Chapter Three

Outside the abandoned garage, the three tuners decided they had better find another place to sleep.

"Did yo see that?" Wingo giggled.

"Yeah," Boost replied. "Snot boy was getting' it on!"

"Oh, man!" DJ said and looked around. "Hey, how 'bout over there?" He motioned towards an empty shop across the road. The three of them drove over and entered the old building.

"Cool," Boost said as he surveyed the room. "This will do. I am exhausted."

They settled down inside the old shop for the night and soon drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Drewster and Snot Rod awoke and emerged from the old garage, yawning and stretching.

"Did you sleep okay?" Snot Rod asked.

"Yeah," Drewster answered. "You?"

"Not bad," Snot Rod replied as he looked around. "Where are the guys?"

Inside the abandoned shop, the three tuners began stirring. Wingo poked his sleepy friends.

"Yo, homies! Wake up!"

DJ and Boost, reluctant to waken, replied in unison. "Shaddup, man!" Wingo poked at DJ again.

"Seriously, we gotta bounce before we get busted again," Wingo complained. "And I don't wanna pull that fuckin' paving machine no more."

"Alright, man," DJ groaned. "Just quit pokin' me already."

Boost rolled over to the door and peered out at the garage across the street. "We gotta check on the love birds," he commented.

They drove out of the shop and met up with Drewster and Snot Rod. Wingo grinned and winked at Snot Rod, who blushed.

"Ahahahaha!" Wingo laughed and nudged the 'Cuda. "Way to go, Snotty!"

"Hey, what's your name?" Boost asked the Firebird. "Wanna join us?"

Drewster hesitated. Even though the Viper was about her size, there was something intimidating about him.

"I'm Drewster," she answered, then looked toward the other three and back at Boost.

"C'mon," Wingo coaxed. "Have fun wit' us!"

"Please?" Snot Rod begged.

"Okay, guys," Drewster agreed. "Thanks."

DJ nervously looked toward the town. "We better go before Sheriff sees us," he said.

"Let's bounce!" Boost commanded and the five cars drove down Route 66 toward the interstate. They entered the highway, driving in formation, and headed for Nitropolis, Boost's hometown. They approached some traffic, and Boost decided to test Drewster.

"Follow me," he called back to her. Drewster pulled up behind Boost, while DJ, Wingo and Snot Rod fell in behind her in single file. They darted in and out of traffic, showing off their handling skills, except for Snot Rod, who occasionally fell out of formation when he sneezed. With the road to themselves again, they formed a diamond with Drewster in the center.

"Hey, yo!" DJ remarked, smiling at her. "That was OFF-DA-HOOK!"

"We used to play that back home," Drewster replied. "Follow-The-Leader. I was usually the leader!"

They laughed and continued down the highway. DJ blasted music from his sound system as they continued to play Follow-The-Leader and annoyed other cars, who honked and yelled at them. Drewster was enjoying herself for the first time in a long time.

Soon, the group decided to pull off in a small town for some fuel. They were still quite a ways from Nitropolis, and they were getting thirsty, too. They had just exited onto the side road, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a car barreled toward them from a cross street. Before Boost could react, the probably suicidal car T-boned him, and sent him spinning out into a ditch, flipped onto his side. The suicidal car had taken a direct hit to his front end and flipped several times before ending upside down in the ditch.)

"FUCK!!" Wingo yelled, shaken.

DJ's lip quivered and he drove over to where Boost was lying. The others followed, visibly distraught.

"Aw, man," DJ sobbed. "Boost? …man…."

"Boost," Snot Rod called. "You okay?"

Boost was severely banged up and was bleeding fluids from his injuries. He was motionless, except for two wheels, which were still spinning. By this time, several other cars had stopped to help or just look.

DJ panicked and began driving around in circles, aimlessly. "What are we gonna DO?" he cried.

One of the onlookers called for help on his cell phone, while another drove over to check on the other car, who was also motionless, lying in a growing pool of oil and fluids. Many of the onlookers tried to offer condolences to the upset tuners.

"Help is on the way," one of them assured.

"Boost is dead," Snot Rod sniffled, tears pouring from his eyes. Drewster nuzzled him and leaned against him, and let her own tears fall. DJ and Wingo joined them.

"Why, why," DJ wailed. "WHY?!"

"We love you, man," Wingo sobbed.

Boost stirred slightly and tried to motion a tire at the grief-stricken group. He moaned lowly, in tremendous pain. He tried to speak, but could only whisper. "Guys," he groaned. It was all he could say. He groggily looked at his friends, a tear rolling down his hood, then slipped into unconsciousness.

"BOOST!" Wingo cried. "Yo is alive!"

DJ watched Boost lose consciousness. "Aw, man...don't die on us, man..," he pleaded.

An ambulance arrived and began tending to Boost. Several police cruisers, including Sheriff, also foun their way to the scene. Sheriff recognized the group of tuners.

"What in the blue blazes happened?" he exclaimed, shocked.

Drewster approached him. "Oh, Sheriff," she lamented. 'A car came out of nowhere and hit Boost! And now, LOOK at him!"

"OK, kids, try and stay calm," Sheriff said. "An officer will take your statements, so try to remember what exactly happened. I'm going to go check on the other car."

One of the police cruisers approached Sheriff after tending to the other car. "He is deceased," he informed Sheriff. "How's the tuner kid?"

"He's badly injured," Sheriff replied. "Damn! Don't know if he'll make it." He shook his hood in dismay as a coroner van pulled up to tend to the deceased car.

Boost was being loaded onto a flatbed truck with an oxygen mask over his air vents and an intrafuel (IF) line started. The ambulance told the flatbed to take Boost into Radiator Springs, the closest town with a doctor on call.

"Doc Hudson is the best," the ambulance said. "He's waiting for us."

The flatbed and the ambulance raced toward Radiator Springs, with Boost's life hanging in the balance. Sheriff escorted the tuners and they followed the flatbed, each one hoping Boost would survive.