Alex was traveling South of Three Cities to find supplies. With Jim-Jam still injured from the earlier fight she was riding Rocket across the wastelands. The mishipeshu was bounding across the plains at speeds that even Alex's senses could barely keep up with. The cat's speed let Alex cover more distance than the others and she had already marked a few abandoned areas for salvage.

Her current plan was to find another intact factory, or possibly a junkyard. The raw materials felt more important than machinery at this point. Rocket took her down a destroyed interstate towards what Alex hoped was an intact car dealership. All those used cars could be repurposed for the reconstruction.

A banana ran across the road, leashed, and chased by a mushroom on two legs. Alex stared.

Did you know, despite being obligate carnivores, cats can consume bananadrones safely! But don't nibble on the mushrooms!

Alex waved away the notification and ignored the urge to chase the cute monsters. She forced Rocket to continue as well with a gentle pat. Maybe they could come back later, or stop by one of the empty gas stations for snacks. A sign to her left advertised a used car salesman at the next exit.

They turned off the highway and onto a side road that looped back around to a large dealership building. The sign advertising the model of car had been torn away and replaced by a wooden board that read, "Beware!" Alex stopped Rocket at the turn into the lot and readied herself.

Sir Purrsalot and Chonkers were released from her satchel. The komainu landed with a soft pat and stood at attention, looking for any threat to his Alpha. Chonkers flopped onto the ground and made a cursory sniff before going back to lick its paw. Rocket stretched forwards and Alex rolled off him onto the ground, crouched low as if stalking for prey.

All her senses were focused on the building. Row after row of cars sat stationed on each side of the large building. The front had been paned with glass but had long been removed of such niceties. Alex could make out shards scattered onto the pavement in front. That meant something jumped out of the building.

She stalked forwards, hands up at the ready to claw her enemies. She blushed after noticing her posture and straightened out a little. She hated it when she lost control, it made her feel too much like fetish material. She had seen that ridiculous Catwoman movie after all.

While Alex embarrassed herself, Rocket had already stalked forwards to the front of the building. "Alpha," He whispered. "I smell a lot of gas. And something burned."

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Alex sniffed the air, catching the scent. The inside of the building smelled of old gas and burnt… something. It was some sort of animal, that much Alex could tell. Creeping forwards, she stepped over the broken glass and into the building. A huge open atrium greeted her, empty save a single desk in the middle.

Alex sneaked over to the desk, careful to avoid any stray glass around. She noticed two fern plants behind the desk, dead from lack of water. A door stood between them, with an "employees only" sign hanging in the middle.

Alex circled around the desk and made towards the door. A squeak got her attention. It was an unmistakable squeak, the kind you only heard from a small rodent. She turned.

Under the desk moved a mouse. It sniffed the air and toddled forwards on its tiny legs. Something in the air brought it over to the trash can where an old bag of chips had been discarded. The mouse climbed up the wiry trash can and dove into the bag of chips. It surfaced a second later, crumbs lining its face.

Alex wanted to badly to hunt it. The parts inside enhancing her body were screaming to pounce. Alex ignored it until sweat dripped down her face. "Kit," She whispered, willing her cheshire to grab the mouse before she lost control.

The striped cat poofed into existence next to the mouse and opened its maw. In seconds the mouse was gobbled by the Kit's grinning mouth. "Yum," He purred. "Thanks for the treat." Alex sighed in relief. Catlike senses weren't bad, but it was times like this that Alex wished she could turn off the system for a bit. Crisis averted, she continued on into the back of the building.

As the door opened Alex caught a whiff of the smell from before. This time it was even more intense. Gasoline mixed with burnt flesh in a sickening cloud. She ordered Sir Purrsalot to keep a barrier ready, the whole thing smelled like trouble. She groaned at her unintentional pun. This system was getting to her.

It wasn't like she was ungrateful to it. The whole thing allowed for her to survive with her cats in a world that lost all its sanity. But she was never a fan of puns. Well, she was never a fan of low-brow puns. And this system made a lot of low-brow puns.

Alex stalked down the single hallway, listening as she passed each door along the way. These rooms seemed to be offices and Alex couldn't hear anything coming from them. The end of the hall led to a garage. It was also where the odor Alex was smelling originated.

Steeling herself, after petting her cats for comfort, Alex opened the door and looked inside.

Three sat in front of her. Literally sat. The cars were on their bumpers in front of a roaring fire. The wheels of each had been exchanged for mechanical limbs and the chassis was bent so that the hood and windshield looked forwards like a human.

Each car held a stick of some kind, skewered with what looked to be dead animals. One brought their meal out of the fire and blew. Alex heard the A/C inside the car rev up. Once the car had decided their meal had cooled enough, the hood up top opened and devoured the dead creature. Alex saw an engine refitted to look like grinding teeth.

The second monster car pulled out its meal and Alex paled. It was a cat. She couldn't tell what type, the fur had burned away and it had been squashed flat. But it was definitely a cat.

Her anger flared. How dare they? How dare they eat such beautiful creatures! She hissed, low and like a snake. Her pets joined in, and the hissing became growling. The cars turned, metal scratching as their chassis bent at all the wrong angles.

"Huh?" The first car revved.

"Look Jeb, its another cat," The second rumbled at the third.

"Looks tasty," The last car chugged.