OCTONAUTS ~ THE APOCALYPSE

Fair Dinkum!

Dashi yawned. She wriggled out from between Min and Peso who were still fast asleep. She picked up her toothbrush, mug and toothpaste from her backpack. She walked outside and stretched. The morning was cold, but it was soon to get warmer very soon. She went to a barrel and collected some water. She put some toothpaste on her brush and she brushed her teeth. Paani appeared from behind her yawning and stretched his arms. He cupped some water into his hands and washed his face. It felt like a bliss having the coldness run down his cheeks.

"Mornings are quite beautiful here." He sighed.

They flinched, to a sudden clanging noise from near the octopod and ran over to see what it was.

"Heyy, you look like you're in a better mood! Since when were you an early riser?!" Dashi teased.

"Ever since everyone else slept in." Tweak laughed back. "Engineering always puts me in a good mood."

Paani walked around and inspected the metal blob she was banging on.

"Sooo, whatcha making?" He kneeled down to take a closer look

"A new gup using these old parts. It's not quite finished yet, as you can tell, but I can make basically anything from scratch, just give me a few more hours. We'll be riding this baby by the afternoon."

Meanwhile, Codish crept drowsily outside and did a cute little yawn. His salad green leaves bobbed up and down. He gasped when he saw Tweak banging on some metal.

"Haha cheepa cheepa!" He laughed looking at the vehicle. He and his siblings were this close to being reunited.

If they were still alive.

He tried not to think about that outcome.

"Codish, there you are! I was waiting for you to wake up. I know how worried you must be about Tunip and the others, so, I decided to dedicate this gup to you. What do you think? I'm painting it your favourite colour!"

He chirruped happily and hugged Tweak who was kneeling on the ground.

"He said, 'thank you Tweak, that's so nice of you.'" Shellington said from behind.

Dashi frowned.

"Hey, you're meant to be resting!!" She folded her arms.

"C'mon Dashi, I can walk around if I want to, it only hurts a bit."

"Alright, if you say so." She shrugged.

Out of nowhere, Natquik screamed and bolted out of the tent toward the octopod.

"NO, NO! IT WAS ON MY FACE!" He shivered and dusted his body as though there was still a snake on him.

"Haha! Gotcha! Gotcha GOOD!" Kwazii cried and held Eva on his arm who was laughing her head off.

'There goes the neighbourhood.' Dashi chuckled in her head.

Barnacles was already dressed. He pushed Inklings barrel outside and grabbed a box of cereal from the red wagon. The dumbo octopus stretched and adjusted his monocle.

Peso, Min and the others slowly woke up and walked out of the tent

"I'm going to check on Shellington.'' The penguin informed the others who began to prepare some coffee.

The small penguin waddled towards the sea otter who was limping, pain slightly written on his face.

"Oh dear Shellington, you really shouldn't be walking around. Let's go to the tent and take a look at your leg. How are you feeling? Drowsy? Sick? None of the above? Do you feel faint? Did you drink water this morning-"

He was cut off by a laugh.

"Peso, I'm alright! It only hurts a bit now. I've had a great doctor." He smiled and Peso smiled back.

"Okay, but just because you're feeling better doesn't mean I'm not going to check on you every now and again."

"Noted." He beamed adjusting the bandages.

Soon enough, everyone ate breakfast and slowly drank their cups of coffee. Tweak worked carefully and quickly on the new gup, referring to her blueprint and notes. She was soon covered in dust and oil but that didn't bother her. Ryla, Codish and her dad were also helping with the build keeping her companying and occasionally tightening some bolts.

Tweak wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Thanks for the help you guys. With you by my side, we could get this done in half the time!"

Ryla grunted while tightening the last screw.

"Fair dinkum! Though this heat isn't making things any easier." She stood up and tugged on her collar

Tweak nodded in agreement. She unbuttoned her navy blue octonauts shirt and threw it on the floor. Her white singlet was already a mix of light reds and browns.

Ranger Marsh stood up and dusted his paws.

"All done 'ere. Let me know if you need anything. I'm pretty sure you got it though, monkey." He patted her on the back. Tweak smiled.

Meanwhile, in the tent, Paani, Barnacles, and the others were studying a map that was placed on a barrel as a substitution for a table.

"The vegimals ran over in this direction after the dust storm arrived." Shellington pointed at an area on the map then adjusted his position on the bed.

"Min, you've tracked this area more than we have, do you remember specific caves or tracks in this area?" Min rubbed her chin.

"I do remember mapping this area. Oh that's right! I think there was a plateau that I didn't add in the legend."

Peso tilted his head and leaned over the map

"What are these triangles Min?" Her eyes lit up.

"Ah, those are the sand dunes of Marti Karla. No one has ever tracked them due to their high elevation from sea level. Did you know that they used to be green? In fact, this whole place used to be a biome full of fresh plants. . . . until the water situation began a few years back." She explained in a serious tone.

Shellington examined the map once more.

"Is it possible that they might've gone there?"

Inkling's eyes widened.

"If they did, there is a high chance they might not have survived the night."

The tent went dead silent. Barnacles spoke up.

"Okay, here's the plan. We take the new gup, search around that plateau you mentioned earlier. If we can't find them, we ride through the dunes of Marti Karla. If by any chance we still can't find them, we can drive around to this. . .um. . .brown lake thing??? Uhh Min what is this?"

She chuckled and blushed a bright red.

Whoops! Looks like I spilled a bit of tea haha!" Everyone laughed.

"Octonauts, let's find those vegimals!"