Chapter 152: The Rescue Came With an Attitude

The next morning, Dove caught the maintenance worker before he could disappear into a fenced yard full of equipment she had no intention of touching. She asked what had failed and whether anything at an auto-parts shop might help.

He showed her the description, then explained that a trained crew was already checking another store for the correct part. An ordinary truck battery would not solve the problem. Dove took a copy of the description anyway, but kept the outing’s purpose where it belonged. She wanted light, cooling, and useful stock for her own home.

They ate a proper breakfast before leaving. After washing with her retrieved pond water, she put on a light shirt, comfortable pants, and boots. Heat had made the streets smell of damp wood and old trash, and she was determined not to contribute.

She chose household goods for help with the heat. Sprout selected eight packs of cooling towels, not the miracle freezer she’d been hoping for. Six packs sold would earn forty-six normal coins, while the road task wanted three recovered items. Her morning practice had already covered exercise.

"Do these actually cool things, or are they towels with an inflated opinion of themselves?" she asked.

"Wet the fabric, remove excess water, and shake it. Evaporation helps cool the surface. They require water, not electricity."

"Can I wrap one around my husband until he stops heating the entire bed?"

"That would not change his body temperature enough to achieve your stated goal."

Thorne glanced over when she laughed. She told him what she had asked, and he kissed her forehead before suggesting she could try sleeping farther away.

Dove picked up the lunch bag. "Let’s not start saying horrible things just because it’s morning."

They left Base B in their red pickup, with Edrik driving, Dove beside him, and Thorne in the rear seat. One cart lay strapped in the bed. The other stayed in the shop’s yard with their neighbor’s knowledge.

Beyond the delivery gate, the road passed a closed gas station and a brick pharmacy before reaching the auto-parts store. Its tire business shared the same low building, with separate customer doors in front and repair bays opening onto a rear lot.

Dove asked for a stop at the gas station. The forecourt was clear, and the convenience store’s side door stood open. Edrik checked the entrance while she looked through the window. She could see scattered shelves, an empty refrigerator, and a dry section beside the register.

"We are not taking anything leaking," she told them. "If it moves by itself, it can stay and run the store."

They found a sound ice scraper, sealed trash bags, unopened packs of gum, and a box of clean shop cloths above the water line. She touched and stored manageable items, keeping the cloths in their box for the truck. Sprout confirmed the road minimum before they finished, which did not make the rest of the shelf invisible.

Thorne found sour candy in an intact display and checked the package before bringing it over. Dove took it with an expression she suspected was embarrassingly sincere.

Edrik watched her kiss Thorne’s cheek. "I found the trash bags."

"And I will remember your sacrifice every time something smells awful."

"That seems unequal."

She caught his shirt and gave him his own kiss. He looked satisfied enough that she pointed at the exit before he found another reason to negotiate.

At the auto-parts building, Edrik parked on clear pavement with the truck facing the road. A crash sounded from the tire shop as Thorne opened his door. Dove stopped with one foot on the running board.

"Don’t use the front entrance!" someone shouted. "The shelf behind it is coming down."

An otter beastman appeared around the side wall, carrying a socket set. He introduced himself as the tire mechanic and waved them toward the rear. His crow companion owned the parts store next door. Neither looked impressed by the day’s heat, though both lost their place briefly when Dove climbed down.

"You can explain the building before you explain your facial expressions," she said. "I’d like to know where not to stand."

The otter recovered first. The front office ceiling had cracked as the thaw soaked the damaged roof, but the rear bay stood on a separate frame. He wanted tools from a blocked storeroom, not strangers charging through the worst entrance.

Dove offered help reaching the tools in exchange for a fair look at the goods he was willing to trade. Her men inspected the approach with him while she stayed in the open bay. Mechanics knew their building. Powerful husbands did not know it better because they were prettier.

A dull knocking came from under her feet. She looked down, then toward a narrow door at the back of the office.

The crow swore. "They’re still in there."

Below the shop was a private shelter used by a group of wealthy men since the freeze. A recent ceiling failure had jammed the stair door and blocked their second exit. The mechanics had come back with tools after hearing the knocking. The shelter’s radio had failed, but its pantry and water tanks had not.

"Thirty of them," the otter said. "They’ve been telling us that part quite loudly."

Dove stepped onto the sound landing after the mechanics checked it. A voice below demanded to know whether the rescue crew had finally arrived.

"Thank God," the man continued. "We were about to start eating each other. Get this open."

"How much food do you actually have?" Dove asked.

"That isn’t the point."

Dove looked at the mechanic. So they were trapped, supplied, and apparently determined to be a pain in the ass about both.

Following the mechanic’s pointing finger, Thorne touched only the loose metal edge and eased it back enough to see through. He left the jammed frame alone. Edrik stood beside Dove while the mechanic checked what lay beyond it. A broad face appeared below, followed by a watch that looked expensive enough to have survived the end of the world out of spite.

The man saw her and stopped complaining. Then his expression changed into the pleased certainty of someone used to receiving what he noticed.

"Well, bring her down," he told Thorne. "The residents will want to thank her properly."

Dove rested one hand on the sound railing and looked down at him. Apparently, being trapped underground had not improved his manners.