Light seeped through the gaps of the curtains as Eyre opened her eyes. Light assaulting her eyes, Eyre grabbed a blanket and draped it over her face to cover them from the blinding light. Moving her head away from the light, she lowered the blanket; her eyes now looking at the clock on her desk. The clock read 8:50.
"Ten more minutes," Eyre said to herself as she rolled back into her bed, closing her eyes again. Suddenly, she remembered her conversation with Simpson the day before and jumped up, tossing her blanket aside. Grabbing the clothes she had carelessly strewn around her room, she quickly changed out of her nightwear and into the clothes she grabbed, before rushing to the kitchen. Quickly looking around, her eyes locked onto the loaf of bread sitting on the bench, before grabbing a slice and slotting it into the toaster. Turning on the toaster, she rushed back to her room. She grabbed her empty handbag before she began to fill it with everything she needed; keys, wallet, tram card, pens, and a set of lockpicks just in case. She looked up to her wall clock. 8:54 it read.
"Still got six more minutes," Eyre said to herself as she entered her bathroom. She looked into the mirror, revealing her dishevelled hair. Grabbing the small black hairband on the sink counter, she carefully placed it on her forehead, keeping her long hair from hanging over her eyes, before grabbing a red bow. Eyre contemplated for a while whether to spend the time to fit the bow into her hair, before her deep thought was broken by the toaster popping, indicating that her toast was now done. Deciding not to bother with the bow, she put it away in a drawer before grabbing her handbag and the piece of toast and rushed for the door. Opening the door with her toast still in hand, she began to run down the stairs of her apartment block before opening the door on the ground level. Dashing through the door, she saw a figure in front of her, immediately stopping and nearly tripping over. Eyre could now see the figure standing in front of her, donning a bright pink jumper over a white undershirt, with a rose-like pin stuck into the side of her long brown hair.
"You slept in, didn't you," the figure spoke, crossing her arms.
"Oh… hey Simpson," Eyre said out of breath, checking her wristwatch. "You're… early by a minute,"
"No, your watch is just slow," Simpson replied. She could still see Eyre panting, with the fresh piece of toast still in her hands, rapidly cooling down from the cold morning air.
"Shall we get going?" Simpson asked. Eyre nodded, before putting the now dampened piece of toast into her mouth. The two walked down the narrow streets of the residential sections before coming to the end shortly after. Looking around, Eyre spotted one of the many tram stations on the main road. Gesturing for Simpson to turn around, the two walked over to the station before sitting on the benches, waiting for the trams to arrive. Eyre could see Simpson get up again, before examining the timetable.
"Shit!" Simpson exclaimed quietly, but loud enough for Eyre to hear.
"What is it?" Eyre asked curiously.
Simpson now turned around. "Trams aren't running today. Apparently they're doing maintenance on them. You'd think on a ship like this, they'd give us a heads-up before doing something like this."
"Huh, that is inconvenient. What do you think we should do?" Eyre replied.
"Well, unless you want to walk to the city, there's not much we can do. It's not like either of us has a car to drive nor the qualifications to drive one."
"I might have something of use to us," Eyre said, turning away from the station. "Come on, let's go back to my place." The two girls walked back where they came from, turning into the narrow streets of the residential blocks. The entrance to Eyre's apartment block appeared, as Eyre ignored it and continued walking further. Finally, Eyre stopped in front of a small garage. Simpson could see her friend reach into her handbag, fumbling through the belongings, before finally taking out a single key. Bending down, Eyre unlocked the garage door before lifting it up, revealing a small and dusty room, relatively sparse with the exception of a few cardboard boxes and a large metal object in the centre. Entering the garage, Eyre climbed into the metal object. Simpson peeked inside, watching Eyre dusting the object, before gesturing for Simpson to get inside with her. Sunlight now brightened the garage, and Simpson was finally able to see the Carden-Loyd Tankette inside Eyre's garage.
"Is this tankette road safe?" Simpson asked. "Moreso, are you even qualified to drive the damn thing?"
"I've modified it with a stronger engine and rubberized tracks, so it should be fine to drive," Eyre replied. "And yeah, I think I would be qualified to drive this. I can drive a proper tank for God's sakes. Now get in!"
Simpson couldn't think of an excuse not to, so she complied with Eyre's order. Climbing onto the 1.5 ton tankette, she opened the hatch leading to the gunner's position, where the machine gun had been replaced with a large glass window. Quickly brushing the dusty seat, Simpson sat down inside the tankette, as Eyre turned on the modern oversized engine of the tiny tankette. The tankette began to wobble a bit as Eyre drove it out of the garage and onto the narrow street. Looking to her right, Simpson could see Eyre in deep concentration as she tried to drive the vehicle.
Author's notes
Sorry for the long wait. This was supposed to be the last chapter for the current story arc, but it got a bit out of hand and now I'm turning it into two or more chapters (hopefully not more). Anyways, thanks to Sharkycast for helping to proofread the chapter as well as offer suggestions, and I half-heartedly promise to get the next chapter out within one month and finish the story arc.