In present day, no more than a few months after the World Grand Prix, all the residents of Radiator Springs were all gathered in Flo's V8 Café, either having a nice drink or chatting with the others. At that point, Sally walked into the building, holding a small bunch of papers. "Morning everyone," she greeted the townsfolk.
"Morning Sally," was the main reception, but it was a happy reception.
"Well, I've brought some news for you all; I've been planning on hitting the road for a while and setting out to find other small towns and help them get back on their feet," Sally stated cheerfully.
"Really? That's great! It'd be nice if the other towns on Route 66 got back up and running," Flo said.
"Actually, most of the small towns on Route 66 have been returning ever since Radiator Springs got back in business, I was actually talking about Route 99," Sally explained.
"Route 99? There's a Route 99?" Lightning asked, confused.
"You never knew that? It was built after Route 66. It's kind of its sister road," Sally stated.
"Really? Wow, I feel kind of ridiculous for not knowing that," Lightning said.
"Well, if you want, you can come with me on the road. It might be interesting to find other small towns like ours on the road," Sally said. "Well, I do have a lot of time to kill before my next racing season, so maybe I would like to join you," Lightning said.
"Dad gum! Can I come too? I want to meet all the people on Route 99!" Mater said, excitedly.
"Well…" Lightning said, acting like he was thinking about it, making Mater worry for a few seconds, until Lightning grinned and said, "Of course you can, buddy!"
"Ya-hoo! Hey, maybe Holley can come too! She told me recently that she's going on vacation in two days," Mater said.
"Yeah, we can make it into a big road trip. It'll make it fun," Sally agreed.
"Cool! I'll go call her!" Mater exclaimed before running off to his house to call his secret agent girlfriend.
"Are you sure you guys will be okay on your own?" Sheriff asked Sally and Lightning.
"Of course we'll be fine. We're going as a group of four. It's not like one of us is going by ourselves. Besides, the rest of you need to run your businesses to keep Radiator Springs going. We'll probably be back in a few days, but we'll let you know if we're coming back early or late," Sally assured the old cop.
"Okay, just call us as often as you can to let us know how you're doing," Flo told the young woman.
"We'll call you every day, we promise," Lightning told the waitress.
A few days later, Holley arrived in Radiator Springs on her jetpack, holding a suitcase. "Okay, I'm here, Mater!" she hollered.
Mater ran out of his junkyard, lugging a suitcase and went straight to the secret agent. "Holley! You made it!" he exclaimed happily, hugging the girl.
"It's good to be back in town. So, where are Lightning and Sally?" Holley asked her boyfriend.
"Over there, at the Cozy Cone Motel," Mater stated, pointing at the motel as Sally and Lightning locked up the place.
"So, where will all the visitors stay while you're gone?" Lightning asked his girlfriend.
"I called a substitute ahead of time for the place. The motel will be in her hands and Flo has the keys of the main building and all the cones. Everything will be in shape while I'm gone," Sally explained.
"Oh, that's good. If nobody was running the motel, everyone would have to sleep outside, and I don't think that'll look good for the town," Lightning said.
"Oh come on, some people like to sleep outdoors. It lets them look at the moon and stars," Sally said, smiling.
"That is true, but some people can be a bit picky," Lightning reminded the woman.
"Oh yeah, that's true too," Sally said, seeing what Lightning meant. "Well, I think we better get going. Mater and Holley are probably getting impatient."
Then, there was a loud honk, followed by Mater shouting, "Come on! Let's go!"
Lightning and Sally looked over to see their friends were already sitting in the RV they were taking on Route 99 and Mater was sitting in the driver's seat, practically punching the horn.
"Take it easy, Mater! We're coming!" Lightning hollered to his best friend.
Once in the RV, Lightning opened up the windows so the other townsfolk could speak to them.
"So you're sure you have everything you need?" Flo asked the four.
"Yes Flo, we got all the necessities; food, clothing, a map, everything you suggested we take for the trip," Sally said.
"Okay, just checking," Flo said.
"Be careful out there. You might run into some strange people on Route 99," Sarge warned them.
"You mean stranger than Mater?" Lightning asked. "I don't think I can picture someone weirder than him."
"I'm talking about people that are dangerous, McQueen. There's a high risk you might run into some trouble," Sarge stated.
"Hey, take it easy man. Route 99 is probably deserted. They won't run into anybody bad," Fillmore assured his military friend, but Sarge didn't look too convinced.
"Let us know what kind of businesses you find. If they can't manage on Route 99, they can open up shop in Radiator Springs if they want," Ramone said.
"That's actually a really good idea! We could help some residents find work if where they are isn't working out," Sally said, beaming.
"That also means some new friends!" Mater added.
"We'll let you know what we find in each town, either on the phone or through an email," Holley told the townsfolk.
"We'll be a-looking forward to that. Good luck," Luigi said to his friends.
"Thanks! We're probably going to need it if we're going to try to find some other people," Lightning said. "Okay, Mater, start the engine, we're on our way!"
"Okay!" Mater exclaimed, gunning the engine and zooming out of Radiator Springs, leaving the other residents in some dust and Sheriff yelling at Mater about the speed limit.
"So, Mater, who's going to tow cars while you're gone?" Holley asked her boyfriend once they were out of town.
"Oh, I got these friends named Tater and Tater Jr. to do it. They'll be in town tomorrow to run my business for me. Me and McQueen became friends with them after we got Bubba to set them free," Mater explained.
"Bubba? Who's Bubba?" Holley asked.
"Well…he was an old bully from when I was younger. He wanted to take my business and make me leave Radiator Springs," Mater stated somewhat reluctantly.
"Oh no," Holley gasped.
"But I managed to get him to leave for a few years, but sometime after McQueen got to Radiator Springs, he came back and started bullying again. He even tried to frame good ol' Red for stealing something from Sarge!" Mater exclaimed.
"Oh dear. I hope you'll never see him again. He sounds awful," Holley said, shocked to hear this.
"Yeah, everyone in town is hoping he won't come back either. He even teamed up with one of my racing rivals, Chick Hicks, once," Lightning added.
"I think I've heard of Chick Hicks. He caused the King to crash, right?"
"Yep," Lightning confirmed.
"Wow, you've met with some bad people," Holley said.
"Not as bad as those Lemons we had to deal with during the World Grand Prix, though," Mater said.
"Yeah, those guys made Chick and Bubba look like ants," Lightning agreed.
"Fortunately, we won't have any trouble on Route 99," Sally said.
Throughout the next few days, the team of four went across Route 99, trying to find any towns that needed saving, but so far, all the places they found were practically abandoned, deserted to the point that it looked like some of the buildings were seconds away from falling apart.
Sally became upset at the sight of this and wondered if this would've been Radiator Springs if Lightning hadn't shown up when he did. The very thought of that terrified her.
As promised, the group contacted the town and told them what they found, which disappointed their friends, but they encouraged them to keep looking.
One morning on the 6th day of searching, Sally said, "I think we should turn back to Route 66."
"What? Why?" Lightning asked, surprised his girlfriend was giving up.
"Let's face it; nobody lives on Route 99 anymore. At the rate this is going after all those desolate towns we found, it's probably abandoned," Sally said, sounding very disappointed.
"But Sally, we've only made it halfway across the road. Maybe if we just keep going-," Holley said, but Sally interrupted, "No, Holley. We have to stop. If we keep going like this, it'll drive us crazy. Besides, Flo said something yesterday about the substitute motel manager having some problems with difficult tourists. I think the Cozy Cone needs some help."
Holley, Mater and Lightning looked at each other, not sure what to say next. Should they really give up? There had to be a town on Route 99 with people in it somewhere, right?
Finally, Lightning said, "Just one more town, Sally. And if it's empty, we'll head home."
"Okay, just one more town," Sally said almost reluctantly.
Mater and Holley looked forward back at the road, trying to see if there was another town up ahead, but so far, nothing was in sight…until Holley shouted, "Mater, stop the RV!"
Mater slammed on the brakes and asked frantically, "What's wrong, Holley?!"
"Look at the GPS," Holley said, pointing at the screen of the device installed in the vehicle.
Mater looked at it to see the little monitor was showing nothing but static, like how old TVs go when they lose a signal with a TV station. "Well, that's weird," he said.
"What's wrong?" Lightning asked as he and Sally moved toward the front and became shocked by the seemingly busted GPS.
"The GPS is broken," Mater said.
"No, it can't be," Sally said. "It's practically a year old."
Holley thought to herself for a few moments before saying, "Mater, back up a few yards."
"Okey dokey," Mater obliged back up the RV. After going at least 5 yards back, the GPS went back to functioning order.
"It's working again," Lightning said.
"It's not broken, something interfered with its signal," Holley stated.
"What could have messed it up?" Sally asked the secret agent.
"I don't know, someone could be messing with the satellite in the next area. The satellite can't compute this area or some sort of other machine is interfering with the signal," Holley said. "Like a tall radio tower or something."
"A radio tower? You mean one that's still functioning on Route 99?" Lightning asked.
"Yes, right in the area ahead of us, which means..." Holley said. "Someone still lives on Route 99!"
Well, our four heroes have hit Route 99, but so far, nothing but abandoned small towns. And somewhere else along the road, something interferes with their GPS's signal. What could it be?
There's going to be a small town in the next chapter and I'm still trying to come up with a name for it. If you have any ideas, let me know in the comments.
Please Follow, Favorite, and/or Review!