The group of four continued on their way down the road of Route 99, trying to locate the town where the interference with the GPS was coming from.
This went on for at least 30 minutes until Sally said, "Holley, are you sure it's something in a nearby town messing with the GPS?"
"I'm positive. There is definitely something within our range," Holley said, keeping her focus on the road, trying to look for any sign of life.
Finally, an old bulletin board caught her eye. "Look!" she said, pointing at the big sign.
"Yeah, it's a sign. What about it?" Lightning asked confused about why Holley was so excited.
"Look through the gaps under the sign," she told the race car driver.
Lightning, Sally and Mater looked closely underneath the sign for a few moments, wondering what Holley was pointing out to the trio, until they saw a pair of tires.
"Looks like someone parked their car behind there. I wonder who," Lightning said as he climbed out of the RV. The man carefully approached the bulletin board and glanced behind it to see the car. He saw it was an old police car, very similar to Sheriff's car, but looked a bit more brand new, and inside the vehicle, a female cop was sound asleep.
Lightning softly approached the car and tapped on the window, trying to get the officer's attention.
After at least a minute, the woman stirred from her slumber and slowly glanced at the window to see who was bugging. She widened her eyes in surprise when she saw Lightning, as if expecting someone else to be bugging her. She rolled down the window and said, "Need some help, kid?" she asked. The lady was wearing a typical cop's uniform, had pale blonde hair that had gray hairs starting to pop up, blue eyes and light skin.
"Yes, is there a town anywhere around here?" Lightning asked the older woman.
The cop smiled and said, "There sure is. Just follow my police car. I'll give you an escort."
"Okay, thank you, mam," Lightning replied happily. The race car driver ran back to the RV and exclaimed, "There's a town near here! I just found out from the owner of the car!"
"Finally!" Mater shouted happily. Within moments, the woman's police car pulled out from behind the bulletin board and proceeded to make its way down the road. Mater then started to follow her.
After a few minutes of driving, the group of four started to see some old buildings off in the distance.
"That must be the town!" Sally exclaimed, pointing off into the distance.
When the RV drove through the small town, the four friends looked around at the town. Just like Radiator Springs, there were a few small shops, a café, a tire shop, some sort of military building like Sarge's, a geo-dome like Fillmore's, an old garage, clinic and motel.
"Wow, it looks amazing," Sally said, smiling brightly.
Mater parked the RV in front of the café and the group got off and looked around some more.
The cop that led them there stopped in front of the café too, and got out of her old cruiser. "I hope you weren't expecting much, because this is all we got," she said.
"Don't worry, it's perfect. Just the kind of town we were looking for," Sally assured the woman. "I'm Sally Carrera by the way."
"Sheila. I'm the cop of this town, the only one now since all the others have left for the bigger places," the woman stated.
"I'm Mater," Mater greeted.
"My name's Shiftwell, Holley Shiftwell," Holley added.
"And I'm Lightning McQueen," Lightning finished.
"Good to meet you all," Sheila said, smiling.
"So, tell me Sheila, what town is this on Route 99?" Sally asked.
"Zillicon Valley," Sheila stated. "It's the only one still inhabited."
"So, the next few towns we'll come across on this road are-?" Mater asked, starting to sound sad.
"Abandoned? Yep, that's how it is for all the small towns except for ours," Sheila stated. "In fact, some of the residents here are actually from a few of those other towns. They basically lived alone for years until our mayor, Zil, found them and offered them a place to keep business up."
"Zil? I feel like I've heard a name like that somewhere before, but I can't figure out where," Lightning said.
"Well, unless your grandparents or parents have come to Zillicon Valley, then I don't know where you've heard that name before," Sheila said.
"Sheila, could you explain this to me; before we found you by the bulletin board, something interfered with our GPS's signal and the map we were following started to malfunction," Holley asked the cop.
"Maybe you were out of range of something and that caused it to break," Sheila guessed.
"GPS is operated by a satellite in outer space, there's no way we could be out of range of it," Holley said.
"Listen Holley, I'm just an old cop. I don't know anything about that technical stuff," Sheila told the secret agent.
Sally walked into the middle of the street and looked at all the buildings around her and said, "I can't believe we actually found a town. Wait till Flo hears about this!" Sally whipped out her cell phone, about to call the V8 Café, when she saw that she had no cell service. "That's weird. I had a signal in all the other towns we went to. Why is it not working here?" Sally asked.
"Well, it's an old town. We don't really have stuff for those kinds of phones," Sheila explained.
Holley then whipped out her armband computer in an attempt to use it, but a message popped up stating that something was interfering with the connection. "That same thing is happening to my computer. Looks like we can't send them an email either," she said.
"If you want to call someone, we have a phone in the café," Sheila stated, entering the building. "
Sounds good," Sally said, following the cop. Inside the café, the group of four could smell coffee being brewed, along with the sweet sugary smell of donuts and muffins.
"Wow, something smells amazing!" Mater exclaimed.
"Who's there?" a feminine voice asked. Within seconds, a Hispanic woman walked into the café from a backroom, possibly the kitchen where most of the food was made. Her eyes widened when she saw Sally, Lightning, Mater and Holley. "Are my eyes playing tricks on me or do we have actual customers?!" the woman gasped.
"They're customers, Roxanne. The woman in blue is Sally, the boy in red is Lightning, the boy in brown is Mater, and the one in purple is Holley," Sheila stated.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Sally said, sticking out her hand, expecting a handshake, but instead, the woman named Roxanne gave her a very tight hug.
"It's been so long since I've seen other people! It's so nice to have some visitors after all these years!" she exclaimed happily.
"I'm glad you're happy," Sally gasped, trying to get air.
"Um, could you let go of me, please. I'm losing oxygen." Roxanne immediately let go of the woman and said, "Oh, sorry. I got really excited."
"We can see that," Lightning said.
"So, what do you kids need?" Roxanne asked the group.
"Well, I need to use the phone so I can call a friend of mine and tell her about this town. You see, I'm on a little mission on Route 99. I'm trying to find all the old towns and try to get them back up and running like in the old days," Sally explained.
"Really? That's wonderful! Lucky for you, Zillicon Valley is the only town with any actual people in it, so your job is done," Roxanne stated.
"Yeah, Sheila already explained that outside. So, tell us, Roxanne; what is that sweet smell we're getting in here right now?" Lightning asked the woman.
"Oh, that would be the cinnamon muffins I have in the oven right now, they should be about done," Roxanne explained. Then, there was the ding of an oven. "Well, speak of the devil," Roxanne said, leaving the room to fetch the pastries. "As for a phone, Sally, there's one over there on the wall. Feel free to use it."
Sally looked at the wall until she spotted an old pay phone. She went over to it, slipped a few coins inside and dialed the number for the café. After a few moments of waiting, she heard a voice on the other end say, "Hello, Flo's V8 Café, how can I help you?"
"Flo! It's me, Sally!" Sally exclaimed.
"Sally! Everyone's been waiting for you to call. You sound very excited. Did you find a town?" Flo asked.
"Yes Flo! There is an old town called Zillicon Valley. Apparently it's the only one still inhabited on Route 99," Sally explained.
"I see, so what are the people like?"
"Well, we met their only cop left, Sheila, and they have someone working in a café named Roxanne. They're both really nice," Sally stated. "But I don't think we've met everyone yet."
"Sounds good, let us know who else you meet later, okay," Flo said.
"Okay, Flo. I'll talk to you later," Sally said, hanging up the phone.
At that moment, Roxanne returned with a plate of cinnamon muffins followed by a dark skinned man. "This is my husband, Tyrone, he takes care of things in the kitchen," Roxanne said. "Tyrone, this is Lightning, Mater, Holley and Sally."
"Nice you meet you," Tyrone greeted.
"Nice to meet you too, Tyrone," Mater replied. "So, how much are the muffins?"
"Well, since this is your first visit to the café, we'll give you four one for free right now," Roxanne said.
"Really? Thanks!" Mater said, gratefully taking a muffin and biting into it.
"Careful, Mater. That just came out of the oven," Holley warned her boyfriend, but it was too late.
"Whoa! That's hot!" Mater exclaimed, waving a hand toward his mouth to keep it from burning. After a few moments, he took another bite of the muffin and said, "Tastes good, though!"
"Thank you. They were a big seller back in the glory days," Roxanne stated.
"Cool," Lightning said helping himself to a muffin. "So, what other stores are in town?"
"Well, there's Rosalyn and Amelia, who both work in that surplus store across the street. Then there's Phillip who is our resident hippie. He sells organic fuels, juice and ailments, but I'm pretty sure that back in the day, he did 'other' sorts of business with people," Roxanne stated.
"What do you mean 'other' business?" Lightning asked, confused.
"When you go near his house and smell a very odd skunky smell, you'll know what I mean," Roxanne said.
Upon saying that, Sally, Lightning, and Holley's eyes went very wide, but Mater looked confused. "What's wrong with selling skunks?" he asked.
"I think what Roxanne means is that Phillip has a marijuana business," Holley explained.
"Marijuana? Isn't that illegal? Why haven't you arrested him for it, Sheila?" Mater asked the cop, very confused.
"Well, there's not really a place to lock him up and convict him for it. I mainly see his habit now as a nuisance rather than a crime," Sheila admitted. "Rosalyn thinks that, too."
"Where are Rosalyn and Phillip?" Sally asked, curious.
A few seconds after saying that, several barks rang out outside, catching everyone's attention.
Well, Lightning, Sally, Mater and Holley have finally found a town, Zillicon Valley! I have no idea what sort of cars I could picture Sheila, Roxanne, and Tyrone as, which is part of the reason why this story is humanized. If you have some suggestions, let me know. :)
But what's that commotion going on outside?
Name of town, Zillicon Valley, I got thanks to Pixargirl. :D
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