Disclaimer: Pixar owns Cars and they are awesome. I own Seth, Joe, and the others that were not in the movie. Chow!
Notes: Yes I know I sucked with that last story and a little something called continuity... I'm trying to do better y'all, thanks to all who pointed out my mistakes. It's been a long time since I first started writing Death's lessons. It seems I've forgotten some of the little things such as Lightning's age that I decided on way back when. Actually in my mind Lightning's even younger than that, since he almost acts like a teenager. But in that sense if he were, there would have been at least one parent or guardian at the track with him. Anyway try and spot the biggest movie ref of all! Anyone? Anyone at all?
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"Up this way. Just a little further."
"That's what you said an hour ago."
Doc chuckled softly as Sheriff called back to the young human ahead of them, as they not so quietly trudged through the underbrush. In retrospect it was no wonder they had never been able to find them... No car in their right mind would try to go where they seemed to be headed. As it was multiple times the path had been entirely hidden. So covered over that Joe had been forced to dismount and physically show them where the path was.
"I was lying then so you would shut up about it."
"Well how do I know you're not lying now?"
Sheriff and Joe had been bickering back and forth for the past hour. It seemed the further they went, the shorter their tempers became. Which at the moment was holding it on a hair trigger since they had been moving for well over six hours. Dawn had just begun to break over the horizon. It was a trip that wouldn't have taken more than an hour, though with following Joe they couldn't drive more than what seemed like just a few miles an hour without forcing Joe to push her horse up into a run rather than the steady jog pace he had been going most of the trip.
"Because I'm not. We'll get there when we get there."
"Enough you to." Doc cut in, pulling up close to the flank of Joe's horse. "Joe this is a very long way out. It must take all night for a round trip. It doesn't make much sense that you came to our town to fuel. Didn't you burn more than you were getting?"
"No, not really. Remember Ransom doesn't take fuel either." She pointed out, lightly patting the jet black horse's neck. Aside from that we're going up mountains. It's a lot faster to get around via the underground tunnel system and we have our... Other methods to... Anyway we've already long since driven past the main entrance to the tunnel system."
"Then what the hell are we still driving for?" Sheriff questioned, gaining a chuckle from Joe.
"We're not going to the tunnel system. We're going to Blaire's cabin."
"Alright now I get why we couldn't find a tunnel, but a cabin should have been obvious. I've never seen a cabin up here." Sheriff commented, drawing another chuckle from Joe.
"You're a county Sheriff aren't you?"
"Yeah..." Sheriff ventured, gaining another nod from Joe.
"There ya go. You might not have realized it in the middle of the woods but we crossed over into Dawson county about thirty minutes ago. Which means you might not know Blaire, but he pays his taxes, utilities, and anything else he might need in Dawson county."
"So he's not as recluse as he claims?"
"Oh he never claimed to be recluse. Though just because he's forced to go into town about once a month doesn't mean he stays very long."
"Alright I'll give you that..." Sheriff mused. "But what about the power situation? If he's getting power why can't you get power out to the tunnel system or whatever it is?"
"Because someone would notice the strange power fluctuation and come poking around. We can get power from Blaire's source but only if we have to. Aside from that through taking care of us he's financially hurting. We don't like to take advantage of poor Blaire." Joe explained as her horse approached a river and plunged right through.
Doc and Sheriff stopped in their tracks, staring nervously at the water as Joe glanced back. "Just a little to your right. There's a rock ledge there. I know it's kinda hidden, but you should be able to drive across it. Ransom can't because he'll slip." She explained, letting her horse wade through water that came up well past the horse's shoulders and covered even Joe up to the waist.
Sheriff and Doc exchanged a long glance and in the end Sheriff was the brave one of the two. He tested the water with one tire, a slight flinch. It was freezing! It also came up to his undercarriage... Though she was right. He could drive across it without getting bogged down. Doc was right behind him, the current hitting their tires as they crossed as quickly as possible. They were already on the other side as Joe guided her horse out of the water... Who was having fun wading through the stuff.
"Sorry. Ransom likes the water. Sometimes it's hard to get him out. It's not far now."
"Again, I don't believe you." Sheriff complained, drawing a soft chuckle from Joe.
"Fine, don't believe me. You'll see soon enough." She commented trudging on through the thick underbrush.
"So what was it that made Blaire want to stay so hidden anyway? I'm certain his stay at the mental hospital wouldn't have taken that long if he played his cards right..." Doc mused, a slight nod given from Joe.
"According to Blaire the place he was at was pretty bad. He's pretty adamant about not going back. Aside from that he was having a few problems before that whole thing started that I think he was pretty happy to get away from."
"What kind of problems would drive him away like that?" Sheriff questioned pulling a shrug from Joe.
"I don't know. He said it was personal so we left it alone."
"You never questioned further than that?" Asked Doc, another shake of Joe's head given. "None of my business."
A strong and steady sound rose up, causing the two vehicles to tense and Joe to move on just a bit faster. As they moved the realization struck of just where they had heard that sound before... It was a dog barking. Ranger.
"And we're here!" Joe announced, letting Ransom slide his way down a steep hill as Doc and Sheriff picked their way around. They ducked through heavy bushes, bright floral patterns dotting the clearing they had stepped into.
The cabin itself was quaint, but still rather amazing. A small stone home, set deep back in a cluster of trees, flowing with the surrounding nature rather than disturbing it. Weeping willows and tall oaks framed the property, what clearing there was landscaped in floral patterns, what looked like grape vines and honey suckle working their way up the side of the house. In the light wind of the morning chimes sounded as the wind moved the wind chimes on the front porch.
"I take it he landscapes?" Sheriff questioned softly, gaining a soft chuckle from Joe.
"Not really... He up keeps. When he found the place nature had kinda taken it over. So he cleared out some and left the rest. Sort of let nature have it the way nature wanted it." As Joe spoke she rode forward, dismounting in the middle of the yard and tying her horse to the side of what looked like a hitching rail.
She then jogged her way up to the front porch, foot hitting the lever that pulled open the garage style door. As soon as it was open a massive streak of black and tan fur came barreling out, making a bee line for the two vehicles that had been following close behind Joe.
"Ranger halt!"
The dog skidded to a stop, still growling, hackles raised as it stared down Doc and Sheriff.
"Stand down Ranger." With that simple command the dog backed off, still growling and walked stiff legged around the side of the house and out of sight. Sheriff quietly sighed and moved on, followed closely by Doc.
The inside of the house was just about the same as the outside. Natural woodwork and stone walls made up the interior, potted plants rather plentiful around the house. Apparently Blaire had a thing for plant life. The house opened up into a living area, a small kitchen just off of it, through a set of french doors another room. One of the doors was propped open just a bit and that was where Joe headed, pushing open the doors, a worried frown etched across her face.
The room turned out to be a bedroom, which was currently quiet save for Blaire and an older human woman sitting beside him, tending to the wound that had been created by the blast. Which looked severe...
The shots that hunters used these days were powerful. A hole had ripped through his side panel and from where Doc stood he could catch a very brief glimpse of engine. The hole was about the size of a baseball, and fluids where steadily leaking from the injury though it seemed to have slowed. Judging by the towels and blankets tucked in around Blaire's side, all soaked with engine fluids someone had been administering some first aid, other than the older woman sitting level with his grill.
This was worse than Doc thought... "How are his vital signs?" He questioned softly, gaining the attention of the old woman.
"His breath is very shallow and weak. I can feel a pulse but it is growing very slow. He is also hot to touch."
Doc nodded quickly and moved forward, carefully picking his way around the old woman to gently examine the wound. Amazingly enough, proper field first aid had been done. Someone had located the damaged tubing and tied it off, applying pressure to the damaged points. Through that process the organic bios in the rubber and metal would slowly start to seal off the injury, as the fluids thickened a bit in those areas to form a clot until the process was complete. Unfortunately Blaire was losing more fluids than he was able to stop.
"Is he gonna be ok?" Joe questioned softly from behind Doc, pulling a heavy sigh from the old car.
"I don't know yet. I'm going to need a few supplies..."
"I can go back and get um Doc." Sheriff offered, gaining a slight nod from Doc.
"I need some things from my office. I can help him for now but this is severe..."
"How bad?" The old woman questioned softly, a light hand running over Blaire's ice cold hood.
"I don't know yet ma'am." Doc explained, turning his attention to Joe for a moment. "There's no exit wound. Which means that when the bullet lodged in there it ricocheted around until it found something solid to lodge into. Most likely his engine."
"Which means really bad... Alright... Sheriff I can take you to the road which will be faster, but it goes down into the middle of Dawson County until you hit 66 and can return back the way you came."
Sheriff made a face at the thought and sighed heavily. There were a lot of things he would have rather done that particular day than deal with the Dawson County Sheriff...
"We're going to need Mac." Doc muttered after a few moments. "We need to get him back to my clinic."
"Who's Mac?" Joe questioned nervously.
"Lightning McQueen's driver. He's a rig. He can get Blaire, over the mountains and back into town."
"Doc we can't have anyone else coming to poke around up here..."
"Well then what do you suggest?" Doc snapped irritably.
"We have some supplies. It's not much but it can help. Once darkness falls again we'll get one of our own people to take Blaire down the mountain." Joe offered, drawing a slow scowl from Doc.
"We can't afford to wait until dark. We need to get him down the mountain and to my clinic."
"Doc you don't understand... This isn't my choice to make. If we take him down the mountain we'll have to use the road. Our people are not going to be able to go on the road during the day. At night yes, but not during the day."
"What's the difference? At night or at day a bunch of humans trying to push a car is going to be noticed." Sheriff muttered, gaining a sour look from Joe.
"Look... Just... Trust me alright? Your world isn't ready for us. If we move him it has to be done under darkness."
"You're stubbornness and what you think our world is ready for as you put it is going to kill your friend." Doc snapped, though would only gain a slight sigh from Joe.
"Mine or yours? Doc I can't give up the location of my people. Going through the tunnels would be the only way to go during the day. I can't give up that much to you. I'm sorry but I just can't... Not even for my best friend."
Doc growled and quickly moved to Blaire's side, checking him over again. He could stop the fluid leak here... He was burning up. Radiator damage probably... If his radiator wasn't working then even his fuel pump would be generating to much heat.
"Alright we'll discus this later... Joe without forceps and other instruments I'm going to need your help. Get over here."
Joe nodded quickly and moved to kneel down beside Blaire. The Mustang blearily opened one eye then seemed to take into consideration that it was just to much work. Joe sighed and laid a gentle hand on his side.
"You also need to consider that here... I don't exactly have anything for him for pain."
Joe flinched a bit and glanced around. "We have Jack Daniel's brand fuel somewhere 'round here..."
"That might have to do... Sheriff you can go in the other room if you want." Doc called back behind him. Sheriff who looked just a bit squeamish about the fact that Doc was apparently going to start surgery nodded quickly and rolled his way out. The older woman that had been sitting with Blaire quietly got up herself and walked out of the room.
"Alright lets do this..." Doc muttered softly.
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"Have you ever seen a dream walking... Well I did..."
Oh did that bring back memories... Sheriff blinked as he came back into the living room of the cabin. The soft singing was unexpected... He hadn't thought anyone else was in the house.
"Hello?"
The singing abruptly stopped, filling instead with a familiar growl. Sheriff rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Alright Ranger you and I got off to a bad start, I'll admit that." He claimed as he came into the room. It was empty... Still though, there were plenty of places that a dog could slip under and hide...
"I don't want to fight you. I'm just here to help your friend Blaire. Though honestly I don't know if you can even understand me..."
The old woman from the room approached from behind, a soft chuckle given as she walked through the living room. "He can't understand you." She explained. "He doesn't speak, nor can he speak English."
"Then who was just singing?"
The old woman simply smiled and walked into the kitchen, humming as she went.
"Right..." Sheriff muttered, slowly lowering himself to the ground at one side of the living room. He had only been sitting parked for a few moments, waiting when there was movement on the other side of the room.
"Get tired of waiting around then?" Sheriff questioned softly.
Something small crawled out from behind an oak desk to one side of the room. A small human, bright blond hair falling down her back, bright blue eyes that seemed locked on Sheriff. Followed closely by Ranger, who shadowed his tiny ward.
"Well hello there." Sheriff greeted, the small human giving him a rather weary look. Humans were much smaller than any vehicle but this one seemed even smaller yet. Almost miniscule by comparison... The answer was on him in a moment. A child. Had to be...
"I'm not suppose to talk to you..." She muttered softly, coming up to stand in front of Sheriff with her hands held behind her back.
"I promise I won't tell anyone." Sheriff offered with a soft chuckle. "What's your name?"
"Jenny... Is it true you're here to help Uncle Blaire?"
Sheriff chuckled and nodded. "My friend Doc is somebody that helps cars who are hurt."
Jenny smiled and nodded, seeming content with that information. She sat down on the floor, a hand lifting to pet Ranger, who was currently staring daggers at Sheriff.
"What's your name Mr. Car?" Jenny suddenly asked, drawing a chuckle from Sheriff.
"Mark Carson. But everybody calls me Sheriff."
Jenny nodded a bit, quietly petting Ranger as they sat in silence together. Strange little child, she seemed rather content to sit perfectly still on the floor.
"So... Where are your parents?" Sheriff questioned softly, gaining a shrug from the young girl.
"I dun know. When I was little they went out on a supply run and didn't come back. Uncle Blaire takes care of me now."
"Jenny!"
The girl sighed and looked up as Joe came into the room, her hands firmly on her hips. "I told you to stay hidden."
"It gets scary under the floor all by myself!" Jenny protested, gaining a sigh from Joe.
"It'll be even scarier if I tell you to stay in there and you don't and you get taken to a zoo." Joe warned, shooting Sheriff a somewhat apologetic look. "Now leave him alone and go sit with Nanna in the kitchen."
"Oh she's alright Joe. I can look out for her for a while."
Joe looked a bit skeptical but after a few moments but nodded slowly silently heading into the other room to get what she had come in to get and left again. Sheriff chuckled and shook his grill as the child continued to gently pet Ranger.
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"What do you mean they're gone?"
Seth sighed heavily and rolled his eyes as he set back just a bit on his tires. "I mean they're gone! Dad never came home last night. I got up this morning to go on patrol and he was still gone. I've checked all over town and even in his normal patrol areas and he's just not here. I went to Doc's to see if he knew where he was and he's gone to!"
"Alright calm down Seth." Flo instructed, narrowing her eyes a bit. "It's not good for the currently only standing police officer to panic. Now, pull yourself together and think. Did Sheriff say he was going out of town?"
Seth blinked and gave a shake of his grill. "No... And if he drives up to Wheel Well or something he always lets me know I'm gonna be the only officer on patrol for a while..."
"Maybe he's just testing you Seth."
Seth gave a slight blink and tilted a bit on his frame. "I'm failing miserably..."
"Not if you pull it together and go patrol now git!"
Seth yelped and took off from the cafe at high speed, heading out on his patrols as Lightning pulled up into the cafe.
"Lemme guess... Can't find Doc?" Lightning sighed helplessly and shook his grill. "No... He wanted me to meet him up at Willie's Butte so we can get started preparing for the next race but he never showed..."
"Well... That's not like Doc... Still though I wouldn't worry. Go ask Sarge to help you practice."
Lightning let out a sound that was almost a whimper and shook his grill. "Not Sarge..."
Flo snickered softly and let a smirk cross her grill. "What's wrong? One to many off road trails for you? Alright Lightning why don't you go down to where Seth is patrolling and see if he wants someone to chase."
Lightning grinned and nodded, taking off to head down to the city limits.
"You know Sheriff hates it when you do that." Ramone commented softly, pulling a soft giggle from Flo.
"I know... Have you seen either of them?"
"Not since yesterday."
"I was afraid of that... Alright, if they're not back by tonight, then we'll worry." Flo decided with a quick nod, a nod of agreement pulled from Ramone. A little to early to worry just yet...
"Hey!"
Flo sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, turning around to face the two trucks that were coming up behind her and offered them a bright smile. "Can I get you boys somethin'?"
"No thanks ma'am. Where's that Doc guy and the Sheriff?"
"Oh I don't know sir. I think he might have gone out of town for the day."
The truck blinked at her for a moment as if processing that and shook his grill. "But what about that car up in the mountains?"
"Well sir I don't know. As of right now we can't really do much more... We've searched the entire area."
"Yeah but those woods are huge. You could go for days, what if we've missed something. Shouldn't the search continue?"
Flo sighed and nodded. "And it will. Though it's been a day sir. Sheriff says you and your brother were in no way responsible and you're free to go if you want."
The truck shook his head with a growl and nudged his brother. "There's a car hurt out there. If the Sheriff isn't interested in finding him, we'll do it ourselves... Come on" The truck nudged his brother again, the two hunters taking off at a fast click out of town.
"That's not gonna end well..." Ramone muttered, gaining a sigh from Flo.
"Doc and Sheriff picked the wrong time to go on vacation..."
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"Alright put your hand here, and clamp that off there."
Joe gave a quick nod where she was, half way into the internal workings through the open wound on his side panel. It was a tight fit but she could scoot herself in up her waist, which at first had sickened Doc just a bit... However without a lift it was the best option. There had only been so much she could do through his hood.
"I got it."
"Good... I think that was the major leak. How are you doing in there?"
"I've got radiator stuff on me." Joe complained, gaining a soft sigh from Doc.
"That's not good... if we can't regulate his temperature we're not getting anywhere."
"What about ice?" Joe pulled her way out of Blaire to look up at Doc who looked more than a little confused.
"Ice?"
"Yeah. Ice. Ya know frozen water..."
"I know what ice is. How is that going to help us?"
Joe sighed heavily and leaned back against Blaire's side which was uncomfortably warm. "Well we need to cool him down. You said that the heat is dangerous on his more delicate parts that make Blaire, who he is. So we need to cool him down and fast. Stopping the leaks aren't going to do that, so why don't we get some ice and cover him in it. That should help shouldn't it? At least so he's stable so we can move him tonight."
Doc nodded slowly and set back on his tires. "Maybe... Normally this problem is corrected with coolant..."
"Yeah but we don't have coolant. You're a back woods, country doctor so act like it. What can we do with what we have?"
Doc gave a quick nod and quickly glanced around the room. "Soak a few wet towels in cold water and bring them here. Get some ice to..."
Joe gave a quick nod and headed out of the room, her voice ringing briefly as she yelled at someone in the other room. Doc sighed and shook his grill slowly, quietly looking over once more what needed to be done. The damage was extensive... Even if he managed to do all of the repairs he just couldn't promise the fact that contaminants were not in his system... Repairs were easy enough to make... Fuel, oil, and fluid had to keep regulating and flowing to his engine and fuel pump...
Without coolant he was way to hot. It was threatening to burn out other delicate systems that he needed to live. Doc gave a slow shake of his grill, his attention turning back just a bit as he heard Joe coming back in. Quickly he nodded, and lifted up Blaire's hood, so Joe could come in with the ice and towels. Carefully Joe draped the cold towels over Blaire's engine, steam pouring out as the cold met heat. She then poured ice over his heated engine, causing Blaire to set back just a bit even in sleep trying to get away from the freezing cold.
Joe flinched and laid a comforting hand on his side. "Will this help Doc?"
"We'll have to wait and see." Doc responded softly. "Lets get these leaks patched up a bit and go from there. Joe I'm gonna need those supplies..."
Joe sighed and gave a slight nod to that. "I can show Sheriff where the road is..."
"Good."
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"It's not far"
"And tell me why I should believe you..." Sheriff groused softly from where he was following Joe up a gravel path.
"Because this time I mean it. Look."
Sheriff gave a slight blink as they came up on a dirt road, wide enough to be something well used. They weren't as out in the middle of no where as he had thought apparently.
"It's an old logging road. Not to many people come up this way anymore. If you take this North, you'll hit state highway twenty five. From there head east and you'll be back on sixty six pretty soon. It's maybe about an hours drive total."
Sheriff nodded a bit and sighed. "Alright... I'll take the same road back, though I have to ask. Why didn't we take this road to begin with."
Joe smirked and shrugged. "It would have been a lot longer for me to take the road on foot. Trust me if you could drive the way we took, it would cut your driving time in half."
Sheriff sighed and gave a nod. "Humans are slow on their tires..."
Joe rolled her eyes, smacking Sheriff's side panel as she sent him on his way. "Feet. Now git. And remember, make absolutely sure no one follows you."
Sheriff snickered softly to himself and threw himself into gear, heading off down the dirt road at a fairly fast click. So easy to rile that one up...
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High noon had crawled into place by the time Sheriff pulled back into Radiator Springs... Trip had been much faster without having to slow down for a human's pace even through the winding roads that wrapped their way around the mountains.
Luck had been with him thus far. He had managed to slip back into Carburetor county without attracting the attention of the other county's sheriff... The car was crooked as a dog's back leg and about as means as a snake he really didn't want to get into it with him today...
He had also been able to slip into Radiator Springs and into Doc's clinic without being seen... It seemed in his absence Seth had taken up the responsibility of patrols... Good boy. He was proud of the car. Now if he could just get his luck to hold up...
He sighed softly as he peeked out of the clinic at the streets. It was for the most part empty, which worked well for him... If he could time it right he could time it right he could get out of town without having to answer any questions...
Mater went by chasing after Lightning... And that was his chance. Sheriff crept out of the clinic and across the main road onto one of the very seldom used back roads. It wasn't even paved, and barely visible but for now it would do. Now his main concern would be avoiding Seth...
It should be simple enough... He knew where the main patrol points were after all so it should be easy enough to avoid-
"Dad?"
Crap...
Sheriff sighed and pulled to a stop, allowing Seth to pull up along side him.
"Where have you been all morning? I've been looking everywhere for you and you missed morning patrols. You never miss morning patrols."
"Seth, I know that. Keep your voice down."
Seth instantly shut up with a slight blink surprise.
"I know Seth... Now... I have something to do at the moment. I need you to go back to town and tell everyone that I went into the next town over to pick up something, and then I need you to take care of patrols for the rest of the day. Can you do that?"
Seth gave another blink and nodded slowly, clearly not buying into that. "Alright Dad but what's going on?"
"Seth I wish I could explain... But I really can't. Just trust your ol' man."
Seth gave a heavy sigh but in the end nodded in agreement.
"Thanks Seth. Don't worry, I'll be back later." Sheriff promised, throwing himself into gear as he headed off at a fast click down the back roads the way he had come.
Seth gave a deep sigh and only nodded, turning back around and rolling back to town.
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"Doc?"
Doc glanced up from where he had been tending to Blaire, a bit surprised to see Joe worriedly staring out the bedroom window.
"I think we have a problem... Sheriff Dawson just pulled up..."
Doc gave a slight blink and looked up abruptly, more than a little surprised. "What would he want with Blaire?"
Joe sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "Who knows... Blaire lives out here all alone which in his opinion is as good enough as any to torment the poor car. I also think he has a suspicion of what we are..."
"Humans?"
Joe sighed and nodded. "Here... I'll keep the ice on Blaire. You go get rid of him." Joe jumped down from the dresser she had been perched on as she looked out the window and hurried back to Blaire's side.
"If you simply don't answer the door won't he go away after a time?"
Joe sighed and shook her head. "Not necessarily. He'll call it investigative work. Just don't let him intimidate you and you'll be fine."
Doc sighed heavily and tossed the rag he had been working with down, quietly rolling out of the room and into the living room.
By the time he was in the living room there was a loud rap at the door. So much for the local Sheriff just checking things out and leaving...
With a sigh Doc pulled open the front doors, and offered a bright smile in greeting. The local Sheriff was just a bit taken back, rolling back just a bit and looking a bit surprised. Well no wonder... Blaire was probably known in these parts for being anti social.
"Evenin' officer." Doc offered cheerfully, a light nod given. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm lookin' for Mr. Jacobs..." The officer stated firmly, drawing a slow nod from Doc. Doc always considered himself a pretty good judge of character... He didn't like this one. He was young, maybe mid thirties. A Crown Vic model.. The way he carried himself was of someone who was in the job for the glory. Not to help anyone... Young cop who was full of himself was what Doc saw in this one.
For a moment Doc had a difficult time even placing who Mr. Jacobs was... Though if he recalled correctly... Blaire had said he bought the cabin under his mother's maiden name. So with that in place it had to be Blaire.
"I'm sorry I'm afraid he's not available. He's a little under the weather. Can I help ya with anything?" Doc questioned, attempting to be pleasant.
"You can tell me where he is." Was the flat answer. "And who you are for that matter."
"I'm his Uncle." Doc blurted out. "As I told you, he's under the weather and not seeing anyone today. Now again. Can I help you with something?"
"Just with where he is. I have two panicking hunters that claim they shot a car very closely matching his description. With the spare chance that these two simply don't know what they saw, I have something for him to look over anyway. Now where is he?"
Doc sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. He knew those two would be trouble sooner or later... He couldn't hold it against them for wanting to help... However, he thought they would stay in Radiator Springs and keep up with the search. If they started poking around in the next county they were just going to raise a few questions...
"Well Sheriff I assure you, he's a bit under the weather but otherwise he will be absolutely fine."
Sheriff Dawson growled softly, looking past Doc for a moment, as if attempting to put together weather or not he could simply push his way into the house. Though whatever was about to transpire cut off abruptly as someone cleared their throat from the bedroom door. Doc spun around, more than a little stunned to see Blaire parked in the doorway. He swayed a little, just barely on his tires but he was up.
"Mr. Jacobs... Good to see you up. I need to speak with you." Sheriff Dawson stated flatly, gaining another growl from Blaire.
"Sheriff unless you have a search warrant get the hell off of my property..." Blaire stated flatly, leaning against the side of the door to hold himself up.
"Why Blaire, you do look horrible. I hope it's not catchy." Dawson commented with a slight smirk, causing Blaire to give another little growl.
"I'm not going to say it again Sheriff... Get out." Blaire repeated, lifting up as much as he could and hobbling back into the bed room.
"Well then. I can see I'm not wanted here." Sheriff Dawson commented with a chuckle. "When he's being more reasonable give him these will you?" The car questioned, dropping a packet of paperwork in front of Doc and backing up. "Take care"
With that the car was pulling out and down the driveway without a backwards glance leaving a rather stunned Doc standing in the doorway. Slowly he picked up the packet of papers, scanning over the top one. Some company that bought out property it seemed. Odd for a county Sheriff to be delivering. With a sigh Doc shrugged and closed the door, about to head back into the bedroom. Though he was forced to stop as a section of the floor abruptly lifted up, the rug lifting with it. A trap door... The little girl who had been hanging around the cabin all morning smiled up at him and crawled out, followed closely by Ranger, the two bouncing back into the kitchen.
Doc sighed heavily and shook his grill silently rolling back into the bedroom. Strange place...
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Sheriff sighed heavily as he pulled back onto the road, his gaze following Sheriff Dawson as he headed back on down the dirt road. Amazing what lengths one would go to, to avoid having to speak to a snake...
It looked as if he had been coming from Blaire's place... Not good... He sped up a bit on the dirt road, the somewhat hidden drive way coming into view within' a few moments. He carefully picked his way down it, the late afternoon sun just beginning to dip down below the tree line as he pulled up in front of the house. It had taken much longer than he thought it would.
Without a pause he hurried inside. "Doc?"
"In here Sheriff"
Doc's voice came from the bedroom, leading Sheriff to follow it with a deep sigh. He paused in the doorway, a slight blink given, more than a little surprised to see Doc helping Blaire back into bed.
"Blaire! You're awake"
Blaire only gave a weak smile to that, a soft grunt of pain given as Doc pressed what looked like ice wrapped in a cloth to the car's hood.
"He shouldn't be." Doc snapped irritably. "Blaire what were you thinking getting out of bed like that."
"I was thinking Sheriff Dawson was being stubborn and about the only thing that will get rid of him is making it very clear that you know your rights and you're not afraid of him." Blaire wheezed out, a soft groan given as he sank down onto his mat.
"He's got a point Doc." Joe commented from where she was again perched atop a dresser on the far wall by the window.
"That aside he should have never been out of bed. Sheriff did you get what I asked for?"
Sheriff gave a nod and silently held up the bag of supplies he had managed to get out of the clinic. "Doc since he's up shouldn't we be tryin' to get him to the clinic?"
"Not until after dark." Blaire muttered softly, panting through the pain as Doc and Joe applied more ice.
"How's he even awake anyway?" Sheriff questioned, his gaze turning to Doc.
"Temp came down. Joe had the idea to put ice on him... His temp being regulated a bit better probably has him a bit better." Doc explained softly.
"My mama use to put ice on my forehead when I had a fever." Joe put in happily.
"Well hell whatever works." Sheriff muttered, putting down the bag for Doc to get easy access to as he went back to work.
"Sheriff come help me with this. Sunset is only a few hours off... We need to call Dog so he can come pick y'all up..."
Sheriff blinked at the young human, turning around to face her with a somewhat puzzled look. "Dog?"
"Mhmm. Black Dog. We call him Dog..."
"And is this... Dog... A human?"
Joe smirked and shook her head a bit as she jogged out to the front room. "Nope."
"Alright... So he's another car."
"Something like that." She mused softly as she came into the living room. Jenny looked up from where she was playing quietly with Ranger.
"Jenny I need you to replace the rug when we go under alright?" Jenny smiled and nodded as Joe pulled back the throw rug in the middle of the floor to reveal a very large trap door.
"Huh... That's funny there's one of those in my office in Radiator Springs..." Sheriff mused softly.
"Mhmm... Why do you think that is? The previous Sheriff was good friends with our kind."
Sheriff gave a rather stunned look, causing Joe to chuckle and tug him along. "Come on. This way." She urged, pulling the trap door back and heading down inside.
"Alright our trap door doesn't go down this far..." Sheriff muttered as he followed down the steep ramp, a little flinch given when he heard the soft thump of the trap door being closed behind them and Jenny moving around up above to replace the rug.
"That's because he didn't have a human living with him. If he did he would have made it bigger. As it was, I think it was there for something else at one point... But my father can tell you a story about in the seventies when we were almost caught. My father was a boy then... He had to hide under the floor for a whole week when he got caught between Radiator Springs and the mountains when he was on one of his first supply runs. He didn't realize the importance of hunting season..."
"Huh... That was Sheriff McDuffy's last few years... I remember hearing something under the floor... I mentioned it to the Sheriff but he said something about there's no such thing as monsters and I felt so stupid about it I didn't bring it up again..."
Joe chuckled and grinned as they hit level ground, a nod given. "That's Sheriff McDuffy for ya... Dad said that he use to pull that mind stuff on him to." She mused and headed into the semi lit room. It looked like... Some strange cross between a communications relay and a child's bedroom. To one side, cut of by a divider was looked like a small child's bed. It looked to actually be a crib for child cars but he doubted any car slept in it. The walls had been painted bright colors as well as what looked like a fake window, lamps and other lighting sources to make the room brighter when turned on. Shoved up against another wall was another bed, though this one not quite as bright, and a chair with ski like things on the legs so that it could rock. Which was currently occupied by the old woman from earlier. She was rocking slowly back and forth though obviously asleep. On their side of the divider was an old computer and what looked like communications equipment built into the walls. Which was where Joe was currently headed.
"The girl lives down here?" Sheriff questioned with a slight tilt of his frame.
"Yep. Her and Nanna. Nanna helps Blaire keep track of her so he can come and go without anyone suspecting that he has Jenny down here. Just over there there's a tunnel that leads to a small grove that Blaire's cleared out since she obviously can't go play in the front yard very often..."
Sheriff only nodded a bit, a deep sigh given. "And Blaire's put all this together?"
"Well... Sort of. We're the ones that suggested he look into this house. It was a bit run down back then... He's fixed it up and made sure everything was working again. Sheriff McDuffy actually built the house. He was going to retire here I think... At least that's what my Dad told me... Then Sheriff McDuffy got sick and well... I'm sure you know the rest."
Sheriff nodded a bit, a slow whistle let out. Indeed he did. Only two weeks after retiring Sheriff McDuffy had suffered massive engine failure... It had been a very hard hit to the town.
Joe quickly took a seat at the computer as Sheriff slowly pulled up along side her. Quickly she began typing something, a frown set across her features as she shifted her gaze from the keys to the screen and back again.
"What's that like a chat room?"
"Sort of... The people I need to get over here don't have... Well... Brains like you and I do. You see when car kind started out they had a sort of processor... That's why some of these model T's live so long. Then as you evolved into what you are it became more and more biological. I wouldn't be surprised if in another hundred years or so you don't actually require food instead of gas."
Sheriff gave a slight blink at that, more than a little stunned. "Alright... Why?"
"Joe chuckled a bit and smiled. "Did you ever hear of survival of the fittest? Well it would make sense that you would evolve into something more biological in a strictly biological world. I mean after all your systems will most likely develop to fit the climate, and even deal better with water and such since it's so important..."
Sheriff gave a soft snort, not really sure if he agreed with that. Especially with what he knew...
"Alright I got it. Flip that breaker on over there." Sheriff nodded and mored across the room, flipping what looked like a power switch on. The rest of the communication system lit up, peebs and blips coming from random points as it warmed up.
"Good... Now this system tends to get overheated... So while I talk I need you to watch the gages and if any one gets into the red, flip the breakers and switch generators alright?"
"Joe... These are CB's... Trucks still use these things."
Joe would only give a slight smirk and nodded. "Trust me..."
The thing hissed to life and Joe leaned in, ready to start in a moment. "Pappa Bear? The midnight ride is gonna need a track, ya copy that?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
She hadn't been kidding about the midnight part... The message had been so scattered and strange that even Sheriff didn't know what the hell she was talking about... The male voice that had answered had been just as bad. He had to agree there wasn't a truck anywhere who had probably had a clue what they had been talking about.
Though close to midnight they were standing outside the house, with Sheriff and Doc holding Blaire up between them. The car was doing a bit better since he had almost literally been under ice all day. Though still he looked groggy and was obviously in pain.
"Is this mystery person coming?" Sheriff questioned, pulling a simple nod from Joe. Indeed within' a few moments the low baying of a rig's engine rang out, though not one that any of them had ever heard... Most be an old rig... The sounds of the newer models of rig were softer, almost to the point of sounding like any car. This engine almost had a tractor quality about it, but much louder and more powerful. After a moment a truck picked its way slowly into view, carefully crawling its way down the driveway.
The thing was massive... Jet black from cab to trailer with the standard rig running board lights, lighting up his way. Though that wasn't what caught their attention. In the moonlight something else became very clear... The truck had no face... His windshield was just that... A windshield... It was clear, giving a clear view into his cab, rather than expressive eyes of any other vehicle. Grill was solid, devoid of expression or even a mouth...
"I'm sorry" Joe offered quietly as Dog's engine died down. "The last time me or Blaire mentioned anything like him you threw us in lock down... I didn't want to say anything. This is Black Dog. We call him Dog... He's one of the firsts..."
Shocking... Didn't entirely cover it...
TBC