready to disembark.
Thankfully with help from both the woman and Alexandria they were able to get everything ready to go quickly. They were out of the small cove with the two ships in tow. The settlement wasn't far away which meant they would make it there before dark. Of course there was the matter of the reception they were going to receive when they arrived. Alexandria sat down at the table on the deck motioning for the woman to join her. V was still on her shoulder moving back and forth snacking on a bone from the pouch on Alexandria's belt.
The woman sat across from her watching V carefully. "Why the hell do you have a vulture as a pet?" Alexandria was starting to get pissed at that question. Why was it so odd in a world where a virus killed most males and gave women special abilities? There had to be thousands of better questions than that one. V must have felt Alexandria's annoyance as she shrieked in the woman's direction. She almost jumped out of her seat.
"After seeing what she can do to your friends. Why in the hell would you speak about her like that?" Alexandria gave V a pat on the head. Hearing a giggled from the helm most likely from Lyric. "Would you grow the hell up and steer the ship?" Turning her attention back to the woman. "It isn't a good idea to make an animal angry."
She shrugged her shoulders. "That is fine. You all have some good stuff to trade. I was just curious is all." Pausing for a moment looking at the shrouded bodies on the deck. "There is still the matter of my friends. Do you have a plan for that yet?" She had a slight cockiness to her tone. Alexandria wasn't amused by it. That was something that wasn't going to be easy to explain. Of course the way she looked at the cargo told a story of desperation.
"We have a lot to offer in the form of goods. The loss of life is unfortunate. However your settlement must be in great need at the moment.” The conversation continued on for another twenty or so minutes. Alexandria felt confident they could avoid being killed and make a good deal. If that wasn't the case then perhaps their journey was going to come to an end soon.
"Land Ho!" Tyra shouted from the crows nest. Both Alexandria and the woman jumped up moving to the bow of the ship. It was a fairly small island compared to the last settlement they visited. However from what she could see it was built up quite nicely. It wasn't a walled city and didn't compare to the size of the settlement they burned to the ground.
Alexandria let out an exasperated sigh. "Well whatever happens next it has been a fun experience. What have you decided to do?" There was a small hope she was going to help them out. Of course they had just met. What was going to be stronger? The need for supplies or avenging the deaths of friends?