Radiator Springs

Sheriff leaned against his 1949 Mercury Cruiser, sipping a cup of coffee in the shade under the gas station's roof. He scratched at the bandage on his arm as it irritated him. He had nothing else to do anyway… It was a quiet, peaceful morning, just the way he liked it. He barely had anything to do as sheriff of Carburetor County. The name wasn't even on the map anymore. Nobody even knew the town still existed. He sighed, checking his watch. It was only noon. He thought more time had passed, but apparently not. As sheriff took another sip of his coffee, he heard an engine from down the road. He knew Mater was going to the rest stop by the highway to buy some groceries, but he didn't know Mater would be back so quickly.

"Looks like Ma-"

"-customer!" Yelled the waitress behind Sheriff. "I see a customer!" She headed back into her diner to get things fixed up if the customer was going to stay for a meal.

"Flo!" Sheriff barked. "It's just Mater!" He sighed and looked down the road. For a moment, the sheriff thought he was seeing things, but when he focused on Mater's truck, he realized it was actually towing a dirty blue car. There was a customer after all. Flo came back out, "Where is he?" She asked.

"It was Mater," Sheriff started, "but he's towing someone's fancy car. I bet he has the driver with him."

"I heard something about a fancy car?" Asked someone who came up behind the sheriff. He had tanned skin and his arms were both covered in fancy, pinstriped tattoos. Ramone was his name. He put his hands in his pockets and stood next to sheriff, watching as the two truck neared closer to the gas station. "Ah man, he's towing someone!" The Latino man said. "Dang, that's one nice car he's got there! Looks like a Hornet to me!"

"A Hornet?" Sheriff asked. "I haven't seen one of those in years."

Mater slowly pulled into the gas station, careful not to scratch the Hornet as they came in. He turned the key and shut off the rusty old truck, then opened the door. Hudson did the same on the other side, and hopped down, coming around to the front where the little crowd of people was standing.

"Lookie 'ere what I found!" Mater exclaimed. "I haven't towed a car in years, shoot, today must be my lucky day!" He chuckled and playfully elbowed Hudson next to him, who did not seem as thrilled as the man who towed him. Hudson sighed and looked back at his car.

"What's your name, traveler?" Sheriff asked.

"Hudson," he said, turning to face the sheriff again.

"Hudson, huh? Well, nice to meet you," he extended a hand, "name's Michael, though folks around here like to call me Sheriff."

Hudson shook the man's hand and then looked back at his car…

"What happened to that mighty-fine car of yours anyways? She shouldn't be havin' problems."

"Well she's got a lot of miles," Hudson stated very clearly, almost in a frustrated tone. He just wanted to get to California.

"So what did happen to it, dude?" Ramone asked, arms crossed. He started to walk around the Hornet, evaluating the 'damage.' He walked a full circle around the car and the tow truck, then came back around, unfolding his arms so he could shake Hudson's hand. "Oh. The name is Ramone, by the way," he said. "I'll be fixin' up your ride for you."

Hudson shook his hand. "I don't know what happened to it. I was driving, something started to sound weird, and then it made a pop and exploding sound. There was some smoke coming out of the exhaust after that."

Ramone stroked his thin mustache. "Hmm. Man, I wonder if chu' blown a gasket or somethin', I'll take it to the shop and have a look…Mater! Bring the Hornet over to the shop, and I'll have a look at her."

"Sure thing Ramone!" Mater swiftly hopped back into his truck and started it up. It was easy to tell that Mater loved his job. If only he got to do it more often… Ramone opened the garage to his shop and then looked across the way at Hudson again. "Hey man, what year is it!?" He called from across the street at his place.

"She's a '51," Hudson replied bluntly. Someone tapped his shoulder, and Hudson turned around.

"The name's Flo, sugar. Welcome to Radiator Springs. Can I get yah' something to eat?" Flo asked as she handed Hudson a menu. "Sit down, take a break, you've been on the road for a long time if you made it all the way out here."

Hudson didn't even have time to open his mouth before Flo sat him down on one of the mint-green barstools inside her 50's-themed diner. "I've got the finest food on Route 66! You just sit down and relax now."

"Oh, really ma'am, I think I better go make sure Ramone knows everything he needs to if he's going to work on my ca—"

"—oh, dontchu' worry about Ramone, my husband is one of the finest mechanics around! He'll get your Hornet running in no time."

"That was your husband?"

"You got that right, sugar," Flo just laughed a little.

Sheriff wandered back into the cafe, as Flo poured him a glass of water. "Well, they've got your car in the shop now, so that's good. Just give Ramone some time and he'll have you up and running again," Sheriff took the barstool next to Hudson, and took a swig of his drink. "So where yah' heading, Hudson?"

"California," he replied. "I'm trying to get there by Friday."

"And you decided to take Route 66?" Flo asked, laughing a little. "Isn't the interstate faster?"

"I wanted to ride some of it for old times' sake."

"I wish everybody wanted to do that," Sheriff chimed in.

Hudson looked at Sheriff next to him and again noticed the bandage. He wondered how the man had gotten the injury. The 'doctor' inside Hudson was driving him insane. He needed to know what it was. Hudson finally pointed to Sheriff's arm and raised an eyebrow. "Did you get hurt? That's a pretty big bandage."

"Oh," Sheriff was caught off guard but looked down at his arm. "I walked through an old piece of barbed-wire," he sighed.

"Did you have it looked at?"

"No, the doctor left after the interstate was built."

"Hmm."

"—Alright, wait no more!" Flo interrupted, bringing Hudson his meal. "I've got the best hamburger in town," she set it in front of him, "With a side of fresh fries and a soda, of course! Now don't get too full, you've still got dessert!" She raced back into the kitchen so fast that Hudson didn't even have the chance to thank her. Hudson started to eat and thought to himself as he did. He had only known Mater, Flo, Ramone, and Sheriff for at least a half an hour. Yet, they were some of the friendliest people Hudson had even met in his entire lifetime. Why was that? Hudson didn't know. As soon as Hudson laid eyes on Flo, she instantly reminded him of his mother. She was warm, caring, motherly, and always going above and beyond to help a friend out. Sheriff reminded him of his older brother. He was quiet but smart and thoughtful… The memories stung at Hudson's heart once again. He didn't want to think about them, but it was hard not to when the little town reminded him so much of his own home. He knew he needed to leave soon.

"How's it taste, honey?" Flo asked as she came back to the counter. She handed Sheriff a burger and fries as well, the supplied him with a napkin and a refill on his water. Flo was one of the fastest waitresses Hudson had ever seen. Hudson snapped out of his thoughts, and looked at her, "O-oh, it's very, very good," Hudson complimented. "I really like it. Thank you."

Anytime, sugar. You let me know if you want anything else with it.

The door chimed as it opened, and two more customers walked in. There, standing in the door was a tall, muscular blonde man, in a pair of bulky firefighter pants and overalls. His arm was linked with a thin, middle-aged woman. She looked to be able sixty years old. She wore a long, grey dress, styled with a ruffled-floral design around the collar and sleeves. Hudson glanced at them. He hadn't met them yet, but they didn't seem to be travelers according to the way Flo greeted them.

"Ah, there she is!" Flo exclaimed. "Come on over Lizzie! I've got someone for you to meet!" She waved at the man, "Hello Red!" She said to the man who was escorting the young woman. The man waved quietly but didn't speak a word.

"Who's this?!" Lizzie smacked Hudson upside the head, and he jolted forward, almost spitting his food up all over the counter. He cupped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide in surprise.

He slowly turned around and looked at the woman. He raised his eyebrows in a 'Hello? What was that for?' fashion as he continued to chew, hand cupped over his mouth. Hudson slowly swallowed and extended a hand. "I'm Hudson," he said softly.

"Hudson? Haven't seen you around here before." She shook his hand.

"My car broke down, ma'am."

Lizzie crossed her arms. "Hmpf. Well, it seems that Flo is treating our guests right. I'm glad you could stay with us for a little while. My name is Lizzie," she pointed at the tall man next to her. "This is Red. Well, his name is Joseph, but you can call him Red. He's the town firefighter. You'll see his beautiful engine down by the courthouse if you ever would like to stop by."

Hudson shook Red's hand. "Pleasure to meet you Red."

Red just smiled shyly and shook Hudson's hand back. Hudson didn't know why he didn't say anything, but he just shrugged it off. Maybe Red was just shy.

"When did you get here?" Lizzie asked, getting closer to Hudson and invading his personal space.

Hudson backed up slightly, then clasped his hands together after he put his napkin on the table. "Just a couple hours ago," he said, scooting away a little bit more. "Ramone is trying to figure out what's wrong with my car, then he'll let me know."

"Ahhhg," Lizzie huffed. "Why are kids these days in such a rush? Don't they know how nice it feels just to slow down for a little while?" She shook her head, and then put a gentle hand on Hudson's shoulder. Hudson still flinched. "You should just take a deep breath, you spring chicken. You're in Radiator Springs. Enjoy the quiet time and take in the view."

Hudson looked at her quietly, not knowing how to reply. She did have a point, but Hudson knew he would be leaving as soon as the car was complete. "Thank you," he said. "I suppose I'll think about it."

"Don't think about it too fast," Lizzie giggled and sat down as Flo cleared Hudson and Sheriff's leftover dishes off the counter.

Sheriff thanked Flo, then took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face. Hudson traced his finger along the grooves on his soda bottle, trying to ignore Lizzie on his right and Sheriff on his left. He was slouched and closed off. Sheriff didn't know much about human behavior or body behavior, but he could tell that Hudson did not want to talk. Sheriff tapped his finger on the counter, and then looked at Hudson. "Hey, why don't you come for a little walk around town? You can meet the other residents."

"There are more people living here?" Hudson asked, perplexed.

"You betcha," Sheriff said, standing and putting his hands on his utility belt. "Let's go, come on. You gotta kill the time somehow. There's a great group of people around here. We'll go across the street and meet Guido and Luigi. I'm surprised they didn't come out and see you earlier. Maybe they're busy."

"Are they shy?" Hudson asked.

"Not usually. Let's go find out."