Predator must have been an excellent navigator because the map appeared to her to be only a tangle of symbols and topographical lines, but after a few minutes of zooming in and out on a few ares, he tapped a place half a continent south of them and said, "That's home is where the heart is."
"Please let there be a vehicle on this ship," she said as she marked it appropriately with a red X. As the two of them leaned over the board table, overlaying maps of human settlements and known xenomorph hotspots, Teague recognized the enormity of the task ahead and also realized that while she didn't want to do this alone, she was also almost certainly incapable of doing it alone. She and Predator agreed that they should cross back over the mountains, even though that route brought them uncomfortably close to Pod A. This side of the mountain was all xenomorph territory, though they were currently too far north to have too much trouble. Marine territory would have more supplies for them to pillage and no active hives. As long as they dodged major bases and skirted the mountains, hopefully they could avoid the worst of both species.
Predator took to the map immediately, pointing out a pass through the mountain range that Teague had been searching for for five minutes and grasping the limitations of each type of terrain their route passed through. Fuel and vehicles were part of the appeal for staying on the human-inhabited side of the range. If they were lucky, they could maybe even find a transport airship that could take them all the way to Predator's clan. They both agreed to be cautious, though, and not approach human civilization lightly. Teague suspected Predator shared her apprehensions about being recaptured. The more she thought about it, the more she believed that cut on his belly had been there when she freed him, and she just hadn't noticed til he tore his stitches in the elevator shaft and started bleeding. She wondered if his surgeries had been similar to her own.
When they had mapped out a route, Teague led the way to the cargo bay. Though she had never explored this particular model of ship, it was very similar to some she had read up on, and so far everything was where she expected to find it. Predator followed her silently, still studying the maps on the handheld. In the big garage, Teague found a better payload than she had expected. There was a mine rover, made for rough terrain and designed to push through cave-ins. Big and slow and loud, it would get them through the mountains.
Hanging from the wall by the door was an inventory sheet, and Teague booted it up as Predator wrestled the heavy oil drums into their notches along the tank's side. She skimmed through the list of useless mining supplies til she came to the rations and sought them out among the rows of crates. Now that the popcorn ration had settled into her stomach some, Teague wanted more, and she managed a few bites of strawberry flavor before dragging the crate back to the mine rover.
The mine rover was not intended for extended use, and Teague could see that living out of the cramped, musty space for a week would not be fun. She briefly reconsidered hiking the mountains, but this would be much faster, and fortunately Teague had never been claustrophobic.
Teague took up her inventory sheet again and began searching for two things. She learned that there were no shoes in the cargo bay and her feet were getting cold and sore. Teague would have to hope one of the passengers had left shoes behind in her size. Somewhere in the bay, however, was a crate of classy pulse rifles, and another of ammunition.
She navigated the crates and found the pair she sought. The gun crate popped open easily enough. The brand new rifles were the finest shade of cool grey, glinting dully in the glare of the sulfur lights. She could see the electrical component on the side, nice and simple to prevent jamming and malfunctions. It was a comforting weight when she lifted the sturdy strap up over her head and let it hang from her shoulder. The whole set up was water tight and nearly indestructible It fit comfortably hanging from her back, ready to swing around and right into her arms.
But it wasn't loaded. She turned to the second crate and began to pry. This one stuck, and she was just getting frustrated when she heard a quiet snort behind her and turned to see Predator standing there. He was so tall that it was like finding a wall had been built a couple of feet behind her without her knowledge. "Sweet Jesus. Don't sneak up on me like that," she said, and took a quick step back. He looked at her for a moment and growled low, then moved forward and wrapped his claws around the ammo crate. He jerked the lid off and tossed it to the floor as Teague reflected that Predator could kill her a thousand times over if he was truly of a mind. "Do you want one of these guns? They're state of the art."
Predator shook his head and tapped his wrist band once. On one broad, armored shoulder a small metal device popped up with a soft mechanical click and hum. It was a little shorter than her forearm and it swiveled on its stalk, up, down, and side to side, as though looking for something. After a moment it stopped searching and looked right at her, which spooked her more than its moving around. The thing reminded her of an animal sitting on his shoulder, the way it moved independently while he kept facing her. Teague didn't need to be told that it was probably a very impressive piece of destructive technology. "I'll stick to my pulse rifle," she muttered, gripping the strap possessively where it crossed her chest.