Rain came with the morning. The tone of the drops changed on the roof, as the tin roof made the sound more solid, more defined. Jack woke to the sound and looked around. Alli had already gotten up, but Jon still lay there. Jack decided to let him sleep in for a bit, and stepped out of the cabin. Alli was across the way, trying to get into one of the houses. As Jack walked across the open area, he looked around at the rest of the village. There were about twelve buildings in total, in two rows separated by a wide dirt road. In the gaps between the buildings, various undergrowth had taken root, making the village feel that much smaller, with the jungle encroaching on the village. All of the buildings looked mostly the same, with one exception at the end of the row. Each was roughly fifteen feet by 25 feet, built of jungle wood with corrugated tin roofs. The odd building out was taller then the rest, deeper, and wider. It looked to be a barn of some type, with a large double door occupying the bulk of the front wall.
As he reached the door Alli was struggling with, she turned and looked at him. "Good of you to wake up this morning. Can you help me with this door?"
"I'll see what I can do." Jack wandered around the building, finally finding a window he could see the door from. He could make out the braces on it, and it looked like the door was barred. But, the window was too small for him to get through. "Hey, Alli, come here. I can get you in the house so you can open the door."
She came around the corner, looking at him. "I already tried that. I can't reach the window. I'm not that tall."
He smiled. "You don't have to. I can, and I can get you up there. Assuming you don't have a problem with that."
She shrugged and walked up to where he was standing. He grabbed her, lifting her up to the window easily. She pulled herself in, while he helped keep her steady. Once she slipped the rest of the way in, he walked around to the front door. As he walked up to it, she pulled it open. "Welcome to my home, handsome stranger" she said in a fake southern accent. "Won't you come in and enjoy a nice glass of fresh squeezed lemonade?"
He laughed at her joke, and stepped through the now open door, looking around. This house was already empty, and had nothing of use in it. Even the beds were gone, leaving the house completely useless.
They checked the rest of the houses, searching each one for anything ever remotely useful. They didn't find much else, just a few more cans of food and a few more rounds of ammunition. But it was something. Finally, they got to the barn. It wasn't locked, and they fully expected it to be empty. But they got lucky. There was a truck in it. It was an old toyota pickup, probably from the 80s. It had what looked like a 50 gallon drum of fuel in the back, and a couple extra drums in the barn. There was also a toolbox in the back of the truck, which had some sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers, and a hammer, just the basics. Jack hopped into the truck, finding the keys in the ignition, and tried to start it up. No luck. Expecting the battery to be dead from age, he decided to try plan B.
"It won't start, but I think we can push start it. Let's go drag Jon out of bed."
Alli smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he shouldn't be sleeping right now anyway. See, the rain has almost cleared up."
They walked over to the cabin, and found Jon sitting up in bed. "I was just about to get up and find you guys. Find anything useful?"
"A bit more ammo and food. Also, a truck," said Alli.
"A truck, huh? Did you try and start it?"
"Yeah, but lets walk and talk," said Jack. Jon hopped out of bed, and followed them out the door. Jack continued "I tried to start it, but it didn't start. I'm not sure why, but my guess was the battery. It has to have been sitting here for a couple of years. I think we should try push starting it, and if that doesn't work, we'll try some other things."
"Sounds like a plan. If that doesn't work, I'll take a look at it and see what I can make out."
They pushed the truck out of the barn, and got it pointed down the road in the middle of the village.
"Alright, so who rides, who pushes?" asked Alli.
Jack looked at her. "Can you drive stick? Have you done a push start before?"
"Yes and no" she answered. "I hadn't even heard of push starting before today. How does it work?"
"Well, basically, you have a couple people push the car to get it rolling. Once it gets moving a bit, you let out the clutch and gas it, just like if you were starting at a light. If you do it right, the engine will catch and start, and you can recharge the battery. Do it wrong and the car jumps hard against the people pushing."
"Hmm" she answers. "I don't have the experience, and it has been a while since I've driven stick. Why don't you start, we'll push. I think that'll work."
Alli and Jon take up positions behind the truck, and Jack climbs in. "Ready?" he calls.
"Ready!" they answer, and start pushing. They get a bit of speed as the truck reaches the edge of the village, and Jack starts to let the clutch out. He feels the catch point, feels the engine resist, and punches the gas. The truck roars to life, dumping a little smoke and throwing up dirt as the wheels spin. Jack eases off and makes a turnaround in the field, then comes back to the barn. Leaving the truck idling, he puts on the parking brake and hops out.
"Let's grab the gear, and the two extra barrels of fuel, and try and get out of here. There is a tarp car cover in the barn, lets take that too. It'll give us a way to keep the gas drums in the back safe." They all scramble to grab the gear, weapons, and gas drums, loading up the truck, tying things in place, and preparing for the trip. Once it was all tied down, Jack hopped back in the drivers seat. Jon grabbed a spot in the back with the gear, and picked up the shotgun, while Alli hopped in the passenger seat. They started off along what was left of the road, making good time now, with minimal obstalces. They climbed over the couple of downed trees with the truck, only once stopping to clear an obstacle, which was a very large tree. As night approached, they debated trading spots and pushing on through the night. Jack tried the lights. When they didn't come on, the debate was settled, and they looked for a clearing to stay the night in. They found one right by the road, and set up camp for the night.
After making camp, they grabbed some food from the supplies, and put the cover on the truck. They talked for a while, and finally lay down for the night. As Jack lay down, he thought how things were looking up. They had fast transport, and hopefully this road led somewhere civilized, where they could contact home. The night sounds caught up to him, and he fell off to a deep, restful sleep.
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