Chapter 10
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Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey, I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road
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There were voices. He could hear voices.
"I can't see em', must've got buried in all the rocks,"
"You're kiddin, right? The boss is gonna go crazy. We should at least look for em-"
"-No way I'm going down there. Looks like a death trap. It's too late."
Things had been going so well, too. Or at least getting better.
8
Chick came to with a low groan, cracking a windshield open and confronting a darkness which at first made him think, rather distantly, that he was blind. Then panic set in, and as he blinked a few more times he realised he wasn't blind at all.
There was simply a massive boulder hanging over him.
Actually, there were boulders all around him, and pressing against his sides. He shifted forwards a tiny bit, and his tires touched more boulder. There was an ominous shuddering noise all about him, and some of the boulders moved and crumbled onto his hood. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realised he was surrounded, and quite trapped.
"Damn it," and then remembered McQueen all at once.
He peered frantically about, but saw no scrap of red metal, no tell tale tire or maybe a streak of orange which Chick would have instantly recognised as number 95.
"McQueen?" he whispered, feeling a little sick. "McQueen? Can you hear me? If you can, just, um...rev your engine a little, ok?"
Chick held his breath, and hated the dead quiet that seemed to linger around him.
And then, a muffled, faint sound.
Chick narrowed his eyes, trying to decipher which direction the noise had come from.
Somewhere to his left, he was sure of it...He edged a little that way, grimacing as more dust seemed to speckle over his hood and his windshield.
"McQueen? Do it again. I couldn't hear very well. Are you near?"
There was another short silence, and then came another muffled noise, but this time a little stronger, and with it a meek voice;
"I'm here, not sure where you are,"
McQueen sounded dazed. But he was talking, and Chick felt his bunched up nerves starting to relax.
"Okay, um. Well just stay where you are, I'm gonna try and find a way out of here,"
A needless pause, and then; "okay."
Chick wasn't much comforted by it, and he could only hope that McQueen sounded so distant because he was just that; distant. Either that, or he was just scared out of his hood. Chick didn't like to imagine McQueen was hurt. Not again, and not now. Not when everything had been getting better...
"Chick?" McQueen's voice was brittle, and it almost hurt.
"Yeah, kid?"
"I'm scared,"
Chick floundered in a brief moment of empathy. Because Dear Ford, he was scared too. Terrified, in fact. But no way in hell could he let McQueen know that. He stared at the blank space which led to McQueen's voice, and as he imagined McQueen there, trapped in rubble, his insides seemed to pang.
He swallowed hard; "yeah, I know," he glanced around, trying to clear his vision, "but don't worry, kid. We just gotta- gotta tread careful and find a way out, alright?"
As he spoke he felt himself despairing a little bit. His eyes searched the darkness, seeing nothing but quivering unstable rocks all around and above him. If he made even a tiny misjudged move, they could both be crushed.
He remembered McQueen again.
"McQueen, whatever you do, don't move. We need to think about this carefully,"
There was another of those worrying silences, in which Chick was finding himself starting to stew in the unbearableness of it all, and then McQueen's voice, quieter than before;
"I can't move, Chick. I'm stuck...I can't even see anything..."
The dread which seemed to reach the pit of Chick's innards made it hard for him to control his gasp. But he managed it, and he knew he had to stay calm, and not panic. McQueen would be okay. They were going to get out of this together.
"Chick?"
"Yeah, I'm right here, Lightning," Chick damned his voice, which sounded weak and uneven. "it's okay,"
He needed to stay in control. Needed to keep calm.
"I need you to, um, I need you to see if you can find any light. Any at all, alright?"
Another endless pause, and then Chick definitely heard something shift; the scrape of metal, and the low rumble of an engine.
McQueen coughed; "sorry. I can't...can't see anything."
If anything, he only sounded more distant. It spurred Chick into action. He tentatively rolled forwards, and his bumper touched the jagged edge of rocks with a wince. But the rock remained stable. Taking a deep breath, he nudged it.
Debris landed on his hood with a dense thump. It dizzied Chick for a tiny instant, but that was okay; he could see a scrap of red in the tiny crack laid out before him.
He nosed the rock a little more, and this time sprinkles of dust fell over his windshield and stung his eyes. He blinked his windshields rapidly, and was only happy to see a little bit more of McQueen come into sight.
"McQueen, I can see you, okay?"
When McQueen didn't respond Chick had to swallow his panic. He nosed the stubborn rock in front of him with more urgency.
Rocks spilled over his hood all at once, like a heavy and noisy hail.
He held back a few choice curses and lifted his suspension; rocks seemed to fall away from him, and the loss of weight maneuvered him sharply forwards.
He almost crashed against the wall of rock which remained between him and McQueen. But whatever happened, it seemed to have worked. It crumbled away, and McQueen was there, grinning thinly.
"Hey, Thunder. What took you so long?"
Chick saw the hefty boulder which was preventing McQueen from moving; it lay across the majority of his back, and it looked painful.
"Don't worry, McQueen. We'll have you outta this in no time," Chick edged forwards, and the boulders which scattered on him felt distant and unimportant.
It was hard to get to the other car; there was so little room, and there was only the shaft of light left by Chick himself for him to see properly. He squinted at the boulder which was pressing into McQueen; denting his back.
"I'm gonna try and get it off," he said with more confidence than he certainly felt.
McQueen mumbled a response that Chick didn't quite catch, so he moved forward a little more and pressed his nose testily against the boulder.
It didn't move.
"Oh boy," Chick rolled his eyes round the darkness, fleetingly lost in despair. It all looked hopeless. "McQueen, can you try and move? Just a little?"
"Hm?" the dazed response.
It was no good; McQueen was too busy teetering between consciousness and unconsciousness to really hear him.
"Okay, guess I'm on my own," Chick took a breath, and then rolled forwards and into the boulder with some force.
This time it rolled a little way off McQueen, and the red car grimaced; "that hurt,"
"Sorry," Chick said hastily. But he needed to roll it the rest of the way off the other car if he was ever going to move. He braced himself, reversing as far back as he could manage before bumping another rock, and then he rushed forwards in a burst of speed.
He met the boulder with a crunch which sent him bouncing backwards. His pain was brief as noticed the rock sliding the rest of the way off McQueen. The red car's engine came to life in a rough rumble, and then he moved forwards with a short groan.
"McQueen! Are you okay?"
"Uh, I think so," McQueen blinked away his disorientation, and raised an uncertain smile. Then he groaned; "just a little tender round the hood, I guess,"
Chick observed the obvious dent on McQueen's rear. "Yeah, it doesn't look that great, rookie," still, he couldn't help his obvious relief when McQueen wheeled round.
"I could say the same about you," he said. "look, your bumper's come off,"
Chick followed McQueen's gaze to the twisted bit of metal in front of them. It didn't matter; it had been loose for most of the damn time, anyway.
He smirked sardonically at McQueen; "Bumpers can be replaced. Fancy race cars like you take a little longer,"
McQueen rolled his eyes. The gesture always annoyed Chick, but just recently he'd gotten to enjoy it, and could almost understand why the rookie did it. He supposed he could be a bit of a sarcastic jerk. Sometimes.
"Hey Chick, what happened anyway?" McQueen asked.
Chick rolled his eyes back. It was only fair.
"Whilst you were busy being all helpless and unconscious, we got stuck in an avalanche by the looks of things," he blinked ahead, where the small hole he'd managed to roll tentatively out of had all but caved in. The other direction; passed McQueen, gave away a pinprick of light in the far distance.
Above; keeping the cave-in together, or almost together, was a roof of jagged rocks. Occasionally dust scattered down, and it was more than enough to tell Chick they needed to get out of there.
"Let's get moving, rookie. Unless you fancy life at the car crushers,"
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Lightning didn't think he'd ever stop being thankful about how glad he was to just be alive. He didn't take for granted the direness of the situation, and he understood perfectly well that he might have been, as Chick had so kindly put it, a crushed car.
Well, they could both still be crushed cars, but for now things were okay. And as they began creeping along the unstable death trap of a tunnel, Lightning began to forget his own mortality, and registered the green car's scruffy rear in front of him with a realisation.
"Chick, how'd you do that, anyway?"
"Hm, do what?" a disinterested response, which Lightning had almost expected anyway.
"You must've drove that...that huge rock off me. How'd you do that, Chick?" the more Lightning considered it, the more amazing it seemed.
"What do you mean, how'd I do it?" Chick sounded frosty. "I just pushed it off."
Lightning whistled, "well, that's pretty impressive, you know," he thought about it, "um, Chick. Are you all okay? You sure you're not damaged or anything?"
"You wish," Chick's sarcasm was soft and harmless, and his body shook with a vaguely spiteful laughter. "This is what you call proper engineering, rookie. You don't get this kind of endurance-"
"-on your fancy new models," Lightning finished for him, and couldn't help a smile. It was getting to be weird, anticipating what Chick was going to say, even what his expression might be; a proper smirk, if Lightning didn't know better.
"You're agonizing, McQueen. You know that?"
"I've been told," he grinned, a little embarrassed, and was glad Chick didn't see it. "Well, I was just being concerned. Y'know. Concern? It's one of those things that nice cars can be. You should try it sometime, Chick. I think it'd really suit you,"
"You think?" Chick sounded doubtfully amused.
"Yeah. Definitely." at that moment Lightning almost bumped into Chick's rear, and then there was a sharp thump a little way ahead. A rock had fallen a bare few inches in front Chick.
He rolled over it with a scowl; "I'll get back to you on the being nice thing, if we ever get outta here alive."
"I'll hold you to it," Lightning promised, and wasn't sure why he was grinning as he dodged another near fatal rock slide.
The tunnel was getting worse, crumbling all around them, and the little point of light in front didn't look any nearer.
"Anyway, how're you holding up, McQueen?" Chick kept talking. Maybe it was to ease his nerves, or both their nerves. It was working a little, anyway.
"I feel pretty good. Seriously, my engine hasn't felt this good in a long while," Lightning said as he blinked away a bit of falling dirt in his eye. "whatever those road cars did was amazing,"
"well, that's good," Chick said, as he dodged another rogue rock.
"Wait...this is weird,"
"what?"
"I think..I think maybe I'm hearing Chick Hick's asking me if I'm okay...like he's concerned about my welfare or something. Call me crazy..."
"Hah. Don't get used to it,"
"Ah okay," Lightning said, if only to save Chick's pride.
It was funny how Chick didn't seem very keen to take any credit for doing something good…even when he was all about adoration and attention, whatever it was about. Chick was a funny car, for sure.
Lightning thought that even if he hadn't really figured out what Chick was all about, and what exactly made his wheels turn, he'd at least learned one thing; he really kind of liked the other car.
So he didn't feel weird when he nudged Chick in the side, like he had done so many times before with his best friend Mater. It was a friendly gesture, something he'd do without a thought. He didn't need to think about it now.
"I know I said it before, but thanks Chick. You know, for the whole saving me thing. It's much appreciated. In case you didn't already figure,"
The green car raised a windshield at him. "…stop being a sap McQueen, and move out so we can get the hell outta here, okay?"
"No problem. Thunder."
Chick gave him a faint glare, and led the way in the tunneling darkness ahead of them.
"They probably think we're dead," Chick said after a while, when the silence around them began to get a little too eerie for Lightning's nerves.
"Do you think they're still up there? Above us?" he looked up at the jagged ceiling. There was not a peek of light, nothing to signal if it might be night or day.
"If they think we're dead, it's only a good thing," Chick said grimly. "Maybe now they've given up trying to track us down."
"Yeah," Lightning considered it, "actually, I think I would prefer death by rocks than death by...whatever those guys were gonna do to us,"
"It's some kind of black market trade." Chick said in a matter of fact way. Lightning was surprised at how offhandedly he said it.
"You know about it?"
"Not directly. Just, well. You hear stories. Especially when you've been in the racing business as long as me,"
"This is a racing thing?"
"C'mon, McQueen. You don't think that Dolpha just happened to pick the top two ranking race cars this season? Use your brain."
"Okay, okay." Lightning batted away his irritation. He could handle a cranky Chick now. "So, does this kind of thing still go on? What are they expecting to get out of it, anyway?"
"They sell the engine parts off, to the guys who wanna know the secrets of the trade. You know, to learn how a car got to be so fast in the first place. It's a pretty lowdown business. But the moneys supposed to be crazy,"
Lightning let Chick's explanation sink in. He felt so naive and stupid. It was like he knew so little about the thing he loved; how could there be these dark and nasty things happening right under his nose? Were there any cars he knew, that he talked to, raced with, that might have done this sort of thing?
He stared at Chick.
Before he could stop himself, he had asked; "have you ever-"
"-no I've not," Chick wheeled round sharp and fast, and even though it was so very dark, Lightning saw the stung look on his rival's face. "How can you even think that?" he asked, voice low and stunned.
Lightning just wished he could take it all back.
"I-I- didn't mean-Oh, Ford. I was just thinking out loud-"
"Yeah? And you think I'd stoop that low, McQueen?...you think I'm that bad?"
"Chick-I don't think that!"
"That's not what it sounds like, McQueen," Chick moved to turn back around, but Lightning rolled into his side, hitting it lightly, so that he was blocked.
"Listen," he said, urgently, "I don't think that at all. It was stupid. I'm stupid. And how can I think it, anyway? After everything that's happened-"
Chick strained against Lightning's block, eager not to look at him.
"Let me by,"
"No."
Chick revved his engine, but his shove against Lightning was weak at best. For a moment his expression was undecided in a frown, then he sighed and looked at Lightning, tired and resigned.
"Anyone else would've helped you out, McQueen. I wasn't being good...I just wasn't letting you die."
"I don't believe that," Lightning shook his head. "Things are different now. And when we get out of here, the press are gonna say the same."
Chick looked doubtful. "You're the good guy. The press are gonna fawn over you, like they always do. Everyone likes a shiny new model," he looked McQueen up and down, and then hesitated, "...But with me, I'm the guy everyone wants to hate. Everyone likes a bad guy. And everyone hates me-"
"That's not true-"
"-Oh yeah? I bet you hated me before all this. Hell, McQueen. You actually thought it was me who plotted this whole car-napping in the first place."
Lightning felt his breath hitch. "But that was before, before all this happened-"
"And nobody else knows all this happened," Chick pointed out. "When we get back, nothings gonna change, McQueen. I'm still gonna hate you, like everyone hates me. Like everyone loves you. That's the way it is. And That's. How. I. Like. It." he shoved against Lightning with enough force to make him give way.
Lightning watched Chick pass, his face set and stubborn. "Well. I never hated you. Not even before all this. I don't hate anyone."
Chick seemed to blink his surprise for a tiny moment, and his mouth quivered.
"Nice to know, McQueen."
8
They went on in dark silence through the rest of the tunnel. Lightning felt like he should be cautious and careful, but his mind was too preoccupied.
He had been looking forward to getting home; to all his friends. Of course he longed to see everyone again; Sally, Mater, Mac, Doc and everyone else he could put a name to. But now he found himself considering what Chick had said, and maybe it all would just go back to normal again.
Was that so bad?
Lightning didn't need an extra friend, he had lots already. And Chick probably wouldn't be a very good friend. He'd probably steal all his best tactics on the track, stab him in the back, and maybe try to steal Sally off him.
It would probably be a disaster.
When he looked at Chick, Lightning knew that even if that was true, even if it all happened to be a disaster; he wouldn't care.
He just wanted them to be friends.
They reached the speck of light; blocked by smaller but formidable boulders.
"You lost a bumper last time. I'll do it," Lightning told Chick, before he could argue. He revved his engine and back up a few metres, then burst forth into the boulders.
They fell apart, taking the cavernous tunnel with them. Lightning and Chick got out in time to watch the trench fall in on itself, until it was just a pile of rubble.
"Nice job there, rookie," Chick said. "For once you do something good,"
Lighting turned round; the light of the sun hurt his eyes, and the vastness around them brought a little despair to his innards. They were no better off, really. They were exposed and vulnerable once again, just like before.
And now, when he looked at Chick, he could see properly all the twists and dents which littered the green car, seemingly put into brutal focus against the bright sun.
"We should get moving," Chick said, driving quickly past him.
"How do you know which way we're going?" Lightning tailed after, thoughts lingering on Chick's shattered front. "That cave-in has totally thrown off my sense of direction,"
"You never had a sense of direction. Look, this way,"
Lightning looked ahead, and his smiled almost extended off his face. There, in the distance, was a patch of long grey. Little dots of colour occasionally passed by.
"A...a road," he choked.
"Yep. Good observation, genius."
Lightning was too deliriously happy to even notice the sarcasm in Chick's voice. He grinned at the other car; "a road!" he repeated.
Chick smiled at him, and suddenly the vastness around them seemed smaller, more contained. Like maybe they actually were going to get home safe, and they weren't just deluding themselves.
Lightning squinted ahead as he moved past Chick, and though it was useless, he imagined that he knew all the cars zipping by. They'd be safe soon. He pressed up a gear, and then found he couldn't hear Chick's familiar growling engine near to his.
He turned round, and he saw the other car had closed his eyes.
"Chick?" he moved to him, anxious. "Chick, what's wrong?"
Chick snapped his eyes open, and they looked pained; "Nothin', nothin. Just the motor. Need to give it a rest, I guess. Go on, McQueen," he nodded ahead. "I'll catch up,"
Lightning didn't want to go on, Chick looked much too ill and neglected, and it wasn't much further. They could afford a little rest.
He sided up to Chick. "It's okay. I need a rest too. Mind if I stay?"
Chick muttered something non-committal, and just looked uncomfortable.
"You don't have to. I'll catch up, I told you,"
"And I don't mind staying."
Lightning didn't really mind at all. Even though civilization was so near; just a speedy drive away. It wasn't so important as other things.
"Did you think we were gonna die?" he asked, then realised it sounded kind of weird. "I mean, when the rocks fell on us?"
"Huh?" Chick spared him a withering look. "What kinda question is that?"
"I was just wondering, that's all. I can't really remember much of it,"
"Well, neither can I. Rocks fell. Things hurt. I woke up."
"I thought I was the only helpless and unconscious one?"
Chick snorted; "I may have been unconscious for a real tiny amount of time, McQueen, but I definitely wasn't helpless."
"Really?"
"I mean it,"
There was more quiet, in which Lightning suspected Chick was trying to recover his dwindling engine. He wasn't stupid; he could see that Chick's condition was not great, and he was just grateful that the stretch of road ahead of them was not a mirage.
"How long have we been gone?" he wondered. "I mean, I've kinda lost track of time. And what about the cup? Do you think the race already happened?"
Chick stared at him; "Don't tell me you're thinking about that? Lightning "it's just a cup" McQueen? Maybe I am going crazy."
"I don't care about the cup."
"Good. Cos you won't be in any condition to race for it,"
"Neither will you,"
"You just hanging around to remind me to be miserable?" Chick asked sarcastically.
"No," he really wasn't, and Lightning felt a little annoyed at himself. He just couldn't win right now.
Then, through the silence, Chick cleared his throat;
"It was my old man...he was involved in the black market."
"Huh?" Lightning blinked at him.
"It was my dad. That's how I know so much about Dolpha and those other weirdos. My dad used to be involved in that sort of thing."
He paused, and looked at Lightning, as if trying to decipher the other car's reaction.
"He was just so desperate to race, I guess."
Lightning stared. It made sense, his shocked mind processed. Chick knew enough, but not near enough to be involved himself.
"Did he...did he ever..."
"He didn't gut anyone, McQueen. If that's what you're trying to say," Chick almost looked amused. "He just...I think he bought parts. You know. I mean, I was a kid at the time. I didn't understand."
"Wow," Lightning didn't know what to say.
"You don't have to say he was a scumbag. I already know," Chick said quickly, and then he smiled a bit wryly. "It's where I get my mean streak from,"
"What?" Lightning was aghast, "No. You're nowhere as bad as him."
"That's funny,"
"What is?"
My dad always said I was never as good as him. He never said I wasn't as bad as him."
"Well you're not. Don't even think it."
Lightning wasn't sure why he was so vehement about it. He guessed he just knew Chick was better than that.
"McQueen?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't keep that Piston Cup…I mean, the one I won last summer," Chick said, "I don't ever look at it. it's just…I don't even remember where it is. Stupid, huh?" he glanced up at Lightning, and Lightning understood.
He stared at Chick for a moment which seemed to last far longer, but not in a bad way. In it, he could see the apology translated through the green car's eyes, and somehow it was more satisfying.
Lightning opened his mouth to speak, but Chick got there first;
"Let's get going. I can feel rain on my hood," He rolled forwards, a little tentative at first, and then revved his motor. It sounded unhealthy but capable enough.
Lightning looked up, for the first time noticing the rain spitting down on them again, and then a low roll of thunder along the horizon.
He tailed after Chick, and gradually the road ahead became large and real.
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