Despite their banter Tyler and the boys had kept their eyes and ears open to their surroundings. They were reaching the end of the wooded area and approaching the hill that would lead them towards an open field where they could view the city in the distance and continue surveying the area, but their procession was suddenly halted when Helena fell to her knees with a sharp cry of pain.
"Whoops." Mikey let out as Tyler swung his rifle over his shoulder and held out his hand. "Are you okay?"
He'd wait for Helena to grab his right hand before placing his left on her upper arm to help in pulling her back to her feet. "Here, sit down for a minute"
After leading the red head to a large boulder a few feet away Tyler would walk towards Mikey and the runt Fin and point over towards the hill. "Make your way to the top and make sure the area below is clear, got it?"
The two would nod and respond with "got it" before jogging over towards the hill.
"At the risk of sounding like a repetitive tool, are you okay?" Tyler asked with a slight grin as he approached her again.
She had seem fine moments earlier but the fall had him again wondering if he should of brought her with them.
Before much could be said Tyler would notice Mikey running back towards them.
"What's wrong?" he'd ask as he turned to see a shocked expression on his friends face.
"You gotta see this man, come on!" was all he'd say before pulling his friend over towards the hill where Fin was laying on his stomach, glued to the ground.
"Get down!" Mikey warned, and the two men would drop to their stomachs almost in unison before slowly crawling to the top of the hill.
"Oh damn..."
Below them in the middle of the field they needed to cross in order to continue to the next block sat at least 20 crawlers huddled together in a circle that moved ever so slightly as they each breathed, with a few others appearing to be standing guard.
"W-what are they doing?" whispered Fin.
"I don't know...sleeping?"
Seconds after the words were uttered a soft buzz would creep into his ear, followed by Mila's voice.
"Ty, come in!"
Even though the volume on the receiver in his ear was extremely low Tyler still felt the need to scurry down the hill and back over towards Helena before responding in a whisper.
"I hear you, what does it look like there?"
"Those Mechs that were suppose to be back on the main road, well they've moved to where we are now. They're stationary in the middle of the street so we can't go more than a few blocks up.
"It's like they're doing a systematic sweep of the neighborhood. It's actually kind of....brilliant." he'd mumbled more to himself than Mila as he unconsciously scratched the back of his head.
"What?"
"Never mind. Make mental notes of what you see and head back to the bike trail, we'll meet-"
Before he could finish his sentence an explosion likely caused by a Rocket Launcher would send a cloud of smoke into the air East of them where Mila and her group were located.
"Mila!?" he'd yell into his ear piece - getting no response. However there was no time to keep trying to reach her, the explosion had likely awoken the crawlers on the other side of the hill and they had to take the offense - quickly.
"Mikey take the left side of the hill, I'll be on the right, Fin - after we fire start picking off the stragglers and we'll back you up....the quicker we get this out of the way-"
Another explosion would come from the direction Mila and company had taken off in - followed by gunfire.
"go go go!" he'd shout to Fin and Mikey before looking back at Helena for a brief second. "Stay back here where it's safe!"
By the time he took his position on the right side of the hill the crawlers were almost all awake, but still in close proximity with one another - clearly distressed....something Tyler was ready to take advantage of.
After giving the signal him and Mikey would fire their Rocket Launcher's in unison - instantly killing 80% of the Scum below and leaving the few still alive with a clear idea of where they were.
Fin would miss a few times before landing multiple hits to the top of a crawlers head, and in a matter of 60 seconds Mikey and Tyler would take out the few stragglers remaining - bringing all movement at the bottom of the hill to a stand still.
"Yeahhhhhh! That's what I'm talking about" his friend yelled out as he pumped his automatic rifle into the air. Tyler on the other hand wasn't concerned with celebration and would quickly stand to try and reach Mila again.
After a minute or so, which felt like an eternity, one of the men with Mila would radio in;
"A Mech must of heard us, it left its position and began to approach the house we were hiding in - we were left with no choice, we had to fire sir....they've retreated further up the road so we're backtracking to the dirt path now. Mila stayed behind to make sure we weren't followed, she said to radio when we're all back on the dirt road."
"Dammit Mila..." Tyler spat, before picking up his Rocket Launcher from the ground and swinging it over his shoulder.
"We don't have any survivors down there man, no need for any of us to stay behind - right?" Mikey asked, but the expression on Tylers face caused Mikey to sit back down and grunt.
"Lemme guess, it's gonna be me, right?"
"Well I was gonna suggest it be me but since you volunteered..."
The two would exchange quick smirks before Fin and Tyler headed down the hill.
"If more crawlers appear observe their movements, and if you think they're onto our trail radio in. You're only to fire if you're in direct danger, and I'll let you know when we've reached the trail and you can head back towards us, okay?" Tyler called out to his friend who nodded and gave him a thumbs up in response.
"Come on Red we've gotta head back to the bikes, fast." Tyler said in Helena's direction, offhandedly calling her "Red" as he and Fin approached the area they had left her at.
"Whoops." Mikey let out as Tyler swung his rifle over his shoulder and held out his hand. "Are you okay?"
He'd wait for Helena to grab his right hand before placing his left on her upper arm to help in pulling her back to her feet. "Here, sit down for a minute"
After leading the red head to a large boulder a few feet away Tyler would walk towards Mikey and the runt Fin and point over towards the hill. "Make your way to the top and make sure the area below is clear, got it?"
The two would nod and respond with "got it" before jogging over towards the hill.
"At the risk of sounding like a repetitive tool, are you okay?" Tyler asked with a slight grin as he approached her again.
She had seem fine moments earlier but the fall had him again wondering if he should of brought her with them.
Before much could be said Tyler would notice Mikey running back towards them.
"What's wrong?" he'd ask as he turned to see a shocked expression on his friends face.
"You gotta see this man, come on!" was all he'd say before pulling his friend over towards the hill where Fin was laying on his stomach, glued to the ground.
"Get down!" Mikey warned, and the two men would drop to their stomachs almost in unison before slowly crawling to the top of the hill.
"Oh damn..."
Below them in the middle of the field they needed to cross in order to continue to the next block sat at least 20 crawlers huddled together in a circle that moved ever so slightly as they each breathed, with a few others appearing to be standing guard.
"W-what are they doing?" whispered Fin.
"I don't know...sleeping?"
Seconds after the words were uttered a soft buzz would creep into his ear, followed by Mila's voice.
"Ty, come in!"
Even though the volume on the receiver in his ear was extremely low Tyler still felt the need to scurry down the hill and back over towards Helena before responding in a whisper.
"I hear you, what does it look like there?"
"Those Mechs that were suppose to be back on the main road, well they've moved to where we are now. They're stationary in the middle of the street so we can't go more than a few blocks up.
"It's like they're doing a systematic sweep of the neighborhood. It's actually kind of....brilliant." he'd mumbled more to himself than Mila as he unconsciously scratched the back of his head.
"What?"
"Never mind. Make mental notes of what you see and head back to the bike trail, we'll meet-"
Before he could finish his sentence an explosion likely caused by a Rocket Launcher would send a cloud of smoke into the air East of them where Mila and her group were located.
"Mila!?" he'd yell into his ear piece - getting no response. However there was no time to keep trying to reach her, the explosion had likely awoken the crawlers on the other side of the hill and they had to take the offense - quickly.
"Mikey take the left side of the hill, I'll be on the right, Fin - after we fire start picking off the stragglers and we'll back you up....the quicker we get this out of the way-"
Another explosion would come from the direction Mila and company had taken off in - followed by gunfire.
"go go go!" he'd shout to Fin and Mikey before looking back at Helena for a brief second. "Stay back here where it's safe!"
By the time he took his position on the right side of the hill the crawlers were almost all awake, but still in close proximity with one another - clearly distressed....something Tyler was ready to take advantage of.
After giving the signal him and Mikey would fire their Rocket Launcher's in unison - instantly killing 80% of the Scum below and leaving the few still alive with a clear idea of where they were.
Fin would miss a few times before landing multiple hits to the top of a crawlers head, and in a matter of 60 seconds Mikey and Tyler would take out the few stragglers remaining - bringing all movement at the bottom of the hill to a stand still.
"Yeahhhhhh! That's what I'm talking about" his friend yelled out as he pumped his automatic rifle into the air. Tyler on the other hand wasn't concerned with celebration and would quickly stand to try and reach Mila again.
After a minute or so, which felt like an eternity, one of the men with Mila would radio in;
"A Mech must of heard us, it left its position and began to approach the house we were hiding in - we were left with no choice, we had to fire sir....they've retreated further up the road so we're backtracking to the dirt path now. Mila stayed behind to make sure we weren't followed, she said to radio when we're all back on the dirt road."
"Dammit Mila..." Tyler spat, before picking up his Rocket Launcher from the ground and swinging it over his shoulder.
"We don't have any survivors down there man, no need for any of us to stay behind - right?" Mikey asked, but the expression on Tylers face caused Mikey to sit back down and grunt.
"Lemme guess, it's gonna be me, right?"
"Well I was gonna suggest it be me but since you volunteered..."
The two would exchange quick smirks before Fin and Tyler headed down the hill.
"If more crawlers appear observe their movements, and if you think they're onto our trail radio in. You're only to fire if you're in direct danger, and I'll let you know when we've reached the trail and you can head back towards us, okay?" Tyler called out to his friend who nodded and gave him a thumbs up in response.
"Come on Red we've gotta head back to the bikes, fast." Tyler said in Helena's direction, offhandedly calling her "Red" as he and Fin approached the area they had left her at.