Please Moon Goddess

*Eli*

Everything is taking too long, including this trip to the garage.

We're all silent as Brent, Sean, and I follow Eustace so we can fix the van, which is apparently the only vehicle on the property. I see no other way to get to Kamila as soon as possible. I'm really not in the mood to help these people because they killed two of my best warriors, but I really don't see any other option.

Besides, it seems to be more Pete's fault that things are the way they are out here. Although I don't blame him for falling apart after his partner's death, I don't even want to imagine if the same thing happened to Kamila, he should have gathered strength for the sake of these people.

I can't really understand what is happening here. They are clearly renegades because Pete is certainly not an ET1, but they seem to be very close as if they were one big family. From everything he had heard about renegades, they simply choose not to be a part of pack life. That makes them unpredictable... and dangerous. But all of these people, except Pete and his problems, seem like just regular members of the pack trying to make their lives work for them.

However, I don't have time to help them do that, because I need to get to Kamila. If she could, she would simply transform me and run there right now. But with my hand severely injured, which would be my ET-shaped front paw, that's not an option for me. I would send Kelly and the warriors ahead, but since we are so far away that we can't even establish the mental link with the other ET1s, running would take too much time and consume too much energy. The rest of them aren't in much better shape than me after the service vehicle accident.

“This is the garage,” Eustace says, and his eyes shine as if the place is his pride and joy.

You are right to do so because this group of buildings is truly impressive. In fact, I think I hear Sean whistle. At one time, this must have been the outbuildings for resort operations, so I imagine all of these buildings housed all the vehicles and equipment they needed to maintain the place. I hope the van is one of those vehicles, and that they have saved enough spare parts so we can get it up and running quickly.

However, my optimism disappears like a pricked balloon as soon as Eustace opens the garage door. I'm right that the van was part of the resort because it still has the name of the place, Wooded Acres Resort and Spa, stamped on the side. But what I'm not right about is that we can fix it quickly. The van is... crap. I have no idea how they managed to get me and my people here just a couple of days ago. There are so many things wrong with her, I don't even know where to start.

"Here she is," Eustace says as if he were announcing the arrival of the Moon Goddess herself. —Isn't she pretty?

I try to erase the fear and misery from my face. “It's…nice,” I say. It's really the only polite thing I can think of right now. I certainly have more knowledge about these people's lives now that I've seen Eustace so excited about this pathetic pile of metal. I give some quick instructions to my guys on the mental link. I don't want them to say anything, and I know that none of them have much of a filter.

“Nice?!” Eustace says as if he had insulted the royal family. —This is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time.

“She's very pretty,” I say, recovering enough to put a smile on my face. This is the only vehicle I have at my disposal right now that will take me to Kamila, so honestly, it's a beautiful sight. I'm going to think positively here. "Where are the pieces?" I ask.

Eustace frowns for a few seconds and then nods toward the other side of the garage, which is mas...ive and mostly empty. I follow his gaze and see a pile of what appears to be junk near the back of the room. Brilliant.

"Let's do it this way," I say. "Show me what's wrong, then we'll take a look at the parts."

I feel my boys behind me rolling their eyes. Everything is wrong with this poor vehicle. It deserves to be removed and parked in a field of wildflowers where nature can use it as a pot.

Eustace nods and walks me over to the damn thing and points out how bad the suspension is, and I notice a lot more on my inspection. But I think if we just figure out the suspension, we can carry a few more spare parts and probably make the trip. Wait.

I start giving instructions, and Brent and Sean immediately join in. Luckily, Brent has a little more experience working on anything with an engine than the rest of us, so he quickly formulates a way to get some things going with the pile of junk. I'm glad Kelly brought it, although that could have been Trevor's doing. Either way, we get to work.

“I just need to solder these two together and they should work,” Brent says, and Eustace looks at him like he just ate the last cookie from the snack jar.

"What?" I ask Eustace, already knowing the answer.

"Well, the welder's not that good," he says. —We don't have much fuel, so we fix it, but that doesn't work very well.

“Let me see it,” Brent says. Thank the Goddess that she is here. If we get through this, I will never leave Kamila's side again. Kamila... Every time her name crosses my mind, I can see her face and smell her beautiful scent in my mind. And that makes me miss her even more.

We all approach the welding machine, which barely appears to be a functional piece of equipment. I try hard to maintain my composure and am very grateful for my boys, who jump into it without hesitation. I'll have to find a way to reward them once we get through this. Maybe their families are about to get much bigger homes.

It doesn't take long for Brent and Sean to figure out how to make the welding machine work better, and they do, and soon, all the pieces are together and fit into the van. It actually looks pretty good. All we have to do is make sure the engine runs.

“This looks great, guys,” I say. —Let's see how it works. Let's put fuel in it.

Eustace makes that face, and I'm learning to fear it.

"What?" I ask him. I feel like I'm repeating myself.

"Gasline isn't close," he says.

At this point, I'm actually ready for it, so I quickly reply, "Where is it?"

“It's on the other side of Jackson Hill,” he says. —We have to pump it out of the tanks.

I take a deep breath, my patience wearing thin, and say, “Come on.”

Once again, the boys don't hesitate to get up from where they had been securing various pieces and follow me and Eustace over something that must be Jackson Hill. We get there, and sure enough, there is an old gas station, but Eustace is showing his worried face again.

I don't even want to ask, so I just look at him.

"You need a key," he says.

"Where is the key?" I ask.

-Inside.

I look at the small gas station, which has been closed for years. "Who has the key to the door?" I ask.

“Pete,” Eustace replies.

'Kelly,' I say instantly into the mental link. 'We need a key to a gas station from Pete.'

She doesn't respond, but I know she's working on it, so I wait a few minutes. 'It's useless,' she finally says. 'She's still looking out the damn window.'

With that, I walk towards the door of the gas station and give it a quick bump with my shoulder, with all my thoughts about getting to Kamila as quickly as possible and saving her and the unborn babies giving me more than enough strength, and the door wobbly collapses. I don't even look at Eustace. I see a panel of keys on the wall and find one marked for the working pump, which I'm not sure how it could have gas in, and I go to unlock the bar that holds the nozzle.

MilagKamily, something like gasoline comes out, and I fill all the plastic gasoline cans I found inside. We all carried them back over Jackson Hill to the resort garage and took turns filling the tank. Luckily, we have some extras, so we loaded those into the back of the van.

Kamila feels so close now. All I have to do is get to her.

I get into the driver's seat and see a key already in the ignition. I close my eyes for a few moments, saying a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess to guide me to Kamila and the cubs and that when I get there, they will all be unharmed.

I take one last deep breath and turn the key.