HOME | DD

Description
I'll Meet You On Route 62
(A Disney/Pixar Cars fanfic)

Chapter Nineteen:
Tractors and Tow Hooks

“Why did JB Hunt trucks finally stop hauling doubles?” Mack asked the crowd at Flo’s one evening. “Because the top one kept falling off!” His joke was met with a few forced chuckles and murmurs. Not to be put off, he tried again. “Why do JB Hunt trucks paint their trailer doors yellow? So they’ll know which end to hook up to!” Beside him, Vee groaned. Mack smirked at her. “It’s a trucker joke,” he grumbled, clearly peeved. “You wouldn’t get it.”

“Oh, I get it,” Vee replied. “That’s the problem.”

“Oh yeah? Well, if you think you know any better trucker jokes, I’d like to hear them!”

Vee grinned. “Oh, I know some good ones, all right.”

The florescent and neon lights from the café turned Vee’s lavender coating to a silver-bluish hue, making her glow as though she were bathed in bright moonlight. On her other side, Mater and Lightning were snickering over a private joke. “Boy howdy, that’s a good un!” Mater declared as he sipped his drink. Vee looked at him curiously.

“What is?” she asked him.

“Oh, Lightnin’ was jist tellin’ me ‘bout the time Mack got stuck under a bridge,” Mater explained and Mack groaned.

“You HAD to tell him, didn’t you, McQueen?” he growled at the racecar. Lightning gave him a smug grin.

Vee grinned too. “What happened?” she asked Lightning.

“Well, we were on our way to a race in Dallas and Mack misread the clearance sign and thought he could make it. Then all of a sudden WHAM! The trailer gets wedged under an overpass and traffic’s backed up for miles. Then this cop shows up and asks Mack if he’s stuck, and Mack says ‘No, officer. I was just hauling this bridge here when I ran out of gas.’ The cop gave him an extra ticket for being a smart ass.”

Vee laughed along with the rest of the dinner crowd. Mack scowled and took a deep swig of his drink.

“That reminds me of a dumb trucker joke,” Vee said when she had calmed down. Mack gave her a “Don’t you dare!” sort of look which she ignored. “These two dumb truckers were driving along down the freeway when they came to an overpass. The clearance sign said eleven feet. They stopped and one of them said, ‘I’m twelve feet tall,’ and the other one said, ‘I’m thirteen feet tall.’ He looked around for a minute, then said, ‘Not a cop in sight. I say we go for it!’”

Everyone, including Mack, laughed at that. “Yeah man, that one’s way better than those JB whatever jokes!” Ramone declared. “I got some real good cop jokes,” he added, loud enough for Sheriff to hear as he drove by. The squad car gave him a sharp look from the corner of his eye, but said nothing. He left the lot and disappeared down the road, twin red taillights gleaming like monstrous eyes out of the black desert. One of the twins looked at Ramone eagerly, but he shook his hood. “Ah, forget it. S’no fun telling cop jokes without a cop around.”

“What’s his problem, anyway?” Lightning wondered aloud as he stared in the direction Sheriff had gone.

“Eh, he’s been in a pissy mood ever since I got back from Carburetor City,” Vee replied, sipping her drink. “As soon as he saw me all fixed up, he’s been crabbier than Sarge.”

“Why’s that?”

Before Vee could respond, Mack answered for her. “Because good ol’ Doc here went over his hood and filed her accident report so it was in her favor. He was able to reword it enough so that she wasn’t at fault and her insurance covered her repairs. Sheriff obviously wasn’t too happy about that.”

“Yeah well, don’t worry about Sheriff,” Lightning advised Vee. “He wasn’t too crazy about me when I first showed up either. Neither was Doc, come to think of it. At least you’ve got him on your side.”

“Mm,” Vee shrugged and sipped her drink.

“I know a couple of good fire truck jokes,” Mack announced suddenly. He gave Red, who was parked across the lot from him, a teasing look. Red blushed and glanced around as though contemplating escape.

“You guys ready for this one? Okay, here goes: there’s this huge fire at an oil refinery, and nearly all the fire trucks in the county are there trying to put it out. Problem is, it’s so hot that none of them can get near enough to fight it. Then suddenly this clunky old fire truck comes hauling ass onto the scene and drives right into the blaze and puts it out. Just like that! Everyone’s so amazed by this act of bravery that they hold an award ceremony and present the old fire truck with a medal and a check for ten thousand dollars. When a reporter asks him what he’s planning to do with all that money, he says, ‘Well, the first thing I’m gonna do is get these damn brakes fixed!’”

Mack grinned proudly when his joke was rewarded with a round of genuine laughter. Red blushed, but appeared to be laughing silently.

“Dude, I gotta good one for ya!” Ramone told everyone, and they quickly quieted down. “Why are fire trucks red?” he asked, looking right at Red as though he were asking him directly. The fire truck gave him a questioning look. Ramone snickered. “Cuz if someone was yankin’ on your hose, you’d turn red too!” The loud guffaws that followed caused the poor fire truck to blush crimson.

“All right, all right,” Doc Hudson spoke up. “You boys keep the jokes clean and stop picking on Red, you got that?” Though he sounded serious, his smile betrayed him.

“Yes Daddy,” Lightning said in a little girly voice and Mater snickered. Doc smirked at them.

“I hate to say this, but shouldn’t you two be out tractor tipping or something?” he demanded. “It’s a bit unsettling to see the two of you here after sundown, and so well behaved. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were up to something.”

“We’s jist waitin’ fer Mack and Miss Vee tuh join us,” Mater explained, giving Doc a shameless grin.

A three-quarter moon smiled down on the silver sea of wheat that stretched out before them, dry husks swaying and shushing in a light autumn breeze. Mater led his partners in crime through the break in the fence that surrounded the meadow. He swerved cautiously around a tractor sleeping nearby, his sights already set on another tractor standing a short distance away. Lightning, Mack and Vee killed their engines and coasted along behind him, silent as shadows.

Mater stretched his axles out and tip-tired the last few feet toward his prey. Two tractors stood side by side, their massive tires practically touching as they snored peacefully. An occasional plume of smoke puffed from their exhaust pipes, ghostly blue in the moonlight. Huddled low in the grass, Vee watched wide-eyed as Mater drew in a deep breath and puffed himself up. Even though she was expecting it, his blaring horn startled her nearly as much as it did the tractor.

The beast jolted awake, giving a panicked cry as it tipped over sideways against its mate. The second tractor hit the ground with an impressive thud, pinned beneath the first tractor. Mater turned to his companions with a smug grin.

“That still only counts as one!” Lightning whispered with a sneer. Mater stuck his tongue out at him and Vee chuckled.

“You think that’s impressive, what’ll you see ol’ Mack in action!” Mack boasted. “I can knock down every tractor in this field with one honk!”

“Which is why you’re not allowed to use your horn!” Vee reminded him.

“Well then how am I supposed to tip ‘em?”

“Easy, just rev your engine,” Lightning advised him. “That’s what I did before I got a horn installed. And it worked! Worked a little too well, actually,” he admitted with a blush.

“Ah’ll say!” Mater chuckled. “He done woke every single tractor fer miles around! Not tuh mention he got Frank all riled up and chasin’ after us.”

“Well then, that’s probably not a good idea either,” Vee spoke up. “Mack’s engine is probably even louder.”

“If you guys want me to tip a tractor, then I’m going to tip a tractor!” Mack declared, ignoring their protests as he rolled over to the nearest animal. Though taller than the other vehicles, it was still far shorter than the semi truck that stood silently observing it. Mack stared at it for a long moment before moving around to face its side. He lifted a tire and placed it against the tractor’s flank, then pushed. It tipped easily. The creature hit the ground with a soft thud, its wheels turning in a pathetic attempt to right itself.

Mack stared down at it, listening to its feeble moos. After a moment he drove around to the tractor’s other side and helped it back up. The tractor gave his grille a grateful lick before rolling away. Lightning’s laugh reached him before the racecar himself did.

“What was that, Mack?” McQueen asked him.

Mack sighed. “I couldn’t leave it like that,” he explained with a blush. “It just looked so helpless lying there. It made me feel dirty knocking it over like that.” Vee smiled at him.

“Aw, t’ain’t nothing’ tuh be ashamed of,” Mater assured him. “If’n ya think that’s bad, you should see how dirty them bull tractors play. Why, las’ time we was out here they was all jumpin’ on each other and friskin’ and -”

“They weren’t playing, Mater,” Lightning reminded him. “They were - you know…”

Mater stared at him. “Whut?” Lightning blushed and looked away. “Ohhhhh,” Mater said, suddenly realizing what he’d meant. He too blushed as he turned to face Mack and Vee. “Them’s some purdy rowdy critters right there,” he said, pointing to the nearest tractors. “They’s tough. If’n Ah’m not knockin’ ‘em over, they’s doin’ it tuh each other. Specially the young ‘uns. Now watch this.”

Mater drove over to another tractor and started to circle it, his one good light illuminating clumps of grass and tractor hide. Vee squinted in the moonlight, trying to make out the shadowy bulk beneath the sleeping creature. It took her a moment to realize what it was. When she did, she sped toward Mater. “You’re not going to bother this one, are you?” she demanded.

Mater switched his light off and looked at her. “Why not?” he whispered.

Vee bristled. “Because, look!” she hissed, jabbing a tire at the tractor’s low-hung belly. “It’s obviously pregnant!” She was startled to hear Mater chuckle.

“Ah kin see that plain as day!” he told her. “Ah ain’t so low as tuh tip a tractor that’s expectin’. That’s why Ah was checkin’ ‘er out first, tuh make sure she were carryin’ a baby an’ not jist a few extra pounds.”

Vee’s engine calmed considerably on hearing this.

“Ah don’t tip the young ‘uns neither,” Mater went on. “Not till they’s growed up some first. If they’s still with their mamas I won’t touch ‘em with a ten-foot pole.” He turned and drove silently through the tall grass and Vee followed him. Dry wheat stalks caressed her sides and caused her to shiver slightly.

Mater stopped so suddenly that she nearly ran into him. “Ssshhhh!” he warned her, then crouched low to the ground, with his rear in the air and his tow hook swinging back and forth. He looked every bit like a cat about to pounce on some unsuspecting bird. Vee looked past him to see not one, not two, not three, but FOUR tractors, lined up perfectly like dominos waiting to be tipped.

“Now watch how the master does it!” Mater boasted, wiggling his back end. Vee chuckled and, before he could even blink, she plunged forward and blared her horn as loud as she could.

The first tractor went down easily. It took the second one down with it, which in turn tipped the third. The fourth tractor, awakened by the honk, sped off with a frantic “MOOO!” With surprising speed, it fled the field and charged blindly into the adjoining apricot grove, mooing like a maniac all the way. Mater howled with laughter. Mack and Lightning were cheering Vee on as they pulled up beside her.

“Now if that don’t put the ‘moo’ in ‘move it!’” Mater exclaimed, slugging Vee with a tire. Vee grinned smugly. As their laughter died, she became aware of a strange noise. Faint at first, it quickly grew louder. The ground beneath their tires began to tremble. Vee looked to the three men, all of whom were now glancing around nervously.

“What’s happening?” she demanded.

“Frank’s happening, that’s what!” Lightning replied before turning tail and speeding away.

“What?” The rumbling had grown so loud that Vee had to shout to be heard over it. She turned toward the grove and was surprised to see the tractor zooming back toward her. For a second she thought it was charging, but when it zoomed past without even looking at her, she realized something far worse was on its way. The half-bare tree boughs were quaking, the last of their leaves falling to the ground.

“Aw crud, we’d better git!” Mater said, turning to go. He froze the moment a bright set of lights pierced through the trees and lit the field in a blinding blaze. Vee stared in horror as a giant combine pushed its way through the grove and into the wheat field. Frank snorted, glaring at the trio of trespassers. With a mighty roar, his header spun to life and he charged, shredding up wheat and dry grass and everything else in his path.

“Look out!” Mack shouted, then turned and fled in the same direction Lightning had gone. But Vee did not hear him. Like a deer caught in headlights, she stood frozen in place, the combine’s lights blinding her. Her engine raced.

Bright light. Blinding. Sunlight… glinting on chrome…screeching of brakes… screaming…

“Joey!” The name echoes.

Grasses rustle and hiss. Engine growls… “NO!”

“YES!”

No, never again. Not ever…

VROOOOOM!

“Oh no you don’t, you filthy whore!” Screech. Slam. CRASH!

No. Never.

Ever.

“Come on, Miss Vee! We gotta git outta here!” Mater shouted as he shook the petrified Chrysler. Vee did not budge. She continued to stare unblinking into the headlights of the charging combine. Mater glanced around frantically, but Mack and Lightning were long gone. He shook Vee again, but roused no response. Knowing no other alternative, he drove behind her then and swung his tow hook. Feeling it latch under her back bumper, he accelerated, dragging Vee behind him in his haste to escape.

Hitting a bump, Vee was jolted back to reality. One look at Frank and his gleaming blades and she screamed. Flooring herself, she spun around and zoomed past Mater, tow hook still in place. Mater had only a split second to stare after her in surprise before he found himself suddenly being whirled around and towed backwards by the fleeing Chrysler. Helpless and disoriented in this new situation, he screamed as he watched Frank close the gap between them, his blades a shining silver blur as bits of wheat and dirt clods flew up all around them.

Halfway back to town, Mack stopped and looked back, startled to find himself alone. Engine racing, he headed back toward the field. “Vee!” he shouted, eyes and headlights scanning the dark horizon. “Mater! Where are you?” An engine roared in the distance and his own skipped several cycles in anticipation. Moments later Vee came swinging around a bend with Mater in tow. There was a look of pure panic on her face, though it was Mater who was doing the screaming.

“Vee, wait!” Mack yelled out to her as she passed. When she didn’t slow, he sped after her, blaring his horn.

Startled, Vee glanced back at him in her mirror and saw Mater swerve into her line of vision. She’d forgotten all about him in her panic and now stared in total disbelief as he swung back and forth across the road at the end of his own cable. She slammed on her brakes. The line went slack and the tow hook came loose from her bumper as Mater zipped past, yelling all the way. He flew backwards off the road, coming to a stop in the soft desert sand.

Vee stared after him, trembling on her axles and breathless. Mack pulled up beside her, asking if she was okay. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she gave a barely perceptible nod in reply, but did not look at him. Mater drove back up to the road, his tow hook and several feet of cable dragging limply behind him. “Hoo boy,” he panted. “A tow truck done gettin’ himself towed. It don’t git no worse’n that, Ah reckon. You’s one helluva racer, Miss Vee.”

Still trembling, Vee glanced up at him and forced a smile. “Are you sure you’re all right?” Mack asked her. She startled at the sudden sensation of his tire brushing against hers. This time she looked at him. The semi looked genuinely concerned.

“Yeah,” she replied, her voice hoarse. She licked her lips and swallowed again. “Fine.” A long and awkward silence fell between the three vehicles.

“Well, Ah don’t know about you two, but Ah’m parched!” Mater said, a little too loudly. “Ah’m all fer headin’ back tuh Flo’s fer another round. Y’all with me or what?”

“Um, no thanks,” Vee murmured.

“Well all right then!” Mater said, then took off down the road at a quick but easy pace. Mack and Vee stared after him a moment before they too started off down the road.

“So what happened back there?” Mack asked his friend.

It took Vee a moment to answer. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “When I saw that combine I just - I just froze. Then all of a sudden it was like a million things were happening at once. And then…” she trailed off, almost afraid to continue. “And then I remembered.”

“Remembered what?”

“Everything. Why I’m here. Why I ran away. The day I crashed into you. The crash itself. It all came back to me, just like that.”

Mack said nothing. He drove slightly closer to her.

“The day of the crash, I was being followed. A man named Joey - he worked for Slade - he was chasing me. I hid from him - in that very field back there, the one we were just at - but he found me there and he…” she paused, her voice breaking as she choked on a sob. “He tried to kill me, but that combine - Frank - chased him away.”

The sound of their tires humming over the asphalt was cold and empty. A faint glimmer of lights in the distance told them Radiator Springs was just up ahead. Like the road before them, the silence stretched on. It was a long time before Vee spoke again.

“I stayed out in the field for a while after that, and when I finally dared to leave, Joey was waiting for me. He chased me into Radiator Springs, but when Sheriff started chasing me he must have given up. But I know he can’t be far away. He’s out there somewhere, looking for me.”

Several times during her story, Mack opened his mouth to speak, to offer sympathy, to ask a question, to say something for the sake of saying it, but nothing ever came out. What could he say that wouldn’t sound cliché? What could he say that would comfort her? They reached the edge of town a minute later. Mack stuck close to Vee’s side as she drove toward the Cozy Cone lobby. Earlier that day Sally had offered her a room in exchange for housekeeping.

Vee picked up her key and, without a word to Mack, headed over to cone number six and unlocked the door. Mack pulled up behind her, watching her as she backed into the cone. The silence fell between them again, so thick it very nearly suffocated them.

“What are you running from?” Mack asked her suddenly, his words surprising himself as much as they did her. He had no idea why he’d asked her that, nor why his tone had sounded so demanding, but now that it was out in the open there was no sidestepping it.

Vee glanced down at the welcome mat and pawed at its frayed edge with a tire. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. Her voice was tiny, hollow and distant.

“I thought you said you remembered,” Mack replied.

“I do, but…” she sighed heavily and shook her hood. “I don’t know, Mack. It seems like the more I remember, the less I really know. I know exactly why I ran away, but now… now I don’t know what I’m running from. I know that doesn’t make sense, but…” she sighed again, this time sounding tired and frustrated. “Look, I’m exhausted, and I’d really rather not talk about it right now. I promise I’ll tell you everything in the morning, okay?”

“Okay,” Mack agreed reluctantly. He turned to go. “Good night then.”

“Good night, Mack,” Vee whispered, closing the door.

Chapter Twenty: [link]

Description
I'll Meet You On Route 62
(A Disney/Pixar Cars fanfic)

Chapter Nineteen:
Tractors and Tow Hooks

“Why did JB Hunt trucks finally stop hauling doubles?” Mack asked the crowd at Flo’s one evening. “Because the top one kept falling off!” His joke was met with a few forced chuckles and murmurs. Not to be put off, he tried again. “Why do JB Hunt trucks paint their trailer doors yellow? So they’ll know which end to hook up to!” Beside him, Vee groaned. Mack smirked at her. “It’s a trucker joke,” he grumbled, clearly peeved. “You wouldn’t get it.”

“Oh, I get it,” Vee replied. “That’s the problem.”

“Oh yeah? Well, if you think you know any better trucker jokes, I’d like to hear them!”

Vee grinned. “Oh, I know some good ones, all right.”

The florescent and neon lights from the café turned Vee’s lavender coating to a silver-bluish hue, making her glow as though she were bathed in bright moonlight. On her other side, Mater and Lightning were snickering over a private joke. “Boy howdy, that’s a good un!” Mater declared as he sipped his drink. Vee looked at him curiously.

“What is?” she asked him.

“Oh, Lightnin’ was jist tellin’ me ‘bout the time Mack got stuck under a bridge,” Mater explained and Mack groaned.

“You HAD to tell him, didn’t you, McQueen?” he growled at the racecar. Lightning gave him a smug grin.

Vee grinned too. “What happened?” she asked Lightning.

“Well, we were on our way to a race in Dallas and Mack misread the clearance sign and thought he could make it. Then all of a sudden WHAM! The trailer gets wedged under an overpass and traffic’s backed up for miles. Then this cop shows up and asks Mack if he’s stuck, and Mack says ‘No, officer. I was just hauling this bridge here when I ran out of gas.’ The cop gave him an extra ticket for being a smart ass.”

Vee laughed along with the rest of the dinner crowd. Mack scowled and took a deep swig of his drink.

“That reminds me of a dumb trucker joke,” Vee said when she had calmed down. Mack gave her a “Don’t you dare!” sort of look which she ignored. “These two dumb truckers were driving along down the freeway when they came to an overpass. The clearance sign said eleven feet. They stopped and one of them said, ‘I’m twelve feet tall,’ and the other one said, ‘I’m thirteen feet tall.’ He looked around for a minute, then said, ‘Not a cop in sight. I say we go for it!’”

Everyone, including Mack, laughed at that. “Yeah man, that one’s way better than those JB whatever jokes!” Ramone declared. “I got some real good cop jokes,” he added, loud enough for Sheriff to hear as he drove by. The squad car gave him a sharp look from the corner of his eye, but said nothing. He left the lot and disappeared down the road, twin red taillights gleaming like monstrous eyes out of the black desert. One of the twins looked at Ramone eagerly, but he shook his hood. “Ah, forget it. S’no fun telling cop jokes without a cop around.”

“What’s his problem, anyway?” Lightning wondered aloud as he stared in the direction Sheriff had gone.

“Eh, he’s been in a pissy mood ever since I got back from Carburetor City,” Vee replied, sipping her drink. “As soon as he saw me all fixed up, he’s been crabbier than Sarge.”

“Why’s that?”

Before Vee could respond, Mack answered for her. “Because good ol’ Doc here went over his hood and filed her accident report so it was in her favor. He was able to reword it enough so that she wasn’t at fault and her insurance covered her repairs. Sheriff obviously wasn’t too happy about that.”

“Yeah well, don’t worry about Sheriff,” Lightning advised Vee. “He wasn’t too crazy about me when I first showed up either. Neither was Doc, come to think of it. At least you’ve got him on your side.”

“Mm,” Vee shrugged and sipped her drink.

“I know a couple of good fire truck jokes,” Mack announced suddenly. He gave Red, who was parked across the lot from him, a teasing look. Red blushed and glanced around as though contemplating escape.

“You guys ready for this one? Okay, here goes: there’s this huge fire at an oil refinery, and nearly all the fire trucks in the county are there trying to put it out. Problem is, it’s so hot that none of them can get near enough to fight it. Then suddenly this clunky old fire truck comes hauling ass onto the scene and drives right into the blaze and puts it out. Just like that! Everyone’s so amazed by this act of bravery that they hold an award ceremony and present the old fire truck with a medal and a check for ten thousand dollars. When a reporter asks him what he’s planning to do with all that money, he says, ‘Well, the first thing I’m gonna do is get these damn brakes fixed!’”

Mack grinned proudly when his joke was rewarded with a round of genuine laughter. Red blushed, but appeared to be laughing silently.

“Dude, I gotta good one for ya!” Ramone told everyone, and they quickly quieted down. “Why are fire trucks red?” he asked, looking right at Red as though he were asking him directly. The fire truck gave him a questioning look. Ramone snickered. “Cuz if someone was yankin’ on your hose, you’d turn red too!” The loud guffaws that followed caused the poor fire truck to blush crimson.

“All right, all right,” Doc Hudson spoke up. “You boys keep the jokes clean and stop picking on Red, you got that?” Though he sounded serious, his smile betrayed him.

“Yes Daddy,” Lightning said in a little girly voice and Mater snickered. Doc smirked at them.

“I hate to say this, but shouldn’t you two be out tractor tipping or something?” he demanded. “It’s a bit unsettling to see the two of you here after sundown, and so well behaved. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were up to something.”

“We’s jist waitin’ fer Mack and Miss Vee tuh join us,” Mater explained, giving Doc a shameless grin.

A three-quarter moon smiled down on the silver sea of wheat that stretched out before them, dry husks swaying and shushing in a light autumn breeze. Mater led his partners in crime through the break in the fence that surrounded the meadow. He swerved cautiously around a tractor sleeping nearby, his sights already set on another tractor standing a short distance away. Lightning, Mack and Vee killed their engines and coasted along behind him, silent as shadows.

Mater stretched his axles out and tip-tired the last few feet toward his prey. Two tractors stood side by side, their massive tires practically touching as they snored peacefully. An occasional plume of smoke puffed from their exhaust pipes, ghostly blue in the moonlight. Huddled low in the grass, Vee watched wide-eyed as Mater drew in a deep breath and puffed himself up. Even though she was expecting it, his blaring horn startled her nearly as much as it did the tractor.

The beast jolted awake, giving a panicked cry as it tipped over sideways against its mate. The second tractor hit the ground with an impressive thud, pinned beneath the first tractor. Mater turned to his companions with a smug grin.

“That still only counts as one!” Lightning whispered with a sneer. Mater stuck his tongue out at him and Vee chuckled.

“You think that’s impressive, what’ll you see ol’ Mack in action!” Mack boasted. “I can knock down every tractor in this field with one honk!”

“Which is why you’re not allowed to use your horn!” Vee reminded him.

“Well then how am I supposed to tip ‘em?”

“Easy, just rev your engine,” Lightning advised him. “That’s what I did before I got a horn installed. And it worked! Worked a little too well, actually,” he admitted with a blush.

“Ah’ll say!” Mater chuckled. “He done woke every single tractor fer miles around! Not tuh mention he got Frank all riled up and chasin’ after us.”

“Well then, that’s probably not a good idea either,” Vee spoke up. “Mack’s engine is probably even louder.”

“If you guys want me to tip a tractor, then I’m going to tip a tractor!” Mack declared, ignoring their protests as he rolled over to the nearest animal. Though taller than the other vehicles, it was still far shorter than the semi truck that stood silently observing it. Mack stared at it for a long moment before moving around to face its side. He lifted a tire and placed it against the tractor’s flank, then pushed. It tipped easily. The creature hit the ground with a soft thud, its wheels turning in a pathetic attempt to right itself.

Mack stared down at it, listening to its feeble moos. After a moment he drove around to the tractor’s other side and helped it back up. The tractor gave his grille a grateful lick before rolling away. Lightning’s laugh reached him before the racecar himself did.

“What was that, Mack?” McQueen asked him.

Mack sighed. “I couldn’t leave it like that,” he explained with a blush. “It just looked so helpless lying there. It made me feel dirty knocking it over like that.” Vee smiled at him.

“Aw, t’ain’t nothing’ tuh be ashamed of,” Mater assured him. “If’n ya think that’s bad, you should see how dirty them bull tractors play. Why, las’ time we was out here they was all jumpin’ on each other and friskin’ and -”

“They weren’t playing, Mater,” Lightning reminded him. “They were - you know…”

Mater stared at him. “Whut?” Lightning blushed and looked away. “Ohhhhh,” Mater said, suddenly realizing what he’d meant. He too blushed as he turned to face Mack and Vee. “Them’s some purdy rowdy critters right there,” he said, pointing to the nearest tractors. “They’s tough. If’n Ah’m not knockin’ ‘em over, they’s doin’ it tuh each other. Specially the young ‘uns. Now watch this.”

Mater drove over to another tractor and started to circle it, his one good light illuminating clumps of grass and tractor hide. Vee squinted in the moonlight, trying to make out the shadowy bulk beneath the sleeping creature. It took her a moment to realize what it was. When she did, she sped toward Mater. “You’re not going to bother this one, are you?” she demanded.

Mater switched his light off and looked at her. “Why not?” he whispered.

Vee bristled. “Because, look!” she hissed, jabbing a tire at the tractor’s low-hung belly. “It’s obviously pregnant!” She was startled to hear Mater chuckle.

“Ah kin see that plain as day!” he told her. “Ah ain’t so low as tuh tip a tractor that’s expectin’. That’s why Ah was checkin’ ‘er out first, tuh make sure she were carryin’ a baby an’ not jist a few extra pounds.”

Vee’s engine calmed considerably on hearing this.

“Ah don’t tip the young ‘uns neither,” Mater went on. “Not till they’s growed up some first. If they’s still with their mamas I won’t touch ‘em with a ten-foot pole.” He turned and drove silently through the tall grass and Vee followed him. Dry wheat stalks caressed her sides and caused her to shiver slightly.

Mater stopped so suddenly that she nearly ran into him. “Ssshhhh!” he warned her, then crouched low to the ground, with his rear in the air and his tow hook swinging back and forth. He looked every bit like a cat about to pounce on some unsuspecting bird. Vee looked past him to see not one, not two, not three, but FOUR tractors, lined up perfectly like dominos waiting to be tipped.

“Now watch how the master does it!” Mater boasted, wiggling his back end. Vee chuckled and, before he could even blink, she plunged forward and blared her horn as loud as she could.

The first tractor went down easily. It took the second one down with it, which in turn tipped the third. The fourth tractor, awakened by the honk, sped off with a frantic “MOOO!” With surprising speed, it fled the field and charged blindly into the adjoining apricot grove, mooing like a maniac all the way. Mater howled with laughter. Mack and Lightning were cheering Vee on as they pulled up beside her.

“Now if that don’t put the ‘moo’ in ‘move it!’” Mater exclaimed, slugging Vee with a tire. Vee grinned smugly. As their laughter died, she became aware of a strange noise. Faint at first, it quickly grew louder. The ground beneath their tires began to tremble. Vee looked to the three men, all of whom were now glancing around nervously.

“What’s happening?” she demanded.

“Frank’s happening, that’s what!” Lightning replied before turning tail and speeding away.

“What?” The rumbling had grown so loud that Vee had to shout to be heard over it. She turned toward the grove and was surprised to see the tractor zooming back toward her. For a second she thought it was charging, but when it zoomed past without even looking at her, she realized something far worse was on its way. The half-bare tree boughs were quaking, the last of their leaves falling to the ground.

“Aw crud, we’d better git!” Mater said, turning to go. He froze the moment a bright set of lights pierced through the trees and lit the field in a blinding blaze. Vee stared in horror as a giant combine pushed its way through the grove and into the wheat field. Frank snorted, glaring at the trio of trespassers. With a mighty roar, his header spun to life and he charged, shredding up wheat and dry grass and everything else in his path.

“Look out!” Mack shouted, then turned and fled in the same direction Lightning had gone. But Vee did not hear him. Like a deer caught in headlights, she stood frozen in place, the combine’s lights blinding her. Her engine raced.

Bright light. Blinding. Sunlight… glinting on chrome…screeching of brakes… screaming…

“Joey!” The name echoes.

Grasses rustle and hiss. Engine growls… “NO!”

“YES!”

No, never again. Not ever…

VROOOOOM!

“Oh no you don’t, you filthy whore!” Screech. Slam. CRASH!

No. Never.

Ever.

“Come on, Miss Vee! We gotta git outta here!” Mater shouted as he shook the petrified Chrysler. Vee did not budge. She continued to stare unblinking into the headlights of the charging combine. Mater glanced around frantically, but Mack and Lightning were long gone. He shook Vee again, but roused no response. Knowing no other alternative, he drove behind her then and swung his tow hook. Feeling it latch under her back bumper, he accelerated, dragging Vee behind him in his haste to escape.

Hitting a bump, Vee was jolted back to reality. One look at Frank and his gleaming blades and she screamed. Flooring herself, she spun around and zoomed past Mater, tow hook still in place. Mater had only a split second to stare after her in surprise before he found himself suddenly being whirled around and towed backwards by the fleeing Chrysler. Helpless and disoriented in this new situation, he screamed as he watched Frank close the gap between them, his blades a shining silver blur as bits of wheat and dirt clods flew up all around them.

Halfway back to town, Mack stopped and looked back, startled to find himself alone. Engine racing, he headed back toward the field. “Vee!” he shouted, eyes and headlights scanning the dark horizon. “Mater! Where are you?” An engine roared in the distance and his own skipped several cycles in anticipation. Moments later Vee came swinging around a bend with Mater in tow. There was a look of pure panic on her face, though it was Mater who was doing the screaming.

“Vee, wait!” Mack yelled out to her as she passed. When she didn’t slow, he sped after her, blaring his horn.

Startled, Vee glanced back at him in her mirror and saw Mater swerve into her line of vision. She’d forgotten all about him in her panic and now stared in total disbelief as he swung back and forth across the road at the end of his own cable. She slammed on her brakes. The line went slack and the tow hook came loose from her bumper as Mater zipped past, yelling all the way. He flew backwards off the road, coming to a stop in the soft desert sand.

Vee stared after him, trembling on her axles and breathless. Mack pulled up beside her, asking if she was okay. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she gave a barely perceptible nod in reply, but did not look at him. Mater drove back up to the road, his tow hook and several feet of cable dragging limply behind him. “Hoo boy,” he panted. “A tow truck done gettin’ himself towed. It don’t git no worse’n that, Ah reckon. You’s one helluva racer, Miss Vee.”

Still trembling, Vee glanced up at him and forced a smile. “Are you sure you’re all right?” Mack asked her. She startled at the sudden sensation of his tire brushing against hers. This time she looked at him. The semi looked genuinely concerned.

“Yeah,” she replied, her voice hoarse. She licked her lips and swallowed again. “Fine.” A long and awkward silence fell between the three vehicles.

“Well, Ah don’t know about you two, but Ah’m parched!” Mater said, a little too loudly. “Ah’m all fer headin’ back tuh Flo’s fer another round. Y’all with me or what?”

“Um, no thanks,” Vee murmured.

“Well all right then!” Mater said, then took off down the road at a quick but easy pace. Mack and Vee stared after him a moment before they too started off down the road.

“So what happened back there?” Mack asked his friend.

It took Vee a moment to answer. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “When I saw that combine I just - I just froze. Then all of a sudden it was like a million things were happening at once. And then…” she trailed off, almost afraid to continue. “And then I remembered.”

“Remembered what?”

“Everything. Why I’m here. Why I ran away. The day I crashed into you. The crash itself. It all came back to me, just like that.”

Mack said nothing. He drove slightly closer to her.

“The day of the crash, I was being followed. A man named Joey - he worked for Slade - he was chasing me. I hid from him - in that very field back there, the one we were just at - but he found me there and he…” she paused, her voice breaking as she choked on a sob. “He tried to kill me, but that combine - Frank - chased him away.”

The sound of their tires humming over the asphalt was cold and empty. A faint glimmer of lights in the distance told them Radiator Springs was just up ahead. Like the road before them, the silence stretched on. It was a long time before Vee spoke again.

“I stayed out in the field for a while after that, and when I finally dared to leave, Joey was waiting for me. He chased me into Radiator Springs, but when Sheriff started chasing me he must have given up. But I know he can’t be far away. He’s out there somewhere, looking for me.”

Several times during her story, Mack opened his mouth to speak, to offer sympathy, to ask a question, to say something for the sake of saying it, but nothing ever came out. What could he say that wouldn’t sound cliché? What could he say that would comfort her? They reached the edge of town a minute later. Mack stuck close to Vee’s side as she drove toward the Cozy Cone lobby. Earlier that day Sally had offered her a room in exchange for housekeeping.

Vee picked up her key and, without a word to Mack, headed over to cone number six and unlocked the door. Mack pulled up behind her, watching her as she backed into the cone. The silence fell between them again, so thick it very nearly suffocated them.

“What are you running from?” Mack asked her suddenly, his words surprising himself as much as they did her. He had no idea why he’d asked her that, nor why his tone had sounded so demanding, but now that it was out in the open there was no sidestepping it.

Vee glanced down at the welcome mat and pawed at its frayed edge with a tire. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. Her voice was tiny, hollow and distant.

“I thought you said you remembered,” Mack replied.

“I do, but…” she sighed heavily and shook her hood. “I don’t know, Mack. It seems like the more I remember, the less I really know. I know exactly why I ran away, but now… now I don’t know what I’m running from. I know that doesn’t make sense, but…” she sighed again, this time sounding tired and frustrated. “Look, I’m exhausted, and I’d really rather not talk about it right now. I promise I’ll tell you everything in the morning, okay?”

“Okay,” Mack agreed reluctantly. He turned to go. “Good night then.”

“Good night, Mack,” Vee whispered, closing the door.

Chapter Twenty: [link]