Heracles counted his footsteps as they hit the ground, and after every hundred or so, he would look back to see if his companions were behind him. They all were dead quiet, which really was of no surprise. They weren't really a "team", as Antonio put it, they were more or less a group of people solely traveling together for safety in numbers. They had never talked much, other than to discuss where to travel next, and if food or water was getting low. Which by the looks of it, Heracles noted as he looked back once again, the silence was adversely affecting Romano.

"...So how far is it to Ridgeton?" Romano asked, breaking the peacefulness.

"Dunno." Heracles replied, not bothering to look back.

"Dunno…?! I thought you said you knew!"

"I told you- I know how to get to Kenosha, and that Ridgeton is nearby Kenosha. How near in terms of walking, i'm not sure. Once we get into Kenosha we can ask for directions." Heracles replied. Seconds later, he heard all footsteps except his slowly stop- one after another. He turned around to see what the hold up was, and was faced with an angered Romano, along with the rest of his "team" looking at Romano. Antonio glanced at Heracles, shrugging.

"By going to another city first, we're wasting time!"

Heracles was starting to get a bit annoyed. "Wasting time? And you weren't wasting time by laying on the ground, slowly starving yourself?"

"Resting! I was resting!"

"If Antonio had been staying in the group like he was supposed to, you would be dead right now."

That seemed to shut Romano up, as he started stuttering a bit, most likely looking for a good comeback, but completely failing at finding one.

"Ah- please don't bicker…!" Kiki came out from behind Tino and Antonio, where she had been hiding for most of the argument. "We may not make it to Ridgeton as quick as you would like, but we'll get there, I assure you."

Romano gave her an unsure look. "But my fam-"

"Speeding up and tiring ourselves out won't help them much. Besides, I'm sure they are

well in a shelter or some sort of safe facility. They'll be fine, ok?"

Romano looked at her hesitantly, then nodded. "Yeah… I guess."

Kiki smiled kindly, and turned toward the rest of the group. "I propose that we all rest for a while. We've been walking for a long time, and I think some rest could do us all some good."

Antonio raised his fist into the air. "Hear, hear!"

Heracles approached Kiki, and sat down next to her, lowering his voice so everyone else would be sure not to hear. "You don't really believe that, do you? All that stuff you said earlier about Romano's family…"

Kiki was silent for a few seconds, before shaking her head in speaking up. "I want to believe it, I really do. But there can be no way that his family is alive. They were caught dead in the blast- I'm not even sure how Romano survived. But regardless, slowing down is going to do us good- both physically and mentally.. Besides, quick arrival time will do little to help radiation fried corpses, and the longer we can hold off on Romano learning the truth, the better…"

Heracles nodded in agreement, and yawned. "Hey, thanks for requesting the rest time. It's been a while since I've had a good nap."

"It's no problem whatsoever. Pleasant dreams, Heracles."

Heracles got up, and found a decent sized rock. He propped his head up against it, and eventually drifted off.