If Cars Could Think 11

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

"Brenton and George, both of you are in serious, unquestionable trouble!" shouted Bryan, headlights burning and springs tense. He rolled past George, thumping his front bumper with a tire. "How old are you again? How long have you been working here? How many times has your loyalty been questioned to the point where you were taken to the entrance of that pit-"

"Once, okay?" George snapped. "And it was an unfair judgment!"

"That's once more than all of us!"

Casey slunk closer to Michael and Ruben's sides. The building at Zone 3 had never felt this crowded, tight, and threatening.

"Explain yourself before you freak out on them," said her dad, though his tone wasn't as calm as he probably hoped.

"This little piece of scrap—I saw him on the cameras!" Bryan moved closer to Brenton, looking ready to smack him. "He sneaked in here while negligent, senile old George went to check on the chambers, and left him outside this building. Then, he was pressing those buttons, and the enclosure opened—the enclosure he wasn't even supposed to see yet!"

"So Brenton freed the ixotole?" George asked. "And you're blaming me? I told his little ass to stay where he was and wait for me!"

"I was curious!" Brenton exclaimed. "Am I going to die now?"

"Yes!" snapped Bryan. "That's out of the question. Your curiosity cost of thousands and thousands of dollars, not only that, but that creature is out there somewhere!"

"Nobody should die!" Casey's mother broke in.

"Whether it's dead or not, we're going to have to find out where it is, then lie to the higher ups who will want documentation and experiments of it," said her dad. "We'll have to say it got sick and passed away or something, because if they knew we hired trucks with this level of stupidity, and that the older ones weren't responsible enough to watch over them..."

"Our authority might just lose every bit of TS privilege we have," Bryan explained, headlights darkening. "We can't risk it, Robert. I don't want to kill anybody, but Brenton's mistake was too severe, and George's negligence was inexcusable."

"There has to be a way to let them live, either way," Robert grunted. "Especially George. All his years serving us, and we're just going to throw him away, for a mistake that wasn't even his?"

"Thank you," George grunted.

"Nobody... can predict what mischief the younger trucks may cause," Rose spoke up, voice quavering. "It could just as well have been any of us who left Brenton sitting outside, then went to check on something. It could have been you, Robert, or even you, Bryan. I don't believe George is to blame here."

"Thank you." George shifted his wheels, looking quite surprised at Rose's words.

"You're going to have to explain yourself, Brenton." Bryan went nose to nose with him, his whole frame rattling with each chuff of his engine.

Brenton inched back. "I... I got curious, because... because, I don't know. I didn't think it would be bad to go in there, and maybe see... just see what was there." He shifted his wheels. "George was taking forever, and I... I got bored."

"That might have been forgivable, if you hadn't started tapping buttons, and freeing dogs, you freaking idiot. Why the hell would you do that? You're a spy, aren't you? You're reporting back what you find-"

"Never!" Brenton gasped. "I was just too... curious. I wanted to know what the buttons did, and it was dark, so I couldn't see what was in the enclosures. I didn't know anything!"