Questions and answers

The next day Mark woke up at midnight because of a nauseating feeling rising up from his stomach. He went to the bathroom and threw up,  it was then that he noticed what he had thrown up was not vomit or blood but something else.
So he examined it, and it didn’t take him long to understand what it was. It was oil, the same kind he would use for his truck engine.
He wanted to ask the voice what this meant, but he got no answer. Later that day, he found out that the voice could speak to him only if he was within two meters of the truck.
That day, he had to take his granddaughters to the nearby mall for shopping. Since they had sold his car, they had to take the truck, which made it challenging to find a suitable parking spot. But it seemed like today was their lucky day, and another truck was leaving a suitable one just a few meters from the mall they were headed towards.
[Hey fool. You better hurry. We need to start your investigation before you stop being a living human.]
Mark didn’t give a response as he wanted to just focus on his granddaughters.
He had gathered just enough money with the last job to buy the bare minimum they needed for their first day, but he knew they would need more soon.
He didn’t have any other choice but hoped that this reward the voice spoke of would be helpful to him, as he didn’t have any other delivery job coming up soon.
The school would start in 4 days, and he had 6 days left to fulfill the assignment before his HP reached 0, which would be his death. But he wondered why he had vomited oil this morning.
“Gramps, can I get this bag instead? It is prettier,“ Melinda asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Mark checked the price, and it was double the one he had planned to spend for a bag. It would push them over the budget he had put aside for today’s shopping and would pull some of their bills behind if he did so.
But he couldn’t say no to his granddaughters, so he nodded and allowed her to take it.
Maria didn’t choose a fancy bag like that. Instead, it was a pretty simple one, which was a bit cheaper than what Mark had planned to spend on her bag.
‘She always noticed our situation and acted while saying nothing.‘ Mark understood.
Maria was the bigger sister, even if it was for 5 minutes, and after their parents’ deaths, she always acted more mature than she should for her age. On the other hand, her younger sister seemed to be the opposite.

But  Mark loved both their characters, but he would prefer Maria to not be so strict with herself all the time and just act like a child of her age.
The final payment was a bit over the planned budget, but not by much.  Still, Mark knew he should find some money soon, or he could be in some serious problem that could possibly lead to losing his house. He couldn’t allow that, as he had lived there since he was born.
He knew the bank wouldn’t care about that. If he didn’t get to pay for his loan, which he was already behind with his payments, they would confiscate it and possibly his truck too.
Mark and his granddaughters then got something to eat from one of the fast-food restaurants in the mall. Melinda, though, didn’t want to eat from there as she was on a diet.
Maria scolded her for not eating and starving herself for no reason, but her younger sister progressed with her plans. Still, Mark took a  takeout for her, as he knew that she would want to eat something by the time they would reach the house.
[How about you ask those girls of yours if they know anyone that fits the target’s description?]
The voice seemed to be eager to get to work.
‘It is their first day there. There is no way that they would know anyone fitting that description.‘ Mark replied.
[Then you better look for one. You have 6 HPs left and after that, say bye to your human body.]
This reminded Mark of what happened earlier in the day.
‘What happens to me? Why did I vomit engine oil this morning? ‘ the old man asked right away.
[You lost an HP. What did you expect to happen? To get a warning card?] The voice replied.
Mark hated speaking in that voice but had to keep himself looking calm,  as his granddaughters were nearby. Fortunately, he could communicate with the voice with just thoughts.
[Oh, I see what happened here. You thought HP stands for Health Points,  didn’t you? Like in those games, which those younger than you play.] The voice guessed.
‘Yeah. If it isn’t like that, then what does it mean? ‘
[It is Human Points. As I said, if you lose all of them, you will stop being a living human. You will be a truck. Not as remarkable as me, but I  guess somewhat similar.] The voice said, surprising Mark.
Mark didn’t expect that response, but the more he thought about it, it was true that the voice had never said that he would die. He had considered it a bit weird considering the terms it used, but now it seemed like it made sense about what it had tried to say.
‘So this indicates how long I can stay to be human? With each point I lose, I get closer to turning into a car? ‘ Mark questioned.
[A truck, fool. Not a car. You might not be as exceptional as me when you get turned, but at least respect the chance given to you. And to tell the truth, other than needing the fool to make you move, not that bad. At least I have no nose to smell you, smelly people. That place you  went to the other day seemed like the smell would kill someone.] The voice answered.
The old man tried to organize the new information into his mind, and then a new thought appeared.
‘Does that mean that you are like me? You used to be a human who got turned into a truck? ‘ Mark asked, feeling bewildered.
At that point, the truck completely stopped like Mark had just hit the brake, which he didn’t.
[Don’t you ever think of something like that again. Truck-Kun was, is,  and will ALWAYS be Truck-Kun. Understood?] The Voice emphasized to which  Mark nodded.
“Is everything ok, Gramps? Why did we stop? “Maria, who was sitting next to him, asked. Fortunately, she didn’t notice him nodding at anything;  otherwise, she would have considered him to be a crazy person.
“Eh? Oh, nothing, just the brake seemed to have stalled. Need to get it to a service soon, but no worries. The truck most likely will outlive  all of us.“ Mark joked.
[You bet your ass I will.] The voice snided.
Mark had control of the truck once again.
‘What was that? I thought you couldn’t drive without me.‘ Mark asked.
[I can’t drive, but I can stop. I can also speed up, but can’t control  the steering wheel, so I need you for the turns.] The voice explained.
Mark continued his drive back home, but soon the voice spoke again.
[Do you have a plan, old man? Or should I get myself ready to move on to the next human?] The voice questioned.
‘I already have our target. We just need to find the how and when.‘ Mark replied
[We truck them up is the how. As for the when? Preferably as long as you are still a human.]
Mark almost rolled his eyes but then remembered that his elder granddaughter, listening to the radio and fighting with her sister about what to hear, was next to him.
‘Yeah, I know we will hit them with the truck, but we need to do something about the body afterward. This time I  don’t have any chemicals with me to dispose of it, and I also need to find a time such that there will be no witnesses. I mean, the truck  isn’t that difficult to recognize, and if one sees us, we will get in  jail.‘ Mark stated.
[No worries about that, fool. Just truck them up and let everything else to me. But it is true the fewer people are around, the better.] The voice agreed.
Mark planned to ask for more details later, but he understood that the voice didn’t want to tell him many things and hid most details of how things worked.
Still, Mark knew he had little option, and he actually embraced this new role of his.
He was the Truck-kun Driver.