Chapter 257: She Could Buy a Van Without Marrying a Dragon

DOVE’S POV

Dove looked at the notice beside the radio, then at the man who had decided to read it aloud.

"And you’re the man sitting beside a van," she said. "We can all identify things."

Edrik moved close enough that his arm brushed hers. The stranger noticed, which was sensible of him.

"I didn’t say I was collecting it."

"Excellent start. What are you doing?"

He glanced toward the vehicle. "Trying to decide whether to keep something I can’t use or trade it for something my people need."

The delivery yard lay behind the grocery, separated from the road by a chain-link fence. A small office stood beside the gate. Through its open window Dove could see bedding, two water containers and a little stove. This was occupied space, unlike the stores they had searched.

She stayed outside the office and asked about the van.

The man had worked on delivery fleets before the freeze. He had kept this one running, but the family group sharing the office wanted to move north with relatives. They had another ride if he could trade the van for supplies worth taking.

"Does it run now?" Dove asked.

"It ran yesterday."

"I’m very interested in today’s performance."

Edrik’s mouth curved. The mechanic looked at him, then back at Dove and apparently decided the questions were going to come from her whether he preferred that or not.

He started the engine.

Dove listened, which did not make her a mechanic. Edrik knew enough to ask useful questions, and the owner showed them what he had repaired, what still needed watching and where the spare tire was kept. He did not pretend it was perfect.

She liked that more than a promise that nothing could go wrong.

"We test it on the yard road," she said. "Then we talk about payment."

The man agreed.

They returned the next morning after sleeping at the staffed relief stop, where the worker knew where they were. Dove had not wanted to spend the night beside a stranger who knew her price. The mechanic appeared unsurprised by the decision.

In daylight, they took the short test drive with him pointing out the controls and Edrik listening. There was enough fuel for a useful journey, not an endless one. The van’s back doors opened onto ordinary empty space, with fittings where delivery shelves had once stood.

Dove climbed inside and stood there for a moment.

Bedding could go along one wall. Their physical ready bag could stay by the passenger seat. They could close a door against the sun without finding another abandoned bedroom first.

"You like it," Edrik said.

"I’m imagining not walking until my thighs hate me."

"They’ve behaved beautifully."

She looked down at him. "You’re being distracting during a serious inspection."

"I can do both."

Sprout chose that moment to display the locked shop truck.

Dove closed the preview so quickly it almost felt satisfying enough to count as exercise.

*I can buy a van without marrying the dragon.*

*The mobile merchant upgrade remains unavailable.*

*I noticed the enormous lock. This one has doors and an owner who accepts groceries.*

She returned her attention to the real man waiting outside.

They agreed on an actual exchange, not a promise of future medicine. Four cases of the water she had earned, eight sound meal pouches recovered from the grocery, six packs from her owned shirt supply and the spare cooking pot from the camping store. The mechanic checked the goods and called the people in the office to look before accepting.

Dove kept enough water and food for her own family. She was not going to win a van by making herself need to beg for the next drink.

Before handing over the goods, she made the mechanic show her how to check the fuel gauge and where he kept the spare tire tools. The tank was a little over half full. He pointed out a loose dashboard vent and demonstrated the back-door latch that needed a firm pull. Ordinary faults, ordinary things she could remember. Edrik checked the spare while she tried the latch herself.

She also asked for a receipt on the back of the old delivery sheet. Not because paper would stop every bastard on the road, but because the next honest person who asked where she’d found the van deserved an answer better than a shrug. The mechanic wrote the trade, his name, and the vehicle description. Dove put it away with the map, pleased that wanting a roof had turned into something she could actually drive.

The mechanic handed her the keys. She held them, then looked at Edrik.

"Mine," she said.

His expression warmed. "Yours."

"Ours, obviously. But I get to be smug first."

"I assumed that was included."

She kissed him beside the open door, laughing when he kept her close for a second after she meant to step away. Then she climbed into the passenger seat and pressed both palms against the dashboard.

It was warm and slightly dusty. It was also a vehicle she had chosen and paid for, with a real roof and room for the things that made their life better.

The mechanic gave them a paper map with the local roads marked. He kept his finger on the bridge they would need before letting go.

"There’s a checkpoint there now. They were mostly looking for cargo last week."

"And this week?" Dove asked.

He looked at her ears, then at Edrik.

"Yesterday somebody asked about a woman who smelled sweet enough to notice before she got out. They wanted to know whether she really only had one male with her."

Dove stopped smiling.

Edrik took the map, his voice calm in a way that made the mechanic step back.

"Which side of the bridge?"

The man showed him. Dove listened, then folded the original notice and put it where she could reach it.

Dove pointed to the service road beside the checkpoint. "We look before we go near it. If they want me out of this van, they can learn to live with disappointment."

She climbed into the driver’s seat and adjusted the mirror. Now she was taking her new keys past the men who thought they owned the road.