Chapter 29: Vehicle Acquisition
Henrick wakes up with a soft groan, his body still aching but largely recovered from the brutal fight with Eric. He sits up and notices the giant feline only now returning, dark purple blood on its lips.
Selene greets the mother cat, still playing with the kittens who have now decided that she is their bed. "How long was I asleep?" Henrick asks, gently shaking Elly and Leo awake.
"About 2 hours. You tossed and turned the whole time, it’s a wonder that Elly and Leo stayed asleep." says the elf-like woman, amusement and pity warring on her face in equal measure.
The little girl in question stretches and sits up explosively, her eyes wide open. "I’m up!" she whisper-screams at the soldier, smiling as she sees his bewildered face. The canine follows after, stretching languidly as opposed to Elly’s hyperactivity.
Father David chuckles softly, awoken by Elly’s not so subtle wake up call. Alex huffs and rolls over to the other side, clearly displeased at having been woken up.
Veronica stretches softly, blinking the sleep away as Alex sits up groggily. "Can we get five more minutes?" Henrick packs up his makeshift bed with swift military precision and turns to address the group.
"We’ll have to move quick. We’ll never know when another earthquake or horde is gonna rip through the city." Father David and Selene nod, quickening their steps, while Alex and Veronica try to keep up with them.
The shadowy feline lays on its side, allowing her children to feed on milk while she watches the humans about to leave. Selene takes a tentative step forward, hesitantly reaching out to pet the runt of the litter.
With a purr, the mother cat nudges the runt with her nose, clearly allowing Selene to say goodbye. "I’ll see you around, Sesame. What do you think about the name?" she asks, searching the baby’s eyes for approval.
’Sesame’ just tilts her head, gives Selene a lick on her hand, and goes back to drinking milk from her mother. "Heh, Sesame it is." she chuckles, preparing to head out.
Henrick scans the outside for any sign of the corrupted, then the skies for any indications of a thunderstorm. Satisfied that there are none for both, he nods at the giant feline in thanks and steps out onto the street.
"First order of business: find a working vehicle. Most of the vehicles we’ve seen are either overturned or damaged, no doubt caused by the mutated humans."