Fanfic: In The Fast Lane

Chapter 34- Down Route 66

Chapter 34- Down Route 66

Harley had slowed once she no longer saw any of the townsfolk of Radiator Springs, or rather, when she no longer heard the sound of Doc's voice cutting through the cold winter air like a serrated knife. Speaking of cold, the temperature had dropped with the sun as night settled in. The sun had fell under the horizon, but there was still the slightest bit of dusk light still visible as she neared the next town over. But the temperature and the sun weren't the only things dropping. Harley felt something off, something was wrong. Then she realized something that gave her more chills than the air could: she was running out of gas. She had no money, no gas, no where to stay, and now, she found herself headed towards a sad, desolate town. Looking around, she slowed and thought aloud to herself.

"Sheriff talked about this before..." she said, the world was so cold, she could see her own breath. "What did he call it? A ghost town?" she asked herself, and she got an answer.

"Ain' one-a those yet!" called out an old and rickety voice. "No' as long as I'm here.." Harley jumped and looked around, her eyes darted to find the source. "O'er here, lil miss, ta ya righ'." she looked and squinted her eyes as a lantern slowly lit up a shop porch. "Ya los'?" asked a rickety, old car. He was a 1929 Ford Model-A with worn out, faded paint and a voice to match, one that frequently didn't enunciate his 't's

"N-no sir..." Harley stuttered. "Just, uh, just passing through..." He studied her with eyes that looked to be straight from the old western times.

"Ya be comin' fr'm Ra'ia'or Springs?" he asked. Harley hesitated and moved away from the store.

"Like I said, just passing through." she began to drive again, but he stopped her with another statement.

"Hadn' had an'body 'jus' passin' through' in a long while..." his voice lowered and he began to drive towards her.

"Please, sir, just leave me alone..." she said, fear beginning to tint her voice. The old man took notice and stopped.

"No need to be ner'ous... why don't ya jus' come inside... it be mighty cold out here and the nex' gas station ain' for 'nother eighty mi'es..." he said in a less suspicious tone.

"It's... it's not?" Harley paused knowing she was getting desperate for gas. "There's not one closer?"

"Well, I'm sure there are, but if they have gas is the ques'ion." he paused and noticed Harley tossing the odds in her head. "Answer's no. The nex' few towns all be wha' you call ghos' 'owns.." the old man studied her for a moment. "Name's Mar'in by the way, Mar'in Blasse. Ye ca' call me Mar'y though. I gah a s'ash o' gas out back in m'barn." he offered. The chilled air was biting at Harley's paint job. It felt as though is would peal it right off. A warm barn didn't sound bad, not at all. A stranger's barn. Now that was terrifying. "Hey," Marty continued, "You can s'ay in there 'til mornin, fill up, 'en be on yer merry way. Don' even godda say g'bye." Harley began to leave once more as her response rather than actually speak, which Marty read clearly. "Fine, bes' a luck to ya..." he said, slightly disappointed. He'd been alone for so many years. "Hey, before ya go, one ques'ion... did ya see a lil Modle-T back in Ra'ia'or Springs?" she stopped and turned back.

'Lizzie...' she thought. "Why do you ask?" she questioned him.

"Oh, I was jus' wan'in' 'a know if she was doin' alrigh'. Haven' seen Elizabe'h in quite some time...." he mumbled." His gaze fell as did his spirits. Another car that couldn't give him an answer. He wasn't well enough to travle away from the desolate town and a care only came through once every few years. He turned around and thought himself foolish to think he could get an answer from this kid. Harley saw how upset he was and sighed.