Having reached the Gas Station, and just in time given that the RV had started to hiccup as they brought it to the pump and killed the engine, the Butlers exited it and Nathan started to fill the tank to the brim, thankful that the handle was just large enough for him to handle without too much difficulty.
“Sho which way then?” Nathan asked as they waited for the tank to be filled.
“Not sure, but I looked at the wardrobe, they’re all too shmall for ush. The coatsh and such.” Suzanne replied, hinting at which way she’d prefer to go.
“Fair point.” Nathan sided with her, in fact, he wasn’t entirely sure as to why they’d brought them a long in the first place. Outside of what was actually needed for cold/wet weather, carrying personals, and protective equipment, he couldn’t ever recall a time when he’d needed them, and they were far to small for either of them.
It did make deciding a route easier for him though. “Sho what if we head towards the townsh then? Get rid of shome of that shtuff and geth shome that fit?”
“Shounds like a plan to me.” Suzanne replied as the pump stopped, the tank now full.
As Nathan went in to pay for it, Suzanne waited in the RV, and like at the Motel, and then the Diner, those who saw them first experienced surprise and confusion when they spotted the bipedal horses going around like humans save for a lack of clothing, before they stopped thinking anything was odd about it as they lost their clothes to their transformations which lay in ruined scraps around the forecourt.
Inside the small shop, Nathan had picked up a few things before paying for the Diesel for the RV, some things to eat and drink for him and Suzanne, and as he waited in the line, what happened outside had occurred inside as well, bits of clothes discarded without a second thought by the newly-transformed. By the time he was ready to pay, he was being served by a fine draught mare, her form not really hidden by the bits of boiler suit that stubbornly clung on to her muscular limbs as she handed him his change and Nathan was ready to return.
“To get to the nearesht town?” Suzanne started just before they set off. “One with a shop we that hahsh what we need?”
“The road along there for about 40 milesh.” Nathan answered her question. “Then the right, and we follow that road.”
They left the Gas Station where others were having more trouble forcing their larger bodies into their own vehicles. Mainly those with smaller cars as the truck drivers and those with the larger vehicles could manage somewhat.
[+]
Further back, the three who were desperately trying to track them down finally arrived at the Diner they’d been given directions to. In the back of the truck, the two who had been affected now by what was ultimately their actions had fashioned out of the scraps they’d kept a pair of loincloths that could at least provide some small cover around the most vital part.
Getting off the truck’s back with a heavy clop, the first of the younger men looked inside the Diner to the sight of the patrons and staff going about their business as if nothing were wrong.
“Now what?” He asked the elder.
“This is spreading like a wildfire.” He replied. “We have to know where they went, find them if there’s to be any chance of containing this.”
“To be honest, I don’t know if that’s possible anymore.” The second of the younger men spoke up, scanning the area with his equine eyes. “Just the three of us can’t even begin to stop this.”
“We still have to try.” The Elder snapped back. “Now, we know they’re in an RV from the information we received earlier, that should help us to work out where they’re heading, and then we might have a real chance at bringing this catastrophe to an end.”
[+]
“Shay? I’ve been meaning to ashk. That….shkirt? Why are you shtill wearing ith?” Nathan queried as Suzanne drove.
“What?”
“There, you’ve had it one shince yeshterday.”
“Oh. I, guesh I, forgoth about ith.” Suzanne admitted. In truth, she didn’t know why either. “Shtill, eashy enough to take care of.” With one quick pull, the already torn skirt was wrenched off of her waist as she tossed it aside, now effectively as naked as Nathan, they settled down for the lengthy drive still ahead of them, but being forced to slow due to a horse and its rider being right in front of them.