General Lee, Christine, and Thunder navigated the junkyard. It was dark and General noticed that Thunder had been acting weird. Weirder than usual at least. The truck had so many insecurities, he was paranoid, jumpy, and oh so terribly awkward. Thunder was impossible to talk to, he either gave simple, one-word answers or a poor explanation. General was beginning to lose his patience for him but knew that he was a valuable asset to their cause. He knew, deep down, that things would get better, they had to.
"So, remind me again who we're lookin' for," General rumbled.
"An old friend of mine from California. They used to call him the Striped Tomato, but I like to call him Stripes just to make him mad," Christine explained.
"Would your friend happen to be a bright red, 1976 Ford Gran Torino?" Thunder asked.
"Yes, he would, why?"
Thunder pointed a windshield wiper to a stack of cars, a '76 Gran Torino sitting on the top of it. The headlights were on and its tires were missing. Rust lined its bumpers and a broken, red strobe light sat on its roof on the passenger side.
"Oh no," General groaned.
"Come on, let's get him down," Christine rumbled, ignoring General's protest.
She disappeared farther into the junkyard, and Thunder followed her. General continued to stare at the car.
"General, come on!" Christine hissed.
General jumped as if he'd been awakened from a trance. "Uh, yeah, yeah, comin'." He rushed off to meet with the others. He found Christine situating jumper cables onto Thunder's grill.
"What're you doin'?" General asked.
"We're going to use Thunder's powers to make a giant electromagnet," Christine explained.
"Electro-what? How d'you know that'll work?"
"I don't, but that's the fun of it. AlrightThunder, hit it."
General and Christine watched as the jumper cables sparked, and there was a loud groan within the junkyard.
"Give it some more," Christine instructed.
Thunder did as he was told, and the groan got louder. Small tinks began to echo around their small clearing. The pile of cars before them began to lean, the Gran Torino started to slide closer to the ground.
General heard the pickup make a noise, almost as if he were choking back a sob. He realized that Thunder was pushing the limits of his powers, he couldn't keep this up for much longer.
The Gran Torino began to lay on its horn in fear. It flashed its lights, revving its engine.
"Christine, Thunder can't keep it up for much longer, the car's gonna fall!" General exclaimed.
Christine looked from General to Thunder, then to the Gran Torino. "We'll catch him."
She drove up to the pile, and General followed her hesitantly.
"Hey Stripes! Welcome back to the living world, my friend!" Christine called out.
To General's surprise, a raspy answer came.
"I never left it! And how many times have I told you to quit calling me Stripes?" the striped car called back.
"Two-hundred and ninety-eight to be exact," Christine replied matter-of-factly.
"Leave it to you to know that!"
"Old flare of yours?" General asked.
"Nah, but me and Stripes here go way back, we're just friends. Our history's over a mile long," Christine explained.
YOU ARE READING
General Lee's Revenge
Fanfiction"Outta the car." He ordered. They got out quickly, and stood behind the car, trying to protect themselves from Clayton. "I'm giving you a choice here Jefferson. You can save yourself and these boys a lot of pain if you turn yourself in, along with...
