The Steed

Day 32nd.

Distance to Target: 1675 km.

Morale: Low.

Four days has passed since then. Captain was even more anxious than usual now when facing against his enemies. Especially after that horrific reveal, he felt his humanity slipping away more and more with each confrontation. The other members weren’t fine either, but they didn’t let it get to them in their battles. ‘I can’t deal with any more of this bullshit,’ he told himself. ‘Laplace, just how far are you willing to take to break us?!’ he cried in agony. His thoughts were then disrupted by a loud thud. He turned his head to see Fender lying down with his face planted on the ground.

“I can’t take this anymore!” Fender yelled in anguish. “We’ve walked nonstop for days now and my feet are killing me! If I take another step, my bones will really break! And the nonstop appearances of enemies have sucked me dry! I’ve never felt this fatigued since my first time in an o***!” Jian placed his hands over Suzuran’s ears just in time to protect her from Fender’s impure words.

“Geez, stop it with your whining already!” snapped Data. “Maybe you’d feel more at peace with a permanent rest. I’ll be glad to give it to you.”

“If you’re going to give me anything, I’d rather you give me your—,” began Fender snarkily.

Data took out her laser-pistol and bent down in front of Fender with the weapon pointed against his head. “My what?” she asked him darkly.

“Y-Y-Your grace and forgiveness?” quickly answered Fender.

“Once a fool, always a fool,” said Jian in a philosophical manner.

Captain wore a small smile. This entire scene helped to push away those dark thoughts in his head and he returned back to his usual self. Suzuran reached into her backpack and pulled out a beautiful dainty white flower. “Freesia,” she said as she handed it to Captain.

He accepted her gift with a smile. “Thank you, Suzuran.”

Suzuran felt her breath stop a bit and her cheeks turned a deep shade of red. “D-Daffodil,” she squeaked bashfully.

The party continued forward. The sun was beating down on them even harder than before. At its peak in the sky, the sun was more like an unforgiving enemy than a bright symbol of hope that signaled a brand new day. With their days getting shorter and shorter, the sun’s status as an enemy was more or less set in stone.

But the heat that it emitted was an enemy in-of itself. It forced its searing flames onto the vulnerable skins of the party members. Despite being hardened through battle, receiving bruises and scratches and wounds, their dermal armor was still sensitive enough to be damaged by the burning heat.

Fender was at his limit once again and fell flat on his face. He was sweating and breathing hard. Captain and the others stopped to help him. Jian turned Fender over and the latter’s body went a little limp in the former’s arms. Fender was sweating and breathing heavily as if he was about to draw his last breath at any moment; and his skin was red like hot coals over a fire.

Data got a little close and could feel a great deal of heat emanating from his body. She could tell what was wrong. “Heatstroke,” she said. She turned to Captain and added, “We need to give him some fluids.”

Suzuran quickly took off her backpack and rummaged through it for a bottle of water. She panicked when it was apparent that there wasn’t any left in the backpack. If they were to get any, it would have to wait until they reach an abandoned town along the way. That had been the way they had survived this entire time: collecting water and food from abandoned cities and towns that they come across while on their journey. However, it’s been two days since they left the most recent city. She looked up at Captain with a face on the verge of tears.

“Let’s look for a source of water,” Captain told the others. Jian and Data nodded in confirmation and the three of them split up to search for water. Suzuran, meanwhile, was left to watch over Fender. She had taken out a fan from her backpack and was fanning Fender to try to cool him down.

The other three did their best to search for water in this barren landscape. However, all that they could see before them was broken earth and rubble. Still, they did their best for the sake their friend.

Jian came to what he surmised used to be an auto shop in the city outskirts. He saw pieces of rubber, dried and brittle, mixed into the earth, and scrap metal caked in dirt and sand scattered on the ground. Besides small dried puddles of what he believed was gasoline, there was no sign of water at all.

Data came upon the remnants of a restaurant—the splintered chairs and tables suggested as much. The earth had swallowed up much of the kitchen with only the stovetop still intact above ground. She walked into the kitchen and scanned it. She found a handle jutting up from the ground that she believed belonged to the refrigerator. When she grabbed it, the handle snapped off like a twig.

Captain had made his way a little farther than the others and could see the broken pieces of a road scattered before him. He continued forward and saw something that immediately caught his eye. The sight made him run at full speed towards the object with heavy anticipation. Once he came to it, he reached his hand out to make sure that it was indeed real and not some illusion. Excitement welled up inside of him and he quickly called out to the others: “Guys! Look what I’ve found!”

Data and Jian quickly rushed over and was dumbfounded upon seeing what it was that made their leader so excited. “A 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado,” breathed Data with a wide smile.

The Toyota Land Cruiser Prado that they had chanced upon appeared to still be intact. The vehicle’s dark red paint had small dents and scratches but nothing too extreme; the headlights were a little cracked but otherwise functional; the tires didn’t look deflated at all and only had small clumps of dirt caked to its treads; the windshield and windows weren’t broken or scratched, only dirty with streaks of dirt, mud, and sand. Overall, the vehicle appeared to still be functional on the outside.

Data walked over to the fuel tank and opened it. She could smell gasoline. “It still has gas,” she told the guys, closing the tank.

Captain grabbed onto the driver seat door handle and it opened. Inside, the key was still in the ignition. “The previous owner must’ve abandoned this car in a hurry,” he concluded. He climbed in and turned the key. Suddenly, the car roared to life and the headlights came on. “It still works!” announced Captain excitedly.

A few minutes later, they brought Suzuran and Fender over to the car. Jian placed Fender in the car and Captain turned on the A/C. The cool air provided Fender with some relief and he smiled. When Captain checked the control box, he found two bottles of water inside. He handed one to Suzuran and, with Jian’s help, she fed it to Fender. After emptying a little more than half the bottle, Fender’s health slowly returned back to normal. “W-Where am I?” asked Fender.

“You don’t have to worry about walking anymore,” Captain told him. “Now, you can just lean back and rest while we continue our journey.”

“Hooray,” said Fender with a small smile. He then closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Data and Jian were only the ones who had driving experience, and so it was decided that they would drive and switch off when the other needs to rest. Suzuran sat in the back with Fender, still incapacitated, and Captain. They promptly resumed their quest and drove through the barren land.

The car really helped to make their journey more comfortable and tolerable. It’s been so long since they felt this comfortable ever since they began their quest. Furthermore, it looked like the chances of them completing their quest was all but certain at this point. Their morale was now at an all-time high.

“We must be really lucky to have found this blessing in disguise in the middle of nowhere,” said Data with a laugh.

“Truly a gift from heaven,” agreed Jian with a content smile.

That night, the party forgot all about the pain of their past travels. Instead, they rebuilt the confidence and calm that they had nearly lost on this quest and turned their attention forward towards the future. A new chapter for them was beginning.