After a trip to the restroom, Vine led Gu Ning back to the car.
"I’ll go get you something hot to eat," Vine said as he settled Gu Ning into the passenger seat.
"Can you understand what I’m saying?" Vine asked, one hand on the car’s roof and the other holding the door as he leaned down to speak to Gu Ning. His tall, powerful build completely filled her vision.
Gu Ning nodded. "I can."
She paused for a moment, then pointed to the translation earpiece in her ear. "It has a translator. I can understand what you’re saying."
Vine already knew she was a female. Plus, the fact that she’d been assigned to his car meant Alex had probably told him something about her situation.
’As for how much he told him, there was no way of knowing.’
Vine’s gaze swept past her ear and settled on her face. "This won’t take long," he instructed. "Wait here. Don’t get out of the car."
Gu Ning replied politely, "Thank you, Captain."
Hearing her thank him, Vine pressed his lips together. He seemed about to say something but held his tongue. Instead, he shut the passenger door and strode toward the back of the car.
The moment he left, her view instantly opened up. Gu Ning couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. She rolled down the window, poked her head out, and asked Barto, who was standing guard outside, "Barto, where’s Alex’s car?"
Barto had been standing on Cook’s shoulder, his back to Gu Ning as he scanned the area. At her words, he leaped onto the roof of the car and let his fox head hang over the edge. "Why ask about him? You wanna go find him?"
Gu Ning nodded, poking her head out a bit more. She glanced toward the back of the car, then looked up and whispered, "Could I maybe... with Alex..."
She was just about to ask if she could switch to Alex’s car when Vine’s head appeared from behind the vehicle. "No," he said. "You don’t have time to go find him. We’re leaving right after we eat."
Gu Ning: "..."
’How is this wolf’s hearing so good?’
"Alex has his own assignments," Barto said. "That’s the Military Department for you. You have to follow orders."
He glanced toward the back of the car, then placed a paw on Gu Ning’s head and ruffled her hair, his tone comforting. "Just hang in there. Once we get to Zone 5, we won’t have to deal with this wolf anymore."
He could tell Gu Ning was a little intimidated by Vine. ’After all, he’s an unfamiliar alpha wolf, and his personality isn’t nearly as gentle as Alex’s. That stone-cold expression of his annoys me just looking at it.’
’Although, if I had to say which one I hated more, the two wolves were pretty much neck and neck.’
Gu Ning rested her chin on the window frame and sighed. The thought of having to spend the rest of the journey with this serious Beastman made her feel tense all over.
She ruffled the head of the puppy leaning in, then sat back in her seat and sent Alex a message anyway:
[Alex, can I come over to your car?]
Alex replied quickly:
[What’s wrong? Is there a problem with Vine’s car?]
[Or are you having trouble communicating with him?]
[It’s not that, and communication isn’t a huge problem, it’s just...] Gu Ning’s fingers paused. She scratched her cheek and finished her reply: [I’d just rather be in the car with you.]
After she sent that message, Alex’s reply came a few seconds slower than before:
[You want to be in the car with me?]
[Mhm.] Gu Ning sent a sticker of a cute puppy nodding.
Alex sent back a sticker of a hand patting a puppy’s head: [My car’s heating system is broken. It’ll be very cold.]
Gu Ning was about to say that was fine, but she came to her senses halfway through typing. The temperature was over twenty degrees below zero, and they were out in the wilderness. She wouldn’t be able to handle a car with no heat, no matter how many layers she wore. Getting sick on the road would be a disaster.
Even now, her fingers were growing stiff from the cold just from typing with her gloves off.
[Can Cook and Barto come over to your car, then?] Gu Ning typed. [The heater in my car is on and it’s too hot for them. They can’t really take it.]
’Especially Cook. He’d gotten carsick after only four hours. There was still a long way to go. He couldn’t stand the heat, and she couldn’t stand the cold. They would just have to separate for a while. It was better than both of them getting sick.’
Alex:
[Okay, I’ll have Seth come over to get Cook.]
[Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind your car.]
Gu Ning: [(nodding puppy)]
A moment later, Alex sent another message:
[Just tell Vine what you need. Other than that, it’s fine if you don’t communicate.]
[If he does anything that makes you uncomfortable or says anything that makes you unhappy, you can tell me, and I’ll have a word with him.]
Gu Ning:
[No, he’s fine. I just think he’s too serious.]
Alex stared at the two words "he’s fine" for a moment before finding Vine’s contact ID and opening a chat window.
Gu Ning ended her chat with Alex. A moment after she closed her terminal, she saw the young wolf, Seth, walking toward their car.
"WOOF." Cook barked happily at the sight of Seth. But instead of rushing over to play like he usually would, he stayed by Gu Ning’s side of the car, standing guard.
’They were in the dangerous wilderness now; he had to protect Ningning.’
"Boss," Seth greeted Gu Ning, pulling a pre-prepared roasted chicken from his pocket. "Cook, come on. Let’s go to my car."
Cook caught the scent of his favorite food, roasted chicken, and instantly started to drool, but he didn’t move.
Gu Ning leaned out of the car window, patting the puppy’s head and coaxing him softly, "Cook, good boy. It’ll be more comfortable in Seth’s car."
Cook licked his chops and gulped, but he refused to budge.
Seeing this, Gu Ning looked up and tugged on the fox tail dangling from the roof. "Barto, you go too. Take Cook with you."
Barto’s tail swayed lazily as he asked, feigning ignorance, "Go where?"
Gu Ning: "To Seth’s car."
Barto: "I’m not going."
Gu Ning didn’t argue with him. "Then I’ll go over," she said.
With that, she pushed open the car door as if to get out.
Barto slammed the door shut. "Wait! I’ll take Cook over once we’re about to leave!"
Gu Ning raised an eyebrow. ’Once you figure out this little fox’s temper, he’s pretty easy to handle.’
’But now... it seemed she was left all alone to face Vine.’
At that thought, Gu Ning considered asking Alex to have two of the younger wolves switch places with them. But then she remembered that even Vine was sweating from the heat. She figured not many Beastmen could stand such a hot car, so she had to give up the idea.
"Time to eat."
In less than ten minutes, Vine had lunch ready for Gu Ning and ushered her over to the back of the car.
Gu Ning sat on the edge of the trunk, lost in thought as she stared at the pot in front of her, which was bubbling with fragrant steam.
’The conditions out here in the wild are much better than I imagined.’
She glanced around the trunk. The huge space held only a few black cases—probably supplies and tools—and still had plenty of room to spare.
Seeing Cook had followed them, Vine took a bag of food out of a nearby open case and handed it to him. "Cook, eat this. Don’t try to take hers."
They had prepared plenty of food before setting out. Storing it for one to two weeks in this weather was no problem at all.
But that food was all in the other vehicles. His car only contained a single case of vacuum-packed ingredients prepared for the young female.
Because the heat had to be on in the car, storing too much food would make it spoil quickly.
This pre-packaged food was already considered a generous supply for a long-distance mission; no Beastman would be picky about whether it was served hot or cold.