He had found the Ventra’s owner.

Which explained everything. The owner had been keeping his precious AV hidden away, waiting for who-knew-what. Whatever he was waiting for didn’t happen soon enough, and the owner exposed himself to radiation and began to change into a Lizard. He couldn’t stop the change, but he couldn’t make himself give up the vehicle, either.

Now he was too huge and too clumsy to operate the Ventra, which was why it was still locked away in the shed. All the owner could do was look at it.

“I’m sorry,” he told the Lizard. “I’m going to have to take it. I need it to help others who are in trouble.”

The Lizard tried to say something, but the words came out as gibberish that Logan couldn’t decipher. Apparently the mutation had affected its ability to speak. But there was no mistaking its intent. The Lizard did not want him to take the Ventra.

“I can’t let you keep it,” Logan answered. “I wish I could, but you don’t need it and there are others who do.”

The Lizard made a threatening movement, but Logan brought the black staff up at once. “Don’t do that,”

he advised quickly. “I know how strong you are, but the staff makes me much stronger. You can’t stop this from happening. Even if you try, you can’t.”

A long few moments passed. The Lizard stood there, staring at him, not moving, no longer speaking. It didn’t seem to know what to do.

“I’m leaving now,” Logan told him. “If I can, I’ll come back for you when I’m done.” He tried to think of what else to say. “Look, I’ll take good care of it. The best I can.”

He realized how foolish that sounded, but it was all he could come up with. He hesitated a moment; then he went back into the shed, climbed into the AV, closed its heavy doors, and engaged the belting locks. He put the Ventra in gear and eased it through the shed doors out into the yard. The Lizard was waiting. It stood directly in his path, intending to stop him. Logan kept the vehicle rolling toward it, not rushing his approach, taking his time. The Ventra would turn the Lizard to mush if he floored it, notwithstanding all that scaly armor.

Step aside, he thought, staring out at the Lizard, holding its gaze through the AV’s windshield. Just let me pass.

The Lizard put out its massive hands and braced itself against the Ventra, trying to stop its forward motion. Logan kept the machine moving ahead, slowly, steadily, inexorably. The Lizard bunched its muscles and dug in, but the AV forced it to give ground.