General Lee's Revenge--A Car's Worst Fear

Chapter Five: Darkness

(Finally done with this chapter, this whole sequence sucked and really kicked my ass but here we are)

It had been glum, it had been dark. Depressing, sickly, agonizing, all accurate words, that is, until that chunk of red started bebopping around. Back and forth she went, sweeping random Defects into waltzes and weaving through the crowded pen. From her radio played Buddy Holly, Dion & the Belmonts, Ritchie Valens, and Thurston Harris.

The previous song had been Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock, but she now played Not Fade Away by Buddy Holly. She effectively captured everyone's attention, twisting and turning, a few Defects here and there exchanging glances with each other and deciding to join in. Those Defects bopped up and down and swayed side to side. Those who danced pulled in others and those who got pulled in pulled in two more. Soon, nearly the entire captivity was shifting to the beat of Buddy Holly.

It was beautiful. The swaying masses, the dull-colored cars covered in dirt and mud swaying back and forth, and in their midst, a rosy-red beacon hopping and skipping.

"What is she doin'?" Thunder asked as they watched the scene below.

"It... looks like a distraction?" Autumn ventured.

"She's tryna keep them other cars in a good swingin' mood," Gravedigger said observantly.

"If you ask me, I'd say she was causin' a distraction so those goons won't see us get in," Cooter said, pointing to the chain-link gate of the Defects' pen where two men stood guard, watching the crowd move inside.

"Hell, what're we waitin' for, let's go!" Gravedigger growled, lunging forward, but was immediately stopped by General.

"Stop, we need a plan!" he argued.

"And you got one?" Tank asked.

"No, but Luke does."

Cooter glanced at the dark-haired Duke boy, who stood near his car. "You do?" he asked, trying poorly to hide the anxiousness in his voice. If Luke was coming up with a plan, there'd be almost no guarantee it would fail, and he was semi-counting on any plan of theirs to fail.

Luke smirked as he met his gaze. "Sure do, thought it out on the way over here."

Cooter flashed him an anxious grin, lightly wiping the sweat from his brow. Bo came up and punched him lightly in the arm, catching the mechanic off-guard.

"Oh, this oughta be good," said the younger Duke boy as he stood against the tow truck.

Luke grabbed a stick and sank to his haunches, drawing another one of his diagrams in the dirt. Once he finished connecting every line and assigning each person a specific rock or pine cone, he began to divulge into his plan.

"Cooter, Autumn, y'all are with us, we're gonna storm the main gate, create a distraction," Luke started, placing a few objects accordingly.

"Why's Cooter's pinecone bigger than mine?" Autumn asked accusingly.

Luke gave her a look and continued, "Thunder and Tank, while we've got the guards distracted, you two bust through the fence and tear open a way for those Defects to get out. Grant, Caleb, I want y'all to spot 'em, make sure nobody can get the drop on 'em, understand?"

Grant nodded. "You betcha!"

"I'll take that as a yes. Now Tank and Thunder, while we're movin' in from the north, I want y'all to move in from the west. You won't have a lot of wiggle room as far as the lake, but that's the last place the guards would think to check, just make sure nobody falls in, got it?"