Chapter 414.

Chapter 414.

Chapter 414. We Encounter a Strange Spaced-out Girl Stranded on the Highway. (7/10)

“Your reaction just now suggested otherwise.”

“What reaction?”

“Your face was definitely a shade redder just now.”

“That’s your imagination. It didn’t get redder at all.”

“Then would you say you’re good at farming?”

“I’m not bad.”

“But you’re not saying you’re good either.”

“I’d say my farming skills are at the very least average. When it comes to my farming knowledge though, I’m confident.”

“Oh? So your understanding is good, but you’re bad when it comes to putting your knowledge into practice?”

“Yeah... somethin like that.” Dawn averted her eyes away to the right.

“Hey, so what are we doing?” Rosa interjected. “Are we just going to wait around all day until her dad calls back or are you going to drive her back to her place to pick up a battery? Personally, I’m not afraid of some wild feral hogs. I’ve hunted them before too.”

“Huh? A pretty city girl like you has hunted wild feral hogs before?” Dawn asked interestedly, noticeably surprised by Rosa’s sudden revelation.

“Yeah, I have.”

“It’s not good to make stuff like that up. If you’re just boasting or putting on a brave front, you really shouldn’t. You shouldn’t underestimate wildlife. They can be quite fearsome and your life could be put in serious danger if you take them lightly.” Dawn was quick to conclude Rosa was merely boasting.

“I’m not kidding, when I was a lot younger, my father took me out into the wilderness for survival training. I had to kill animals by myself for my own food.”

“How old were you exactly?”

“Hmm... it was typically every summer for two months between the ages of seven to ten.”

“What sort of father goes and dumps a little girl out into the wilderness to fend for her own life? And he let you use a gun at that age to hunt? Is he crazy? I was only allowed to hunt with a rifle when I turned fourteen.”

“It’s not like he dumped me out there. I asked him to take me there. Also, I never said I used a rifle to hunt.”

“Huh? You didn’t hunt with a rifle? Then... you hunted with only a knife?”

“Well, something like that. I’d typically lead them into traps before killing them though.” Rosa confidently blew on her fingernails with a mysterious smile.

No way... she used just her fingernails to kill them? Isn’t that impossible? Was this considered part of her family’s training method she spoke of before?

At some point, I’ve got to just move out of the city if I no longer want to have so many women problems.

“Then... if the two of you are really fine with it... I’ll take you up on your offer.”

“Can you let me see your vehicle’s insurance and registration?”

“Sure.”

Dawn pulled it out from the dashboard and handed it over. I took a picture of it, then handed it back over to her.

“What did you need it for?”

“To get the exact make and model. We need that to ensure the battery is compatible with it.”

“Yuh coulda just asked me what it was. I at least know that much.”

“Maybe, but there are sometimes small differences in models that can make a difference in the battery you need for your vehicle.”

Dawn put the windows up, locked the door, stepped out of her truck, and closed it. It seems the battery had enough juice to at least do these things while it was connected to my motorcycle’s battery.

I put my seat back in place after I disconnected the jumper cable clamps in the opposite order we connected them. Once the batteries were disconnected, I retrieved a small toolkit I’d packed from our bag in case an emergency popped up and I had to do maintenance on my motorcycle myself. It was pretty useful to have around.

“What are yuh doing now?” Dawn asked when I opened my toolkit up.

“I’m going to remove the battery and bring it with us.”

“What are you doing that for?”

“Well, though it’s unlikely to happen, if we leave it out here and someone passes by and sees your vehicle abandoned on the side of the road, they might smash the window then try to hotwire and steal it. They would probably have a vehicle with a more powerful battery, so it’s not impossible that they’re able to jumpstart it successfully and drive off with it. If there’s no battery in it, at least they can’t do that unless they have another battery with them that also happens to be compatible. Now if they bring a tow truck though, then you’re just tough out of luck at that point.”

While I explained I popped open the fuse box cover on top of the battery and used a small socket wrench tool bit to loosen and remove the nuts for the negative battery terminal, battery retainer hold-down bar, starter cable, battery plates, and lastly the positive battery terminal.

“Please stop using the L word.”

After removing the battery retainer hold-down bar and fuse box on top of the battery using a flat head screwdriver to unfasten the clips, I removed the battery tray protector from the side. The battery slipped out nice and easy as I pulled it up and out of the tray.

“So quick?”

“Yeah, changing a car battery is actually pretty easy so long as you have the right tools. You can save a decent amount of money on labor costs, about $40, if you know how to do it yourself. It doesn’t even take that long either.”

“You’re sure yuh did it right?”

“Of course.”

I studied electrical engineering. If I didn’t understand a battery of all things, or at the very least how to change one, I’d be the biggest joke in the world. If an electrical engineer can’t even change a battery on his own, what good did he get out of his degree? It might as well be some super expensive toilet paper. At least, that was what I liked to tell myself to cope with reality.