Chapter 25- A Night in the Caverns

Nobody's coming! Fudge told herself for the fifty millionth time in who knew how long. She had no idea how long she'd been stranded in the caverns. As hard as she tried to fight it, she kept falling asleep. Dammit! She'd been so tired lately and that was a very serious problem now! Nobody's coming! Why is nobody coming?

God! Nothing seemed to be going right for her. She was very upset, which was why she decided to sing to herself to try and calm down. She sang to herself quietly.

She could see that it was still raining. A big puddle was resting by her right elbow and it was getting bigger slowly. It made her think of something. Her throat was raging. What was she going to eat and drink? Well, looking around, she didn't know what to do about the food situation, but she read in a book once that you could drink rainwater. Was there a way she could get to it? Slowly, hesitantly, she tried to roll over. Oh, God! Her back hurt so much.

"Ow!" she cried out, wincing with every movement she made with her back. "Owww!"

No. She couldn't do this!

Fortunately, there was another way. It would be a lot easier to wiggle her way around, so that the hole in the "ceiling" was directly over her mouth. It wasn't that far. It was currently pouring onto her neck. Sure, it may take a little bit of trial and error, but it shouldn't be that hard, should it?

Ever so slightly, she edged her way towards the hole. It hurt quite a bit, but she was managing. As she felt the rain trickling against her lips, she sat up as much as she felt she could and opened her mouth. Surprisingly, it worked! Rain was going directly into her mouth. She was sure it wasn't enough to stop her from being thirsty, but at least she had a way of getting some water. At least this way, she could survive a little longer.

The thought of that made Fudge worry. How long would she be here? After all, if she was missing, this wasn't exactly the first place they'd look for her. Exactly. It wasn't the first place they'd look for her, but that didn't mean they wouldn't look for her there. It may take some time, but they'd leave no stone unturned. No matter how long it took. Someone would come for her.

It was pretty late in the day when Sheriff was parked at Flo's, listening to the radio. Everyone else was trying to listen anxiously, but it was hard to hear with the wind, rain and thunder.

"Weather report says the storm's not gonna clear up till the morning", he reported. "We'll start searchin' again at first light", he announced, beginning to drive off towards his office.

"What?!" Lightning cried. "No!"

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"If Fudge is out there", he argued, "then she needs our help right now!" Like everyone else, he couldn't stop worrying. Fudge had been lost overnight before when so-called friends had dumped her in the woods.

"It really is the best course of action, soldier", Sarge insisted. "It'll be a lot safer and easier if we wait until morning."

Lightning didn't look convinced in the slightest. Neither did Luigi.

"What if something's happened to her?!" McQueen challenged. "What if she's in trouble?! Or she's been taken?!"

"Who could've taken her?" Sheriff wondered. "There's no one else around here for miles."

"What about the Lemons?! They could've picked her up and taken her without us noticing! Or someone else might have!" He looked at the older British spy, who was parked nearby, listening to every word. "Finn! Isn't it possible?"

Finn was quite taken aback. "Well, it is possible", he admitted.

"You see?! We gotta do something!"

"We've already told you, son!" Sheriff pointed out. "There's nothin' we can really do till first light! We can't hold a proper search in this weather! I'll call in helicopters in the mornin' if I have to, but if I tried tonight, they'll tell you the same thing."

"Well, what are we supposed to do between now and then?" Lightning demanded.

"Fudge needs her medication!" Luigi cried hysterically. "What are we going to do?!"

Sheriff looked at Lightning. "Like I said, I'll call in extra help to find Fudge in the mornin' and you can get some rest." He looked at Luigi. "There's nothin' we can do about that either. All we really can do is find Fudge as soon as possible and give her her medication once we do."

"You want to find Fudge as soon as possible, but you want it to wait until tomorrow", Luigi muttered.

Sheriff sighed, trying not to get too exasperated. "Look, I ain't happy about this either, but I don't know how many times I gotta tell ya. There's nothin' we can do!" He took another look at the crowd around him and added, "Now, you should all go home and get some rest."

Okay. Even though she couldn't really be sure of how much time had passed since she first got stuck in the caverns and now, Fudge was still certain that someone should've found her by now! Where were they?! It was really dark and scary in there. Not to mention cold. Plus, there were lots of weird noises.

"Ah!" she cried as she heard what sounded like a loud whistling noise. "It's probably just the wind", Fudge whispered to herself, thinking that maybe speaking out loud would convince her more. "It's just the wind. The weather's really bad and wind kind of whistles sometimes."

The next noise to freak her out sounded like someone coughing.

"Hello?!" she called out fearfully. "Is someone there?! Hello?!"

Once again, her only response was echoes.

Well, not exactly.

"Fudge!" a familiar, gravelly voice called from the darkness.

A smile spread across the human girl's face as she recognised that voice. "Doc!"

The cobalt blue Hudson Hornet gave her a warm smile. "Good to see you, Fudge-O!"

She returned his smile. "Yeah. You too."

"I just have one question for you", Doc announced seriously.

Fudge grew nervous. "Yeah?"

Doc broke out into a huge grin. "What have you done, kiddo?"

The two of them burst out laughing.

"I'm glad you're here", Fudge proclaimed.

"Yeah, well, I didn't come alone, kiddo. Someone else is here with me to help me make sure you're all right."

"Really? Who?"

As an answer, Sammy came forward. She was wearing the exact same clothes she'd worn in Porto Corsa and London during the World Grand Prix- black leather jacket, which made her rainbow streaks really stand out; long-sleeved white button-down shirt, black sleeveless button-down vest; black, knee-length skirt; black tights and black shoes.

"Sammy!" Fudge cried, instantly glad to see her sister.

Like Doc, Sammy gave Fudge a soft smile. "It's okay, Fudge", she greeted her half-sister. "We're here to help you now."'

"I'm glad you're here too", Fudge informed her. "Wait... You're not dead, are you?" she questioned fearfully.

"Of course not!" Sammy laughed. "What? Do you think I need to be dead to be with you here?"

Fudge thought about that. "Guess not..."

"Don't lose hope, Fudge", Doc instructed her. "Those cars back home are your family. And you never give up on family. They'll find you."

"I won't", the thirteen-year-old promised.

"All right. And we are here to help you." Sammy removed her black leather jacket. "Here." She placed the jacket over Fudge's shoulders. "I think you need this more than I do."

The jacket felt good. It felt nice and warm. "Thanks, Sammy."

Doc and Sammy stayed by Fudge's side for a very long time. They protected her like guardian angels. Even so, all too soon, Doc turned to Sammy and announced seriously, "We should go."

Sammy checked her watch. "Yeah. Good idea."

"You're leaving?" Fudge asked.

"Fudge", Doc took her hand, "you know we'll never really leave you."

"Yeah", Sammy added. "It's just that this storm's getting worse. So, it's only a matter of time before you-"

KA-BOOM!

Fudge awoke with a jolt at the sound of thunder. She was still in the caverns without a jacket (though she could still feel the warmth and comfort of it!) and Doc and Sammy were nowhere to be seen.

"A dream", Fudge murmured to herself softly. "It was a dream." Then she stopped and smiled as she felt something. "But Doc and Sammy are here."

Feeling the presence of her grandfather figure and half-sister filled Fudge with hope. She was cold and she was scared, but she knew that she most definitely wasn't alone. So, after a quick drink of the rainwater, she was back to sleep, feeling the warmth and comfort of Sammy's jacket all night long.

Meanwhile, over at the Cozy Cone, Lightning McQueen watched the rain pour and the storm rage on from out the window. Sally had made him a cup of tea. It wasn't something that he drank often, but it was just what he needed then. He stared out the window silently, occasionally sipping the tea. After a while, Sally joined him. He was still quiet for a moment when she did, but then he started to talk.

"I hate this weather", he informed his girlfriend quietly without looking at her. "This was just what it was like on the night of... you know..." He didn't want to use the words the night of the accident, but that was what he meant and Sally knew it.

"I know", she whispered comfortingly. "I know it's hard on you."

Lightning sighed heavily, still not looking at Sally. "No one else was there that night. No one will ever really know what it was like for me."

Although he was glad that Sally hadn't seen the things he had, as soon as those words left his mouth, Lightning wished that the Porsche had been there that night. She, like Sarge and Sheriff, was calm in any emergency. Not only would she have been able to help Fudge a lot better than he had, but she could've given him the moral support he had desperately needed then.

In fact, now that he thought about it, it occurred to Lightning that had Sally- or Sarge or Sheriff- been there, Fudge's accident could've been avoided altogether. When Fudge had insisted on going for those last few laps, it was quite likely that one of those three would've been the voice of reason if they were there. They would've told her no, that they were going home; just like he should've done.

"Stickers?"

The stock car was brought back to Earth by the sound of his girlfriend's voice and looked at her for the first time. "Yeah?"

"I said, 'Are you okay?'"

He sighed. "I don't know, Sally."

"I know you're worried about Fudge", she sympathised gently. "I am too."

"She shouldn't be out there", Lightning murmured softly. "She can't walk, she must be cold and scared and in pain..." He trailed off. "Wherever she is, I just hope she's okay."

"I know", Sally repeated gently. "So do I. I'm sure everyone else wishes they could do more too." It was her turn to sigh. "We'll wake up first thing in the morning and keep looking."

McQueen nodded. Then he gave her a soft smile. "Yeah... I love you, Sally."

She returned the smile. "I love you too, Stickers."

On the other side of town, Luigi and Guido were also staring out the window at the wild weather.

"Oh, Guido!" Luigi exclaimed. "Where do you think she could be?"

"(I don't know)", he replied sadly. "(If I knew, she would be here tonight instead of... wherever she is.)"

Luigi's eyes filled with tears at Guido's choice of words. "Do you think she is out in this weather? Or do you think she has found shelter?"

"(I don't know)", Guido repeated. "(I hope so. I hope she will be home soon.)"

"Me too", Luigi agreed. He gave another sigh. "This is all McQueen's fault! None of this would have happened if he had never told me to let her go."

Guido rolled his eyes. He was long used to Luigi's rants, blaming Lightning for their problems. He had mastered the art of tuning out ages ago.