Two rangers find themselves stranded in the Australian outback after their Jeep dies. An Aboriginal spirit "helps" them to survive in their new home.

====================================================================================================

Deep in the Australian outback, it’s quiet. The only sounds that can be heard is the rhythmic hum of the Jeep’s engine, and the occasional chatter from the CB radio mounted in the dashboard. Paul and James, two rangers, are running their usual patrol, looking for poachers. Paul is at the wheel, cruising through the desert, half asleep from the long drive, when suddenly the Jeep’s engine begins to stall out, and a red light appears on the gauge cluster, indicating that the engine is running too hot. Soon, the engine completely stalls, and the vehicle slows to a stop. Paul sighs, while James swears under his breath, and they both get out of the Jeep.

“Damnit, this is the third time this month, they really need to fix this bloody thing. See if you can radio for a tow or something,” James orders to Paul as he opens the hood, steam billowing from the engine confirming that the engine is way too hot and won’t be running any time soon.

Paul reaches into the car and keys up the radio, “This is car 15, we’re stranded at grid 015144 keypad 3, engine overheat, can’t get moving. Need a tow quickly.” Paul waits, but nothing comes back over the radio. He repeats his message, waits, and still nothing. “Fucking…now the radio is broken! Piece of shit…” He smacks the radio and it comes loose from the hinges and falls to the floor of the Jeep, and Paul swears again.

James gets a bottle of water from the back of the car and pours it into the radiator, hoping to get enough distance to find a ranger outpost or something. He spins the key in the ignition, the vehicle begins to turn over but then steam shoots out from the engine compartment again as it overheats, the water boiling quickly as it fails to begin to cool the engine.

“You two seem to be having trouble,” a voice says in a playful voice. James looks up from the dash and Paul looks around, then locks eyes with the source. James finds it soon after, a kangaroo, that seemed to be adorned with several tribal markings done in some sort of primitive paint. Both James and Paul are surprised, and are quiet for several minutes as the kangaroo stares at them expectantly. Eventually, Paul speaks up.

“Y-yes, we were on patrol here and our vehicle is broken down, we can’t leave, and we can’t reach anyone else for help.”

“Well...” The kangaroo looks around, as if looking for something or someone, then back to Paul, “...I don’t see anyone or anything else around here for miles...seems you’re stuck here. I don’t think you’ll last long looking like that. Let me help you.” The kangaroo then begins doing odd gestures with his paws, and the tribal paint on his body begins to glow. Shortly after, both Paul and James begin to glow with a similar faint light, and then it stops.

Paul and James look themselves over as they notice the glowing, and then see hairs starting to poke out of their arms, and over the rest of their body. Soon, dusty brown fur is covering their arms, and their fingers begin to cramp as they get shorter, stockier, and their thumbs shrivel away into their hands. Their fingernails darken, then grow longer and thicker. They dig back into their fingertips; their palms swell and grow leathery paw pads and soon both are left with kangaroo paws for hands. Paul and James both look at their new paws in awe, look at each other then look at the kangaroo smirking in front of them.

“What-what the hell is going on?” There’s a strong sense of panic and fear in James’ voice.

“I’m helping you adapt to the environment better, as it seems you aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

The fur sweeps up Paul and James’ arms then to their shoulders. As it touches their shoulders, they can feel pressure in the shoulders as their bones begin to rearrange, shoulder joints flattening and moving inward, and their arms lurch forward slightly. The fur covers their chest and back, then begins to spread up to the neck and down to the waist as their back cricks and hunches forward, leaving them standing in an awkward posture. Their thighs swell as muscle grows and becomes denser, and eventually their cargo shorts can’t take the strain and rip, revealing thick kangaroo haunches. Their feet begin to swell and stretch back, lengthening and becoming much more powerful to allow for hopping. A thick tail begins to snake out of their backs, as they both look down and then back at the tail, which allows them to balance on their new longer feet.

“I-I don’t understand how this helps...” James said, still in a bit of a panic.

“You’ll see, just be patient.” The kangaroo seems to roll his eyes, seeming annoyed at their response to his gift.

Their necks soon become thicker as well, growing muscle, and soon it reaches the head. The fur sweeps across their faces and their jaws stretch forward, growing into thick, powerful kangaroo muzzles. Teeth flatten out and grow thicker, as if their entire mouth is now comprised of molars, to allow for their new herbivore diet. James reaches up to feel his face and meets his nose, which is now black, wet and forming into a flatter, oblong shape as it stretches across his thicker muzzle. Paul feels as well, then their ears begin to stretch out as their hair merges in with the fur. James and Paul’s ears both stretch out longer and longer, then move to the tops of their heads. Soon, there’s just three kangaroos standing in the middle of the Outback next to a steaming Jeep.

The one who started all of this looks them over with a smile, says “You’re welcome.” and then vanishes. James and Paul look at each other, unsure of what to do. James then swivels one of his ears as he hears a shrew rummaging through a bush. He looks over and sees it, then clumsily hops over to the bush, then starts chewing on the leaves as the shrew hiding inside scurries off to find somewhere else to go. Paul follows shortly behind, and they both munch on the bush as they contemplate their new lives as wild kangaroos.