//------------------------------// // Chapter Five: Steal This Album! // Story: Pyrophobia // by VilkaTheWolf //------------------------------// I hadn't even driven ten minutes from Triple’s suburban hideout when the recent turn of events came hurdling back to me. I braked, hard, and heard and felt something (probably the crackhead) smacking into the back of the cab. I ignored it, being too preoccupied with everything running through my head at the moment. I hit Triple, how could I do that? I was so violent. She stole my ute, but being that violent was taking things too far. I had to stop myself from hyperventilating. Admit it, you liked the power. There was no way that I was going to do that again. But what was I going to do now? If I started being nice to them they’d think I was either crazy or up to something. If I let them go they might tell others they meet about me and then they might hunt me down and kill me. My paranoia was getting the better of me; the only thing that came to mind was to continue my violent charade. I heard a knock on my back window, it was Crack giving me a concerned look. I gave him the finger, and his ears went flat against his head as he sulked back to his seat. I turned in my seat, frowning. Do I try and convince them I'm not a pyscho? Let's go with no, I'm a dragon. Based on popular culture, dragons are mainly the villain. I looked at the fuel gauge; it was only about half full. I had filled it with the forty litres I siphoned out of the Honda, and my ute's tank was about seventy litres. First, I needed to find out where I even was first though, and get my bearings. Triple and I were in Loganholme and she stole my ute and went...east? No, west yeah. So if it took her a maximum of say...twenty minutes driving time and me four hours walking time...Nope, I have no idea where we are. My tongue flicked in and out of my mouth unexpectedly. Oh, that was weird. Am I like a snake? Can I use this to find out where I am? I rolled down my window so I could taste the air better (I didn't know how it worked). What was I tasting? Motor Oil? Kerosene? A myriad of other smells picked that moment to also assault my senses. Bleh, too much. I could use motor oil, and it would be good to find another source of fuel too. I was going to need some soon, and supply was sure to be scarce. I stuck my head out the window and turned to Crack, "Oi, you." Snapping my fingers and pointing at him, "You're with me." I climbed out the rest of the window as gracefully as a snake. Crack, wasn't so graceful. He tried jumping out of the back but his foot got caught on the side and he tumbled out landing on his face. It looked like it hurt, and I couldn't help but wince. The fall couldn’t have been too good for his nose either. I didn't wait for him, though, as I was already distracted, following my instincts. We left Triple still duct taped in the ute.. I felt she still hadn’t learned her lesson. I tried to orient myself and get a better idea of where I was. Looking around I saw the suburban neighbourhood we had come from was right next door to some kind of shopping district. I figured I could find a lot of useful stuff in here. We made our way across the overgrown streets up to the back of a warehouse. It didn't have a back door, so I made one using my head…literally. I think I intimidated Crack even further with my crazy newfound strength. We split up to look for supplies. I found so much stuff: motor oil, kerosene and other spirits, garden hose－in case I had to siphon anything again. I got sidetracked by shiny car badges; I couldn’t decide which ones to take, so instead I took as many as I could hold onto. Then I went looking for Crack, and found him in the staff room looking in the fridge. I didn’t think that anything would be edible after a year, but it didn’t look like he cared. I saw him pull something out, god knows what it was, and he ate it…or, well, he tried at least. I thought I was gonna be sick. He was really struggling to eat what he’d found, though. He looked so helpless and pathetic, I really don't know why I did what I did next. I took his sorry excuse for food and put it in my mouth, chewing quickly so I wouldn't taste it. Then I spat the chewed up food into his mouth and held it shut, forcing him to swallow. "Good?" I asked. "Not...really...but...thank...you." He winced painfully every time he said a word or hard syllable. "Yeah, whatever. Keep looking around for stuff." We split up again to continue searching. I found some car jacks and other tools, but by now everything I had was getting difficult to carry. I looked around and found a tarp to put everything in. I laid out the tarp and placed everything on it. I gathered so much more stuff together that I began to wonder how I would transport it. I didn't have much room left in the back of my ute, unless Crack sat in the cab with me. I was still working out the details of fitting this stuff in my ute when my eyes were caught by a glimpse of yellow. A JB Hi-Fi store across the street! I had to check it out, even though I knew none of the stuff in there would be of any use to me now. "Stay with my stuff!" I yelled out to Crack, assuming that he had heard me, and ran across the road to the JB Hi-Fi. Yes! I hit the jackpot. I broke down the doors of the store and began scavenging. Vinyl records! Wow, if I could find a wireless record player these would be great (I’d probably have to find batteries)! I took as many as could, all different artists and genres－The Doors, Foo Fighters, System of a Down, Lorde－I didn't care what it was, I took it all. I made my way over to the game section when I saw Dying Light. I had never played it, and I knew now I probably never would, but the artwork on the cover was so nice, and it wasn’t like anyone would miss it, so I took it with me, along with several other games that I saw. I took some large bags from behind the counter to help carry my increasingly large stash. I ran back to the other side of the road to drop off my new loot on the tarp before returning to continue scavenging. Back and forth I went, well into late afternoon, but I didn't care. I just wanted everything, needed everything, just for myself and no one else. I found some packs of assorted of batteries, if I found a wireless record player these would be useful. I also found some CD cleaning solvent with 'pentanol' in it. It sounded similar to ethanol-based fuel, if it was then maybe I could run my ute off of this too, so I grabbed as many bottles of the stuff as I could. I taste-tested some, hoping to see if I could tell what it was good for that way, but it was so horrible that I spat it right out. Once I cleaned the store out of everything I wanted, I went looking for Crack, and found him asleep in a corner. I nudged him awake with my foot. "We're going," I said, and picked up my new belongings in the tarp rucksack and dragged it along, back to my ute. I didn't wait up for Crack, I just left through the opening I had made earlier. Approaching the ute, I saw that Triple was gone. She had been freed by someone, her bonds cut cleanly. If Crack had freed her he’d have likely gone with her, so he was in the clear. I felt like I had lost something important, which was odd, seeing as I wasn’t very happy with her right now. All I knew was that I had to get her back, because she was my prisoner and belonged to me, er, I mean, she was my responsibility. I put my stuff in the  tray and began investigating the area for leads. Tracks, lots of tracks, At least eight different sets of track, all hoof shaped...leading east. You're an idiot, two sets of tracks leading west. They tried to give the illusion of more numbers. There were at least four sets of tracks, leading in some direction. I was still very disoriented. I tried doing the things I did before: sniffing, tongue-flicking, listening. I smelt the tracks, recognizing Triple's scent and another I didn't know. No other scents were detectable. Maybe it was only two after all? Male, also a pony. Species, judging by the tracks he's not a pegasus, the tracks are too deep. He could be like the purple pony. Wait, how did I know he was male? It didn't matter, I had a lead. I remembered then that Triple mentioned there was another in their group. Did he follow us to rescue her? Why didn't he go for Crack too? Save the damsel? Yeah, right. That did give me an idea, though. "Crack, where's Triple?" I asked, more to point out that she was gone than as an actual question. He shrugged in response. Normally, I'd hate this kind of response but I made an exception on account of him not being able to talk too good. His eyes were what I was watching. He didn't know where she was, but he knew who took her. He probably even knew where they were going. "Listen, your friend came for her right?" I asked. He looked away, like he was trying to deny it. Eventually he back to me and nodded slowly. "And he didn't come back for you?" This seemed to get a reaction out of him. "Ah!" He stopped himself from saying anymore, it hurt too much. But I got the general message: He'd never forget me or something sappy like that. Crack’s next reaction intrigued me, though. He frowned, as he slowly came to the realisation that, yes, he was left behind with me. I decided it was time for the comfort words. "I'd never leave you behind," I offered. He didn't seem too convinced on my kindness, so I tried to level with him and come out with everything. "I'm sorry I broke your nose." Wow, seriously, that was all I could come up with? "And sorry for like...beating up Triple...and stealing all your stuff.…" Eh, good enough. He gave me a sad, tired look. During the short amount of time I’d known him for he always seemed to look sad and tired. He didn't say anything, so I took his silence for acceptance. I didn't wait for an answer, either. "Whatever, dude, just get in the ute." He looked worried for a second, but then gave a look of comprehension. I let him sit in the cab, figuring that he’d earned that much at least.