Christine watched as the black woman - Georgia - removed the corpse's boots and started undressing him. Only once before did she have to fiddle around with a dead body before and even though she wouldn't have had any issues with getting what she needed from this one, she felt a faint sense of relief watching somebody else do it.
"Thank you, Georgia."
That was when Joe walked up to her. She had made him out from the corner of her eye but he had been coming up to her from her right and the truth was that she had only barely heard his footsteps until he was basically right next to her - it scared and angered her how vulnerable it made her feel, even in a situation where she should have been as much at ease as you could be after escaping from a cryochamber and a burning wreckage.
But his intentions weren't hostile and she listened, facing him, and then nodded slowly.
"You're not wrong... but no."
Remaining silent for a moment, Christine looked around, giving each member of their little group a once-over. Who except me knows how to survive out here? Looks could be deceiving but her knowledge about them was limited - Other than Ristachev and the Beast, none of them looked familiar - and if she had to go by looks, none of them seemed particularly confident right now; they seemed to be waiting for somebody to take the first step and lead them to their destination. The only one who didn't seem the least bit on edge, who, in fact, looked pretty damn smug, was the Maori, and why wouldn't he be? He had survived in the wilderness for years, if the reports were true, and that took more than just eating a person or a dozen.
But Joe was still standing right next to her, a hint of confussion on his face.
"See, when the Apox came crashing through the atmosphere, that must have scared the shit out of every living thing within... 20, 30, maybe 50 miles of here. 30 miles, that's a day's walk if you're in good shape, so with wounded such as yourself, I wouldn't count on making that in less than two days. And even if we found a deer or a rabbit, the only thing we've got to hunt right now is this."
She held up the hand with the gun.
"Our best bet today would be berries and leaves but if you don't know what's edible and what isn't, that can be unpleasant or downright dangerous. And if you don't know how to navigate and find out which way you're facing, getting lost is easier than you think."
She bit her lower lip, pondering what she should say next. So far, admittedly, she must have come across as a bit bitchy, laying down the law with them, maybe unnecessarily so, although in her opinion it had to be said at least once. She didn't want to be too friendly with everybody, especially not until she knew who was trustworthy and who wasn't, but maybe it was time to show that she had a little more to offer than shooting and talking.
Raising her voice a little bit, she made sure that everybody could hear her next words, if they hadn't already been listening.
"Tell you what, once we've reached Elmina's cryochamber, I'll teach 'Woodland Navigation 101' and when it's time to go out, I'll go with some people and see what's edible in this part of the world. Honestly though, I'm a lot more worried about the water situation."
Before she could elaborate, though, Ristachev seemed to come to from spacing out. Christine hadn't even noticed him toppling over while she had been busy. Maybe his injury was worse than she thought. She approached him quickly and helped him on his feet.
"We're free, apparently, we're leaving the Apox and you have definitely seen better days."
Nobody seemed to be to keen on helping the man walk and the old man who had been his support before was now busy with the corpse. Looks like I'm gonna be sentry and nurse today.
"Georgia, don't forget the boots."
She kicked the boots at her feet back in her general direction, careful not to hit anybody with it.
"Let's go."
And with that, the Russian president's arm around her shoulder, she walked north, hoping that Elmina would come back with some good news, bags full of food and, perhaps most importantly, something to hold water.