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The first explosion jolted everyone in The Belching Dragon awake. Algernon didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until the sound of the blast catapulted him to consciousness, and it took a few seconds of paralyzed panic to even digest what was going on. To his side, Peach immediately swung her head in the direction of the explosion. It came from the engine room.

“What -”

The second explosion was much bigger, deafening every other noise and shaking the entire vehicle on its axles. A wall of force and heat rippled through the chassis. It made him flinch in shock, but in the moment after it passed over him all of his extremities and organs were still intact. In the next moment he was snatched up and secured under Peach’s arm.

She burst through the cabin door. The hall was filled with smoke, but Algernon wasn’t able to tell much of what was happening as the badger leaped from the second story to the ground floor. The main hatch similarly stood no chance against Peach and she jumped outside.

Sunrise was cast over the landscape around them. Peach twisted around, looking for attacking enemies. From his position Algernon could see the forgotten wrecks of precursor vehicles, and noticed they were nestled within a small valley, but nothing stirred except their own steamer.

The badger leaned down and shoved the possum underneath The Dragon. “Stay there,” she commanded, before stepping back into the rig.

Above, he heard movements throughout the vehicle and a roaring fire. Smoke leaked through the ash pan, but a breeze drew it towards the front of the vehicle away from him. From his cover Algernon looked all around. A river ran behind him, several meters away. A precursor building rested against the side of the valley next to a rock face. Arboreal forest rose above it and hemmed in the valley. It was a beautiful landscape they were parked in, and he still saw no signs of other scavs.

He saw Harper’s and Teddy’s feet hop down to the concrete. The two turned to look up at the vehicle, and the skunk immediately began to snicker. “Oh man, the captain is going to be pissed!”

Teddy reacted with a series with oohs and aahs, clapping at the disaster happening above.

There was more commotion as Peach returned, followed by the group of rats, coughing the smoke from their lungs. They crowded around the badger, trying to glimpse at what she was carrying.

“I-Is it safe?” Algernon called out.

The group’s footsteps stopped. A murmur came from Peach that sounded like an affirmation, so the possum crawled out to join the rest of the crew.

When he stood up, he saw what Peach was carrying. He covered his muzzle in shock as he looked at Siegbert, his whole front scorched. Sascha was vigorously rubbing his burns with ointment. “Is... Is he...”

“Alive, but critically injured,” Sascha said, his brow furrowed in concentration. “He was in the engine room, where the first explosion went off.”

“Th-the second one was elsewhere?”

Senta pointed up at The Dragon. Lifting his gaze, his ears flattened when he saw the damage. Where the wheelhouse had been, a hole now gaped. Metal supports bent away from where the windshield used to be, flames and smoke erupting out of it. Small bits of metal that had been sent skyward started raining down around them.

Pulling his eyes from the disaster, Algernon looked around at the crew gathered outside. Not all of them were accounted for. “... Where’s the captain?”

Senta’s eyes widened, and she cursed under her breath when she realized where Frieda would have been when the explosions went off. Teddy and Harper gazed up into the sky, shielding their eyes from the morning rays. Nothing but the smoke and flakes of debris were above.

“I don’t think she’s coming down,” the raccoon commented.

An object that barely made a sound as it smacked against the pavement landed next to them. Harper bent down and picked up the long, rubbery length. It didn’t take long for all of them to realize what it was. The skunk held a rat’s tail, minus its owner.

“Can it be reattached?” Teddy asked.

Sascha stared at the appendage in shock, ignoring his crewmate’s question. Senta continued to mutter words that made Algernon’s ears burn. Harper threaded the tail through her pants to see if it could be used as a belt.

Their eyes were eventually drawn to the smoking crater of the wheelhouse. The carnage was difficult to look away from, and there wasn’t much the remaining crew could do at the moment. While entranced by the flickering orange and grey, Algernon tried to think through what could have caused this to happen.

It was clear that the second explosion was caused by Teddy’s stash of dynamite Frieda kept locked away in her wheelhouse. It also seemed they were the only hybrids for miles, so it must have been set off by someone in their crew. Hopefully by accident.

What confused him was the first explosion, the one in the engine room. That one can’t have been a pressure explosion, like what almost happened the night prior. As a joey, when The Clergy trained him as an engineer, they showed him pictures of the aftermath of such an engine failure, and needless to say Siegbert would be in much the same shape as Frieda if that were the case. Did the large rat have dynamite of his own? Siegbert acted a bit... dim, but demonstrated as much survival instinct as the rest of the crew. Which wasn’t much, but was enough to exclude behavior like lighting dynamite indoors -

He perked up. “Teddy, did you...?”

The raccoon pouted. “Someone set off the pretty fireworks without me.”

Algernon was bewildered by why his crewmate was upset, but Teddy’s attitude probably meant he wasn’t responsible. Atleast, not directly.

So then it really was set off accidentally? The firebox was cold, so there wouldn’t have been a fire inside to light anything. However, Siegbert had to fire it up for the day, so perhaps if he accidentally threw in some black powder with the kindling...

He remembered the deteriorating sticks Frieda confiscated from the scav ambush. He also remembered the vent that had been cleared out that was embedded into the ceiling of the engine room that led to the wheelhouse. In their bumpy stop last night, some could have easily fallen through. Then the first explosion could have flared through the same vent to ignite the whole stash above. Algernon slowly put his paws to his face. In that case, The Belching Dragon had simply had enough.

Harper scratched at her stomach, growing bored of the flames as they began to die down. “So... Now what?”

---

It was a few hours before the blaze had died enough for them to be able to venture back inside. Using water from the tender they were able to extinguish the remaining embers. Siegbert was brought down to the bathhouse to soothe his burns and because it gave Sascha space to tend to him.

Senta was quick to delegate tasks to the remaining crew. She sent Harper and Teddy out to survey the nearby ruins for helpful supplies. Sascha quickly joined them in search of more medical supplies. Peach went hunting for roaches to satiate their hunger. The job of assessing the damage and fixing The Dragon into a workable state fell to Algernon.

That prospect didn’t look good. He started his investigation in the engine room, and there were already several things that needed to be addressed if they had any hope of the steamer being operable again. The firebox was warped and would need to be forced back into its original shape. It had been blasted out of alignment, and the pipes attached to the chamber had all either become bent or detached. Some could be welded back into place, but others would need to be replaced entirely. The gauges along the outside of the boiler were busted, but Algernon grudgingly admitted that The Dragon could run for a little bit without safety features.

The door to the wheelhouse was blown off its hinges and crumpled beyond recognition. Inside it was difficult to tell what it was even meant to look like in the first place. Half of the room now lay completely exposed to the elements, while the other half was scorched and bowed. In the center the titular wheel emerged from a cavity in the floor, half submerged into the engine space of the vehicle. The way it was contorted, there was no question about its usability; A new one was needed.

Walking around the space, the floor plates were concerningly unstable beneath Algernon’s feet. He was able to pull one of the plates up without much resistance and assess the damage beneath. More collapsed pipes. Snapped serpentine belt. Misaligned axles and rods. Disregarding the inner workings, it was going to take a herculean effort to reconstruct the room into... well, into a room again.

A glint from a crevasse in the floor caught his eye. He wandered over to it, lifting the plate the shine was under. To his amazement, the master key was nestled underneath. Frieda must have stowed it away there to hide it. Miraculously, the artifact was unscathed from the explosion. Either the metal plate hiding it took the brunt of the blast, or the key was made from serious stuff.

Covering the master key again, Algernon took his findings out to Senta. The white rat was standing over a pile of junk that was accumulating at the foot of the vehicle. It looked to be various odds and ends that had been collected from the nearby building. Senta was currently examining a flashlight that must have been tiny in a precursor’s hand, but was rather large for a hybrid. She pushed the switch, but no light came from it. She discarded it at her feet where several others were.

He tapped his fingers together. “Senta, The Belching Dragon is not in good condition.”

The rat picked up another flashlight souvenir. “How fast can you get it working?”

Algernon’s worried frown deepened. “S-So, I don’t know if it can be fixed. Most of the engine w-will need to be replaced.”

She turned to him, her face set. “I didn’t convince the captain to let you be on the crew just so you could sit on your sorry tail. I, for one, don’t want to die. How fast can you get it working?”

Her resolve in the face of their grave circumstances surprised him, but helped to strengthen his own, if only by a degree. If anything, he couldn’t let this valley be the master key’s resting place. His brethren in The Clergy still needed it. Algernon put a finger to his lip and considered all of the damage. “Three days, for the bare minimum. It is dangerous to leave the main cabin open to the elements, but that could be worked on during travel if we gather the necessary materials.”

“That’s not ideal, but it will have to do. You’ll have to inform the rest of the crew what needs to be scavenged.” Approaching footsteps caught their attention. “Speaking of -”

Harper and Teddy came up with more supplies in their arms. The skunk dropped her load of metal trinkets into the pile, while the raccoon walked up to them holding an aerosol can.

“Look at what I found!” He held the bright-colored item up to them. “I don’t know what it is. But it looks neat!”

Senta leaned in close to scrutinize the words emblazoned across the can. “It looks like it might be edible,” she murmured.

“It says it’s some kind of ‘bug spray,’” Algernon read. Whatever that meant.

“Oh!” Teddy set about figuring out how to extract the insides.

The rat turned to Harper, glancing at the flat capsule she brought up to them. “And what's this?”

“A lighter!” She said gleefully. Harper flipped the top open and spun the igniter, sparking a flame.

Algernon looked back at the can Teddy was trying to spray, and noticed the flammable warning on its label. Eyes wide, he grabbed the bug spray. “T-Teddy! Let's aim this thing over here,” he said, rotating the nozzle away from the lighter.

Teddy pressed down on the top of the spray, causing a mist to eject from it. “Aha!” He went around to its front and opened his mouth to the nozzle. Pushing down again, he welcomed the fluid into his maw. He smacked his mouth a few times, before his face contorted in disgust and he flapped his tongue to get the flavor out. “This doesn't taste like bugs at all!”

“You two, pay attention,” Senta said. “Al needs specific parts to fix The Dragon. While he's busy, you'll find those parts for him.”

Harper and Teddy turned to him. “Alright, so… We'll n-need some pipes. One inch diameter.”

They stared at him blankly.

“Uh, this thick.” He made a circle in the air with his digits.

“I saw some straws in the building, will those work?” Teddy asked.

“No, those - they need to be bigger than a straw, and smaller than the width of this can,” he said, poking the bug spray. “It should be made of metal. Or plastic.”

Harper looked at him with confusion. “Right… anything else, oh enlightened one?”

“W-well, we also need a steering wheel, and any steam engine c-components you can find, like gears and belts,” he stammered.

She gripped Frieda's tail that was still wrapped around her waist.

“N-No! Like a belt that can be fed into the cogs!”

She threw her hands up. “Why does everything have to be so complicated?! Why don't we just take an engine from one of those over there?” She pointed off to the abandoned vehicles parked in the lot.

“Those use combustion engines, we don't have a way to produce ethanol for it,” Senta said.

“You two are hopeless! I'm out.” She stalked off back towards the ruins. Teddy followed after her.

The rat huffed, shaking her head. “Maybe you should go with them as a guide.”

Memories of the last time he was alone with Harper and Teddy flashed in his mind. “I-I’d prefer to start taking out the broken parts.”

And so as the sun reached its zenith, Algernon worked on disassembling the cabin floor that was over the engine. Removing the metal plates was the easy part; getting the mangled pipes loose posed a challenge with how even the bolts holding them in place had bent. Progress was slow, and the day crawled by.

While he was busy with the mechanics, Senta sorted through the objects Harper and Teddy brought. He occasionally looked down through the hole in the wheelhouse and noted that the pile that was to be kept as supplies was much smaller compared to everything that had been brought.

During one of his peeks he saw Sascha come scampering back to The Dragon, holding a bottle of salve in his paws. Algernon did a double-take when he saw the helix of the A&E logo on its side. It was strange seeing the creators’ emblem out in the wild, especially in the midst of the circumstances they found themselves in.

He cast an eye to where the master key hid, beneath part of the floor he hadn’t taken up. Maybe it was a sign that the creators were still watching over him, despite his transgression. He went back to his task with renewed vigor.

It still took most of the day to remove all of the piping that couldn’t be salvaged. The sun was approaching the cusp of the valley when he exited the vehicle with the last piece. He tossed it into the stack of scrap and collapsed onto his tail, panting. He expected beratement for taking a rest, but Senta only spared him a passing glance before she continued sorting through the junk.

Heavy footsteps signalled Peach’s return from her hunt. Instead of dragging the husks of roaches behind her, she carried an armful of cans.

Senta ruffled her whiskers. “That doesn’t look like food.”

The badger dropped her load and rotated one of the cans towards the rat, pointing at the peas on the label with a claw. “Not meat, but it will do for now. The humans had some of these left behind in their shelter.”

Senta ran her paw over the vegetables on the label. “I’ve heard rumors of these food caches, but never seen one in person. I’m surprised it wasn’t already looted by other scavengers.”

Peach’s brow dipped in concern. “There’s a cave entrance beyond the building. Webbing from limb-beasts covers the walls there.”

“Limb-beasts?”

The badger grunted. “They have many limbs. More common out in the Western Roughs.”

“And this has to do with getting food, how?” the rat questioned.

“Limb-beasts are nasty when caught unaware. Probably scared off other scavs from picking the place clean. Probably ate all the roaches too; didn’t find any.”

Senta let out a sigh. “Very well, I’ll warn the rest of the crew.”

Shrugging, Peach grabbed the pull-tab and opened the can of peas for them. The three wolfed down the contents greedily, not having eaten for the past day. The clamor brought Sascha outside, and the badger opened a can of corn for the calico rat to consume and bring some to Siegbert.

Afterwards, Algernon requested the help of Peach with some tasks, who wordlessly agreed. Even though the mobile welder was as large as he was, Peach carried it without too much effort into the main cabin. Thankfully the unit came with a pair of hybrid-sized goggles so his eyes wouldn’t be seared as he worked.

The last rays of the sun were departing the valley while he worked on the pipes he’d left inside of the engine. Algernon was able to realign the ones that had been forced out of alignment, and welded over the gaps between the pipes and the firebox itself. Above, he heard screeching metal. With her brute strength Peach pulled the metal supports of the wheelhouse into roughly the same shape they had been in before.

“Special delivery!” he heard Teddy call from outside.

He clambered up from the innards of The Dragon and looked down. Harper and Teddy were walking back up to the vehicle. The possum’s ears drooped when he saw what they carried with them.

“We found the pipes you were looking for!” Harper exclaimed, holding up two PVC elbow connectors. “Most of them were stuck to the wall though, so we just took what wasn’t nailed down. Which was just these.”

“... I see.”

She grimaced up at him. “Don’t give me that look! We did what you asked to the best of our ability!”

Teddy held up the bundle of drinking straws in his arms. “These aren’t for the repairs, I just thought they were neat!”

It looked like he would need to go with them while they scavenged after all if they were to have any hope of fixing The Dragon within a timely manner. Darkness was beginning to settle, and he didn’t want to go hunting in the dark, so their searching would need to continue the following day.

“Peach, I’m starving! Where’s the food?” Harper yelled up the badger.

Algernon saw Peach close her eyes and keep a lid on her annoyance. She let go of the plating she was shifting and walked out of the cabin.

He gathered with the rest of the able-bodied crew in the main hall to take a break from their labor. The remaining cans of food were brought in and they quickly feasted through them. Algernon only ate a few handfuls, looking on with equal parts awe and disgust as Harper and Teddy feverishly gorged themselves on a can of beans. The raccoon’s head was completely enveloped by the container as he licked it clean. When he pulled his head out, his whole face was dyed a lighter shade of brown.

No one spoke during the whole meal. There wasn’t anything anyone could say that would make their situation better. Much like the night before when Frieda informed them of their incoming demise, the crew went to their separate cabins with little spirit left in them.

Algernon, however, returned to his work on the engine. He was too anxious to sleep. The restless energy instead fueled him as he welded long into the night, the sparks creating temporary suns in the dark. The soft rumble of the river added to the impression of being in some far off place separate from the struggles of reality. Monotonous completion of his work drove his demons away, if only for a little bit.

“AAH!”

He screeched and dropped the welding torch, wildly floundering to locate the source of the scream. Giggling from above drew his eyes up to the roof. He lifted his goggles and saw Harper watching him from the edge where it had completely blown off.

“D-do you n-need something?”

“Nope!” She hopped down into the cabin and idly padded around the perimeter. Algernon’s lip quivered with concern, but the skunk didn’t seem to have anything else mischievous in mind. Yet.

She caught him fearfully staring up at her. “You’re a riot to be around, you know that? Well, don’t mind me, I’m going for a leak.”

Harper jumped out of the hole in the vehicle to the ground, leaving Algernon once again on his own. Letting out a stilted sigh, he picked up the torch and brought his goggles back down. He wished that the skunk would just leave him be. What had he done to earn her ire? He always tried to keep out of everyone’s way, being quiet and compliant to his fellow workers and never stirring up trouble. He realized that was probably the exact reason why she tortured him. She was the exact opposite; selfish, crude, manic and bloodthirsty. The type of hybrid that most exemplified what a scav was in his mind.

He returned to welding. A part of him understood exactly why Harper behaved the way she did. She was a godless heathen, same as the rest of the crew. Their violent and cruel tendencies were in their nature. They didn’t know any better. Therefore they deserved his pity, not his hate.

A voice suddenly called out a distance from the steamer. “Oh sh-”

Algernon immediately stopped what he was doing when a gurgling sound followed. He threw down the torch and hastily climbed out of the pit. Lifting his goggles, he peered out into the evening.

Shapes emerged from behind one of the decrepit vehicles in the lot. His stomach dropped at the nightmare creature that crawled out of its shadow. Several stalk-like legs arced in unnatural patterns, carrying a bulbous body in the midst of them. The creature stood half as tall as the vehicles surrounding it, taller even than Peach was.

A rope-like material trailed from its abdomen to the ground behind it. Wrapped up in it was Harper, who remained motionless in its bonds. He could only watch in terror as the monster dragged her off into the dark.