Kim was walking down the road when he came upon people shouting at each other and looking around nervously.
"Huh, you see that Albert?" He got a nod in response, [-That is why I was going to have you go to town with the dogs.-]
As Kim approached, he waved in the dark and had his babies stay back in fear of scaring the poor couple half to death.
"Howdy! What seems to be the problem?"
The man of the couple turned and looked to see Kim before saying, "Oh, hey man, how are you doing, Kim?"
Kim realized this was Jacob, a man he went to school with, "Ah, you know, having a small apocalypse, chillin'."
They had a small chuckle when Kim gestured to the vehicle that was making sounds he had never heard before.
"What seems to be the issue?" Kim asked.
"Well, if I didn't know any better, I would say it has the wrong fuel, but this is a diesel and my wife wouldn't make that mistake again….plus, I JUST drove it yesterday, before all of the "stuff" happened."
Albert nodded, [-This is actually pretty common. When Order and Reality come into being as the dominate force, it has been known to shift the understanding of force structure within the previously assimilated universes.-]
Kim nodded to the air, "Maybe Diesel isn't burning hot enough anymore?"
Jacob nodded, "That is what my AI thinks too, but man, this is weird shit."
Kim gestured to his wolves, "You are tellin' me?" They both began laughing while his wife had a pensive look plastered onto her face.
Kim looked down the road, it wouldn't be too long before he got to Walmart.
"Let me know if you need any help, Jacob, I am going to head to Walmart for a method of transportation." They nodded and waved goodbye in the black of night.
---
"Huh, even in the apocalypse, Walmart is open…."
Kim looked back and was wondering if he should take his dogs inside, but he wondered who would stop him now…
"Power is a weird thought, even if it is perceived."
[-Yes, it is interesting. In fact, there are whole departments of study dedicated to the power transfer that takes place in societies.-]
Kim just wondered how Democracy would survive in a world based on power.
"Well, not that power would be the end-all-be-all, BUT if bullets bounced off of someone, it would certainly make their opinion matter more. Psychology is weird."
They both nodded in silence.
As Kim stepped inside of Walmart, he noticed a lot of people were just standing around.
A woman waved over to him, "Hey Kim, how ya' holdin' up?"
He shrugged, "I am doing okay, at least there is a pretty good distraction going on." He cracked a small smile but sorrow could still be seen on his face.
Mary nodded, "It will just take time, a lot of time."
"Thank you, I appreciate it." Kim hugged her.
After saying goodbye, he walked over to the Skateboard section and looked for an all-terrain skateboard. One with larger rubber wheels and shocks.
"Ah, beautiful." Boss and Max were standing next to him and he wondered if he could afford it.
He looked down and saw the price at $3,500.
"HOLY FUCK! OH SHIT, IT IS THE ELECTRIC VERSION."
Kim looked around but he didn't see anything that would rival this board. The shocks would be perfect for this terrain.
He grabbed the board and felt pain in his heart before he had an idea.
[-I agree, I think you should trade your services for the board. Money is something that will be irrelevant, the owner of this establishment would be foolish to not see the benefit in having a favor from a man with 11 Spirit Wolves.-]
Kim nodded, he had to barter. He didn't know if he REALLY needed this, but he did want it and that was enough.
"Boss, do you think the family would be willing to do someone a favor for this item?"
The Alpha wolf just let out a loud breath, "Hawf."
[-That means, "Why did you even ask?" in Canis Lupus Spiritus.-]
Kim stood there shocked.
"You can translate for him?????????"
…
[-Uh….nah, just a guess...totally a guess.-]
Kim shook his head.
"Thanks Boss, you are a good boy." Kim ruffled Boss' ears and fluff.
Kim wasn't paying attention but the rest of the babies lined up and as soon as Kim was done with Boss, Max walked into the Kim-DogRubber 3000 for his turn.
"Wait, ohhh…" he noticed that all of the dogs were lined single-file nose to tail.
---
After 5 minutes of intense rubbing, he got the babies scratched and headed to the checkout.
"Howdy, howdy, mind if we talk?" Kim spoke to a man with the 'Owner' badge above his nametag.
"Sure thing", he said as he stepped away and said, "What can I help you with?"
"Ah, I have an unusual request. He gestured to the board and continued, "I was wanting to trade a favor for this board. I have my sled dogs and my sled, but I need to travel faster around town or they will abandon my sorry ass."
"Hmm, that is a very expensive model. We only have one. What kind of favor would we be talking about?" He gestured around.
"Ah, come on out boys and girls!" Kim gave a call and Boss led the pack out of the aisle around the corner.
His bargaining token seemed to have worked, "So, there ARE wolves in the store, I thought you called them sled dogs?"
The man just nodded, "Okay, I think I have an idea of what you can do. There are no monsters yet, but my AI keeps telling me to prepare, though, I see you are FAR ahead of everyone."
Kim just nodded.
"Take the board, the name is Jimmy. I will be askin' you to keep my daughter safe when the time comes." Kim nodded, he could definitely keep a girl safe.
Jimmy continued, "Obviously, I won't make it permanent, but maybe a week or until I can protect her, does that seem reasonable?"
Kim gave a look to Boss and received a very slight nod.
"Sounds good! Let me know when. You can talk to the Sheriff, Robert. Or, you can get a hold of me through Mary. The name is Kim Anderson."
Jimmy laughed, "I know who you are boy, your dad and I went to highschool together."
"Right, small town, my apologies, I didn't recognize you." Kim felt embarrassed.
Jimmy waved him off, "Ah, don't worry, you wouldn't recognize me anyways. I got cancer a little while back and I dropped over 150-pounds. Your dad and I were good friends back in the day, we used to talk about you when you went off to school."
Jimmy saw the complicated expression on Kim's face and smiled before walking off.
[-Kim? You okay?-]
Albert was monitoring Kim's thoughts and they were headed in a dark direction.
He shook his head.
"Nope, not okay. But, I have to make moves now. Let's go look at the prison, I bet they are having a hard time."
Kim laid this board down and took out a long lead.
Max walked up and offered his neck.
"Thanks Max, love you buddy."
As they got rolling, Kim felt the balance settle. They were riding along the street at a considerable pace.