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Guns, Grease and Gears;

Tales of the Post Apocalypse

by Mog Moogle

"Hard and Flatout."

Johnny yawned softly as he shifted closer to Colt. He draped his paw over the wolf and nuzzled the back of his neck. He managed to peek up over him to look at the mirror on the wall. The wolf was staring back at him, his eyes still open. Johnny sighed as he rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. "It's bad enough you insist we keep clothes on," Johnny said softly. "You won't even try and sleep?"

"You'd be smart to keep your eyes open, kit."

"What's with you? Wonderful bed, big mirror ... just think of what we could do-"

"Quiet!" Colt snapped.

Johnny lifted his head up and looked at the mirror. He saw Colt move his paw up under his pillow and pull the small handgun out from under it. Johnny looked at him confused for a moment. "Colt, you really need-"

"It's starting," Colt said, cutting him off before sitting up on the bed and putting his booted feet on the floor.

"What's starting?"

"Get ready to fight, kit."

Johnny looked at him curiously as he eased against the wall on the other side of the mirror and peered around it at the door. Johnny sat up on the bed with his back to Colt, but his ears cocked to the side when he heard the lock on the door. His pulse raised and he looked back at Colt.

"Get down, kit," Colt whispered to him.

Johnny got on the floor behind the bed and made his way to the end of it where he could look down the small hall to the door of the room. The door cracked open and a paw reached in to the chain resting in the slide.

He saw Colt round the corner and sprint at the door. He threw his shoulder against it and the fingers trying to unlatch the chain cracked as the wolf's weight forced them between the heavy door and the frame. Johnny heard a scream from the other side of the door as he stuck his paw in his jacket pocket and grabbed the tiny revolver.

A hole appeared in the door right beside Colt's body as wood splinters shot into the room. The report of the shotgun echoed from the hallway and the wolf backed away from the door and fired two rounds through the newly made hole.

Colt ran back toward Johnny and grabbed the scruff of his collar and pulled the fox to his feet while in full sprint to the glass sliding door over the balcony. He heard the door crack behind him and glanced back just in time to see it fly inward and two uniformed officers rushing in.

Colt threw the fox ahead of him and turned around, spraying lead at the two intruders as Johnny's body crashed through the glass. The fox barely caught himself on the banister rail before he went over. He looked back and saw Colt rushing at the two that broke in. They made their exit as hasty as their entrance and Colt pivoted and ran back to the balcony.

Johnny watched the wolf bound over the banister and catch himself before dropping, letting his body lower a bit to mitigate the two story fall. He heard gunshots from inside the room and scurried over the banister himself, doing his best to climb down like the wolf.

His paws weren't as sure as Colt's, however. They slipped from the deck of the balcony and he dropped to the ground. His knees buckled and he crumpled to the ground on his back. Before he could catch the breath that was knocked out of him, Colt's paws lifted him to his feet by his jacket and stood him upright.

"Keep fucking moving, kit!" Colt instructed and started to run around the side of the hotel.

Johnny struggled to keep up, finally easing in behind Colt as the wolf looked around the front of the building. The fox gasped and coughed, which garnered a stern shush from the wolf instead of any sympathy. "Why is this ... why is this happening?" he managed to ask between gasps.

"We got something they want," Colt explained. "They're trying to take it. Good news is, it looks like those three were the only ones they sent to the room. Bad news is, their radios aren't for show. We have to be fast."

Johnny nodded but it was unseen by the wolf as he bolted around the front. The fox ran after him, trying to keep up. They hadn't made it more than two buildings down when they saw two more officers run into the street in front of them from a smaller side street. They both had rifles and raised them at the two and started firing.

Colt grabbed Johnny by the collar and pulled him down an alley. He nearly drug the fox as he ran up to a side door and kicked it in. They ran into the building onto the slick tiled floor of a kitchen. Making their way around some metal shelving. Johnny stopped when the wolf was suddenly staring at a wolf in a red stained white apron holding a cleaver.

Johnny saw the meat on a butcher's counter and three more sides of meat on hooks beside it. They were too small to be brahmin and the musculature looked all wrong. Colt pointed his pistol at the wolf's head and the wolf raised his paws and backed up.

"Colt," Johnny said as he looked at the meat that was being butchered. "What is this?"

"Sick fucks," Colt replied before pulling the trigger and killing the wolf with a head shot. "Cannibals."

Johnny heard screams in the building, then shouts ordering everyone to get out. Colt grabbed him by the collar again and drug him through the kitchen as the staff scattered and got out of their way. The fox hoped that what the coyote at the gate had said was true, and they'd not be drawn on by any of the furs that were now running from them.

They managed to dive out a door in the back just as rounds impacted the wall beside them. They ran around the backsides of the business on the main street as the quickly setting sun was causing them to lose the light. Johnny's chest burned and his legs ached. He felt tears stream his cheeks.

He wasn't upset that they were down to running and gunning for their lives again. He wasn't upset that they were in a town full of furs that wanted to eat them. He was upset that he hadn't listened to Colt in the first place and told him that they should have just drove on.

Johnny barely saw a rifle barrel protrude from an alley in front of them before Colt grabbed it and fired his pistol at the fur holding it. The wolverine in the uniform toppled to the ground and Johnny bound over him to keep pace with the wolf. He saw Colt shove the pistol in his jacket before he moved the rifle he hadn't released up in front of him in a ready carry.

They got close to the wall and rounds started snapping against the buildings around them. Colt turned down one of the alley ways and skid to a halt. Johnny saw why when he was looking at three more officers with rifles raised.

Johnny closed his eyes as he panted, then heard automatic fire echo between the buildings. He opened his eyes as the wolf hit the ground hard after his legs buckled. Colt kept the rifle up and kept firing. Brass casings bouncing off the wall beside him until the bolt slammed forward with a click. Colt threw the rifle down and looked up at the fox and shook his head.

Johnny knelt down beside him as he looked up the alley and saw all three of the officers at the end laying on the ground. He sighed in relief before he gasped in shock at the sight of bright red on Colt's left thigh. "You're shot!"

"Yeah, kit. Just above the knee. It got the bone. I can't run."

"So we fight here?"

"Fuck no! Don't be stupid. Help me up." Colt paused as Johnny grabbed Colt under the arm and lifted him erect. "The car's up ahead. Get me in the passenger side."

Johnny nodded and then supported the weight so he wasn't using his injured leg. They hobbled to the end of the alley and were about to go out onto the main street when Johnny felt an impact on his left jaw. He dropped Colt and they both toppled to the ground. Johnny looked up and saw the cheetah that was escorting them earlier pointing a handgun at the two.

He motioned for them to get up. Johnny lifted to his feet as Smithe told him to turn around and reached behind him to pull shackles from a pouch on the back of his duty belt. Johnny sighed and looked down at Colt. The wolf's expression was a pained one, and Johnny looked back at the cheetah. He saw the raider crushed his father's skull. He saw the raider that shot his mother. He saw raider that was about to rape her while she was still dying in front of him.

Johnny screamed and leaped at him. Smithe tumbled back a bit as the fox wrapped his arms around his body and shoved the little revolver up under his left arm. Johnny kept screaming as he pulled the trigger over and over. The report of the pistol muffled by the fabric and flesh it was against was barely audible in his ears.

Johnny felt the cheetah sag in his arms and he stepped back. Smithe dropped to the ground and gurgled. Blood started to run out of his muzzle as he tried to breath through punctured lungs. Johnny leaned over and wrestled the pistol from the cheetah's weak grip. He put the little revolver in his pocket, pointed the semi-automatic pistol at the cheetah's head and pulled the trigger.

Without even thinking about what had just happened, he turned to Colt and picked him up off the ground again. He saw Colt's look of concern, but he ignored it. His current task was far to important to focus on anything but getting Colt to his car.

He carried the wolf as he heard shouting and rounds snapping the ground all around him. None of that mattered. He walked up to the passenger side of the car and leaned Colt against it. Colt drew the pistol from his jacket and started firing at the officers that had approached him that Johnny had ignored. After only three shots, the slide locked back and Colt looked at the fox.

"Kit, get our guns, then get the gate open."

Johnny nodded sternly and walked over to the door of the shack by the gate. He could see a uniform inside scrambling around. He tried the door handle, but the knob wouldn't move. Johnny reared his leg back and kicked the door so hard that it almost fell off its hinges.

A bear inside stopped rummaging through a locker under the counter and looked up at him with his paws raised. He had the captain bars on his collar like the bobcat, but it was someone different. Johnny lifted his pistol and fired once.

The bear fell back onto the ground with a hole in his head. He ran over to the guest locker and pulled against the padlock, then he remembered. He reached down and pulled the keyring off the bear's belt and flipped through the keys until the brass one he saw Mitchell using was in his paw. With a click, the padlock opened and he pulled it out of the loop on the handle.

Johnny opened the locker and took both pistols off the top shelf, tucking his newly acquired semi-automatic pistol in his waistband behind him before holstering his revolver. By the time he got back out to Colt, the passenger door was standing open and the wolf was in the passenger seat. He'd managed to pull another pistol from somewhere stashed in the car and he was firing out of his drivers side window at the officers as the approached the car.

Rounds impacted the side panels and the dull thud of the bullets tearing into the car echoed in the cab. Johnny handed Colt his pistol and then the wolf grabbed onto his arm. Johnny helped him back out of the car and stood him up behind it for cover. He couldn't help but watch a few seconds as the wolf took his familiar firearm and dropped one uniform for every pull of the trigger. It was only when he felt Colt push him away that he realized that he still had work of his own to do.

"Get the damn gate open before we don't have a ride anymore, kit!"

Johnny drew his revolver and ran across the street to the bottom of the metal staircase as Colt covered him. He ran up the stairs to the first landing when he stopped suddenly as bullets impacted the stairs in front of him. He looked up and fired a round at the flashes of the automatic rifle shooting at him.

He didn't hit the operator at the top, but the shot caused him to take cover long enough for the fox to climb up the second flight. On the landing below the platform, he saw the officer at the top raise his rifle at him. Johnny thrust his revolver up and squeezed off a round just as he saw the muzzle of the officer's rifle flash.

He felt the leather on his left arm shred and then felt an intense heat. He looked at his arm to see the torn leather hide and then he wiggled his left fingers. Everything seemed to be working, so he continued up. When he got to the top, he stepped over the body at his feet and to the control panel.

Johnny flipped the green switch to the opposite position and then pressed the big red button. The motors whirred up but stopped as soon as he took his thumb off the button. He sighed to himself as he pushed the button again and the gate started slowly moving. "Can't just one thing out here be easy?" he said to himself as he watched the gate lurching slowly.

A few ricochets bounced off the metal around him, but for the most part, Colt must have been keeping the others pinned down. The gate finally locked in place in the wall and Johnny stepped back from the panel. He lifted his revolver and fired the remaining three shots into it before he holstered.

Running back down the stairs with the semi-automatic pistol drawn, he got to the car and started to lift Colt off it. The wolf swatted his paws away.

"I can't drive, kit," Colt said as he looked down at his leg, causing Johnny to follow his gaze and see nearly the entire length of it soaked red. "You have to get us out of here."

Johnny nodded then grabbed Colt again before the wolf could say anything else. He pushed the wolf down into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. Running around to the drivers side, he opened the door, tossed the pistol in the back and got in. He eased forward on the seat so that his shorter legs could reach the pedals as Colt handed him the ignition key.

"I thought this thing would blow up if it wasn't keyed right?"

"You think I'm stupid enough to put a bomb on a work of art like this, kit?"

"Two weeks in the stockade," Johnny said as he grabbed the key and jammed it in the key slot. "Telling lies like that. Don't you know that's against the law here?"

"Fuck 'em," Colt said as he used his left paw to put the shifter in neutral. "Now push the clutch and hit the ignition switch."

Johnny pushed the third pedal to the floor and pushed the small button by the steering column. The motor whirred up and the fox looked at the wolf. "Now what?"

"Clutch, reverese. It's all the way right and-"

"Down. Got it," Johnny interrupted as he slapped the car in reverse. He let off the clutch and the car shot backwards. He barely managed to hit the brakes and slow it down before the rear bumper impacted the corner of a building with the sound of shattering plastic.

"Dammit, kit!" Colt yelled. "Do you know how hard it's going to be to find a replacement tail lens?"

Johnny ignored him as he moved the stick back to the left and jammed it up. He popped the clutch again and the car nearly spun out of control, barely missing the side of the flood gate before it sped onto the roadway. Johnny fought with the steering yoke each time he up-shifted.

"Ease into it, kit," Colt said as he opened the glove box and pulled out a hypodermic needle with red fluid in it. "No need to pop the clutch like that, just ease off it as you slowly push on the accelerator."

Johnny gave the wolf a nod before focusing back on the road. It was the first time he'd been in the drivers seat, and he watched all the needles bounce and climb on the cluster in front of him. He didn't know what any of it meant, but it was something he found himself enjoying. Even though piloting the vehicle was taking a lot of focus, the thrill of actually driving was exhilarating.

"Head south until we find a pre-war car garage," Colt told him as he sat treating his own gunshot wound. "She took a pounding, she's going to need some TLC before we can expect her to haul our asses out of anything like that again."

Johnny splayed his ears back and looked over at Colt. He was tying a dirty rag over the hole in his leg and grunting as he cinched the knot down. Johnny opened his mouth to say something, but the left tires going off the pavement pulled his attention back to the roadway. He corrected the car with a mild curse from Colt and then sighed in relief.

"Just watch the road. Let me worry about me," Colt instructed.

"Colt," Johnny said as he did as he was told and looked out of the windshield. "I'm sorry about this."

"Some lessons you have to learn the hard way," Colt said through a grunt and then sighed as he released the rag. "Better early than late. At least we know why those settlements around this place are empty."

"You knew the whole time?" Johnny asked.

"I suspected," Colt replied. "Like I said, better you learn now."

Johnny sighed and sulked down a bit. "You could have told me, then you wouldn't have been shot."

"Not the first time," Colt said as he slumped in the seat. "And you killed without hesitation."

"It got easier," Johnny said as he fought back tears. "Especially when it was to save you."

"None of that sentimental bullshit, kit. Now, I need some sleep. Wake me up if you find a garage or see trouble."

Johnny felt a tear defiantly leak from his eye. He took his paw off the yoke to wipe it away and sniffled back a sob. He'd have time to think about killing again later, for right now, he was focused on trying not to get overcome at the thought he'd put Colt in danger.

Lesson learned.

"Short Circuits."

Two days. Two long grueling days. Johnny yawned as he struggled to keep his eyelids open. He didn't know how Colt could do it.

He looked over at the wolf. He'd been unconscious since he passed out shortly after they escaped Desert Aire. He would occasionally put his paw on his chest and make sure he felt him still breathing. So far, so good.

Johnny had no idea where he was. He'd kept the setting sun on his right and the rising sun on his left, but he didn't know if they were in Oregon, California or even one of the states more east. The roads were never in straight lines. Then something happened that caused him to snap to full alertness.

The car shook and all the needles gauges dipped down before coming back to life. Then it did it again, and again. Johnny looked at the markings on the instruments but the strange Arabic numerals and hashed lines didn't mean anything to him. The car's power stuttered again, and Johnny looked over at the wolf.

"Colt?" he said, trying to rouse the wolf. "Colt? Colt!?" Johnny put his paw on the wolf's shoulder and gently shook him. It took several minutes of calling his name and shaking his shoulder before the wolf barely cracked an eye open and looked over at the fox. "Colt, something's wrong with the car."

Colt lifted his head and looked at the dash, then jerked a little as the car stuttered. "Garage. We need one soon."

Johnny nodded and then watched as Colt laid his head against the door panel and closed his eyelid again. For the moment, he was on his own. Johnny kept driving for several hours. Each time the car would stutter and jerk he would wince, thinking that that would be its death rattle. The wheels thankfully kept turning, and not long before the heat of midday started cooling into the evening, he saw a lone structure on the horizon.

He slowed the car down as he approached it. It had an overhang that was collapsed on one side. The building itself small, but when he got closer he saw a bay door of a car garage on the side. He stopped the car on the road in front of it and shook Colt awake again,

As the wolf opened his eyes and looked over at the fox, he asked, "Will this work?" His only response was a soft nod. Johnny turned the yoke and pulled into the lot on the other side of the collapsed overhang. He was about to get out of the car when he felt the wolf grab his jacket.

"Clear the building," Colt told him.

"How, uh, how do I do that?"

"Use your gun. If anyone or anything is in it, shoot them."

Johnny nodded softly then stepped out of the car. He drew his revolver and walked up to the door of the ancient convenience store. He thought about what Colt had told him, to shoot anyone that might be in there. Images of Smithe crossed his mind. Then the lion, the officer on the opperator's platform, the hyena and the dog. Johnny shook his head to get rid of them. "No," he said quietly to himself. "Busy with other things. Focus."

Timidly, he tugged on the handle and it didn't budge. The front windows were long since gone, and he looked inside. There were rows of shelves inside with various trash and toppled shelving pieces strewn around. It had obvious been ransacked and picked over long ago.

He made his way over to the bay door and looked in through a missing segment. He thought he could see something inside moving around but the Wasteland sun didn't shine in enough for him to get a clear view. Johnny looked the door over and saw a handle on the bottom segment near the ground at his feet.

The fox tried his best to pull the old door that was off its track up with his left paw while holding his revolver in his right. The metal bending and clattering made a terribly loud racket and he heard something skitter on the other side of it. He gulped hard as he holstered the pistol and gripped the handle with both paws. At least it didn't sound like a fur inside.

He heaved on the door and the bottom of it lifted a bit. He tried a little harder and heard the metal scraping against the frame of the bay. Johnny paused as he panted, then drew a deep breath and pulled up as hard as he could.

The metal groaned and then there was a loud pop. Johnny fell backwards and looked up in time to see the top of the door falling toward him. He tried to get out of the way, but he felt the sheets of metal crumple on his legs and stomach. Dust kicked up and swirled around him and he coughed between gasps.

As the dust was clearing, Johnny heard a lout hiss. He fanned the dust away from his eyes with his free left paw while his right remained trapped under the door. As it cleared the the obstruction from his view, he saw the carapace of a radscorpion against the back wall with its pincers open and its tail reared.

Johnny cursed as he gripped the stock of his revolver in his holster and struggled to pull it free with his trapped right arm. The scorpion looked at him with its multitude of eyes and chattered in a way that Johnny felt like he was being sized up for a meal. Just as the scorpion lunged forward, Johnny pulled his revolver free and pointed it at the arthropod. He squeezed the trigger and heard a click.

"Shit!" the fox exclaimed as the scorpions eight legs clacked against the metal of the garage door. Johnny dropped his pistol just in time to catch the bottom of the radscorpion's claws before they could tear into him.

The creature, no bigger than a small dog was extremely strong. Johnny struggled against the pincers as the scorpion pushed his arms down. His mouth was so close to the fox's muzzle that his two pedipalps grasped at Johnny's cheek tufts and tried to pull his head closer.

Johnny saw the back of the scorpion bow upward and the stinger on the end of its tail ready to thrust down and pierce the fox. Johnny closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable pain of the venom coursing through his body, but his eyes shot open again when he heard a report behind him. The carapace on the scorpion's face caved in and tan colored goo splattered all over Johnny's face as it shrieked. The creature went limp and he threw it off him as fast as he could.

It landed on his back a few feet from him and its eight legs curled up against its underside. Johnny breathed a sigh of relief before looking behind him and seeing the wolf walking with his pistol up as best he could without putting pressure on his wounded leg.

Johnny lifted the door off his torso and pulled his legs free. He stood up and brushed himself off and then turned around to face the wolf.

"God dammit, kit!" Colt yelled. "I told you to always keep your gun topped off."

"I-I know ... I'm sorry. After Desert Aire ... I just forgot to reload."

"And you're lucky you're not dead," Colt said as he holstered his pistol then collapsed on the ground.

"Colt!" Johnny ran over to the wolf and knelt down beside him.

The wolf opened his eyes and looked up at him. They were glassy and distant. "You're hurt?"

Johnny looked at him puzzled then followed his blank gaze to his left arm. He saw the torn leather, shook his head and smiled at the wolf. "No, it was just a scratch. I got it in Desert Aire."

"Should'a told me," Colt said weakly. "We'd have gotten that taken care of."

"You worry about you, right now," Johnny said then leaned down and nuzzled the wolf's cheek. "You saved me again. Thank you."

"You saved me ... back in town."

"I got you into that in the first place," Johnny said as he eased back from the wolf.

"I got you in ... Gun Runners. We're square," Colt said and managed a smile at the fox.

"Not yet," Johnny said as a tear streamed down his cheek. "You still got a promise to keep."

Colt chuckled softly and his eyes fluttered halfway closed. "Later. Help me up."

"Colt, you're about to pass out. Get some rest."

"We gotta get the car ... gotta fix it. I know what's wrong. It can't wait."

Johnny sighed and nodded. He stood up and helped Colt off the ground. The wolf grunted as he accidentally stepped down on his left foot. Johnny moved to his side and under his arm so the wolf could hold himself up without standing on two feet.

"Okay, Colt," Johnny said as he looked up at the wolf. "But, _I_do any of the heavy lifting. _You_take it easy."

"For once," Colt said as he looked down at the fox, "I don't feel like arguing with my bitch."

" Grease Monkey."

Johnny pulled the red coupling off the fuel cell and drug it back out of the drivers side door. He walked over to a small panel on the wall of the bay by the workbench. He looked back at the Wolf in the passenger seat and cocked his head.

"Take the cap off on the bottom of the box," Colt instructed. It'll be red, gray or rusted.

"That helps," Johnny mumbled as he looked at the bottom of the box. There were two pieces of conduit on one side of it and a red cap like Colt had said on the right. He twisted it off and looked back to the wolf.

"Push the coupling onto the opening and twist it to the right to lock it in place," Colt said and Johnny complied, looking back at him afterward for instructions. "Open the breaker box and move the main breaker to 'ON.'"

"Uh," Johnny said after a brief survey of all the various switches in the box, "which one is the 'ON' one?"

"Everything is labeled," Colt told him.

Johnny splayed his ears back and looked over the switches again. He sighed and turned to face the wolf. "Colt? I, uh, I can't read."

"Fucking Christ," the wolf said aloud. "That's going to make all this a very slow process. It's a lever, a big lever. It'll be on the top, bottom or one of the sides."

Johnny looked at the box again and saw a lever switch at the top. It was partially up and away from the contacts on either side of it. "Is 'ON' the circle with the two lines after it that look like crosses?"

"No, that's 'OFF,'" Colt said and huffed. "The other way is 'ON.'"

Johnny picked up the handle of the lever and threw the switch. The contacts sparked and the fox jumped back as the overhead lights in the garage flickered to life. He looked up amazed as the garage bay suddenly had power. He padded back over to the car and looked in the drivers side door with his tail wagging excitedly.

"Did you see that?" Johnny exclaimed. "I read my first word, and then power, and ZAP! Now there's light."

"Yeah, yeah," Colt said. "Very exciting, kit."

"How did you know how to do that?"

"Before the bombs fell, they required all these little car shops to run off micro fusion generators in case the Army needed to requisition them for repairs on convoys. This thing is a generator on wheels, kit."

"Wow. So you can power buildings with your car?"

"It's a waste of juice, kit," Colt explained. "I need power in this building so I can use my soldering iron. That's it."

"Ah. Okay," Johnny said, a little disappointed.

"Pop the hood, kit."

"How do I do that?"

"There's a little lever under the steering column. Pull it out toward you."

Johnny looked under the yoke and followed the steering shaft into the dash. Underneath it just below the worn out faux wood panel was a black lever. He pulled it and heard a loud thunk. He jumped a little as the loud sound echoed in the cab. He looked over at Colt and blinked.

"Go to the front of the car. Run your paw under the front near where the hood ornament used to be. You'll feel the latch and a small metal tab beside it. Pull up on that tab and lift the hood."

Johnny eased his head out of the cab and made his way to the front. He ran his fingers under it near the discolored portion in the cleft of the hood where a proud manufacturer once displayed its decorative hood piece. Jonny felt the flat metal tab and lifted up on it. The bonnet lid rose and two springs on the underside of the big piece of metal caught it and locked it in place.

Johnny looked in the bay at the large metal fins sitting atop the motor. There were wires, bars and hoses seemingly everywhere. He didn't even know how to begin to make sense of what he was looking at. He peered around the open hood and looked at Colt through the windshield.

"Calm down, kit," Colt told him. "It's really not as complicated as it looks. This next part is going to be a little difficult. I need you to get down on the floor and slide up under the car until you're looking at the back of the motor housing close to the firewall."

"Okay," Johnny said, then took a deep breath. "What's a motor housing and what's a firewall?"

"The motor housing is big and cylindrical. You'll see it as soon as you get down under the car. The firewall is behind that. It's the flat wall between the motor compartment and the passenger compartment."

Johnny nodded then eased down onto the floor on his back. He shimmied under the car and looked up at the bottom of the motor. The big rounded housing that encased the car's power plant was indeed easy to find. He continued back until he saw the firewall above him. "Okay," Johnny yelled from under the car. "I'm there."

"Now look for the fuel cell controller. It's labeled CM- aww, fuck it. Damn, I wish you could read," Colt said, which caused Johnny to sag his shoulders. "It's a gray box with with two bunches of wires connected to it and a red light on the side.

Johnny looked around until he saw a box with a faded red light and the bundles of wires on either side of it. "I think I see it."

"Disconnect the wires by lifting up on the tabs and then sliding them off. Be careful. If you break those clips I'll have to climb under there and jury-rig them so they work."

Johnny took another deep breath to steady himself. He reached up to the first bundle of wires and felt the tabs on the topside, out of his view. He wormed his fingertips under the tabs and they lifted up. With his other paw, he pulled the first bundle free. He went to work on the second one and managed to slip it out with no problem as well. "Okay, what's next?"

"There used to be two bolts that held it in, but I've replaced those with threadbars and wingnuts. Walk the nuts down, one turn at a time, and keep one paw on the controller chip. It weighs five pounds and there's another wire on the inside of it that connects to the motor. If you break that, we're dead in the water."

Johnny put his right paw up on fuel cell controller and moved his left to the odd shaped nut on the back of it. He twisted it, but it didn't budge. He tried again, but it still didn't move. He grit his teeth and twisted as hard as he could until he heard a loud pop, but nothing moved.

"'The fuck was that?" he heard from Colt in the car above him.

"I don't know. They're stuck. They won't move."

"How the fuck can they be stuck? I put them in less than three months ago?" Colt paused and then Johnny heard and audible sigh. "Turn them to the left, kit."

"Left?"

"Yeah, the opposite way you're turning them?"

Johnny twisted the nut again in the opposite direction. It took a little bit of force, but it moved one turn. He then moved his paw to the other one and walked it down. He repeated the process until the nuts one of the nuts fell off and bounced against the concrete floor. "Shit," he cursed aloud.

"Don't sweat it, kit," Colt told him. "You can pick it up before you put it back on. Make sure you hold that thing up and lower it down slowly."

"Okay," Johnny said as he loosened the other nut, making sure to keep it in his paw as it slipped off the threading. He eased the controller chip down and saw a tiny green wire that went up into the hole in the motor housing. "I see this wire, now what?"

"It's held on to the controller by a simple crimp clip," Colt explained. "Just take the end in your fingers and pull it off the controller chip."

Johnny grabbed the end of it and pulled it free. As soon as he did, the dim red light on the side of the controller chip went dead. "The wire is off, but the light went out."

"It's fine. Get back out here and help me over to the work bench."

Johnny shimmied back out from under the car with the fuel cell controller and stood up. He walked around to Colt and helped the wolf get out of the car and supported him as he walked over to the bench. He sat wingnut and the controller down in front of the wolf and Colt looked the gray box over.

"Good news and bad news," Colt said.

"The good?" Johnny asked.

"Doesn't look like it was hit."

"Okay. The bad?"

"I have to open it up and see what's wrong with it. There's a leather bundle under the drivers seat. Grab it for me," Colt grabbed his arm as he turned toward the car and Johnny looked back at him. "There's a sawn-off shotgun under the seat beside it. Don't grab the trigger by mistake."

Johnny nodded then walked back to the car. He got down on his knees and peered under the seat. He saw the leather bundle, a bottle of that terrible brown water beside it and the cut off stock of the shotgun in a holster attached to the seat by speaker wire. Johnny pushed the bottle out of the way and picked up the bundle.

He sat it on the bench and Colt opened it up. There were several pockets inside with various tools, most of which Johnny had never seen before. Colt picked out one of the screwdrivers and started prying up little tabs on the side of the controller. Johnny watched as he lifted the case up and off it, revealing a circuit board with several strange looking things sticking up off it. The wolf looked it over and then shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked.

"Vacuum tube is cracked," Colt explained. "I can't wire a jumper for this one, and I can't use either of the other two smaller ones." Colt sagged his head then looked at the fox. "Was there anything inside the store we could use? Radio, TV, anything like that?"

"I ... I'm not sure," Johnny replied. "Why the fuck not? I told you to clear the building."

"I ... didn't go inside. The front door was stuck."

"Kit, the windows were wide open. When I say clear a building, I mean clear the building. The _whole_fucking building."

"I'm sorry," Johnny said as he splayed his ears back.

Colt sighed and shook his head. "Look, that door right there? That leads into the store. If that door is stuck, climb in one of those big ass windows out front."

"Okay," Johnny said as he stepped over to the door.

He turned the handle and pushed the door open. He sighed in relief as the fear of climbing over the broken glass was assuaged. He was about to go inside when he heard Colt clear his throat. He looked at the wolf and saw his scowl. Johnny nodded and drew his revolver and stepped inside.

The tile floor was cool on his paw pads as he looked around the mini-mart. Many of the overhead lights flickered on and off above him as he scoured for any sign of a piece of electronic equipment. His right ear cocked to the side as he heard something faint.

Johnny looked over at shelf behind the register and saw a faint glow on a small radio plugged into the wall. He holstered his pistol and walked over to it, leaning up to pull it off the shelf. Static hissed softly through the speaker as he got it down and turned to take it to Colt.

As he did, the cord where it was plugged into the wall yanked and he nearly lost his grip. With a small spark, the old wire out of the back ripped free, but Johnny was able to hold onto it and not let it hit the ground. He gasped as he looked at the damage he'd caused and his heart sank. He knew Colt was going to be pissed at him for breaking it. When he walked back into the garage he sat it down on the workbench and fully expected to be reprimanded.

"Fucking sweet," the wolf said, and Johnny looked up at him curiously.

"I thought you would be mad. I broke it when I took it off the shelf."

Colt lifted it up and examined the casing then looked back at Johnny. "Don't look broke, kit. What did you do?"

"The wire pulled out the back and it stopped making noise."

"Why the fuck would that matter? It just means that the guts inside it are still working."

"I just thought ..."

"Don't sweat it. As long as these vacuum tubes are in good shape, we're golden."

Johnny nodded softly as a wave of relief washed over him. He watched Colt crack the case open with the delicacy of a mad bull brahmin. He was a little surprised by the rough treatment as chips of plastic clattered to the floor.

When Colt had the inside exposed, he reached in and pulled out one of the glass tubes and then sat it on the bench. Johnny watched him pull another tool from the pouch and plug a wired end into the outlet behind the bench. Colt flipped a switch on it and licked his finger pad. He touched the cone-shaped end and there was a small sizzle and the smell of burned saliva assaulted Johnny's nose.

Colt pulled something else out of the pouch that looked like a rubber teardrop. Johnny looked at curiously as the wolf touched the hot pen to the connectors on the vacuum tube and then drew up little droplets of liquid metal into the strange rubber bulb. Colt sat his tools down and pulled the cracked tube free of the board.

Johnny ducked as it flew over his head and shattered against the concrete floor. By the time he looked back at Colt, the wolf had put the new tube in place and was touching some kind of wire to the end of the hot pen and it seemed to melt around the connectors. Johnny watched the small wisps of smoke rolled off the wire.

After a few moments, Colt stopped and sat the wire and pen on the bench. He blew on the liquid metal softly to cool it and then put the top of the case back on the controller. He picked it up, turned it over in his paws to give it a final once over before handing it back to Johnny.

"You remember what wires went were?" the wolf asked.

"Yeah, I think so," the fox replied.

"Good. Reinstall this then we should be good to go."

Johnny nodded and turned toward the car, but Colt's paw stopped him again. Johnny looked at the wolf as he gestured toward the wingnut with his muzzle. Johnny scooped it off the table and went back around to the front.

He crawled under the car on his back again until he saw the hole in the motor housing. He looked around and saw the dropped brass colored nut on the ground and picked it up. Being as careful as he could, he reconnected the wire with the crimp end and the red light glowed brightly on the side of the controller.

After replacing the wingnuts, he reconnected the two clusters of wires on either end of the controller chip and then worked back out of the car. Colt had already packed up the tools on the bench and made his way back to the passenger seat. Johnny closed the hood up and walked over to the breaker box.

"Turn the main breaker off before you pull that power line," Colt told him.

Johnny moved the big lever to the position with the circle and two lines that looked like crosses and the lights shut off. He disconnected the coupling and then put it back in the car and re-coupled it to the fuel cell.

He settled into the driver's seat and looked over at the wolf. His gaze trailed down to Colt's lap and he noticed the wolf's jeans were crumpled around his ankles. Johnny blushed as he looked at the wolf's sheath, then felt a pang of guilt as he saw the cracked and dried blood on his thigh

"You might make a capable grease monkey yet, kit," Colt said, pulling his attention up to the wolf's face. "Now, let's see if you can make a capable medic."

"What do you need me to do?"

Colt leaned forward and opened the glovebox. He pulled out another hypodermic needle full of the red liquid and handed it Johnny. "The bone isn't mending, and I need you to inject this into my bone before the scar tissue gets too thick."

"I ... I don't know if I can do that."

"Yes you can," Colt told him. "I trust you kit. You're the first fur I've trusted in fifteen years. You can do it."

Johnny looked down at the needle then at the wolf's wound. He sighed and looked back up at Colt with a nod.

"Good. Take the sharp end and push it in until you get it in the middle of the bone. I'll expose it for you. It needs to get into the marrow." Colt reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocket knife that he flipped open. He moved his left arm up to his muzzle and bit down on the leather jacket. He moved the knife down to the open wound and cut into his flesh.

Johnny grimaced as he heard Colt yell as he bit down on his forearm. He watched Colt cut the skin back until dark red started to pour over the steel blade, then heard an awful scrape as Colt cut the torn muscle away from the shattered bone. The fox saw the yellowish white around the splintered fragments.

Johnny saw Colt pull the knife out of his leg and looked up at the wolf's face as he panted. He saw the wolf's cheeks damp with tears that had streamed down as he endured the self-administered surgery. He released his arm from his mouth and looked over at Johnny weakly.

"Okay, kit," he said and then looked down at the wound. "Push the needle into the open end of that bone then hit the auto-injection button on the side of the stim."

Johnny leaned over and pushed the needle down through the peeled back flesh until it scraped against the softer marrow inside of Colt's femur.

"Deeper," Colt told him through gritted teeth.

Johnny pushed the needle up into the bone past the resistance of the the blood soaked fatty tissue until well over half of the three inches of surgical steel was up inside of Colt's bone.

"Inject it," Colt told him after a grunt while he panted.

Johnny took his thumb and pressed the small button on the side. The needle hissed and the red fluid in the rushed down the syringe, through the barrel and out of the needle into Colt's bone. The wolf grabbed Johnny's shoulder and squeezed it so tight that it physically hurt the fox. Johnny endured it as he looked at the empty stimpack still lodged in Colt's leg.

"Pull it out," Colt said, nearly desperate for him to do so.

Johnny backed the needle out slowly, but Colt's paw moved to his wrist and forced him to yank it free. Johnny looked up at the wolf with concern in his eyes. He saw the wolf panting with his teeth and eyes tightly closed. "Colt?"

"I'm here, kit," Colt said softly before opening his eyes and looked over at the fox. "White box, in the back with a red cross on it."

Johnny looked into the back of the car and spotted the box Colt was talking about. He reached back and pulled it up and handed it to the wolf. He saw Colt flip the clasps up and pull out a white roll of bandaging.

"Put your paws under my leg, just above my knee. Hold it up while I wrap this."

Johnny complied, leaning over and lifting Colt's leg slightly. He watched the wolf unbind the end of the bandage and wrap the open wound several times until it was completely covered. He took the small metal tab and locked the end of the bandage down to the wraps underneath it.

"I hope you don't mind if I keep my pants down for a bit, kit," Colt said before laying his head back against the seat.

"It ... doesn't bother me," Johnny said as he blushed.

"I'll bet not," Colt said and chuckled. "Soon as this heals up a bit, we'll see how well you learned to suck dick."

"I wouldn't want you to open your injury back up," Johnny said before pushing the ignition button. "All those muscles get pretty tight when you're cumming in someone's mouth."

"Getting a little cocky, ain't ya?"

"Just modeling myself after my teacher, like any good pupil." Johnny looked over at Colt as the wolf laughed. Johnny smiled and put the car in reverse and backed it out of the garage.