Conker SVT

by Beta Galaxy

Silence hit the town as it burned into a pile of ash and soot. Tez looked out into the horizon as 200 years of peace became a mere figment of his imagination. Follow one Tedi and his friends through a journey of survival as the world around them falls apart.

2. Ch 2 Survival

-CHAPTER 2 : SURVIVAL-

BANG! A sound that could rival the decibel level of a shotgun pierced through the air. It crackled and splintered as wood was thrown through the air, crashing to the bedroom floor. The door to the bedroom that Tez and Kira were sleeping in broke into pieces as the door latch broke away from the door frame. The door slammed into the wall, near the bathroom entrance, punching the knob through and causing another unnerving sound. Tez yelled as he found himself startled and suddenly awoken, scrambling in the bed. Bed sheets flew into the air as he kicked his feet, scrambling them amongst the bed.

"Shit, Shit!"

Kira found herself frozen in place, with about half the covers hiding her. It wasn't long though before she relaxed, but for Tez, it was a different story. In Tez's frantic scramble, he soon found the edge of the bed and fell off the side, uttering one last word before slamming into the floor.

"Fuck!"

He went down backwards, causing his feet to be the last thing in the air. On his way to the ground, he had managed to get tangled in the bed sheets, taking them all with him. He hit with the back of his head first, following with his spine and back. He then turned and lay on the ground with the side of his face in the floor. The only thing Kira had now was some of the under sheets that were on the bed, which now covered the lower half of her body. Once she had seen who was at the door, she proceeded to prop herself up onto her left forearm. She looked up to where the debris was, and awaited the arrival of the infiltrator. A tall figure stood in the doorway. The figure was thin, and cast a long shadow behind it. The light was low, but features could be seen with the light provided from the cracks in the blinds. A Tedi stood a few feet in front of the door, right where the slight hallway ended, and appeared to be male.

"Kira!" there was a pause. "Uh… Where's Tez?"

Kira glanced around for a moment before sitting up in bed and looking behind her. "Uh… about that…" she said.

Tez was rising up from the ground, grasping his head, with half of the blankets and covers falling off of him. His eyes were closed and he ended up facing away from the front door.

"Oh Tez… DUDE! Can you not puss out every 5 seconds? God!" The voice seemed sarcastic and playful.

With the dizziness finally fading, and his head still throbbing, Tez finally turned around. He was not amused by the person's actions, despite the fact they were just messing with him. A frustrated look came upon his face, as he noticed who was standing at the door. It was Koda. He was a taller Tedi with a lankier look about him, standing about 8 inches taller than Tez. He also had a strap like him, but seemed to hold a long and cylindrical canister to his back, about 3 inches in diameter. By this time, Tez seemed infuriated and began briskly walking angrily towards him.

"What the HELL do you think you are doing!" He stopped as he got to the hallway where the door had been and where Koda was standing. He looked frantically at the destroyed door and hole in the wall where the door knob had punctured through, making gestures towards them as he ranted. "Wha!" He said while grabbing his head, pulling on his ears in his stress. Koda tried to tell him something, but was profoundly interrupted.

"How the heck am I supposed to get this door fixed! And look at the wall! I don't have the money to fix this! Dude, you're fixing this, 'cause there is NO-HO way in hell that I'm fixing it."

"Tez, CALM DOWN! The LAST thing you wanna think about right now is your door." Said Koda with authority and while pointing at the debris. Something was weird about him today. Tez could see it in his eyes, which seemed worried and serious.

"Wait… What?" he said, shivering his head slightly in confusion.

"Dude, it's all over the news, they just hit 3 cities with CJSF104 bombs. They targeted 4 government buildings. It's wiped out 2/3s of the government officials, including the HLN. It's not safe here anymore and we need to get out and head eastward."

By now, the anger had turned into an immense amount of shock as Tez stood in disbelief. At the mention of the CJSF104 bombs, his face went from severely irked to great shock, widening his eyes. His brain tried to process it all, but all he could do was clench his fists and look silently at the ground. His eyes moved back and forth as if he was looking across the floor, but was mostly in the result of his thinking.

"CJ what bombs?" asked Kira, intrigued and confused by the news. She was now sitting up on the bed on her legs and feet. "Who hit who!"

"CJSF104 bombs." explained Koda, who was leaning over slightly to see over Tez's shoulder and talk to Kira eye to eye. "They're "Chemically Joined, Sarin Fragmentation Bombs", size 104... Well.. It's the size code for one big ass bomb. War was just declared on the small S.H.C. settlement to the north, and civilians have already started attacking and rioting against the S.H.C. citizens. It appears from the news that the S.H.C. bombed our government buildings."

By this time, Tez had flicked on the television on to the news and saw image upon image of what was left of the cities. The cities of Mayburg, Blainestead, Rivers Peak, and Ashport had all been hit with the sarin explosives. The S.H.C. had done the unthinkable, and he started to fill with hatred. He slowly walked out of the room and into the hallway just outside while Koda kept talking.

"They deny it all of course. I just don't know why they would take on an empire so much larger in size than theirs."

Tez again walked back into the room, with a very stressed out look on his face, he was once again grabbing his head with both hands.

"They attacked us with CJSF Bombs!"

Kira hopped down out of the bed, walked over to Tez, and tried to comfort him. He half heartedly realized this, keeping a concentrated stare at the floor. He soon looked up at Koda, and took a deep breath. He calmly spoke.

"So… what do we do now?"

"Well, the plan is to head eastward, towards the safe houses and underground buildings and see how it pans out. There's a military base that should provide supplies and protection. Tez, we need to move, and we need to move now. I didn't bust down your door without reason."

"Ok… Let me and Kira get ready, and then we'll head out." Tez went to the closet and threw on a shirt and, having slept in his cargo pants the night before, decided to not bother putting on new ones. He threw on his boots and tied them in an odd fashion. He then looked up and around the room. He began to spot things, and began to hand out orders as soon as Kira had gotten fully dressed. "Uh… let's grab some stuff real quick before we leave. Kira, grab the sheets. Koda, go into the bathroom and grab the hair dryer and coffee pot." Kira walked over to the bed sheets and grabbed them off the ground, but Koda looked confused.

"What? Why?"

"Because, we might need them later. Oh yea, and grab the shower curtain too. I'll grab my bags and head out first to open the door for you guys."

"Okayyy…" Koda said as he walked to the bathroom. "Tez, next time. Try not to smoke so much crack right before the next terrorist attack, Okay?"

Tez ignored Koda's remark. He knew exactly what he was doing. He grabbed his smaller pack, which lay against the wall next to the big one. He threw the pack's strap over his left shoulder and back, sliding the pouch down to his right side next to his hip. He then began to pack down his big pack with clothes, and various toiletries, including toothpaste, from his closet. He then picked up the big pack and slung it over in the same fashion, only this time the pack lay against his back.

"Tez, when we get to the Jeep, where do you want me to put the sheets?" asked Kira, now heading towards the foot of the bed. She had an armful of sheets, which she struggled to see above.

"When we get out there, you and Koda get in the back; you can throw those behind the seats. Tell Koda to throw the hair dryer, shower curtains, and coffee pot into the trunk too when we get outside"

"I'm right here dude." said Koda, popping in behind him. In his arms were the supplies he was told to get from the bathroom, with the shower curtain wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

"Oh, well.." He paused as he saw the shower curtain turned scarf. "Okaay then… Uh.. let's go. I'll head out first. Koda… Watch our six." he walked out of the doorway. Cold air hit him once he broke the doorway's plane. Something was oddly strange. It was dead quiet. Once again, he was hit with an acute realization. He paused just outside of the doorway, and looked down the left, which had the rest of the hallway. It was empty. He was in an apartment complex, with no people in it. It was completely silent. By then Koda and Kira had stopped just behind him, and seemed perplexed.

"Uh, dude, where is everyone?" asked Tez

"Uh.. Well, you see. While everyone else was being told to silently evacuate from the complex, you guys were passed out in the bedroom. And then I came in because I hadn't seen you guys leave, and well.. The door was locked so I bust down the door, and luckily you guys were alright."

"Jesus…" Tez seemed mesmerized by the unusually dank hallway.

"Alright, let's get moving."

"Right." He began head to the right leading Koda and Kira to the door. He opened the door to the stairwell. It was dark as it was before, only much cooler. The weather had dropped in temperature significantly enough that the air from outside had cooled the staircase, and with every breath visible vapor could be seen. He propped the door open with his foot, letting them both through before letting it shut on its own. He proceeded to take his first steps down the stairs, leading the way. He looked up to ensure they found the steps, mostly Kira, because she was having a hard time seeing.

"Watch your step."

He grabbed the sheets at the bottom and helped Kira carry them down each stair level. The lower they got, the easier the next flight seemed. Once on the last flight of steps, Tez rushed ahead of them both to get to his Jeep to unlock and open the doors for them. As he went down the steps he skipped a stair with each step, watching his feet to make sure he didn't slip up. Midway through his last step, he felt a sharp pain in the right half of his ribs. His body was violently thrown off course as he was hit hard in the chest, causing him to slam into the brick wall to his left. As soon as his ribs and shoulder met the wall, his head went into a whiplash effect, meeting the wall with an audible thud. The impact sent a shockwave throughout his entire body, leaving a tingly feeling in his fingertips. Numbness flooded his body, and his head throbbed with extreme intensity - so much so it rivaled the pain of cluster headaches. A Tedi had come out of the shadows near the side of the stairwell where the dumpsters were, tackling him into the wall. After rebounding from the wall, Tez tried to push back his attacker in the direction he had came from, but was too dazed from the hit and was effortlessly thrown to the ground by the attacker. His back dragged against the rough concrete below, creating yet another abrasion on his body. The attacker was then violently hit in the back. Kira had now jumped on the attacker's back, throwing him off balance and sending both of them to the ground, back first. In an attempt to get her away, the attacker threw a quick elbow at her, which caught her square in the cheek. The force knocked her to the side, and she immediately dropped to the ground. The attacker then turned to get up and find Tez, but was met in the face with Koda's heel, knocking out a few teeth in the process. The now bloody faced Tedi tried to scramble towards the outdoors but was stopped by Koda, who grabbed the scruff of fur between his chest and collar, and threw him up against the wall. Still grasping him by the scruff of the neck, he rapidly hit him in the face, causing his nose to start to bleed and sending more blood from his mouth through the chilly air. After a few quick punches he then threw the Tedi out of the open door and into the sidewalk, causing the attacker to trip under his own feet and back down into the pavement. He was quick to get back up though, as he was soon out of sight of Koda, who ran a short distance out of the door to the streets to chase the assailant off.

Tez grumbled as he turned onto his side, clutching his ribs. He needed to cough, but when he tried to exhale, he couldn't expel any breath. The blow to the wall had knocked with wind out of him, and he soon began to panic mentally, trying to force any air in or out of his lungs. He began to roll slowly onto his back and rocked slightly as he tried to begin breathing normally again.

"Ughhh… OWWWWW!"

Kira also began to stir. She began to pick herself up, but collapsed back down quickly. She managed to prop herself up onto her elbow and forearm, uttering inaudible grumbling sounds. Her head felt like it was spinning, and she didn't quite know where she was. Koda walked back into the room, and realized quickly that his friends were still down.

"You guys alright?" he said with worry, rushing in at their side in the process. He got to Kira first, who was closest to the door. She spoke as he helped sit upright.

"Who was that guy?"

"I don't know, but whoever he is, he won't be coming back for a good while." He got her situated against the wall, and then went to aid Tez, who was now hunched over on his knees with his fists in the ground to support him. He had his head on the ground and seemed to have rebounded from the hit, as his breathing was still heavy, but was returning back to normal.

"Dude, that was a pretty hard hit, let me see your head" He tried to turn Tez's head more to see how much damage had been done, if any. But as soon as he turned his head to see the left side where it had impacted the wall, Tez pulled away.

"Oww, fuck dude stop it! It's fine. Just let me catch my breath and I'll be fine" He took a few breaths before slowly climbing to his feet, and headed towards Kira. He sat down with her and hugged her, the two both relieved everyone was still okay. Koda found a place to sit down at, which was the wall opposite to the one Tez had slammed into, and rest his back and head to the wall behind him.

"Is everything okay?" Kira said to Tez. They had stopped hugging and she had nuzzled the tuft of her head against his.

"Ya… everything is okay." He said softly. They sat in silence for a brief moment, relapsing on the peace for the moment, with Koda trying to catch his breath. Tez began to get up when something in his peripheral vision caught his attention. "Kira, you're bleeding." He tried to examine her head, which had a dark and shiny spot where the blood was. He tried to thumb through the fur on her head near the blood, but found no visible lacerations.

"It's probably your blood dude" said Koda, who was still resting against the wall. Tez turned his head towards Koda's voice.

"What?"

"Uh… If I recall correctly, you're head smashed into that wall over there not 5 seconds ago." His face turned to a smirk. "Or did the brain cells you lost cause you to forget?"

Tez felt the top of his head, which had gone completely numb since the initial hit. He felt a spot where it was wet and he knew right away what damage had been done. The wound was rough, and was already starting to swell exponentially. He brought his hand down to see it covered in blood.

"Oh my god Tez!" exclaimed Kira seeing the blood on his hand. She looked at where he had touched his head and saw the injury. It was a rather large laceration, about 3 inches in length, and in the low light, you could still see the blood oozing out. She took his head tried to examine it closely, but couldn't tell how deep it really was. Koda had realized the extent of the injury by now, and had gotten up from his resting place in order to get a better look at it.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

"No, not anymore. It did when you first touched it, but I can't feel anything right now"

"Ha, well shit. Isn't that something?"

"Well how bad is it?"

"I've seen worse, but its several inches long it looks like. It's swelling up pretty nasty too."

"Maan!" Tez sighed. "Well, not much I can do about it now." He looked over at the stairs, where Kira and Koda had dropped their things. "I guess we better get our stuff." He got up from where he was sitting and went to go pick up the blanket that was lying at the foot of the stairs.

"Dude, I don't think you should be moving around a whole lot after what happened" suggested Koda.

"No, I'll be fine. We need to keep going."

Koda didn't want to argue at a time like this and ran ahead to go help him, grabbing the stuff he had set on the steps. Kira went ahead of Tez and stopped him from picking up the blankets and carried them herself. He was already struggling enough with the bags he had strung around him.

"Tez.. You really need to take it easy right now. Just, go out and open up the doors for us okay?"

"No, I can…" He saw the look on Kira's face and instantly changed his mind. "Fine" he said reluctantly. He smiled, knowing that whether he liked it or not, he really should listen this time, and began to head towards the Jeep. Out of the door, the sun was just hitting about halfway out of the Horizon, and was no longer misty like the night before. The warmth from the sun's rays hit him as he broke the plane of the door and felt really nice though the cold air, which was brisk and refreshing to inhale. He pulled the keys out of his pouch and flipped them around until the black rubberized key floated to the top. He grabbed that key with his teeth, and let the rest of the keys fall down, leaving only the vehicle's key by itself. He grabbed it and put his fingers at the tip of the key to prevent it from scratching the paint as he found the lock cylinder. He unlocked the door and opened it, looking cautiously around the street to avoid another surprise assault. He unlocked all the doors with the click of a button on his door, and closed it. He switched to the back door adjacent to it and opened it for his friends, who were just now heading out of the apartment complex with all of the stuff in arms. Something was up though, it had been dead silent up until that point, but now a low rumbling had slowly surfaced itself as ambiance. Tez looked out into the horizon, where the sun had started to rise. He noticed that the grass in the distance was moving quite oddly and a white plume was seen in the distance. He looked to his friends, who had gotten most of the stuff behind the back seats and Kira was just now climbing in.

"Uh.. Does anyone else notice that noise?" Kira said. No one else seemed to notice though, as Koda was still putting the shower curtains in the trunk. She waved her hands at both of them. "Hello?"

"Why is the grass moving like that?" Tez said as he squinted to see through the orange light coming off of his face. Tez was looking out to the rising sun, just above the horizon.

"What grass?" replied Koda, who peered over the top edge of the Jeep to see what he was looking at.

"Oh sure, ignore the small one" She said, and proceeded to flip both of them off and flash facial gestures; a signal to both of their inconsideration.

"Oh shit, that ain't grass." Tez said unnervingly. The noise had now gotten to the level where it could have been as loud as any of their voices, and the white plume was now much larger. He looked up into the sky, where he saw a few more of these plumes. His eyes widened, and he turned towards Koda.

"Koda…" He said cautiously, and then nudged his eyes in the direction of the Jeep as he said his next words. "Get in the back seat.. NOW."

"Why? I was gonna sit shotgun…" He was blatantly interrupted by Tez, who started to lose his composure.

"Get in the back seat now!"

Koda didn't have to say a word. He quickly closed Kira's door, and then swooped around the rear of the vehicle. He opened the door on the passenger's side and climbed into the back seat and shut the door, which caused the vehicle to rock slightly. Tez had already opened the door and hopped into the driver's seat, inserted the key into the ignition, and slammed the door shut. He swiftly threw in the clutch pedal and shifted to first. What the hell? Thought Kira. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but from the extent everyone was reacting, instinctively put on her seatbelt, and adjusted it tightly around her waist. Koda had done the same, and leaned over in his seat to look ahead out of the front windshield. Tez turned the key and the engine roared to life. By now, Kira had taken the time to look out of Koda's window, and noticed the plume heading right for them.

"Ohhhhh… shit…"

Tez accelerated quickly out of his parking spot and headed fast down the street. The left two tires plopped down into a pot hole quickly, but the sheer size of the vehicle floated over it with ease. As soon as they had left halfway down the block, what once had been as small plume in the distant horizon was now a full blown speeding rocket, and smashed into the side of the apartment complex they had just been in, completely engulfing it in flames and leveling the first half of the building into mere rubble. He started to throw off his gear, which had made it very uncomfortable to sit in his seat. With his bags in the passenger seat, he began to pull his seat belt over him and quickly resumed to driving, ripping through each gear. The Jeep rocked with each bump as they swerved through each corner and street. Buildings and pieces of the road were tossed through the air as the missiles from the sky hit the earth below.

"Son of a Bitch!" exclaimed Kira as a missile hit the path in front of them. Her heart was pounding with adrenaline with each thunderous explosion.

"How you doing bud?" yelled Koda over all of the noise. His question was directed towards the front, where Tez was driving.

"Not so hot. My head isn't numb anymore. I feel like shit!" He felt like he was suddenly wrapped in 10 blankets and couldn't sweat. He was very close to spilling what was left of his last meal onto the steering wheel of his Jeep, but pressed onward. His head throbbed with the intensity of cluster headaches again, and even a slight bump or imperfection of the road seemed to send an even worse pain searing down his body.

Koda turned to Kira, who was no longer looking out any of the windows and was staring silently at the floor. She was trying to keep her mind off of what could happen if any of those missiles hit in the wrong area, which didn't seem to be working. Koda then grabbed the bottom of his shirt, and tore a large piece off of it, stretching it in the air.

"Do you think you can reach Tez?"

Kira looked up and over at Koda. Koda continued to yell over the loud roar of the exhaust and hum of the tires, but it was only loud enough for Kira to hear.

"Reach over his head rest and wrap up his head. It's not going to stop bleeding on its own." He handed her the strip of shirt, and she clutched it in her hands. As they drove ahead, Tez noticed the street start to split into two as they drove away.

"Which road do I take?" he said speaking to Koda.

"Dude, just keep following this one, it'll take you onto F64."

"No, I mean do I stay on the left road or the right road"

"What do you mean? There's only one road!"

Tez looked on ahead. Koda was right. There was only one road. He soon realized that the reason for the split was due to him seeing double. He began to feel weaker and weaker, as he watched his own blood drip past his left eye.

"AHHHHH!" Tez was now in extreme pain. He clenched his teeth and let out sounds of agony as his wound was wrapped with the cloth. For a moment, he totally stopped his task of driving and bat away Kira's hands as she tried to tie the back of it together.

"Ow stop! That fuckin' hurts! What the hell!"

"I'm trying to wrap it up! If we don't stop the bleeding, you're gonna die."

"Give me a little warning next time will ya?"

"Tez, Drive!" yelled Koda. They were headed halfway off of the road, and Tez quickly yanked it back in between the lines. He could see the exit ramp up ahead, and proceeded to drive onto Freeway 64. Once on the overpass, Koda looked out his window to the horizon they had seen before. Smoke poured through the sky where buildings had once stood, and even through the tinted window he could see the faces of the attackers. It was now very quiet with no bombs dropping from the sky.

"Oh my god… Those sons of bitches."

"Alright Tez, this is going to hurt. On the count of three I'm going to tie this around your head." Kira laid the shirt-turned-bandage on top of his cut, causing him to tense up from the pain. "One… Two… Three!" She pulled the bandage tightly to put pressure on the wound, but that did nothing to stop Tez from reacting from such an intense stress to his body. He writhed in pain as she tied the back of the bandage together on the back of his head, slamming his fist into the door panel and kicking his foot into the floor.

"YAHHHHHHHH!"

Koda winced at his screams, knowing well enough that there wasn't a single thing he could do for his best friend. He knew Tez was tough, but no one could keep going with the blood he was losing. Tez gritted his teeth and let out grunts of pain as he continued on down the road, trying to focus on what was ahead. He was deeply interrupted by the pounding his head was making, throbbing with each beat of his heart.

"What exactly attacked us back there? They leveled that whole part of town!"

"It's the damn squirrels. I don't understand it, what do they have against us? What?"

Tez didn't want to answer. He stared ahead and continued on driving, knowing fair well the extent of the trip ahead. He looked out of his window at the ruins of what had been his home for so long. He sighed as he looked at the last surviving piece of the town; a sign with the words Welcome To Little Wing on it, charred slightly from the black smoke emanating from beneath it. It wasn't the greatest place in the world, but he couldn't escape the pain, that the place where so many memories had been created is now just a smoldering pile of rubble. Koda kept rambling on about the squirrels, and Tez just nodded in compliance every so often. The rest of the ride was fairly quiet on their way out east. They had been driving for quite some time, filling up on fuel twice already, and it already was nearing dusk. He looked into his rear view mirror to see what his friends were been up to. Kira had rest her arm on the window and leaned her head against it, using it as a pillow. Koda had gone straight for the full collapse and was snoring loudly. His head was tilted fully back, resting it on his headrest, and had thrown his arm over his eyes to block out the light. He looked ahead and sighed. He was already feeling the wear from driving; his legs ached and were killing him. He knew that he had to find a safe place to park for the night, but he didn't know how far it was to the nearest safe town, nor how long it would remain safe. He looked down at the gas gauge to see that it was down to about half since he last filled it down the road. He decided to take the nearest exit and stay away from the cities altogether, knowing that that would be their safest bet to undisturbed sleep through the night. He began to travel down a dirt road. It was beginning to get darker, and he knew he had to find a place fast. Dust was kicked up into the air as they cruised through mud holes that would make any other vehicle inoperable. He drove out to a secluded place in the woods, ensuring his vehicle was out of site and threw it in reverse, ripped the E-brake, killed the engine, and let out the clutch. He didn't know about his friends, but he was dying of hunger. He hadn't had anything to eat since the night before, and the beating his body took earlier didn't improve things. By now his friends were just beginning to awaken from their slumber.

"Where are we?" asked Kira. She stretched her arms and legs which had been frozen in position for a long while. Her left arm was numb from sleeping on it, and she too was experiencing hunger pains. She looked out the window at the trees nearby. She was very confused by what was going on and unbuckled her seatbelt.

"I second that notion" Koda commented. He was much slower to wake up.

"We're out in the… Aw dude. Not all over the upholstery!" Tez had looked into the rearview mirror to where Koda had fallen asleep. In his deep snoring slumber he had drooled all over himself, with the excess dripping onto the seat next to him.

"Oh.. Sorry" he said in reply, wiping the drool off his face.

"Anyway, we're out in the woods. I didn't know how long it would be before the next town, so I figure we'd camp out here for a while. Well, just for the night anyway. It's secluded, but it's safer than the cities they've been targeting."

"What are we going to do for food?" asked Kira. She saw that dusk had now turned to darkness, and knew of the chances of finding food out here were slim.

"I've got some canned food in the trunk, there's plenty of SPLAM to be had back there."

"Ah, really Tez? SPLAM?"

"What's wrong with SPLAM?"

"Well, the fact it tastes like horse shit isn't a factor in your canned meat choice?"

"Awww Kira, you can have the canned veggies then." He said to her playfully. "And how about you Kode?"

Koda hadn't been listening to their initial conversation. He had already conked out again, with his body curled up against his door. He was already drooling again, this time on the carpet.

"Koda!"

Koda jerked his head up in an attempt to act as if he hadn't been really sleeping, but failed miserably as the drool made his recent sleep apparent. "Who what? What were we talking about?"

"What do you want to eat?"

"There's food?"

"Yea, I sometimes get hungry so I keep a bunch of canned food in the trunk. I've got SPLAM and some canned veggies."

"Yelch, SPLAM? What kind of choice is that? Isn't that an acronym for Shit Packaged Larva and Awful meat?"

"Yea, sure. Whatever it is, it tastes fine to me."

"You also can eat any food because the texture doesn't bother you… and I for one don't like my food to feel like a can of horse shit…" He thought for a moment about what Tez had said earlier, and he realized how ridiculous it had sounded. "You sometimes get hungry… so you keep a bunch of canned food in the trunk? Tez, what the fuck?"

"Ya, there's also a can opener back there."

Kira was slightly appalled at the news of Tez's food hiding. She knew he was weird, having known him for quite some time, but he never mentioned having food stashed away in his trunk. "Uh Tez.. In all my years of getting to know you, why did you never tell me about this food?"

"Uh… well.. I, uh.." A nervous feeling engulfed Tez as he tried to figure out a response to the newfound information. He was going to tell her about the food, but didn't get the chance to, considering it wasn't long ago that he started stashing the food. Often he would go to Koda's and he would have nothing to eat, so Tez would have some in the Jeep ready for snacking.

"There's nothing back here" Said Koda, who was leaning over the back seat to try and look around for the food.

"Here, it's… hold on." Tez climbed out of the Jeep and opened the trunk. He had to get up and stand on the rear bumper to even reach anything in the back seat, but he didn't mind. He moved some of the stuff on right side of the trunk, and opened a plastic door in the cladding. Inside was an array of cans stacked neatly on a carpeted surface, with padding to prevent the cans from banging around. "So do you want Veggies, or some of this canned fruit?"

Kira sighed and propped her head on her hand, with her elbow resting on the seat. She watched as Tez and Koda argued over which food he should get, and about how Tez had no taste in good food. As much of a dork her boyfriend was, she couldn't help thinking that anything stupid he did was really cute.

"Fine, I'll take the baked beans then!" Koda grabbed the beans out of Tez's hands and picked the can opener off of the trunk floor. He disappeared out of the Jeep before Tez could even mutter a word.

"You forgot your spoon!" he yelled, pulling out a bag of utensils from the storage compartment. Koda came over, and with a slight annoyed look about him, grabbed the spoon and walked away.

"Here you go" Tez said softly. Held out a can in the direction of Kira, who was in a stared gaze out into the air. She turned her head at the can, wondering what it was he was trying to give her.

"What is it?"

"Sweet potatoes."

Kira's felt butterflies in her stomach as she slowly grabbed the can from Tez's hands. Normally canned foods didn't appeal to her all that much, but she had an undying love for sweet potatoes, can or no can. Tez was pretty much the only one who knew this though; she tried to keep her sweet potato cravings secret. She looked at him in the eyes, which were gleaming slightly from the low luminance coming from the dome light. He was quite a sad sight really. The bandage was now soaked in red liquid above his eye, and his ears were drooping slightly from how weak he was. Awww.. She thought, I love you too Tez…

"It's the last can" he explained.

Kira knew how much he loved sweet potatoes as well. In fact, the reason he knew about her obsession was because she had accidentally devoured plate of them one day, the same plate Tez had cooked for his lunch. Boy oh boy was that a mistake.

"Thanks Tez." she said as she turned red in the face.

"Oh, before you start eating that, lets cook it first."

"Cook it?"

"Ya… Remember the hairdryer and coffee pot I had Kode bring?" He explained, with Kira nodding in response. "Well, we can use them to cook food."

"How?"

"Come one, I'll show you"

Tez grabbed the hairdryer, some cable from the trunk, the coffee pot, as well as two cans of SPLAM and headed to the front. He plugged in the long cable into the accessory plug and unraveled it outside.

"Dude, these beans suck ass" Koda was sitting out on a rock a small distance from the Jeep. He was eating straight from the can as he turned to see Kira watching Tez unravel a length of cable. "What the hell?"

"Let me just plug this in…" He plugged in the hairdryer into the cable, and started piling dry pine needles on the ground in front of Koda.

"So.. What are you doing?"

"Starting a fire"

"You really think that will start a fire?" questioned Koda. "The air on those things doesn't get too hot. It'd work I think If you got yourself electrocuted and started a fire that way" He smiled.

"Shows what you know" remarked Tez, who already had quite the pile going. Tez smashed the end of the hairdryer on the ground, breaking off part of the casing and revealing the metal coils on the inside. Kneeling on one knee, he pressed the end of the hairdryer to the pile and turned it on. It wasn't before too long that a fire slowly emerged from beneath the hairdryer, and Tez was loading the starter pile with firewood.

"Wouldn't it have been easier just to use this?" Koda said, holding up a lighter.

"Why didn't you give that to me earlier!"

".. Well.. You didn't ask." he replied, with a smirk on his face.

"Okay Kira, now pour the food into the coffee pot"

Kira opened the can and did so, being careful to get every last piece into the pot. Tez grabbed a few long sticks which were smoldering and lined them up. The ends were red hot, and glowed like coal, but were no longer on fire. He Set the pot onto the embers and watched as the food slowly cooked to perfection. Koda looked down at his cold, unappetizing can of beans, and took a look at the nice, warm sweet potatoes that were now being served.

"And we pour it back into the can, and boom, it's ready to eat" Tez poured it back into the can, and stuck a fork into the steaming hot food. Kira took a bite, and a wave of sensation hit her taste buds. She immediately curled up to Tez and ate as they both looked into the fire, which crackled and hissed in the silence.

"Maaaan" Complained Koda "You're saying I could have cooked these before I ate them?" He tossed his spoon into the can, which stuck into the cold beans at the bottom.

"Hey man, I didn't say anything." he quickly thought of something "smart" to say back. "Oh, and you should have asked" he said mockingly and with a smile.

"Ya ya.." he said as he stared into his can. "Can I borrow that pot now?" He then realized Tez hadn't had anything to eat yet, and quickly changed his angle. "You know what, never mind." He saw that he was busy sharing the moment with Kira, who were both sitting in the grass and watching the fire, and decided he shouldn't disturb his friend from his spot. "Here, let me get you something" He got up from the rock he was sitting on and set his can down on it, proceeding to head back to the Jeep. He reopened the trunk and grabbed another can of baked beans. "Definitely don't want to cook SPLAM in that pot before I use it" he said to himself. He closed the trunk and began to prepare the beans in the pot when he realized the embers had burned out on the sticks Tez had used. He threw the sticks back into the fire and grabbed some new smoldering sticks to cook with.

"Hey Tez, I made you some food" he said holding the steaming can of beans out for Tez to take.

Tez was half asleep when he realized what was in front of him.

"Oh! Thanks man." Kira sat up as he began to eat his meal. He was stuffing down the beans by the spoonful, and the can was empty before he knew it.

"Damn Tez, I'm still cooking my food!" Koda commented.

"Pour in another can while you're at it, I can have at least 3 more of those things."

"Fine.."

Kira was lying on the grass, with her hands behind her head. She looked up into the stars, which were twinkling in the night sky. "Tez, remember when we first met?"

"Ya, I remember. I was walking up the hill back home the night I had just gotten the money for my rent."

"And it was raining, remember? You slipped down the mud and fell all the way back down the hill, and I ran over to make sure you were okay?"

"Yea… I remember…" He said embarrassingly. "Then you tried to help me up, but then you slipped and got all muddy, and so I suggested cleaning up at my house since it was close."

"And then you couldn't find your key, so we had to look all around that muddy hill to find it."

"Ya… I loved that day." he said with a smile.

"Here" Said Koda, holding out another can of beans.

"Thanks" He said with a nod.

After they were finished eating, both of them put the fire out by tossing whatever loose dirt they could onto the last of the embers. Tez woke up Kira, who had fallen asleep stargazing in the grass, and they headed back to the Jeep. He pulled out the toiletries he had brought out of the bag in the vehicle, and everyone took care of their daily needs.

"Ahhh, nothing like emptying the tank after a long ass day" said Koda loudly from the tree line.

"Dude, stop It with the Crimson Eagle already, I can hear you pissing from all the way over here." He proceeded to spit out the last of the toothpaste he had in his mouth and wrapped the toothbrush back up. Without much water, he had to save every bit he could. The water he had was distilled and only about a gallon, and was usually used to mix with the coolant he had in the trunk. Luckily he hadn't mixed them yet.

Kira came back out of the woods with the toothbrush he had packed for her too, as well as the lone roll of toilet paper he had crammed into the bag.

"Time to get some real sleep!" she said handing the roll back to him.

"Well, I hope this lasts until the next stop" he said to himself as he put it back into the bag.

Once everyone was done with their bathroom needs, he folded down the back seats to make the trunk even bigger. He then moved everything from the trunk into the front on the floor, with his friends helping him.

"Well guys… well… mostly Koda I guess…" He paused for a moment before continuing. "We're all going to have to sleep in the trunk. I'm pretty sure we can all fit so if there are any objections, well… I guess speak up now."

"Can I sleep in the front seats? Asked Koda.

"Sure.. If you really want to. More room for me. Just move everything to the floor on the seat you won't be using and you can sleep in the open seat."

They piled in the vehicle, with Koda in the front, and locked the doors, causing the lights to go out on the inside. They sorted the blankets and bed sheets Tez had told them to bring amongst themselves, and then immediately climbed in for warmth. Tez laid down with his feet to the front of vehicle, within minutes, Tez was out cold.

A squirrel sat outside on a park bench. The sun was shining high and bright, and the air was quite comfortable. It wasn't warm enough to deem the air warm, nor was it cold enough to call it cool; just the right temperature to cool you down if you broke a sweat. It was beautiful. A slight breeze rolled in as the squirrel looked out into the streets, watching as the bustling traffic net him a wave now and then. The birds in the tree above him twittered as the leaves blew out from beneath them, and the squirrel got up and brushed the crumbs from the crackers he had been eating off of his clothes. A hiss shot out from the direction of the street as a white bus slowly came to a stop near the sidewalk, opened its doors, and made lugging noises as its engine ran at idle. The squirrel grabbed the binder he had sitting on the seat, and walked casually towards the open doors of the vehicle. As he got closer to the bus, a voice screamed out from somewhere in the streets as gunshots rang out in the distance. The squirrel stopped and turned his head in the direction the shots had come from, when he heard another hiss come from the streets again. The doors were slowly closing as the bus slowly rolled forward, and caused the squirrel to yell and run towards it as it began to get away from him.

"Hey, HEY!"

He got to the bus just before the doors closed and began to try and get in before they sealed shut, but ended up getting his arm with the binder caught in the doors. Adrenaline began pumping through his veins as he frantically tried to keep up with the moving bus, but the bus simply began traveling faster than his legs would allow it. He made one final leap and grabbed his other hand on the small opening in the door, planting his feet into the side of the bus. He struggled as he started to slide down the side, and used every muscle in his body to keep himself from falling onto the ground below. He attempted to take his right foot and force the door open, and to his surprise, it was a success. He almost lost his grip on the door when it finally broke open, but kept his grip and pulled himself with all of his strength into the Bus. The bus driver closed the doors shut once he got himself inside, and he grabbed the binder that had been in his hands before and approached the bus driver, who was driving wildly through the streets.

"Why did you do that!"

"Sit down and shut up kid! I'm trying to drive!"

He didn't need to walk to the seat behind him, because in the next second, the bus drive took a left turn that caused him to be thrown backwards, and he stumbled into the seat next to him on the right side, falling onto another squirrel.

"What's going on?

"We're being shot at!"

"What!"

"GET DOWN!"

His head was pushed down by a hand as a shower of bullets tore through the sheet metal of the bus. Blood came down like rain, and the bus seemed to straighten out and speed forward. The squirrel tried to get up, but the full weight of a body was keeping him down, and he pushed himself out from underneath the body, which was twitching sporadically without control, with blood seeping from several places, including its head. The squirrel's head was spinning in confusion, as he grabbed the side of the seat in front of him and pulled himself up. He looked up ahead at what was going on in front of him. The bus driver had been fatally wounded, and the weight of her foot had nearly floored the accelerator. He looked out of the front window and froze. The bus was now careening out of control, and heading straight for a brick building. He tried to quickly get into the nearest seat, but as soon as he got the upper two-thirds of his body in the seat, the bus collided with the building, slamming him into the seat in front of him. It was like a tree limb broke, as a sound cracked through the air.

"GAHHHHH! Haaahh!" He bit down hard and growled through his teeth as tears streamed down his eyes. He looked down at his arm, where the string of pain had been shooting down his spine. The intense feeling of nausea filled him, and he soon found himself puking the crackers he had just eaten before on the floor beside him. His two forearm bones had snapped in both places and had tore through the skin on both sides, with the proximal end out the top about halfway to his elbow and the distal end being forced through his wrist. Blood was pumped out of the two bones with each heartbeat as he slowly attempted to get up. Tears were now streaming down his face as intense amounts of pain rang through his body, and he became paler and paler with each second. "BaaA! HaaAA! He grabbed his arm, and with some form of insanity, held it against his body as he slowly stumbled out of the bus. He staggered out into the sun, where he collapsed to the ground, still clutching his mangled arm. A shadow began to emerge above him, and he slowly looked up to see a brown figure standing above him. He looked into its eyes, which were deep and had a cast to them. Tez held a gun in his hands as he looked down at the suffering squirrel, which begged in its eyes for mercy… for the pain to stop… just to live. The squirrel's body finally could not take the substantial amount of stress, and he began to go into shock. Tez drew the gun up to the squirrel's head and began to squeeze the trigger, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He fought the urge to pull it, and slowly began to let off of the trigger, his hands shaking with nervousness.

POP! A gunshot sliced through the air, and the echo's seemed to last forever. The trigger had been pulled, and bits of brain flew to the ground with a stream of blood with it. He had pulled the trigger, and he began to convulse with disbelieve. He looked at the gun, and dropped it. What have I done?

Tez's eyes popped open. His heart was racing a mile a minute and he was sweating immensely. He looked around at his surroundings without moving, and saw Kira in front of his eyes, facing away from him in a deep sleep. It was only a dream he thought to himself. He sat up, and tried to catch his breath. Koda was no longer in the front seat, and had curled up with his friends for warmth. Without the engine running they had no heat, and the air was very cold. He could actually see the vapor from his breath as he sat inside of the vehicle. He looked at his arms and hands to make sure that it had all been a dream, and that this was reality. His heart rate started to drop, and with the anxiety fading he began to notice how sick he felt, especially in the cold weather. He climbed into the front seat and inserted the key into the ignition, and put the vehicle in neutral. He depressed the clutch pedal to the floor, and started the engine. The exhaust rumbled to live, creating a rather loud noise. He quickly looked back at his friends to see if the noise had caused any of them to awaken, but they appeared to be fast asleep.

"Huh, it's only 1 A.M." he whispered to himself. He sat staring out of the vehicle into the night sky for a while, nearly dozing off in the process, and waited for the heat to build up in the vehicle. Once it was warm enough to be nearly uncomfortable, he shut the vehicle off and returned the gear shifter to reverse before climbing back into the trunk. He had a long day ahead of him, and he knew he would have to get some deep sleep before heading out. Without a question and sickness following him, it was soon lights out.