Beastars: A Symphony of Life

Chapter 97: Help

Legoshi grabbed the handle and wrenched the chord. There was a sputtering as the engine tried to turn over. It slowed down and died before ever revving to life. He tried again, harder this time and it started up a little bit before falling into a death sputter again.

"Did we fill up the gas tank?" Mugi asked.

Legoshi unscrewed the cap and peered into the tank. It was about halfway filled. Still enough for it to turn on.

"Let me try," Bogue said, stepping forward and pulling the chord. The engine gave a small sputter and the bear pulled again. The motor turned over with slight hesitation. The three collectively sighed in relief.

"We're going to need more gas later," Legoshi said. "We're running on about half a tank. But we've got some power now. Spread the word around to use as little electricity as possible until we can get more."

The generator sputtered and died.

"Well damn," Mugi said. "Must be some internal issue."

"Yeah," Bogue said as Legoshi crouched down to look into the machinery. "Generators need to be run every now and then or else things can happen. This was collecting dust in the basement for god knows how long."

"I know a mechanic who could help," the shiba-inu said. "He may be busy, as I can guarantee we're not the only ones with generator issues today, but I'll see if he has an opening."

The dog walked off, out of the alley and back to inside the apartment building.

"Not much we can do now," Bogue said to the wolf.

The canine didn't seem to be listening as he unplugged the generator from the socket and started taking it apart. The bear shrugged his shoulders and turned away.

Legoshi started unscrewing the nuts and bolts, keeping in mind where they and the pieces they held came from. He used to be on the tech crew in the drama club. He had some knowledge of mechanics. It wasn't a spotlight, or rigging system, but how difficult could it be?

"Oil," someone said.

Legoshi looked behind him. Melon walked towards him with two bottles. One was filled with generator oil and the other was empty.

"Most people forget to add new oil to the engine," the hybrid said, rolling up his sleeves. "Mind putting the few pieces back together?"

Legoshi raised his eyebrow.

"Just trust me," the hybrid said, kneeling down and going for the oil unit.

"Now where have I heard that before?" the wolf said.

"Not from me," the hybrid snickered.

Melon took the empty oil bottle and emptied the old, dirty oil into it. Legoshi cast sidelong glances at the hybrid as he put the generator pieces back in place, still untrusting of the animal. It had been a while since he last saw, heard, or even smelled him. But the wolf could still tell he had been all around the city. There was a suspicious air about him, but for some reason it didn't worry him as much as before. He still remained on edge, as Melon could easily turn on a dime.

The hybrid twisted the cap onto the bottle filled with old oil and placed it to the side. He then poured the new oil into the smaller tank and screwed the cap back on, closing it.

"Everything put back together?" he asked.

Legoshi nodded.

Melon stood up, wiping his hands on his pants. Grabbing the cord, he gave a yank and the engine turned over, revving into existence and joining the chorus of other generators that were running throughout the city.