Before the two of them could reach her they'd both notice that Helena was covered head to toe in what they assumed was the insides of a crawler.
"How the..." was all he'd get out before she'd begin an explanation.
"...had a little uh...run in. Don't ask. What's going on?"
Helena's quick response was enough for Fin, who was eager to get back to base, however Tyler couldn't help but question her more.
"A little run in caused that much blow-back? Seems like it was kinda big."
He'd run his fingers through his hair unconsciously as he looked over Helena's shoulder. "Where's the body?
Tyler would only take a couple steps past Helena before interference noise began to come through his radio.
"Come......hear.....Ty-"
The voice on the other end of the transmission was barely audible and he was only able to catch every other word, so Tyler would stop walking and stand in place long enough to set the radio back to the proper channel.
"Repeat that," he'd say into the receiver before starting to walk again, but this time away from the crawler carcass - which he had seemingly forgotten about in the moment. "-the channel must of been switched by accident."
One of the men from Mila's group confirmed over a brief radio conversation that they were safely back at the dirt path and that it was okay for Mila to make her way back to them, to which Tyler agreed.
"Sorry about that back there, a group a crawlers were over that hill. We think they were sleeping but I guess one of the scouts made it's way up to you, glad you had that revolver on you.
When we get back you can get out of those clothes."
Fin would suddenly begin to snicker and after a couple of seconds Tyler would drop his forehead into his hand, realizing how wrong the last bit of his statement might of sounded.
"I didn't mean it like that I just.....I was just thinking she could get a change of clothes, that's all, damn."
The two would laugh a bit before continuing through the wooded area.
After a few moments of silence the radio would again crackle, but this time the voice on the other end came through loud and clear from the start.
"Lieutenant, I'm having to head back to you guys!" Mikey said in a rather serious tone, concern clearly evident in his voice, enough to cause Tyler to once again stop in his tracks before responding.
"Why are you breaking your position? What's-"
"A Mech showed up amidst all the downed crawlers, and beside it was a boy.....a-"
"Psychic."
Ty finished his friends thought before his own thoughts drifted back to his last encounter with a young psychic.
"Get out of there as quick as you can Mikey, Mila did you catch that?"
"Yeah, i'm only a minute or two out from the dirt path - how far are you guys?"
"About five. Mikey's probably another five minutes behind us."
"Don't worry, I got my speedy shoes on now, I'll make it back to the bikes in seven - just don't leave me okay?" Mike chimed in with.
"Alright, lets cut radio communication unless an emergency arises."
"That thing isn't going to find us is it?" Fin asked somewhat nervously as they continued to make their way back to their bikes.
"What, the Mech?"
"Yeah, the mech and that Psychic, It'll find us won't it??"
Ty couldn't help but sigh, but he quickly recovered and attempted to reassure not only Fin but Helena.
"Don't worry, they're not clairvoyants in the sense that they can see what we're doing as we do it, so it won't be able to track us like a dog if that's what you're thinking. It's never a good thing to see a psychic with a Mech but if we can get back to base we should be fine. I just wonder what it's doing here....it must be looking for something."
Tyler's thoughts wandered a bit until the dirt path came into view, and Mila began to wave at them.
"Finally!" Fin let out, before jogging ahead of Tyler and Helena - his weapon almost falling off his shoulder as he ran.
"You know, you're going to owe me a bike wash and a new shirt when we get back, since i'm sure that stuff you're drenched in is gonna get all over everything." Ty joked before smiling towards Helena.
"I must admit though, you seem to be taking things pretty well."
After reaching the others Tyler would catch Mila and her group up on what they had found and Mila would do the same.
True to his word Mikey made it back to the dirt road in a little over seven minutes, and after a few remarks everyone would hop on their bikes.
"Hold on tight," Tyler said over his shoulder to Helena, earning a smart remark from Mila in regards to Helena's clothing.
"I'm sorry, but that's just gross."
The ride back to Spelling Manor was uneventful, minus a few bugs flying into a few mouths, and as they pulled up to the same area they had left from more than a hour ago they'd be met by a group of kids asking a myriad of questions - the most common of them being "ew what's she covered in?", however when Frank and a few other higher ups approached them the kids would disperse.
Mila and Tyler spent the next few minutes briefing the Commander and others on what they encountered, and Frank would take special interest in the sighting of a psychic.
"Well good job on the surveillance nevertheless, seems they're surrounding and scouting the area....which is even more reason to move base. We'll take that topic up again tomorrow morning at a group meeting, for now relax a bit until dinner."
As his father and others headed back inside Tyler would pull his shirt off and stuff part of it in his back pocket before looking over towards Helena. "I'm gonna let ya off the hook with the bike and clean that stuff off my bike myself, Mila can hook you up with a change of clothes....right?"
"Um yeah, okay, you're gonna have to take your clothes off in the downstairs bathroom though, and I can bring a change of clothes down there. I think the girls would freak if you came into our room with all that stuff on you."
Mila would beckon Helena to follow her inside, and once in the main lobby she'd point the closest bathroom out.
"I'll be right back"
"Well, we'll be out here when you're done." Tyler managed to get out before Helena and Mila had reached the front door. "Come on Mikey"
"Wait what, who said I was going to help you clean your bike??"
"Come on man, your bike looks like shit too, minus the alien sludge.....same with the rest of you. Like any of you guys have anything better to do."
After a few grunts most of the group would follow Tyler over to the side of the house to get some of the several buckets of collected rain water and then turn around and head back towards the parked ATV's and dirt bikes.
"How the..." was all he'd get out before she'd begin an explanation.
"...had a little uh...run in. Don't ask. What's going on?"
Helena's quick response was enough for Fin, who was eager to get back to base, however Tyler couldn't help but question her more.
"A little run in caused that much blow-back? Seems like it was kinda big."
He'd run his fingers through his hair unconsciously as he looked over Helena's shoulder. "Where's the body?
Tyler would only take a couple steps past Helena before interference noise began to come through his radio.
"Come......hear.....Ty-"
The voice on the other end of the transmission was barely audible and he was only able to catch every other word, so Tyler would stop walking and stand in place long enough to set the radio back to the proper channel.
"Repeat that," he'd say into the receiver before starting to walk again, but this time away from the crawler carcass - which he had seemingly forgotten about in the moment. "-the channel must of been switched by accident."
One of the men from Mila's group confirmed over a brief radio conversation that they were safely back at the dirt path and that it was okay for Mila to make her way back to them, to which Tyler agreed.
"Sorry about that back there, a group a crawlers were over that hill. We think they were sleeping but I guess one of the scouts made it's way up to you, glad you had that revolver on you.
When we get back you can get out of those clothes."
Fin would suddenly begin to snicker and after a couple of seconds Tyler would drop his forehead into his hand, realizing how wrong the last bit of his statement might of sounded.
"I didn't mean it like that I just.....I was just thinking she could get a change of clothes, that's all, damn."
The two would laugh a bit before continuing through the wooded area.
After a few moments of silence the radio would again crackle, but this time the voice on the other end came through loud and clear from the start.
"Lieutenant, I'm having to head back to you guys!" Mikey said in a rather serious tone, concern clearly evident in his voice, enough to cause Tyler to once again stop in his tracks before responding.
"Why are you breaking your position? What's-"
"A Mech showed up amidst all the downed crawlers, and beside it was a boy.....a-"
"Psychic."
Ty finished his friends thought before his own thoughts drifted back to his last encounter with a young psychic.
"Get out of there as quick as you can Mikey, Mila did you catch that?"
"Yeah, i'm only a minute or two out from the dirt path - how far are you guys?"
"About five. Mikey's probably another five minutes behind us."
"Don't worry, I got my speedy shoes on now, I'll make it back to the bikes in seven - just don't leave me okay?" Mike chimed in with.
"Alright, lets cut radio communication unless an emergency arises."
"That thing isn't going to find us is it?" Fin asked somewhat nervously as they continued to make their way back to their bikes.
"What, the Mech?"
"Yeah, the mech and that Psychic, It'll find us won't it??"
Ty couldn't help but sigh, but he quickly recovered and attempted to reassure not only Fin but Helena.
"Don't worry, they're not clairvoyants in the sense that they can see what we're doing as we do it, so it won't be able to track us like a dog if that's what you're thinking. It's never a good thing to see a psychic with a Mech but if we can get back to base we should be fine. I just wonder what it's doing here....it must be looking for something."
Tyler's thoughts wandered a bit until the dirt path came into view, and Mila began to wave at them.
"Finally!" Fin let out, before jogging ahead of Tyler and Helena - his weapon almost falling off his shoulder as he ran.
"You know, you're going to owe me a bike wash and a new shirt when we get back, since i'm sure that stuff you're drenched in is gonna get all over everything." Ty joked before smiling towards Helena.
"I must admit though, you seem to be taking things pretty well."
After reaching the others Tyler would catch Mila and her group up on what they had found and Mila would do the same.
True to his word Mikey made it back to the dirt road in a little over seven minutes, and after a few remarks everyone would hop on their bikes.
"Hold on tight," Tyler said over his shoulder to Helena, earning a smart remark from Mila in regards to Helena's clothing.
"I'm sorry, but that's just gross."
The ride back to Spelling Manor was uneventful, minus a few bugs flying into a few mouths, and as they pulled up to the same area they had left from more than a hour ago they'd be met by a group of kids asking a myriad of questions - the most common of them being "ew what's she covered in?", however when Frank and a few other higher ups approached them the kids would disperse.
Mila and Tyler spent the next few minutes briefing the Commander and others on what they encountered, and Frank would take special interest in the sighting of a psychic.
"Well good job on the surveillance nevertheless, seems they're surrounding and scouting the area....which is even more reason to move base. We'll take that topic up again tomorrow morning at a group meeting, for now relax a bit until dinner."
As his father and others headed back inside Tyler would pull his shirt off and stuff part of it in his back pocket before looking over towards Helena. "I'm gonna let ya off the hook with the bike and clean that stuff off my bike myself, Mila can hook you up with a change of clothes....right?"
"Um yeah, okay, you're gonna have to take your clothes off in the downstairs bathroom though, and I can bring a change of clothes down there. I think the girls would freak if you came into our room with all that stuff on you."
Mila would beckon Helena to follow her inside, and once in the main lobby she'd point the closest bathroom out.
"I'll be right back"
"Well, we'll be out here when you're done." Tyler managed to get out before Helena and Mila had reached the front door. "Come on Mikey"
"Wait what, who said I was going to help you clean your bike??"
"Come on man, your bike looks like shit too, minus the alien sludge.....same with the rest of you. Like any of you guys have anything better to do."
After a few grunts most of the group would follow Tyler over to the side of the house to get some of the several buckets of collected rain water and then turn around and head back towards the parked ATV's and dirt bikes.