"Old ones too," she shot back, poking him in the gut.
"Hmph." He lay back down on the roller and slid back under the vehicle. "I like to look, but I don't have time or energy to chase rabbits I can't catch."
Bunny laughed, genuinely enjoying the gruff older man's company. She’d seen the soldiers jump and cringe in front of him but didn't really understand why. As far as she was concerned, for all his bluster, Mills was a decent guy.
"What's the Beast?” she asked casually.
Mills rolled back from under the Humvee, glaring at her. "Where'd you hear that?"
"Williams," she told him, not accustomed to the look in his eye. "He said you'd need to familiarize me with it if I was gonna drive it."
"You?" he bellowed as he staggered to his feet. "He wants you drivin' the Beast?"
She shrugged. "That's what he said."
"Huh." Mills scratched at his bead for a moment. "Well, come to think of it, you're probably a better choice than most. Least we know you won't panic and throw the whole damn mess to shit."
"What is it with you guys?" she asked. "It's like that uniform comes with the need to be cryptic."
Mills gave her a withering look. "Some things you don't want just everybody knowin' about, girl. People get scared, they try to do stupid things. Now shut your mouth and follow me."
She did as he said, not saying another word as he led her through the makeshift building. The entire structure had been erected in a hurry, and was little more than a steel building, the supports driven into the ground. He led her through the back, into his office, and then farther back, to what she’d always assumed was storage.
Once there, he turned on the lights, and she saw it was a second garage, but only two vehicles were in it, both covered with a tarp. Mills shut the door behind them, thumbing the lock, before motioning her over to the one on the left.
"What I'm about to show you is somethin' you don't tell nobody about, you got that?" he said, his expression letting her know he was very serious.
"Got it," she said with a nod.
He grunted and motioned for her to help him pull the tarp free, revealing a Humvee. At first, Bunny didn't get it, but the more she looked at it, the more she realized this one was different than the ones she'd spent the last week working with. It was longer, and wider, and looked heavier.
"This is the Beast," Mills told her. "A prototype variant on the traditional Humvee. There's only about three dozen of them built before the dead got all piss bitchy about bein' dead, and we got two of them, but this one is the meaner one."
"It's big," Bunny said.
"It's big," Mills mocked her. "Be quiet and pay attention, girl. It isn't just big, it's a monster. Whole thing is made of a super-light carbon titanium alloy that's impervious to anything but five thousand degrees. Can take a rocket launcher straight to the side and shrug it off like my momma did my daddy."
Bunny traced a finger over the frame. "Impressive."
"That ain't all," he continued. "The windows are a new generation of shatter-resistant, bulletproof plastic. Can take a .50 caliber round at point-blank without even gettin' scratched."
"Nice,” she said.
"Just wait. There's more,” Mills said smiling. “Tires don’t take air. New kind of carbon fiber reinforced rubber. Solid all the way through. You can run over anything without hurting them. Not to mention they'll probably outlast you and me both."
"I want some of those," Bunny told him as she bent down to have a look.
"Stop interrupting me," Mills said. "The entire thing can seal up airtight in the event of a biological attack. Flip a switch on the dash and presto, you're safe and sound. Can run like that for a couple days, too, usin' oxygen scrubbers in the back similar to what the space station has."
He waved her forward. "Then it’s got this snorkel, meanin' as long as the opening up there is above water, the engine can run. Tested in six-foot depth without any major problems."
"You’re just trying to turn me on, aren’t you?” Bunny asked with a coy smile.
"Heh, I ain't even shown you the good part yet," he said as he moved to the front.
"This here plow will take care of anything in your path, made out of the same metal as the rest of it," he said, rapping his thumb against the massive wedge shaped attachment. "But it's what behind this that's the real joy."
Bunny stood back as he opened the hood and motioned her up. Stepping on the tire, she levered herself up to have a look, and immediately whistled. What lay under the hood of this Humvee wasn't like anything she'd ever seen.
"Next generation engine design," Mills told her. "State of the art, EMP shielded, and can get around 50 miles to a gallon from the extended tank this thing is outfitted with. Transmission too, not like anything you've ever seen."
"I see why you call it the Beast," she admitted.
Mills nodded. "It's a whole new kinda car, let me tell you that. Military spent billions developing it, maybe more. An’ the last two that we know of are sittin' in this room."
"Why hasn't Williams deployed them?" she asked.
Mills shrugged. "Holdin' them back so he has an ace. I assume he's gone over his little plan for escaping the city with you?"
She nodded. "We discussed it, yeah."
"This is what's going to be leading the convoy out of here. Usin' the plow, it's going to make a path, and everyone else is going to ride bumper to bumper all the way to Midway," Mills told her.
"I see," Bunny said softly. "That's why
