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As he wandered toward Garovel, Hector pulled out his cellphone, but he was interrupted before he could find Gina’s number.

‘Hector, look,’ said Garovel, pointing. ‘A Revenant cruiser. And look! A wall you can crash it into!’

Hector shook his head, fighting a grin and losing. “Hey, I didn’t wreck the last bike. Um. Much.”

‘I’m convinced that was only because it wasn’t a Revenant.’

“Then by that logic, I shouldn’t choose this one.”

‘No, by that logic, you definitely should.’

He just laughed.

‘You have to pick it. It’s so shiny and silver. And it’s got knives painted on the gas tank.’

He had to admit, it was an attractive machine. It seemed more beastly than the previous bikes, both wider and longer to his eyes. Twin exhaust pipes curved smoothly out from below the engine and reached all the way past the rear tire, and judging from the digital instruments below the handlebars, the bike was a newer model.

He nodded at the reaper and turned away to call Gina, putting her on speaker again as soon as she picked up.

<“Hello,”> she said cheerfully.

“H-hi.” He glanced at the others as they gathered around to listen. “We, uh. W-we found the garage.”

<“Oh, good. Before that, though, I wanted to tell you that I spoke with Master Roman.”>

Hector’s brow perked up. “Oh, what’d he say?”

<“I told him about the attack on Harold, but he isn’t very hopeful that he and the Queen will make it back to Atreya in time with reinforcements.”>

He frowned. “Hmm.”

<“So if you intend to save that town, then you should expect to be on your own.”>

“Shit...”

<“Give me time to find out more details before you commit to anything. I can’t have you going off and getting yourselves killed.”>

“Yeah, we’d, uh... we’d like to avoid that as well...”

<“Anyway, that garage is part of a bunker. There should be some rooms in the back with beds, along with a bathroom and a stocked kitchen.”>