Once we looted everything that we could from the remains of Herman Group, Alfred set the fire to all the remains that were put in a pile. With the wooden carriage stokes the fire burning hot and high, we all watches the hated group at the dead end of their story, now all of them are dead, and we are alive, that is the simple conclusion to our brief meetings. All of us departed from the scene once we done with everything, Scarlett needs further medical assistance and rest, Layla needs repairs and for me, I need to get accustomed to our new arrival.
"This truck… drives really well… it was smooth and felt really brand new…". (Selene)
Selene was driving the truck, and she finds it very good, she was even smiling as she drove and maneuvering the steering wheel.
"Well… it is kind of new… I supposed…".
I awkwardly answered her, this truck by my earth standards is old, but by the wasteland standard, it was brand new.
"The drive was flawless, brakes working, light were bright… the air conditioner is cold…. This truck… is a gem, compared to 99% of vehicles in this world, Darling.". (Selene)
Anyone can see that she was excited about this, and just like what she said, which is the same as Natasha account, all the vehicle in this world, are mostly just a working engine, with a frame and seats. That was it, a four-wheel rusty box, which a hazard to the world.
"You seemed rather excited about driving and vehicles, Selene… have you drive a vehicle before?".
"I do, multiple times actually… I drove all sort of vehicles, but none of them were as nice and as good as this… I am also a mechanic… as my side hustle… I worked in a few mechanic shops inside Station Ail and Wail… compared to all those vehicles that I drove and repaired; those vehicles are just a rusted box compared to this truck…". (Selene)
"Haha… I see, I am glad you like it, Selene… from now on, if you wanted to… you can drive this truck anytime you want.".
"Really? Thank you, Darling… I would love to.". (Selene)
We tacitly agreed to keep our conversation light and smooth, although we are already technically married, we both are still in the middle of getting to know each other's, neither of us wanted to just dive into the heavy stuff buck naked. Selene reveals a little bit of herself, and I would do the same, and that was about it.
"Hmmm…".
"….. Are your leg hurts?". (Selene)
"a little bit… just sore and a little bit strained… at this point, this type of pain is normal to me… anytime I do any intense activity... my leg would act up like this…".
"Must be quite an annoyance, right?". (Selene)
"Yeah, but over the time, you just kinda get used to it".
Selene looks at me and then at my leg, where I am massaging it a little, it was the type of pain and situation where not a lot that can be done at the moment to solve the predicament. The kind of pain that the only solutions were to just 'suck it up' and it would pass, kind of situations, this is also the reasons why I have Selene drive the truck.
"Have it lasted for quite long?". (Selene)
"Since my last injuries… so, it was quite some time already… but I planned to fix it… just need a few things in place, before I heal it myself….".
Since we are on a long drive home, and we got time to talk about it, I revealed the plan of performing a surgery on my lame leg. Selene nodded and listened to my plan calmly the entire time, while at some point she would ask me a few things as well, so our talks were smooth and calm the entire time. And her British accents really do make our talked felt more calming to me.
"So, it is imperative for us all to obtained the Doctor-Bot and Nurse-Bot, for not only your surgery… but to ensure our family medical needs no longer an issue, right?". (Selene)
"That's the gist of it… I have seen and tasted the poor medical treatment in the wasteland… and let's just say… 99% of the time, people would die from a simple treatment by the so called 'doctor' than the patient just simple sleep off their injuries…".
Not to sound obnoxious, but I truly stand by my belief that the doctor of the entire wasteland, 90% of them were just quack doctor that were in it, just for some quick coins and nothing else. Selene naturally agreed with my opinions, although she doesn't know if the doctor really performed a medical treatment correctly or not, but she do know that a lot of doctors are just there to charge coins as much as they can.
"Oh, and by the way…. we need to treat Scarlett injuries and conditions more up-close and correctly once we got home…".
"Why?". (Selene)
Selene was a bit puzzled when I told her that we need to treat Scarlett more when we got home, to avoid any misunderstanding, I calmly explained everything to her, with a new knowledge I casually parted to her, Selene was mind blown, now knowing that infections can kill a person. After 3 minutes of explaining to Selene some superficial medical knowledge, she was clearly impressed by me.
"Natasha told me, you are different now… I don't know it was to this extent…". (Selene)
"I know… let's just say, I wanted to become a new person… I've been mean to Natasha for far too long… and I regret that… Now, I wanted to be a good man for her and my family.".
"…I am glad, that you've change for the better, Azra… Thanks to this, I am now seeing you in a new light, My darling~". (Selene)
Selene smiled and put her hand on top of mine for a brief second, showing her heartfelt intention to me.
"…Thank you, Selene…. Oh, would you look at that…we've already arrived…".
"Your…. oh, no…. Our home is very close to the Dead Forest?". (Selene)
We have already arrived at our base, Star Gas Station, Selene were a little bit worried and unsettled as she noticed instantly that our base is far from any settlement and it was extremely close to the Dead Forest, a forest known as the home of all sort of Mutated animals, which is a big threat to all wasteland populace. At the same time, Natasha hopped out from the truck bed, and walked to the base gate, and pushed the gate open and waved us in.
"Although it was close to the forest… the mutated animals rarely come or even attack this place… I have sufficiently secured the area of any threat… and although it doesn't look like much, our base defense is quite solid… we got thick perimeter walls… and security guard, guarding the place 24/7…".
Selene watches as I pointed at the wall of rusty cars being piled up neatly forming a thick wall, and then at the Construction Automaton that were stationed on top of the gas station rooftop. Security wise, our base can be categorized as sufficiently guarded. Selene drove the truck directly into the parking space and then kill the engine, Natasha who had closed and chain the gate also gathers outside our truck as well.
"Also, to top it all of…. we aren't living here, out in the open…we lived, inside this gas station…more specifically…the secure bunker, right under it…".