Disclaimer: Pixar owns Cars and they are awesome. I own Seth, Joe, and the others that were not in the movie. Chow!
Notes: Alright, a few didn't get this y'all. This is a continuation of the last story Hardest Burden to Bear. Since it takes place roughly six months after the end of the last I felt it was better to start an entirely new story rather than jump six months in the middle of the last. And yes! Y'all found the movie refs in the last one! Let me see if I can work a few into this one!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Steady roar thundered 'round the mid afternoon light, sun washing down on a sea of blacktop and color. Ground rumbled just a bit underfoot as a flood of vehicles made their way around the track the roar of engines only cut by the screams of those in the stands.
Race day... There was no better day in the opinion of some. It was the highlight of the week and by far what some lived for. Brightly colored vehicles roared around the track at top speed as ground on each lap whipping its way around was slowly gained.
"Stay off the wall kid or Chick'll put ya in it again." Doc scolded as the group surged around the track. He wasn't sure why but for some reason the kid had been clinging to the wall most of the race. Last season Chick would have taken advantage of that...
This season for whatever reasons Chick seemed to have decided to lay off. However when Lightning went around the track looking for trouble it would either be Chick or someone else that put him back in his place...
Doc was worried. The last few races Lightning had been this way. It was as if he were barely hanging in there. Rather as Doc was starting to fear, he had been so anxious to get back on the track and now that he was there he was afraid to jump back into the thick of things.
"Lightning get in there, if you don't get into the pack now you're not gonna be able to pass them up later."
Lightning shifted lanes almost instantly, swerving towards the inner track. He sped up and came up behind, trailing the thick of the back, however; that seemed to be as far as he was going. He was just barely hanging in there... With only two laps to go he was about to come in at the bottom of the pack.
Doc gave a frustrated sigh and shook his grill a bit. Race was already over for Lightning. Unless something dramatic happened in the next few minutes... Like say every vehicle in the race suddenly running out of fuel but for Lightning... They could go ahead and start packing up...
"Maybe I'm pushing him to hard..." Doc mused softly as he turned the mic off. One more lap went around as those gathered in pit row watched in silence.
"No Doc, ya know how long you've taken and how careful you've been with how he continues." Flo soothed from where she was parked close by.
"Yeah man. I think Lightning he just got the jitters ya know?" Ramone put in.
Doc could only nod slowly in some form of agreement. They were right...
He really hated to admit it but they were right...
"Hey Doc what's that?" Doc chuckled softly as Seth popped up somewhere behind him, the Mustang's weight supported on rear tires as front tires had popped up to rest ontop of a low concrete wall. "That's the security booth." Doc answered, using his rear view mirror to see just what it was that had caught Seth's attention.
"Seth watch the race." Sheriff scolded, pulling a soft chuckle from Doc.
"Ah lay off of the boy Sheriff. This is all new to him." He pointed out quietly, watching as the last lap of the race began to unfold. It was the first time Seth had been to a race... Honestly enough the first time he had ventured away from Radiator Springs. Which made for a Mustang that was the preverbal bundle of energy. His jumping around and getting into everything had even worn Mater out who was now settled down at one side of the pits, quietly watching the end of the race.
At the beginning of the last lap things truly started to kick up. A while new definition of speed began to develop as the entire field began to pick up speed and fight for position. Lightning seemed to focus on that, picking up speed along with them and throwing himself into the race. For the first time since the first time the pace car pulled away he actually looked competitive. Doc switched his mic back on, watching carefully as Lightning carefully came to the inside of the pack, and shot forward.
"There you go Lightning... Find the groove that works for you and go with it." Doc encouraged as Lightning surged around the track. Though starting so late in the race it was to little to late... In a field of forty Lightning barely scooted by tenth place when he slid his way 'cross the finish line.
"Good, you're on the right track Lightning. Meet up with us in the pits." Doc called, over an excited cheer behind him. Tenth was nothing to sneeze at... At least it wasn't last. Again...
Down on the track Lightning heaved a heavy sigh and rolled up towards pit row. It was starting to become down right humiliating... The first race after such a long absence could of course be written off... After all he had still been trying to get into the groove of racing again. The second race he hadn't even finished... Now a good couple months into it he was falling way behind. At this rate he would have to push every race hence forth just to break into the top ten.
"Hey Kid!"
Lightning sighed with a brief cringe, slowing down a bit. Since he wasn't exactly performing Chick Hicks was having an absolutely great season. He was already predicted to take home the Piston Cup and the season was only a quarter of the way through.
"Hey Chick."
"Kid ya alright?" Lightning blinked and stopped for a moment as Chick pulled up alongside him. Of all the things he expected Chick to say that hadn't been one of them. "Am I alright?"
"Yeah, you're driving for scrap out there... Everything goin' ok?"
Lightning gave the older car a rather odd look. He looked honestly concerned... "Why do you even care Chick?"
"Ouch" Chick commented, a roll of his eyes given, continuing on his way after a moment paused as he waited for Lightning to catch up.
"So what's up?" Chick pressed, causing Lightning to sigh softly as they headed in the direction of pit row.
"Shouldn't you be heading for winner's lane or something?"
"Nah, came in second. I skidded out on the wall just before the finish line and the RPM car managed to slide past."
"Ah well he's a good car." Lightning mused, a light nod given.
"Mhmm. He's got some talent. He was doing very well last year." Chick mused, gaining a slight nod from Lightning.
"So kid where ya headed now?" Chick questioned gaining a slight shrug from Lightning.
"I don't know, home I guess. I figure I'll hear about it from Doc over that race..."
"Nah... Though I would step back and relook at what you're getting into. Trust your crew chief... Mine's always right... Unfortunately... That reminds me though how old are you kid?" Chick mused, cutting a glance over to where Max was parked, calling out instructions to the rest of Chick's crew.
Lightning gave a slight blink to that, his frame tilting to the side. "Twenty..."
"Ah, shame. Was gonna ask ya if you wanted to grab a couple drinks with me and the crew. Next year maybe." The race car offered, a soft chuckle given.
Again that earned a bewildered blink from Lightning. Chick had been... Easy to deal with for the past six months. Now he was down right friendly and likable... Who was he and what had he done with Chick?
"Yeah, maybe next year. Congratulations on the second, it was a great race Chick."
"You to Lightning. Tenth ain't nothin' to sneeze at." Chick pointed out, turning to head back to his crew. "Take care. Give me a call if ya need anything." The old stock car called.
"Thanks Chick... For ya know, not being you." Lightning teased as he headed off towards his own pit crew. Chick only shot him a smirk heading off on his own way.
The entire encounter had been strange to say the least. He wasn't the only one... Junior had stopped and asked him before the race if he had noticed anything strange about Chick. Hell that was the entire topic in the back before the officials had come in. Chick was actually... Nice... What was up with that? The race car steeled himself off, eyes closing for a moment as he headed for his own group. This was going to be interesting... Lightning didn't make it far before he was surrounded by Radiator Springs residence. All excited and bouncing around for the end of a race.
Lightning flinched a bit and sighed, a quick glance shot in Doc's direction.
"Come on Lightning. Get back on the trailer and lets head home. We have a long drive ahead of us and you and I need to have a long talk." Doc offered gently, heading off back towards the trailer.
Ah... As if he didn't know that was coming...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Daybreak was touching the sky before the very tired line of vehicles pulled into Radiator Springs.
Mac tiredly pulled up beside Flo's cafe and let the back door of his trailer drop, which had Lightning hurrying to get off, Doc not all that far behind him at a much more quiet pace. Doc had used the long drive to talk... And talk... And talk...
It would have been better if he had yelled about Lightning's performance in the race. Then he could argue that he flat out didn't have to put up with this and go quiet. It's what he had always done when Stone had come down on him for something or other.
However, Doc as he had found had been nothing but understanding. Is there a problem? Is it the training schedule? Are you tired? Is something hurting? What's bothering you? The parental concern was flat out more than he could take. Even his own mother wasn't that concerned over him. It was creepy.
The rest of the group were all breaking up shuffling towards their homes for some well earned sleep. Across the road he could see Seth quickly moving off towards the station repeating over and over the word bed as apparently that was the only thing on the tired Mustang's mind. Behind him Sheriff was trailing along yelling a clear 'I told ya so' to his son. Well he had told him... Seth had been to excited to follow the example of the rest. The only ones who needed to be on the track bright and early had been Doc and Lightning. A fact that was just fine considering the fact that Doc and Lightning would be able to sleep on the way home in the trailer.
The rest had slept in until noon, an hour before the race was to start to be able to make the long drive home after the race. Everyone had followed the suggestion except for Seth who had been way to excited, insisting on coming to the track. Something none of them could blame him for. On the way home Doc and Lightning had offered to let the Mustang crowed into the trailer with them, but the Mustang had pointed out he could take a little drive and refused. The result was a very tired Mustang that would probably not be seen until well after noon. Maybe not until Nightfall... If he couldn't sleep then, then at least Sheriff could send him out on patrol.
At his side Doc gave a slow stretch, the old car grumbling something about being way to old to ride around in the back of a truck. He then headed off down the street towards the clinic, a light nod given towards the citizens who were starting to come out of their homes, and heading for work.
Things had certainly changed since Lightning had first come into town. Even in the past few months. Things always picked up just a bit during racing season. Tourists coming in, and so forth. Since Lightning had first moved into town things became down right busy during racing season. However, things had always slowed down again in the off season. This year about a dozen vehicles had actually moved to Radiator Springs and set up shop, therefore upholding a slight promise that they wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon. The town had been cleaned up...
The construction of Flo's cafe had been completed. A good thing for the town since the start of the season since it meant that tourists had a fuel source and would therefore stay longer. A few more businesses had been filtering in as well. An older couple had reopened Lizzie's knick knack shop. It was nice to see it up and running but it just wasn't the same without Lizzie...
There was also a strange British car who had reopened the library, coupled with a rather nice little hot oil shop. Frankly, between that little car and Flo Starbucks had nothing on them...
Up on the hill the construction of Lightning's home was almost complete. Amazing since it had only really been going a few months. They did work fast... Until it was finished he was staying with Doc. Who still didn't seem to inclined to set him on on his own since the accident that had almost cost Lightning his life.
The race car gave a sigh and quietly headed over to Flo's cafe where cars were already starting to filter in. A young hatchback Flo had hired to help her out flitted back and forth between customers, filling orders and heading back into the back every now and again to place them.
At one of the far pumps Sally was parked, talking softly to Red. A rather one sided conversation but Red looked like he enjoyed the company all the same.
Lightning quickly pulled forward and pulled up beside her, a light nudge of greeting given.
"Lightning! You're back!" She nearly yelled, a smile crossing her grill. From the other side Red smiled happily, the fire truck offering his own nod of greeting.
"Yep, I'm back. How's things been goin' on here?"
"They've been very quiet actually." Sally explained, her voice then dropping just a bit. "It's started again... You know from the mountains..."
Lightning blinked a bit at that, a quick glance turning in the direction of the mountains. "The howlers?" He questioned softly, gaining a nod from Sally.
"I'm worried... You know what started last week don't you?"
Lightning flinched and gave a heavy sigh. "According to Joe they've been up there for decades. I don't think one hunting season is going to give them any problems. I'm sure they're use to it."
"I hope you're right." Sally mused worriedly, then cast a glance in Lightning's direction. "I saw the race on T.V..."
"Ah..."
"You did well. I mean tenth in that big of a race is still very good."
Lightning sighed and gave a slight nod to that, giving her side a light nudge. "I know... I'm gonna go get a bit of sleep. Want to go for a drive later?"
Sally smiled and nodded, offering the race car a little nudge in response. "Sure"
The response from Lightning was a smile and a light nudge fair-well as he pulled off, heading back for Doc's clinic. What Sally had said actually made him forget about his own racing... Tenth wasn't something to fret over. Though despite what she had said he now worried...
Six months prior they had received the shock of their lives... Seth and Sheriff had actually found a human... A human! Stealing fuel from Flo's cafe... The human and her vehicle companion had been put on trial like any other car. However, that night they had managed to escape the enclosure. No one knew exactly how. Sheriff had come to Doc the next morning, explaining to him that he had taken over for Seth and that he didn't know how the bios and the car had escaped.
It was Sheriff's theory that in that split second that Seth and Sheriff had been distracted with giving the brief report on how things were going they had managed to escape. He had also warned everyone under the penalty of a night in lock up not to say anything about the previous night's events to Seth as apparently Sheriff's son was taking it very personally even though it wasn't his fault.
That had been the end of that. They hadn't heard anything in months... But now...
Lightning paused in his tracks. Off in the distance over the mountains he heard it. A low howl like sound. Ranger...
He chuckled softly and started his engine once more, quietly rolling forward though just as quickly killed it again. He had just barely heard it over the sound of his own engine. Silently he strained his hearing looking for that sound again. There it was... Just as distant as the howl had been. Maybe more... A blast from a shot gun...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Alright, so check this. If you had to choose. I mean had to choose, what would you rather do? Drive with a rabid weasel in your back bed, or a pissed off skunk."
"Dude, what kind of a question is that?"
Mid afternoon was just starting to come up as the two trucks picked their way through the underbrush. They had been coming up to the mountains of Carburetor County for years. Ron and Bill Parker were brothers... Once a year they came up to these mountains to camp and hunt. It's where their father had come up with their uncles... It was where their grandfather had come up with their great uncles. It was where their great grandfather had come up with their great great uncles. It was tradition... One day they would bring their sons up... The old hunting range would never die so long as there were bio deer and wild tractors in those woods...
"It's a good question. Now answer it." Ron complained, drawing a soft chuckle from his brother Bill.
"Obviously I'd pick the rabid weasel. I mean, who wants to stink."
"Yeah but... A rabid weasel?"
"Both creepy if ya ask me. I can do without that bio stuff..." Bill mused with a shrug, adjusting the rack that held his shot gun to his side.
"Yeah but man, think of it this way, what if-"
"Shh!" Bill abruptly cut his brother off as his he stopped in his tracks. The soft whine of the electric backup engine he had been fitted with for more stealth hunting died and all that was left behind was silence.
"What is-"
"Shh!"
Ron fell silent as he stared in the direction his brother was. In the distance there was a break in the trees. It was a good quarter of a mile ahead of them but the shot was still good. A lumbering creature was moving along on four legs.
"What is that?" Ron questioned slowly as Bill flipped the switch on his gun rack, letting the sights for it drop into place, over his windshield.
"I don't know but it's huge... This thing is going on the wall..."
"Bill... That thing looks deformed..." Ron mused worriedly. It was huge. It walked on four legs and it looked like it had a long neck and head. However, that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was that from it's back a... Growth of some sort shot up, high over its head. The thing was massive...
"Well then we'll sell it to that place that buys weird crap like this... Now shut up before you scare it." Bill whispered taking careful aim, tire settling on the switch that would catch the trigger.
It was a domino effect that followed. There was a loud snap to their right. Bill swung around, the rifle losing its target as something large and metallic barreled through the trees. In the distance the thing they had been targeting came up on two legs, forelegs thrashing wildly and oddly enough the growth detached and hit the ground with a thud. However, that was not their current concern.
In the commotion Bill hit the trigger, the rifle letting out a mighty blast, fire briefly sparking from the muzzle. Whatever it hit in the bushes gave a screech of rage and pain and took off through the underbrush. In the distance the growth that had been attached to the massive creature abruptly got up, running on two legs as it took off through the underbrush.
However, it would go unseen, as the two trucks backed up. Something massive burst from the bushes and took off, tires squealing through he dirt, and throwing clods of dirt at the two trucks as it took off. It was low to the ground, silver... A sports car...
The two trucks were left in silence, staring at each other and wondering what had just happened.
"Bill..." Ron finally muttered, nodding towards the ground. Bill followed his brother's gaze, a look of horror crossing his features. There was a wide puddle of fuel and oil where the car had been a few moments ago. They had hit it...
"Bill... We shot a car..." Ron muttered, rising panic coming to his voice.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Well I gotta say Seth. I'm impressed." Seth only smiled sleepily at his father as he pulled up beside Sheriff on the mid afternoon patrol.
"You know you don't have to do this. I can handle it." Sheriff pressed, gaining a slight shake of Seth's grill.
"Naw, I'm alright Dad. I can pull call tonight to if you need me to." Seth offered, gaining a soft chuckle from Sheriff.
"It's so cute that you think you'll be able to stay awake long enough." Sheriff teased, causing Seth to roll his eyes.
"Dad..."
"Seth get some sleep. Don't worry about it. About one maybe you can come and relieve me."
The Mustang chuckled softly with a slight nod. Well... Who could argue with that.
Rounds never took long. It was from city limits, to the road going up the base of the mountain and around the sides past the outer limits of town and back again. It was always the same routine...
"Hey dad did you hear shots a little while ago?"
"Yeah. Up in the mountains... Hunting season started up."
"Do you think... They'll be alright?" Seth questioned slowly.
Sheriff paused, for a moment casting his gaze up into the mountains. "I'm sure they'll be fine..."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"What are we gonna do, Bill what are we gonna do?"
Bill sighed heavily at his brother's panic attacks as they attempted to follow the trail. Neither one of them were sure why the car had run... Oh yeah they did... They had shot him. However, by now they should have been able to catch up to him. However, the trail had just... Stopped. They had been searching for him for a half an hour and had found absolutely nothing. No car... No strange creature... No nothing...
"Ron! Calm down!" Bill snapped, stopping in his tracks to stare at his brother.
"Calm down? We shot someone! We're gonna be in jail until we rot!"
"No we're not Ron. Think about it... We're on a hunting range. We're hunting things... What kind of idiot hides in bushes and then jumps out like that at a hunter with an already set up shot? This was an accident. Now we obviously can't find him." Bill rationalized, his attention turning over the cliffs. They had searched so in depth they had made it up to the cliffs over wheel well, and had a pretty good view of the valley by now.
"There's a small town down there. There's got to be some local law enforcement or something down there. Now that car is gonna need help. So one of us needs to stay up here and keep searching while the other goes down there to find some people to come help."
Bill rationalized, gaining a slow nod from Ron. "I'll keep searching." Ron quickly offered. "I took that class... I know some first aide stuff for when I find him."
"Good. See? Now you're thinking. I'll go down into the valley and find the local law or a doctor or somethin'... You keep lookin'. Got your link?"
"Yeah right here."
"Good... Keep it on... I have a feeling we're gonna need it."
Ron nodded with a heavy sigh and gave his brother a light nudge before they parted ways. Ron further up into the mountains and Bill back down towards Radiator Springs...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Mid afternoon had broken into late afternoon by the time Sheriff and Seth rolled back into Flo's cafe, Seth looking rather well dead on his tires as he slumped down a bit. Sheriff shot him a somewhat amused smirk every now and again, which Seth would only scowl at. Apparently sleep depravation didn't exactly sit well with Seth.
"Hey Doc." Sheriff greeted as Doc came up beside the two, the old car nodding a quiet greeting.
"Things quiet on patrol?"
"Mhmm. Caught a speeder up near the highway. Old Man McCormic's tractors got loose again, but we just shooed them right back in and closed up the way out. Frank didn't get out this time so everything turned out alright."
"Good" Doc muttered slowly as Sheriff rattled off the daily report. That was it. The people that were starting to move into town thankfully just were not trouble makers. They seemed to only want a quiet little life while others seemed to want to simply bask in the life of seeing every day their favorite race car.
In the distance the sound of an engine revving touched the air as the three cars perked up a bit. Lightning swept expertly through town, Sally hot on his tail, the two laughing hysterically as Sheriff glared at the passing vehicles.
"You'll be getting that ticket latter boy!" Sheriff yelled, drawing a soft chuckle from Seth and Doc.
"Don't complain Sheriff, that's the fastest I've seen him move in a while. Halfway wish Sally was on the track when he..." Doc faded off a bit, a rather thoughtful look given as he let out a soft 'hmm'.
"Thinking of putting Sally's fender in the race for Lightning to chase?" Seth questioned, the comment followed by a soft yelp as Sheriff smacked him with his tire.
"Rude" Sheriff commented, though even he had to give a rather soft chuckle.
"No, but I do have an idea..." Doc mused slowly, a smile creeping across his grill.
Sheriff laughed softly, his frame tilting curiously to the side. "Doc what are you-"
"Dad?" Seth questioned, cutting Sheriff off abruptly. Sheriff's gaze swept in the direction's Seth did towards the station. A pickup was coming into town. Fast...
"Looks like that's gonna be another ticket written today." Sheriff commented with a smirk, cranking his engine, though paused when the truck suddenly hit the breaks, literally skidding his way down the street and pulling up sideways, his back end swinging around as he stopped in front of the Station.
"Well it looks like the kid is either bold or stupid..." Doc commented softly. The pickup wasn't large. A little Chevy S-10 by the looks of him. He looked like he was a burgundy in color but his paint had been covered with the camouflage vinyl that hunters wore. Gun rack was connected to him, the rifle pointed forward and ready to go rather than folded back behind his cab where it should have been in the middle of town.
He hurried up to the station doors and tried the door, looking a little confused when it didn't open. In any other town it was a public building. In Radiator Springs it was Sheriff's home.
"Looks like trouble." Sheriff muttered, shifting into gear and rolling towards the station to see what was up as the truck began rapping on the door with one tire.
"Hey son, came into town mighty fast." Sheriff called as he rolled up to the panicked looking truck, who swung 'round on him. Thus leaving Sheriff right in the cross heirs of the rifle.
"Now son..." Sheriff stated slowly, more than a little nervous with the barrel of a rifle pointed at him. "I could throw you in the impound lot right now for carrying that thing in town. Now you fold it back and put it away."
The truck blinked at him for a moment as if Sheriff were speaking another language but slowly it seemed to work its way in and he quickly folded the gun back. "Sorry... Listen, I really need you to come with me." He rushed, a slight blink given from the old patrol car.
"For what?" Sheriff questioned slowly, though was at least willing to listen.
"I shot a car up in the woods."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Panic... It was amazing how far and how hard one could push the body when panic was a factor. A swift get away had taken him miles into the woods in no particular direction. Vaguely he remembered that he had tailed Joe for a time until she disappeared into one of the underground network's entrances. Then he had to worry about his own hide...
He had to keep going or he would have dove into the underground tunnel and to safety himself along behind her. It had broken through his panic that he was leaking oil and fuel... Badly... Already he could feel his engine start to sputter. He could feel that his fuel pump was working harder to push oil through his systems because there was less of it... Still he pushed on. Pushed on fast and hard... He was leaking fluids which meant he was leaving a trial. A morbid trail for them to follow. A trail that would lead them right to the tunnel system if he tried to go into it and to safety. He had to keep going. Air was getting harder to pull through his engine... He must have been leaking coolant to. It was getting harder to keep his engine cool.
It crossed his mind that his engine should have given out by now. However, it was amazing what panic could drive the body to do. He didn't want to die... He truly did not want to die. Not hunted down like some animal. Not brought down by a hunter...
Would anyone even care?
Hey remember that crazy journalist? A hunter brought him down up in those mountains...
In retrospect he should have handled things differently. Gotten a warning to Joe... Threw those hunters off the trail... They wouldn't have shot at him if he hadn't startled them. He was a car like them. He could have chased them off. Claimed it was private property they were on or something... It had been seeing them with Joe and her horse in their sights that had caused him to quickly throw off the shot.
Panic... It did strange things to cars...
"Blaire!" Somewhere in the distance he could hear Joe calling for him. She needed to shut up... The hunters...
His vision was going dark. It was clouding... Adrenaline... It was an amazing thing. Brought on by panic...
He could feel his tires beginning to slow. He could feel himself beginning to slow... As if he were driving through deep sand, though he could clearly see the trail through the woods.
"I'm tired." He muttered to himself his mind becoming a bit foggy. He couldn't rightly remember why he had been panicking. It was such a silly thing... What was going to happen... Would happen...
"Blaire!"
"I'm here Joe." He muttered as he slowed to a stop in a small clearing. "I'm just going to take a little nap..." His mind was hazy. He couldn't remember why he had been going so fast. Maybe it was a race... Had he won? Of course he did. He always did. Joe's horse had nothing on him. He had more horse power. The thought made him laugh as he sank to the ground. His tires folded beneath him, his vision becoming a bit darker. Was it night?
"Blaire" The voice was spoken... Right next to him. A cool hand laid against his hood. Joe...
"Damn it Blaire..." She sounded sad. Why was that?
"David! Get the guys over here! We need to get Blaire underground!"
"How did you catch up?" Blaire muttered softy. He couldn't see her...
"You followed the river bed and circled around. It was easy." Joe muttered softly.
Blaire gave a pained groan as he considered that. He felt numb... But at the same time a dull ache was starting in his side. As the adrenaline wore off... That wonderfully numb feeling was going away. It was like a liquid fire was awakening in his side.
He cried out in pain as he felt himself being lifted up. Vaguely he was aware of two vehicles at his sides. Pressing against him. Lifting him to his tires and carrying him. Oh it hurt!
He yelled out as they started moving. It had to be done. Joe quickly swiped away tears and moved on ahead. Within' moments the woods fell silent again as Blaire was cast to the cool darkness, his vision fading entirely as he blacked out and they descended down into the tunnel system.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Alright son calm down and tell us what happened." Doc soothed gently, the truck in front of them physically shaking. Flo set down a cup of hot oil in front of the truck which he readily accepted.
"We don't have time for this." Bill complained. They had managed to get that out form him. His name was Bill. His brother's name was Ron. They were hunters.
"We need to know son."
"Fine... Me and my brother were up there hunting. We spotted a bio critter. I ranged it up for a shot and this... Dang fool came bustin' out of the underbrush at me. I already had the trigger ready for a shot so when I swung around on him the gun went off... I'm positive I hit him... It was a silver sports car... I'm afraid I can't give ya any more information than that... I didn't even get a good look at his face. All I can tell ya was that he was bright silver, and that he was a car, but not like a speed machine kinda deal. More like a..."
"Muscle Car?" Seth supplied slowly, gaining a quick nod from Bill.
"Yeah, that's it. A muscle car. Anyway we looked for him for about a half an hour. We figured he would need help and he wouldn't have gone far. We couldn't find him. So I left my brother Ron up there lookin... He has some first aide training... I came down here for help."
"Alright, that was quick thinkin... Doc we need to get up there and look for him I think." Sheriff reasoned, gaining a light nod from Doc, who turned to the rest of the town gathered at Flo's cafe.
"Any volunteers?"
Most of the town stepped forward, a few citizens unable to go trecking through the woods hanging back.
"Good... Sarge, you take a group and search near river. I'll take a group and go up the pass through the mines and Wheel Well. Sheriff you take the valleys... Billy I'm gonna need you to take a group and find your brother. Can you do that?"
The truck nodded and held up a link up unit. "I have him on the GPS..."
"Good... Alright everybody get in your groups and lets go."
The town was a bustle of activity for a moment as cars headed out into different directions though it was very short lived. Within' moments a full search party had been organized.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Is he alright?"
That sounded like a very stupid question... If he were alright would he be leaking fluids all over the place?
"No... The shot hit his central line. There's no exit wound which tells me it pinged around in there for a while."
That didn't sound good... And oh so professional... David really did need to work on his bedside manners.
"He's damaged a lot more than what I can do. He's going to need help. He needs a doctor."
"But we don't have one of those.."
He should have been worried right about now. They were talking about him. He realized that now. He was dying...
"We'll have to find one."
"Get him to the cabin. I'll take care of the rest."
Joe? Joe was going to take care of what?
"Getting him to the cabin is gonna be tough..."
"Get the others to help you. You can do it. I'll take Knight and see what I can do for him." Joe's voice was fading. It was getting softer and harder to hear. He couldn't tell if it was because she was walking away or if he was falling back asleep...
A little of both maybe. Blessed darkness covered him within' moments.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Sheriff I may be wrong about this, but we don't even know if it was that Blaire fellow that they hit. Maybe they didn't even hit him at all. Maybe they just scared him and if that's the case we're not going to find him. We've already been over those woods three times over, you know that."
Sheriff sighed heavily and gave a somewhat reluctant nod. He hated to, but he had to admit. Sarge was right... In the early days after Blaire's great escape a small team had been set up to comb over the mountain range. Nothing had been found. Not even that cabin he claimed to live in.
"You're right Sarge but we can't just leave him up there to die if he was injured." Seth pointed out from the other side of Sheriff.
"Yeah but you can't keep those trucks here either for-"
"I'm not keeping the trucks here." Sheriff suddenly cut in, catching the attention of all. They had searched until night had fallen over the landscape. Now it was close to one in the morning, the only light the soft glow given off by Flo's cafe.
"I took their names, numbers and other information and put them up at the motel. I told them that in the morning we would look into more drastic measures to find the car and that if they wanted to they could stick around if not there's not really anything they can do so they are welcome to go home. They are not at fault in this. They just happened to be the ones who wound up mixed up in it."
"I imagine the knowledge that they possibly shot someone up there is weighing pretty heavily on them tonight." Sally mused softly.
"Hmm, from what I understand Billy is the one that pulled the trigger. I imagine it's weighing a bit heavier on him." Doc mused gaining a collective nod of agreement.
"Isn't there any way we can contact them?" Lightning questioned, though it only brought a round of shruggs.
"Fuel stopped dissapearin'... I don't know where they're getting' it now but they don't come down into this town anymore." Flo responded softly.
"Yeah but... Blaire said he bought a cabin. That should be easier to find shouldn't it?" Lightning questioned.
"You would think..." Sarge muttered. "Kid's got good stealth skills I'll give him that."
"I'm afraid we're just going through the motions of searching now." Doc suddenly cut in. "Those humans have been up there for decades possibly longer and we never even knew they were there. Obviously they're good at hiding. Thus they must have hidden Blaire just as well. We can only hope that if he's hurt they can help him or either get him the help that he will need."
"Lets just hope they're not willing to let a car die for the sake of keeping hidden." Sarge commented bitterly.
"I don't think they would do that." Seth suddenly cut in, a shake of his grill given. "That Joe person and Blaire seemed really close. I think she would do what she had to do to help him."
"I think he's right." Sheriff commented softly.
The group fell silent at that, quietly watching the clouds pass over head. Little by little the occupants of the cafe quietly bid their goodnights and moved off to their own homes to get some sleep before the day started again in the morning. Slowly the numbers dwindled until Even Seth quietly bid fair-well and rolled off down the street to his own bed.
By nearly three in the morning, Doc and Sheriff stood alone under the dim lights of the cafe. Technically it was closed. Flo had given up on them hours ago and tossed the keys to the place to Sheriff telling them to lock up when they were ready to go home. Otherwise there were cans of oil in the cafe.
"Sheriff" Doc suddenly muttered, breaking the hour long silence. "We ever figure out how they got out in the first place?"
Sheriff remained silent for a long moment, his frame tilting to the side. "Of the record Doc?"
"Of course..."
"Ya already know the answer to that."
Doc chuckled softly and nodded. "I figured. Seth's a good kid..."
"Yeah... He's started sleep walking. Or something... Talking in his sleep. Keeps talking to someone named Anubis."
"I wouldn't worry about it Sheriff. If the memories come they come. Otherwise he's a happy car."
"That's what I'm worried about. I think it would be better if they didn't come." Sheriff mused, gaining a slight nod from Doc.
"Figured that as well."
Silence fell over them again, the two watching the clouded sky that blocked out the normally very clear stars. It was strange weather, but it didn't look as if rain was going to come with it. It would be clear again by morning. Sheriff sighed and opened his mouth to bid Doc goodnight and head off on his own way but he was silenced by a very soft tapping.
The two exchanged a confused look and rolled out to the street, their attention drawn to the sound. There was something moving... The soft tapping were the sound of it's tires one at a time hitting the pavement. Doc frowned and exchanged another glance with Sheriff who could only shrug.
They both backed up a bit as the thing came closer, the massive thing seeming to be coming towards the cafe.
Only as the light of the street lamps touched it, did the both of them relax just a bit. It was a massive four legged bio animal. Sitting atop its back... Was Joe... As they approached the human girl lowered her head a bit, dropping the reigns in her hands and holding them up as if to show she was unarmed.
"Well if it isn't our fugitive..." Sheriff commented softly.
Doc was silent for a long moment before he gave a slow nod, staring the young human down. "I would assume this means that Blaire is in fact our gun shot victim?"
Joe let out what almost sounded like a whimper and nodded slowly.
"Where is he?" Doc questioned, gaining a very soft sigh from Joe.
"We can't bring him down from the mountains without hurting him..."
Doc nodded quickly, a deep sigh given. "Lock up Sheriff. Looks like we're takin' a little road trip."
To Be Continued...