Author's Note- So...yeah, I have kind of dropped the ball on this story. Sorry about that. I have been working on finishing up this story between writing chapters for this year's advent calendar story so you will not have to wait as long for the rest of this project.

Chapter 4-Call for Help

No one in Radiator Springs slept that night. They were too busy getting ready for the fire that would overtake their town. Hoses were laid out and fire hydrants were tested. Important documents and mementos were all moved into the firehouse, the building that everyone agreed was the easiest structure to defend.

By this point, everyone was exhausted, their mental tanks running on empty with only fear keeping them moving. That was especially true for Red, who was still second-guessing his decision. Finally, around 2 in the morning, the Sheriff shooed Red back into the firehouse, insisting that the Quint get at least a couple of hours of sleep. Red was reluctant to take the Sheriff up on his offer, but he also knew that his friend had a good point. He wasn't going to do Radiator Springs much good if all of his energy had been spent before the fire had arrived.

The engine was going to have to trust that his fellow citizens were going to follow the wildland fire plans that they had put together years ago. And he was going to have to trust that those plans would be enough to keep the town safe. Luckily, trust was something that came easily to Red, and the fire truck fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

As much as Lightning didn't want to be alone, he was starting to think that bunking with Mater had been a mistake. The racer was a temperamental sleeper under the best condition, but snoring coming from the neighboring sleeping mat was grating on his already frayed nerves. Every time he started to drift off, he would be startled back to the moment by a snort or a wheeze.

Lightning had taken advantage of his wakefulness to reach Radiator Springs, but every time he tried to call, he discovered that the phone line was dead. So, he turned on the television hoping to find answers there, only to discover that the news reporters were running on the same amount of information as he was. Finally, the racer gave up, turned off the TV, and simply sat in the dark trying to do his best from letting his imagination from getting the best of him.

Red awoke to a vehicle nudging his bumper. Trying to blink the sleep away, the Quint did his best to take in his surroundings. The Sherriff was sitting in front of him, and the glow of the car's headlights was the only illumination in the room. Glancing towards the window, it appeared that the lights in the town had also gone dark…which was a bad sign. It probably meant that the town had probably lost power.

Now fully awake, Red focused his whole attention on the Sherriff, who sighed. "I wanted to let you sleep longer, but when we lost power a few minutes ago, we could clearly see a glow on the horizon. Given the dark and the smoke I can't judge how far out the fire is, but I thought you probably should take a look."

The Quint didn't need to be told twice. He pulled out of the shelter of his home and into the night. Scanning the horizon, he spotted the looming threat. Even though the landscape was only lit by the moon and a ribbon of flames, it was clear that a towering wall of smoke was sweeping towards them. Despite the distance from the wildfire, Red could see the color of the flames. There was far too much yellow for comfort, and the flickers of blue cause the vehicle's fluids to run cold. They were not prepared to face a fire of this magnitude and heat.

Red quickly indicated to the Sherriff that the needed to make it back into the firehouse. Once inside, he pointed towards battery-powered radio set up.

"So, it is time to call for back up?" The Mercury Cruiser asked and when Red nodded the affirmative, the Sherriff got on the horn with the state.

Even as Red rolled out of the firehouse, he could hear the frustration in the dispatcher's voice as his friend let the state know the dire straits that the town was about to navigate. It made the firefighter's engine ache a little because he knew that some of his fellow firefighting vehicles were going to put their lives on the line because of his decision. But he didn't have time to dwell on that fact. Even if they chose to leave now, it was too late to evacuate…All that the citizens of Radiator Springs could do now was pray that they could to hold their ground until help could arrive.

At the airbase, Cabbie managed to get to get a good four hours of sleep after completing his cargo run to LA. It wasn't nearly enough sleep for his preferences, but there would be time to rest after the fire was out. Right now it was important to get everyone moving when the first sliver of pink started to appear on the horizon so that everyone could attend the morning briefing.

Stifling a yawn, the old warplane started to prod his charges awake. "Rise and shine, you hooligans. We have the morning briefing in 15."

Around them, the makeshift airbase on the McCarran International Airport started to wake and the smell of coffee. The Cabbie would have preferred to go grab a mug of the firehouse brew before putting up with the day's battles, but it was more critical for Dusty to make up for the poor impression that he had made the night before.

"Come on kid." Cabbie said as he gave the yawning plane a bit of a push. "Let's go find out what Mother Nature has in store for us today."

The SEAT was still blinking sleep from his windshield when then approached the apron in front of the Incident Command Center. As the two planes rolled up, Sawyer gave the two a look. It was clear that the Air Boss livid, and Cabbie could feel Dusty backing up a little bit so that he was positioned under the larger plane's wings. The Cargo plane, in contrast, didn't let the frustrated Fire Boss faze him. Experience had taught him that he would find out what was wrong soon enough. Moments later, it proved to be a good instinct.

"We had three entire towns refuse to evacuate last night." The Sawyer practically spat, as he rolled up to the two aircraft. "While all of them are now expecting us to send reinforcements, only one of them is a good fit for a dozer team. Unfortunately, it is also our worst option for a hike out, so be prepared for a long haul deployment. Given the weight, I want that team out first thing, so load up your gear now, because I expect you to off my tarmac within 20 minutes."

The jump team was in the air within 15 minutes of getting the order to move, which was pretty darn impressive when you considered just how much gear Avalanche and Blackout had to swap out. After they were done, the two Smokejumpers had barely fit inside their transport with their side packs on, but the two were now carrying enough supplies to fight a fire without any resupply for a good week and a half.

Both Cabbie and Dusty use the moments to take on fuel and gulp down coffee while their flight release officer, an airport fire tender, reviewed their mission. By the time Avalanche and Blackout were strapped down for the ride, Dusty was reasonably sure that he could get them where they needed to go…but that didn't stop him from being incredibly nervous about having to be the lead plane on such a critical mission…a fact that was only made worse because it would also be his absolute first lead plane mission.

Cabbie seemed to notice the little plane's nerves and spoke gently to him as he spun up his engines. "You are going to be fine. Just fly me a good line and let me know if there are any air currents that I need to avoid. With as heavy as I am right now, it will be hard for me to slip out of a hard downdraft, so it is your job to help me steer clear of them."

"I will do my best, but…" Dusty trailed off, refusing to meet the older plane's eyes, nerves starting to unsettle his tank. After all, one wrong move and he could get everyone killed. His mind raced as the crop-duster started to run through worse case scenarios.

"YOU'LL DO FINE!" Avalanche introjected. His voice somewhat muffled by being inside of the cargo plane.

Cabbie chuckled. "Avalanche said it, now let's get our afts off the ground before the Air Boss comes and bites them. Lead 07, would you do the honors with the tower?"

Dusty took a long, shaky breath and then gave a quick bob in response. Turning on his radio, he tackled his first task as a lead plane. "McCarran, McCarran, this is Lead 07 with Jump 51 requesting permission for takeoff. Over."

Next Chapter- Overwhelmed- Red and the citizens of Radiator Springs must do their best to hold out against the approaching flames. While Dusty, Cabbie, and the Smokejumpers battle against time to see if they can prevent disaster by reaching the town before the wildfire.