A/N: I do not own any characters from the Pixar movie Cars. I do own my own characters; Rafael, Fluke, Linda, Agneta, Voltz, Titania, Fahrenheit, Maximo, Sleipner, Galvani, Faraday and Louis.

I do not own Sønnico, I just work for them. Any likeness to real persons or events are just a coincidence, and a product of my imagination; NOT REAL.

Alternating current

By: Little Red Toyota

Chapter 36:

White. Everyhing was white. Or lightblue… he didn't know. Sleipner blinked his eyes, but still the blitz from the light-arch was stinging in his eyes, even now that it was gone. The sound of the explosion was still ringing in his ears, something smelled burned. PVC, metal, rubber… he coughed. Something was stinging his paint. He tried to touch it, but quickly pulled his tire away as he felt liquid metal against it.

"Fluke?" he coughed. He slowly regained his vision. The room was dark, completely dark, he tried to turn on his headlight, but they were all covered in ionized metal from the light-arch explosion. He reached towards his toolbox, flipping the lid open and pulled out a flashlight, turning it on. The smoke was thick in the small room, and now that the aircondition didn't work anymore, it wasn't drawn out. The fuseboard looked like someone had thrown a grenade in it. Fluke was laying on the other side of the room, thrown there by the massive explosion. He wasn't white anymore, he was black, all covered in ionized metal.

"Fluke!" Sleipner darted over, ignoring the pain from his partly molten tires. "Speak to me, Fluke!"

But the Hilux didn't speak, nor did he move. Did he breathe? Sleipner leaned closer to check. Yes, but it was weak and uneven. Should he try to get him out of the room, or just leave him there while he ran to find help? If his frame was broken, he could kill him if he tried to move him.

"Hang in there! I'll go get help!" Sleipner drove to the door, biting his lip. How could the electricity suddenly had come back? He had removed the fuses AND put on a security-lock. The only ones who could turn it back on were other electricians, but they had all been informed about the shutdown. None of them were stupid enough to turn the power back on then, or…?

He was pulled out of the thoughts when the doors to the basement flew open, revealing Maximo, Voltz and Tengai. Their headlights blinded him for a second. He blinked and held up a tire to shield himself from the bright light.

"Are you guys ok down here? We heard a loud bang, and then everything went dark… we got worried." Maximo started.

"No… Fluke… he's in there. He's badly hurt." Sleipner managed to squeeze out. It was hard to talk, like someone was choking him.

"I'll call an ambulance!" Tengai was already on his way outside.

Voltz and Maximo followed Sleipner into the power-room.. or rather what was left of it.

"Oh my God…" Maximo looked around. "It's like a warzone down here…"

"Didn't you turn off the power before you started?" Voltz asked.

"I did!" Sleipned squeaked. "I also removed the fuses and locked the switch, just like we've been instructed!"

"Ok. Calm…" Voltz drove over to the charred Hilux. "Oh my… it's a miracle he is still breathing…"

Maximo wet a towel with his drinkingbottle, putting it over Fluke too cool down the burns. It looked bad, really bad. "Let's hope the ambulances hurry, or we might lose him…"

Voltz opened one of Fluke's eyelids, but the eyeball was rolled back, it was impossible to spot any reaction. The rest of the eye was red from blood oozing from the burst veins. He swallowed hard. The Hilux was balancing on a thin line between life and death.

"He might have breathed in molten metal… if he has, it will be…" he held the sentence for a while when he saw Sleipner's devastated face. "… an challenge to save him…"

Right then two ambulances came through the doors, 611 and 7-1. They instructed the three trucks to give them some room while working.

They decided to go outside. Fluke was in the best tires now. There wasn't anything more they could do, they just had to leave it to the ambulances.

Sleipner broke down, resting his frame on the cold asphalt outside. He didn't look good himself, but at least he was in better shape than Fluke.

"Dude… I think you should have an ambulance look at yourself too…" Maximo said, taking in the sight of the Hiace.

Sleipner looked at his reflection in a window. He was covered in ionized metal, black from top to bottom. Some of his tires were molten, his rims touched the ground here and there. No wonder it hurt.

"It's just cosmetic… it's no hurry. I rather want them to focus on saving Fluke."

A group of workers came out of the building, all curious to what had happened. Carpenters, plumbers… all were worried about the electrician who was fighting for his life in the basement.

Fahrenheit came out, joining. "You ok, Sleipner?" he said, not looking concerned at all. Just a bit surprised. "I thought you were alone down there?"

"No… Fluke was going to help me out." Sleipner whispered silently.

"Damn…" Fahrenheit mumbled, nailing his stare at the door, waiting for the ambulances coming out with good or bad news.

Suddenly they both came bursting out, carrying Fluke on a trolley behind 7-1. 611 stopped by Sleipner. "He hasn't breathed in much metal, his lungs is intact. We might be able to save him." Then she rushed after the other ambulance.

The group of workers stared after the flickering blue lights until they couldn't be seen anymore. Only the sirens could still be heard on and off through the streets. An old carpenter put words to what they all were thinking.

"All we can do now is pray…"

To be continued….