Worlds Collide: A Cars Fan Fiction

Hitting the Road

At noon, they were ready to go. The humans would ride in a small open trailer pulled by Sarge (which he had apparently used to carry materials during the war). It was a...strange arrangement, but no one could think of anything better.

Hector, despite having accepted that he wasn't coming, still insisted on watching his friends get ready to go. He'd been tractor tipping with Mater for the last two hours, and was clearly in a better mood, but his anger at not being allowed to help rescue Abbey had clearly not gone away. 

Despite believing that it was for the best, Nikki still felt guilty at leaving him behind. She decided to at least give him a quick goodbye hug. He saw her coming and tried to escape, but she was too fast and caught him in a spine-crushing embrace.

"We'll see you soon," she told him.

"It'd be over sooner if I was coming with you," he grumbled. She let him go, giving him a look. He sheepishly looked at his neon-green sneakers. "But I know you'll still do great."

"Thank you, Hector. See you later." She started to get up.

"Wait!" Hector started digging through his pockets. He pulled out at least two dozen small, semi-sparkly orbs, which he handed to Nikki. She stared at them for a second before realizing what they were.

"Have you been carrying these smoke bombs since magic camp?"

"Thought they'd come in handy. But I think you'll need them more."

"Um, thanks." She had no idea what they'd need with smoke bombs, but tucked the spheres into her jacket pocket. You never know, she thought.

"Nikki, you ready?" Zane called from the trailer. He, Elsie, and Zhara were already sitting inside. Nikki nodded. 

"Coming!" She ran over and climbed into the trailer. Zane and Zhara looked incredibly nervous while Elsie seemed annoyed. 

"Have you noticed that there aren't any seat belts on this thing?" Zane whispered, his worry plain on his face.

Nikki gave him a look that rivaled the one she'd just given Hector. "We're about to drive across the desert, break our friend out of jail, and go up against a hundred or more scientists that want to use us as guinea pigs...and you're worried about seat belts?"

"Safety first!" Zane defended himself. "What if we run over a rock and someone goes flying out?"

Elsie rolled her eyes, scribbled in her notebook, and gave the piece of paper to Nikki.

"'Ladies, you're both pretty.'" Nikki read aloud. She glared at Elsie. "Very funny."

"I know," Elsie signed, a smug grin on her face.

"Everyone ready?" Sheriff called. 

Nikki took a breath. Now or never. "Let's go!"

The four cars started their engines and began the drive through the desert, with the quartet of humans being tugged along in the trailer.

"Bye! Good luck! Hurry back!" Hector and the rest of the town's cars called after them. Nikki was waving goodbye, slightly leaning forward, when the trailer wheel went over a rock. She lost her balance and would have fallen out if someone hadn't caught her by the hand.

She looked up to see Zane staring at her, worry and relief in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," she stuttered, so flustered that she didn't realize he was still holding her hand. "I'm good." 

"Okay, good." He let go of her hand. Then he smirked. "Told you we needed seat belts."

"Oh, shut up!" She laughed and lightly hit him in the shoulder. He laughed, too, then turned to look at the desert ahead. Elsie and Zhara smiled knowingly at each other, but said nothing. 

Nikki looked back at Radiator Springs, which was growing smaller surprisingly quickly. She tried to think about the plan. But her thoughts kept turning back to how nice it had felt when Zane had held her hand.

---

"We're here." Sheriff stopped in front of a rock wall. "First mountain of Cadillac Range."

"Finally," Elsie signed, getting up and staggering out of the trailer. The ride to the mountain had been somewhat rough. All four humans needed a moment or two to get their legs working again. 

"Okay," Nikki said, regaining control. She was remembering the seriousness of the situation, and began to study their surroundings. "First things first, find the elevator. Remember, there could be scientists or security guards anywhere. Stay alert."

They spread out a bit. Even with eight of them, it still took longer than Nikki thought to find the elevator. Finally, McQueen spotted it.

It was very well hidden among the rock; the only clue that it was there at all was a small, almost unnoticeable button on the ground. Using his tire, McQueen pressed it. A hole opened in the rock, revealing an elevator large enough for eight vehicles. 

"Okay," Nikki whispered. "No turning back now. Once we're in, we find Abbey, any clue as to how we got here, and get out."

Everyone piled into the elevator. There weren't buttons on the walls; the elevator simply closed its door and began moving upwards. No one said anything. Nikki noticed Elsie slip her hand into her sister's, with Zhara squeezing it back. Nikki glanced at Zane's hand, which was very close to hers. Then she shook her head. 

The elevator dinged, and slowed to a stop. The doors opened to reveal a corridor that was, thankfully, empty. But they could still hear distant voices from somewhere in the compound.

Nikki, scanning her surroundings, saw a metal trashcan next to a sink. Perfect. She pulled the flint from her pocket. 

"Okay. Zane, I need your screwdriver. Elsie, I'll need a page from your notebook." Her friends complied. 

She speed walked to the trashcan, straining to not make a noise. Then she rolled the piece of paper into a tube and held it with her knees. She held the flint in her left hand and struck at it with the screwdriver. The first and second times did nothing. But on the third strike, a small shower of sparks fell onto the end of the paper (thankfully not hitting her knees).

She waited. Seconds crawled by. Then, she saw it: a wisp of smoke coming from the paper. As she watched, an orange flame appeared, turning the paper black. Nikki felt like cheering, but there was no time. She whipped her head around until she found what she was looking for: a smoke detector. 

Holding the flaming paper away from her body, she tiptoed to the detector and held the fire underneath it. Come on, she urged. In after a few painfully long seconds, the detector came alive, beeping at an earsplitting volume. Similar sounds came from across the compound. 

Nikki, trying to cover her ears while not burning herself, ran to the sink. She turned it on full blast and threw the paper inside. Once she was positive that the fire was out, she threw the soggy black paper in the trash, turned off the sink, and dashed for the elevator, where the others were still hiding. 

Sheriff, after looking around, had found a way to close the door without sending the elevator back down. The group listened. Confused and somewhat alarmed voices could be heard over the sounds of the fire alarms, as well as someone calling "Evacuate!"

After a minute, everything was silent. Even the smoke detectors turned off. Sheriff opened the elevator door. Everyone got out. Nikki breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Nice one!" Zane congratulated her.

She smiled. "Let's split up. Elsie, you, Zhara, Sheriff, and Sarge go look for any clues on how to get home. The rest of us will go find Abbey."