A/N: Want to give a shout out to CrystalRei, who gave me some good feedback on the last two chapters. Thanks so much on the reviews, I greatly appreciate it.
Chapter 2:
This was starting to look bad. Zero rode on his bike all morning and hadn't found anything, no fuel, no settlements, nothing. The cracked fuel gauge on his bike showed that he had less than half of a tank of fuel left; if he didn't find anything soon, then he'd be shit out of luck.
The sun had soon fully risen over the east, bringing noon with it. Zero felt the heat of the sun beating down on him as he rode along the jagged road. He soon pulled over to get his bearings together from the burning heat.
Zero then saw a large rock which had a large enough crevice near the bottom for someone to sit underneath it. He walked over to the small opening in the rock, slumped down and sighed.
Zero was very glad that he wasn't human because then the heat would feel even worse. Reploid bodies were much more durable than those of humans, but that didn't mean reploids were invincible. Too much exposure to the sun or any other extreme heat source could cause a replod's internal systems to overheat; which in turn led to internal damage.
The only reploids not affected by heat were those who were specifically built to withstand high temperatures, but Zero was not one of these reploids and had to be sure to stay cool to prevent overheating.
Zero knew he had to get up, but the shade kept him under the rock. He wanted to savor this moment for all that it was. Shade was not common in the wasteland, so whenever he found it, Zero savored it for all it was worth. In fact, why not just stay here for the day? It's not like he was in a hurry to get somewhere. Yes, that's what he'd do. Just him, his bike, and that green jeep?
Zero blinked. He got up from underneath the rock and went to his bike. He opened the box behind the seat and pulled out his binoculars. He looked down the dirt road and saw what looked to be a dirty, green, jeep; that looked as if it had been used by the military. Finally, he had found something. Granted there was no guarantee that there was still fuel in the vehicle, but he figured he should check it out anyway.
With a turn of a key in the ignition, he slowly brought his motorcycle over to the ancient hunk of metal. As he got closer he could see that the jeep had more dents and gashes than he had seen from his binoculars. A huge crack had taken over the bent windshield, and the wipers had been warped out of position.
Zero stepped off his bike and put his binoculars back in the box. He looked around him, there were no signs of life around him, (aside from the occasional insect) but he wasn't taking any chances. He kept his hand close to the buster on his holster and walked towards the automobile's rotting corpse.
Zero approached the side of the vehicle and looked down underneath for the fuel tank. When he found it he knocked on it and heard the metal tank resonate the knocking noise from within. Empty.
Zero sighed in disappointment. Another false hope down the drain. The one vehicle he had found, and not a drop of fuel. He began to crawl back out from underneath when a rustling noise came from above him.
He stopped suddenly, before slowly crawling all the way out from underneath the jeep. Something was in the jeep or someone. That knock on the tank must have alerted them of an intruder.
Zero stood back and began to reach for his buster; ready for whatever came out of the jeep. He began to slowly walk over to the side door of the jeep; the rustling and shifting increased in volume as he got closer. Soon he found himself at the side door of the jeep, from where the noises came.
The question now was what was on the other side? Would he have to end up fighting again? Maybe he should just leave and forget it all happened?...
Before he could come to a decision, the door was flung open. "Ky-aaaaa!" came a yell, a sudden flash of tan tackled him to the ground. Before Zero had time to get up, he found himself face to face with the barrel of his buster (which had gotten knocked out of his hands when he was tackled).
At the other end of the buster was a woman who wore tattered rags that went all the way to her knees, and had a rope tied around her waist like a belt. Her hair was an overgrown jungle of brunette, and dirt and grime covered her face along with a sly grin. Clearly, the wasteland had taken its toll on her.
She sniggered like a child as she stared down at Zero, who hadn't said a word as he waited for what would happen next.
"Heh heh heh heh..." the woman continued her childlike laughter "Well well, looks like this little nimrod was a bit too careless, wasn't he?" Zero said nothing and kept a straight face.
"Well don't be so surprised, heck I even surprise myself with my genius!" she boasted. She stopped for a moment then continued, "Intellect, that's what it takes, intellectuals are the ones who survive. Like me of course, wouldn't you agree with me, nimrod?" Zero remained silent.
"Not much of a speaker eh? Well, I guess if someone like you did have something to say, it be pretty stupid." she went on in her ramblings. "Whoever they are, they certainly like the sound of their own voice," thought Zero.
"Right, stand up!" she said suddenly. Zero slowly rose up to his feet, the buster still inches away from his face. He could now see that the woman stood just a little shorter than he was, just a little taller than Ciel, but not as tall as him. "Now then, let's take a stroll over to red and black over there," She motioned the buster to Zero's bike " and find out what this genius caught!" Zero began to walk slowly towards his bike, all the while the buster was still pointed directly at him, the woman's hand still didn't dare move from the trigger.
When they reached the bike they stopped. Zero stayed still, unsure of what the woman would do to him.
"Right, right," she said suddenly. "First and foremost, how much juice do ya have?" She then knocked on the bike's fuel tank, and a slightly hollow knock came back.
"Hmm…" she muttered, "Not much, but fuel is fuel." She then turned her attention to the metallic box that rested behind the seat. She grinned. "Now, let's see what other treasures you're hiding…" She began to walk backward.
Zero watched her as she examined the box. If she would be looking through it, then she would be distracted, which would give him the chance disarm her. That is unless she was as smart as her ego had said.
She stopped just as she got the box, the buster still pointed at Zero. "Alright Nimrod, show me what's inside." Drat. Looks like she wasn't as careless as Zero had thought. He began to walk slowly towards the rusty metallic cube and pulled the top off...
Within the container was all sorts of miscellaneous objects that Zero had kept with him. Some of these things had been in the box before he found it such as pieces of a tent, torn cloth, a cracked compass, binoculars, and a set of tools. However, as the months passed, Zero had kept some things he had found such as E tanks, but he also used it to store his belongings that he had gotten from his time with the resistance; more specifically, the weapons Cerveau had made for him…
"Junk, junk, eeugh" groaned the woman "You must really be stupid if this crap is all that you've got to show for yourself!" The buster was now right against Zero's head as he rummaged through the box for the woman. Then she stopped and pointed to something in the box. "Gimme."
Zero looked to where she was pointing, and saw a short white pole, with two buttons on the side, one black, one green. He recognized it immediately, the triple rod. He knew that in her hands, said object could be very dangerous.
That is if she knew how to use it properly...
"Well come on Nimrod, we geniuses don't like to be kept waiting!" Shouted the shaggy-haired woman. Zero complied and handed her the rod, not a word from his mouth. The woman began to examine the rod, curious of what it was, and what it could do.
"So, what is this exactly?" she asked, puzzled by the nature of the rod. "Tell me, how does it work?" Zero remained silent.
"Hey, I asked you a question! How does it work?" she shouted again.
"The black one hit that" Zero muttered.
The woman looked and saw the two colored buttons. She then looked back at Zero. "If you're trying to trick me, it won't work. Tricking someone as smart as I am almost impos- Eep!"
The rod had suddenly extended out, catching the woman off guard, and causing her to drop the buster. The rod had extended out to Zero's position, where he swiftly grabbed it and yanked it out of her hands, then used the extended end to swipe her off her feet.
"Bwah!" she yelled as she landed on her bottom to the ground. She saw the buster near her right hand and began to reach for it, but before she could grab it, a red boot stepped on it. She looked up and saw her former prisoner staring down at her, with the rod pointed directly at her.
Zero pushed the green button on the side, which activated a glowing green blade at the end of the rod, which he promptly pointed at the woman's face.
"No, please! Don't hurt me, I'm too smart to die!" she panicked.
"Fuel", grunted Zero.
"Huh?"
"Where's your gas?" he asked again, slightly louder than before.
"I-I don't have any, I swear!" she stated frantically, "You're the first vehicle I've seen in days!"
Zero wasn't so sure. She had to be hiding some within the jeep. The only way to find out would be to investigate.
"Up," he said, the woman stood up, Zero still had the rod glowing green. He motioned for her to back up towards the rusted hull, which she did so, fear still within her.
When they got to the jeep. Zero opened the door, and the vilest scents filled his nostrils. Moments like this made him regret being programmed with a sense of smell. He motioned for the woman to get in, which she did, and Zero followed soon after.
The jeep was filled with all sorts of torn cloth, and rope. The front seats had been taken out, leaving only the back row, which was covered by a sheet. Zero began to turn over all the sheets in the empty jeep for anything, any sign of fuel but found nothing.
SIghing to himself, he began to climb out of the jeep and walk back to his bike. It looked like this had been another false hope. What was he to do? He needed fuel but had no idea where to find it.
Meanwhile, the woman looked back to him, confused. Where was he going? Why was he just letting her go? All these questions filled her brain as she watched him walk back. She jumped out of the jeep, and head towards him.
"You're just gonna go? Just like that?"
Zero stopped for a moment, then looked back towards the confused woman.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll forget this encounter ever happened," he stated bluntly and continued to walk back to his bike.
The woman was left in awe. Not only at the fact that he was just walking away, but also at his skills. This was someone who was a survivor, who knew how to get out of a bad situation. Someone who had outsmarted her! The smartest person she knew! In fact, he could probably even outsmart…
A sly grin appeared on her face as an idea crept into her brain, she ran towards Zero, who was just now getting back on his bike.
"Hey, Nimrod!" she shouted. Zero sighed, the constant use of the name "Nimrod" was starting to get annoying. He looked towards the woman as if to say "what?"
"Okay, so I don't have any fuel. That much is true," she said. Zero stared back, disinterested in the statement.
"But," said the woman suddenly, "Maybe, just maybe I know where some is located ."
Zero blinked. Did he hear that correctly? Did she know where to find fuel? That was impossible, she was probably just trying to get another chance to steal his own fuel supply. But he had to be sure nonetheless.
"You know how to get fuel?" he questioned.
"Ah, tut tut" teased the woman, "I know where fuel is, not how to get it," she said. "That's where you come in."
"What're you getting at?" he asked.
"I'll make you a deal, I'll show you where this little deposit is, " she offered, "and in return, you use your, skills to help me get as much fuel as possible, which we'll split 50-50 once we're done. What'd Ya say?"
Zero understood now, someone had already gotten to where the fuel was and was most likely guarding it with their life. That meant that if he were to try and get said fuel, he would have to probably fight. Which he didn't like doing. But he needed fuel bad to stay alive, and at this point, he'd do anything for fuel.
Despite feeling he'd regret it later, he grumbled to himself and turned to the woman.
"Get on", he muttered.
The woman smiled, and climbed onto the old bike, wedging herself between Zero, and the box. "Smart choice," she said. "by the way, I'm Anna, and you are?"
Zero turned the key in the ignition and immediately revved up the bike. The noise of the engine blocking out the question.
Anna frowned, displeased with the response.
"No need to be rude", she muttered. "Eh, Nimrod suits you anyway." she joked.
"Just be quiet, and tell me where to go," said Zero, annoyed.
Zero shifted the bike to drive, and the two rode out of the dirt road, and back onto the tarmac; on their way to fuel, to salvation.