Scavenging for parts

Shawn led the teens out of the living area down the elevator and out the main gate, he had seen some scrap piles on his way here so he decided that would be best they start there. They walked for ten minutes or so before reaching the piles of stuff.

"Okay lets see if we can find anything useful out here, stay on your guard." shawn finished walking over and going through one of the piles himself.

Lia trailed behind Shawn as he led them away from the colony, and away from safety. She didn't want to lose face, being the strong-willed, independent, "woman," she was... after all, she had managed to survive out there on her own for quite some time. Still, she thought those days of constantly looking over her shoulder and fearing for her safety were over, and this whole expedition was bringing those days back to memory in an all-too-real way.

"Look, I'm not so sure this was a good idea," she protested as Shawn began giving out instructions. "Really, I mostly wanted to just look around the hotel and the colony... maybe look for things we could use right away. We only just got there and there's a lot for us to learn," she said, crossing her arms. "And I really don't like being so far from Sebastian and Josh, in case they need us."

Her weight shifted from one foot to the next as she licked her lips nervously and looked at Zack. "Besides," she said finally to Shawn, "If we get into trouble out here, Josh would kill me were something happened to Pipsqueak here."

Zack opened his mouth to protest, but then noticed the nervous way she was shifting back and forth.

Was Lia afraid?

He didn't want to embarrass her, at least not in front of Shawn, so instead he decided to play along. Besides, as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't feeling so great about the idea of going outside the colony, and he was positive Josh would not have been okay with it. Clearing his throat, he glanced at Lia, then agreed, "Yeah, I mean, if you really think it's that dangerous out there, maybe we better wait until Josh is back on his feet good and proper. He'd lose it if Lia or me got hurt. He's kind of protective. Looking around the market or in the abandoned buildings inside the colony, where it's safer, is one thing. This, though...no way he'd b e okay with it." He nodded toward Lia. "I'm heading back. You coming?"

Shawn saw they teens were nervous, "I promise I wont let anything harm you trust me, but if you'd feel better I will take you back to the hotel and I can always come back after." he smiled and started back for the hotel.

"Come on lets get you two back."

Lia's breath released in a low, quiet hiss. She was relieved to hear Zack take her side, and even more relieved when Shawn seemed to realize how uncomfortable they both were with the situation.

"Hey, sorry," she called after him as she started to follow him back. "I didn't mean to interrupt your scavenging... I just had something different in mind when you said we'd go out," she explained, hoping they hadn't offended one of the world's last few heroes. "Do you want to maybe check out this market instead?" she suggested, barely catching herself after tripping on some rubble. The misstep sent pain shooting up her leg from her not-yet-healed feet, though she put a placid look on her face rather than having her expression betray her.

Once steadied, she glanced at Zack questioningly, making sure he was keeping up. "Unless you have other ideas, Pip?"

"Idea one...don't fall," Zack answered, moving closer to her in case she tripped again. "You okay?" he whispered, before continuing. "Idea two...maybe find Josh another sketchbook. His is almost full and he's not gonna stay down for beans if he runs out of paper."

He looked to Shawn expectantly. He wasn't too worried about offending a hero. He hadn't had any heroes but Josh since he was very small, and couldn't pretend he had. Still, he didn't want to offend the man. While he still wasn't entirely sure how far he trusted him, he did find he had a sort of respect for him. It had taken a real effort to come back and apologize the way he did, and he respected that. He didn't want to leave Shawn thinking that was for nothing now.

"Maybe some more MRE's too. The bar ones." Zack added absently. "Josh'll usually eat the plain ones, as long as there aren't any chips or coatings or things on them, even if he won't touch much else. I don't want to run out of them."

"Sure lets go check out the place out." he said happily. He hoped they might find a few interesting things there but even so close to the area where they resided shawn still kept his guard up and was aware at all times.

"maybe we can find some kind of comfy dog bed for Marta, too. And some treats maybe. I bet she'd like some treats. What do you think, Lia?" Zack continued, though he took out Josh's list, still untranslated, in case there was something on it he could grab as well. He wouldn't go there out loud, though. No point, really. Josh was particular and if one of his companions here found something they thought would work but Josh rejected it, it could offend them. Definitely not something he wanted to do if it could be helped. Not yet, anyway.