Need for Fuel
"Ready?"
"Woof!" Bill stepped on the accelerator, while Zed anticipated for the RV to move. The vehicle didn't move leaving the two in a stasis.
"..."
So was it the accelerator first or the key? Zed pondered. He really didn't know, but he could vaguely remember it was either. "Back off, dog, I'd try the key first." Zed saw ahead from the window the empty highway where the RV could just zoom off and go away. They were very lucky indeed, especially if they'd managed to operate the RV.
The black-furred quadruped tried to twist the key, but t noa vail, the vehicle just wouldn't jumpstart. The vehicle kept crying as he twisted the key, and soon...
THUMP! BUMP!
Soon... the vehicle attracted the attention of the undead from the outside. Zed went down and hid from the windows. He'd have to lie low for the meanwhile so that the undead would leave and lose interest in their vehicle.
"What was the problem?"
"Leave. Outside?" Bill suggested impatiently.
Zed frowned at the stupidity of his suggestion. "No. It took luck for you to safely escape that. This place was better. Be duly reminded that there was a mutated zombie outside. Seemed to be the athletic type who could run and jump. You were lucky it wasn't the running type that could open doors and climb to places.
Bill was miffed and for a good reason too. Besides the cat implicitly suggesting he was a burden, he was worried as he had family waiting outside, and he wouldn't calm down unless he confirmed that they were safe. "Family... outside..."
"That complicated things." Now, Zed was beginning to regret his impulse on the moment decision. This seemed to be more hassle than he realized, and it would certainly hamper his goals. "I would not save them for you..."
The dog whimpered, expressing his emotion. Bill looked at the door and hesitated.
"Hmmm..." Zed contemplated what was the problem with the RV. He realized then that it might lack fuel. "Tsk, I would not be able to siphon any fuel..."
Bill's ears perked up at the mention of fuel. "Family. Freind. Bipedal!"
It took Zed some time to understand what was Bill trying to tell him through his caveman's voice.
"Help. Siphon!" Bill added.
Zed had a look of enlightenment. It would be so much easier if he could continue his travels through a functioning RV. He would not shy about walking, but he could get impatient too. One time he was north, and he jumped to the rapids to take a shortcut miles away... and it worked.
The undead were a hungry bunch., they'd eat any moving creature, and mutate in their own ways. There was a time when Zed had been ripped to shreds by navigating a much larger herd compared to the one outside. He thought hard of a method to rescue the dog's family and while at it, conduct a supply run for some fuel.
"Find a hose to siphon the gas with, and also look for a container," Zed ordered, and they began sleuthing around.
For a cat, Zed was quite an experienced individual. He knew about cars, keys, and all sorts of vehicles before the Fall. The reason he knew about fuel was his passing reading of all kinds of books before he set off in his yacht... that aside, a yacht should not be so different from a land vehicle.
"Container!" Bill shouted expectantly as he bumped a red gas container with his snout and revealed it to Zed.
"Good," Zed hurled the hose hidden from a compartment above the vehicle.
The hose landed with a thump just beside the container of gasoline. The black-furred cat then descended on his four legs with a rope on his mouth. The rope was not so thick that it would be a hassle to drag around. And it was not so thin that it would easily break. Zed proceeded to tie the rope at the handle of the container with little difficulty... still difficult, but manageable.
"Oooh..." Bill expressed his surprise at the unusual skill of a fellow quadruped at tying things despite lacking the necessary fingers. "How'd you that?" He asked in broken English.
"Practice," Zed replied as he tied the hose with it. "Your bipedal friend should be able to easily take the hose and siphon things with it..."
"Let's go!" Bill was eager to go.
But.
"We wait," Zed decided as he saw the sun setting down from the window, little light beginning to fade. "We could not go at night. We might have better vision than most undead during the night, but mutated variants would gain an increase in strength during this time... We had confirmed one, and even if it was alone, it would be dangerous."
Bill had a look of enlightenment and reluctance. This was the first time he had heard this about the behavior of a mutated undead, but it made sense as he recalled the number of times his community had a run-in with such a mutant only to be barely able to escape. It was only one time they had encountered a mutated undead at night, and their community was lucky to have survived this long. Another reason for his reaction, for his reluctance, was that he and his compatriots had been roaming the night a lot, and they had a knack for finding success in such venture.
"Sleep," Zed ordered as he lay on his belly to get a shut eye.
*****
Bill could hardly sleep as he was worried for his community, and his family. The pups, kittens, cubs, and Lari should be fine since they were hidden in the protection of metal, but the others would need a bit of luck. Though trees were a safe shelter, it was not so safe against the mutated undead who could jump and run.
"You'd need your strength tomorrow, Bill, so sleep! Sleep!" He told himself in his local tongue as if to convince his body to sleep. And with difficulty, an hour later, he fell asleep. When he opened his eyes, he was still in the RV, but the cat had already awakened for some time already.
"Before we go, we'd need to make a plan, ya hear me?"
Billy nodded aware of how capable the cat was. He saw this same cat run up from one cargo rooftop to a bus rooftop with ease, not to mention his stunt of tussling with the undead and toying with them without getting injured. And then Bill was reminded of that one time when the cat was wounded but healed so quickly as if it hadn't happened. At that time, Bill understood that this 'Zed' possessed supernatural abilities that would be a great help for their survival!
"Drag the container. You'd go on your own way after I distract the herd. I would be on the bus rooftop with this..." Zed dragged a 'device' and secured it to his belly by tying the wires to himself. He clicked something in it, and the device began to sing.
'We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I---'
Zed clicked it once more, and the music stopped.
Bill was amazed a second time at the cat's familiarity with the Lost Race's technology. "What was that?"
"It was a walkpod," Zed answered, and didn't care to explain as he really would not know exactly what to say more about it except being able to play music. "Ready?"
Bill nodded.
The cat stood before the door, and then Bill pushed it with all of his weight. The cat zoomed off with the music already playing. Bill closed the door back with haste. He heard the song from behind the door quickly fade away. He waited and internally counted for 10 seconds.
'10, 9, 8...'
Bill began feeling worried for the cat. He would not know about supernatural abilities as this was actually the first time he saw one.
'7, 6...'
Supernatural abilities were a very rare thing in that it would take several generations for them to manifest. It did manifest in their community once according to the former leader, and at that time, the community began a time of prosperity with their own Champion at the helm, however, it would not last for eternity as time was an enemy to all lifeform...
'5, 4... 3...'
Still, they did experience a time of prosperity, and that was all that mattered, so with a hopeful heart and a little bit of self-wish fulfillment, he wanted 'Zed' to join their family.
'2, 1, and 0...'
Bill finished counting. He knew counting but he only knew one to ten, but that was trivial. The more important this was that he'd better not screw up. He smashed the door open, and it slid off to his right. He ran forward with the gas container in his snout. "Lari! Wait for me!"