Leo: This traffic ain’t goin’ nowhere dude, what the fuck?
Zack: I have no idea. Let me listen to Hold the Line and chill a bit.
Leo: You can chill out if you want, I’mma get some food, there’s a drive by right there. I’ll get some NUMBA 9S AND NUMBA 7S
Yells at the radio Yo does anybody want some food?
Zack: Jesus fucking Christ Leo. shrug
Prequel incoming for my team as I missed Day 0 and Day 1 intro
The truck was running smoothly for the pair of Britts, no noises coming from any of the components, other than squeaking interior plastic.
The pair were currently on their way out of the Snoqualmie Pass, having traversed the highway construction and heavy traffic.
Bex was currently at the wheel of the Hiway-Trekker.
Bex: [wipes her brow] “Phew! We’re out of the traffic.”
Liz: “Hopefully that’s the last of it for at least this leg.”
Bex: [nods in agreement] “I hope so too.”
With the truck now clear of the traffic and in the lead pack, the Britts settled down into a cruising state, the i6 turbo-diesel running smoothly.
While they had concerns about the tyres and suspension, both seemed to be holding up well.
A deep, gruff voice crackled through the CB’s speaker. “If we cross paths, then, yes, we will join you to try this ‘Skyrim’ that you spoke of.”
Fuzz grinned and shook his head. “Must be our tiger friends. I swear, they’re the third weirdest team to listen to talk.”
Rick sighed, not really wanting to know the answer to his next question. “And who are the weirdest?”
“The Polish guys and the Chinese guys in the commie car!” Fuzz replied without hesitation. A moment later there was a sickening THWACK delivered to the back of his head. “Oww! What was that for?”
“Jeez, at least make a half-assed attempt at being PC,” Jen rebuked sternly.
“What? I’m just saying!”
“I’d like to get through at least one state before your mouth gets us in trouble,” she held firm.
Fuzz rolled his eyes and scoffed at his sister. His attention turned back to his phone, attempting to find some form of audio revenge to inflict on her through the car’s stereo.
Jen grabbed the pillow that was leaning up against her door, mocking a motion to smother her younger sibling. “Hey hon, it’s not murder if it’s an accident, right?”
“Or if it’s justifiable. I think this qualifies as self-defense,” Rick added. “I’ll testify for you.”
“Ha-ha. You know Mom will avenge me anyway. Thanksgiving could get real interesting without me,” Fuzz chuckled. His eyes suddenly got wide, his mirth disappeared, and he lost the color in his face. “Oh god.”
“What?” Jen asked. Her heart felt as if it stopped for a moment as she watched her brother’s face contort in pain.
FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP
Dead silence for five seconds.
“Oh thank God. It was all gas. Thought it was gonna be a shart.”
Then the smell permeated to the rest of the car. Rick turned green and began fumbling for the power window controls, attempting to roll down all four at once (and forgetting that the left rear didn’t work). Meanwhile, Jen nearly launched herself over the seat and grabbed the CB mic, clicking the button and yelling “MAYDAY! MAYDAY! CHEMICAL ATTACK INSIDE THE GREASY LIGHTNING CAR!”
Coyote Jim (thru radio): on the first part of the journey, I was looking at all the life…
The Dione is stuck in traffic, as are all other contestants.
Nothing of interest happens just yet, apart from a few radio messages…
Redwood: “It’s certainly better than sitting on the side of the road with whatever problem our cars might have, over.”
A few minutes later…
Redwood: “OH LOOK! They have Skyrin in their car somehow!”
Tonsom: “The FUCK???”
Redwood: “Definitly! That is, if we end up at the same place.”
Somewhere along the journey, Connor spots something of interest to their team.
It did not take long until the fart-canned ricer shitbox was audible as well.
Connor: “I may have spotted a vehicle of interest.”
Tonsom: [confused] “What?”
Connor points at the vehicle in question.
Connor: “A Radster 1.6. Most if not all of the modifications are for it’s appearance. It matches the vehicle entry of Team Coyote Jim in the list of participants.”
Tonsom: “Huh… you actually managed to spot a singular vehicle out of THOUSANDS in this mayhem of traffic??”
Connor: “Yes.”
The Dione is slowly passing the Radster, clearly showing both it’s occupants wearing helmets.
Tonsom: “Okay… don’t interact with them yet. we’ll get ahead and try and snatch them on one of the checkpoints later on.”
[turns to Redwood] “You just keep driving…”
to be continued
Zack: Ugh, Hi it’s james from Rockport. I think I heard like a fucking Nuke from Greasy Lightning’s direction, immediately followed by a Mayday call if I’m not wrong? Everybody alright?
Few seconds later
Zack: Oh it was a fart? Man you gotta stop stacking on them Chitpole ffs. Zackary out.
… Oh fuck I said Zackary didn’t I? I hope they didn’t notice.
Serves Fuzz right for playing Chacarron 
OOC: It was because he partook in too much of the greasy offerings at the hotel’s free breakfast.
Friday, early afternoon - I-90 East
Most of the teams had been held up by unusually heavy traffic early on, including the Maroon Marauders - but their choice of car, with its premium interior and comfortable ride, made the congestion more bearable. Denny was scanning the surroundings for other entrants, when he spotted an animesque hatchback with obvious signs of crash damage, and asked: “What on earth happened to them?”
Gary’s response was blunt and unsurprising. “They must have crashed into a wall behind us - they tried to avoid some roadworks but couldn’t avoid the barrier on the inside. This could have negative ramifications for them later on.”
Everyone else in the team nodded in acknowledgement. That’s when Denny decided to address the other competitors over the CB radio: “Good afternoon, everyone. We’ve been stuck in heavy traffic for the past two hours, most of it due to roadworks on I-90 East. Fortunately for us, the construction zone ends just beyond Snoqualmie Pass. You’re about to leave it behind very soon - if you haven’t done so already. Hopefully we’ll all get a chance to pick up the pace thereafter - but this is only the first leg of the race, so sit tight.”
The other teams heard the message loud and clear; after being stuck in traffic for hours, they were just as impatient as the Maroon Marauders. But the roadworks would end soon enough, and beyond that point, all hell could break loose - so the Maroon Marauders decided to just bide their time and wait for an opportunity to go faster. They knew that it was only a matter of time…
Two days before the event start and things are looking up. Gen has been working around the clock getting things in order on the Menderson, all the brake lines, wiring, and tires were up to her standard, and the only thing that had her concerned was the radiator, and the possibility of overheating from the engine.
Otherwise, the spare engine, and hoist to do any emergency roadside repairs were in place and bungie corded down near the front of the cab, in line with the driver. on the opposite side was a the cargo net container with their payload ballast to offset the weight of the spare Big Block.
The even had room to fit a couch in the back, it cost as much as the rest of the Truck when Malik got it off cragueslist, but it was his investment to the team. and next to it, on an end table welded to the floor of the truck by Tom was a Microwave!
After final preparations by Gen were complete, the team mounted up and started the V8 beast up and made their move north to Washington.
After a relatively uneventful drive north, The D-Team rolled into the rather nondescript parking lot, seeing the odd assortment of wheeled vehicles gave Gen a laugh, but the other two were oddly stoic and professional it seemed as they parked up next to a European looking semi, the team hopped out to find any race ‘officials’ to sign on with.
Gen seemed more interested in popping the hood on the Menderson and checking the. thankfully, full radiator for any leaks. “You know we didn’t have to try and pass that Demon on the highway, we haven’t even started the race and you’re already pushing the old girl too hard… Malik? are you-” Gen turned to find she was by herself as the two older gentlemen had started walking around the parking lot almost aimlessly either looking for Race officials or just looking at the other drivers choices of racing machines in Malik’s case.
Gen slammed the hood of the Menderson and climbed back in, knowing full well she’d be doing a lot of babysitting throughout the race.
Malik and Tom discovered the strange new package tossed rather unceremoniously into the driver seat of the Menderson, tom flipped open a knife and grabbed the package, just in time for Malik to yoink it out of tom’s hands.
Tom: “Hey! we didn’t agree to any extra packaged on this run! what if it’s a tracking beak or… or a bomb!?”
Malik: “Tom, Be real man! they wouldn’t be crazy enough to put bombs in all their contestants cars! at most it’s Pharmaceuticals…”
Tom’s expression morphed into one of confusion, he opened his mouth to reply just in time for Gen to poke her head out from the cargo door between the front seats.
Gen: “Forget about the package! Everyone else is moving out already, and i’ll be damned if I let that package win us last place!”
The two men glared at each-other a moment, looked back up to gen, then Malik tossed the package at Gen as he proceeded to climb up into the cab to take his postion at the helm. Tom rounded the front of the truck and entered as well, pulling a rather large folded up map of the U.S., a piece of string, and a protractor. Before Gen could get google maps open, the geezer had half the coordinates mapped out, and was starting to draw up a route.
The mechanic frowned, then threw her hands up in defeat, returning to the couch in the back of the truck as Malik pulled out of the Parking lot, following some of the other early leavers.
_The drive had been mostly quiet, aside from the nearly straight piped big block chugging and backfiring between nearly every gear change (of which there were many due to the stop and go traffic). So when the Trucks old CB crackled to life with the question, Malik’s face lit up at the chance to-
Before the African American driver could get his hand off the gear-stick Tom had grabbed the mic and spoke.
Tom C.: "D-Team to uhh… Golf-Lima, Whats better than mixing exhaust fumes with some quality Cuban Leaf?
Malik stared at Tom as the newly self-appointed radio operator chuffed away at a cigar the size Malik’s… Thumb.
Malik: “You really just said that didn’t you? You know most of those other guys are like… twenty right? they’re into vaping, and NOT getting lung cancer…”
Tom: Rolled his eyes as the Teams driver spouted nonsense. “What the hell difference does it make? And what’s ‘vaping’? that like the thing those middle eastern guys smoke from, looks like a big tower with hoses on it?”
NAOMI: Anyone who is still stuck in the jam, will you want some Skyrim later if we have a rest period on?
The men both looked around the cabin in a rather embarrassed fashion before Gen poked her head into the cab; grabbing the mic from the inattentive team leader.
Geneva: Yeah, this is Gen on the D-Team Truck, We got a couch in the back if you need seating. You guys have a rig in your car to play?
Both of the geezers were staring with intense concern at the young female mechanic as she accepted the offer.
Gen: looking between the two men; “What? it’s Skyrim, it’s a video game, whats the big deal?”
Both of the men seemed incredibly relieved to hear that their mechanic had agreed to gaming rather than… whatever they were thinking Skyrimming was.
“MAYDAY! MAYDAY! CHEMICAL ATTACK INSIDE THE GREASY LIGHTNING CAR!”
The members of The D-Team had a laugh as the drivers of the Keystone hot-miced the insuing chaos in the maroon terror.
Inside the Menderson
Rather glad I wasn’t drinking anything at that moment…
Edit: A reminder, all the time blocks are marked in Eastern time (so I don’t have to shift them later), but currently all cars are in the Pacific time zone (3 hours earlier, so this time block actually ended at 11am local time). I will notify you in Notes whenever you pass a time zone.
It's a prequel yeah
Leo: Well, we’re here!
Zack: We sure are. I think a few contestants are here too.
Leo: Yeah, some are actually looking directly at our ride.
Zack: Pretty normal, they don’t expect a toy racer-like car to be the noisier of the bunch. We also didn’t make quite the subtle entry with that 120kph entry speed then suddenly braking in fear of overshooting.
Leo: No shit haha.
A certain late 80s hatchback takes Zack’s attention.
Zack: Leo, tell me that’s not a real Radster Group A from the 90s, otherwise I might throw a fit.
Leo: Yeah it’s blended in quite nicely but I can tell it’s just a bodykit over the shitbox version of the 1.6… Nicely built though, I’d assume it’s still a great contender.
Zack: Oh jeez look at that Taco truck though! I wonder who did this, but I admire they’re efforts.
Zack waves at them and does an engine revving gesture. One of them understands and revs the engine for them. The all American Pushrod V8 howled like a Dinosaur. Prehistoric, yet thrilling as balls!
Leo: Oof that thing has some torque I can tell.
Zack: It’s ridiculous and I love it… Umm, what’s up with those people by that Sinistra though?
Leo: Yeah they seem pretty… Odd to say the least.
Zack: And guess what else is odd? A fucking Semi, holy fuck dude!
Leo: This is probably the I6 model, man. Dunno about that, I’ve heard the front axle sometimes just… Comes off? Hahahaha
Zack: Well there’s a variety of cars and more contestants are arriving, we’ll decide our strategy then. I’d love to talk to some of these people though, they all seem very interesting.
Leo: Let’s make this work properly man. We worked on this car for 3 weeks and practiced driving it. It better be worth something right?
Zack: I’m sure we’d prevail somehow.
Ah shoot still no Day 0
Just under two hours into the journey, two of the three members are having a noticeable degree of appetite, as they (somehow) forgot to eat before departure. They, especially Tonsom, also wants to have some degree of an enjoyable ride and canned raviolis and water won’t cut it…
Tonsom: [to Connor] “Mind searching for a food place to stop at?”
Connor circular LED on his right temple emits a faint yellow light, then turning back to blue.
Connor: “I have thirteen results in about 31 miles. Three Fast-Food Restaurants, two bakeries, two Steakhouses and two Italian-themed ones.”
Tonsom: “I’d be down for some pasta.”
Redwood: “Sounds good!”
Connor: “I will provide directions to Beau’s Pizza & Pasta, 124 E 1st St, Cle Elum, WA 98922.”
Redwood grabs the handle of the CB radio:
Redwood: “Hello people! If anyone is interested in some frinds-making, we can meet up at Beau’s Pizza & Pasta, 124 E 1st St, Cle Elum, WA 98922. Should be about 30 miles down the road from here.”
Connor: [not directly speaking into the handle, yet still audible]
“Be aware that our destination is a fairly small place. So please don’t invite anybody at once.”
Redwood: [to Connor] “Yep.” [back into handle] “Okay. Space apparently is limited. So if anyone is interested, we’ll be there.”
Tonsom: “You really want that attention, right?”
Redwood: “Maaybe we can get some stiff on Jim out of them?”
Tonsom: “Point has been made…”
Gregory: Guys, you ready?
Rick, Kate and Danny: Yeesss!
Gregory: Let’s go!
59 miles later…
Greg: Jeez trafic is shit today.
Danny: Hey, don’t swear!
Greg: I’m yo daddy. I can swear whenever I want.
Kate: There’s a child here!
Greg: Traffic is so bad. I guess we’re going to be here for a long time!
Danny notices a CB radio… He decided he wants to talk through the radio.
Danny: Hello, hello, hello?
Greg: What the hell you doin’ kid?
Danny: Just talking through the radio!
Greg: It’s not for entertainment purposes.
Somebody: Ello!
Everyone: Oh jeez!!!
To be continued…
If somebody wants to have a chat with us, you’re welcome!
Over their CB radio, an invitation from Redwood comes over the speaker
Redwood: “Hello people! If anyone is interested in some frinds-making, we can meet up at Beau’s Pizza & Pasta, 124 E 1st St, Cle Elum, WA 98922. Should be about 30 miles down the road from here.”
Feeling a bit peckish themselves, the two Britts decide to take up the offer, Liz grabbing hold of the radio’s mic.
Liz: “Stokes to RK-R. We’ll gladly take you up on your offer. Two empty tanks need filling here. Over.”
With the reply sent, the Hiway-Trekker started making its way towards the restaurant, both ladies eager to get some pizza.
Hears the CB Radio
Danny: Let’s have some lunch!
Rick: Don’t worry, I’m stayin at the car. I ain’t hungry.
Greg: Well, you go in there yourself. Wait no, let mommy take you in.
Danny: That’s alright! Me hungry!
NAOMI: We have all know about this. Dude, Google Maps is a thing BTW.
VINCENT: (takes CB radio from Naomi) Well…
VINCENT: Nope, I’ve just found another place to eat, don’t worry.
After another 15 minutes of quality Australian doof doof music and sitting in traffic, the trio hear radio crackle to life once more
Redwood (CB): Hello people! If anyone is interested in some friends-making, we can meet up at Beau’s Pizza & Pasta, 124 E 1st St, Cle Elum, WA 98922. Should be about 30 miles down the road from here.
T: Maybe we should join them, I’m always up for making a few friends, I am feeling a bit peckish myself.
M: You had lunch right before we left, how are you already hungry enough for a full meal again?
S: glaring at Mike If you’re hungry there’s snacks in the back, we’ve already lost quite a bit of time in this traffic, I don’t think we need to stop for half an hour to get food.
T: defeated Fine. Mike, you want anything from back here?
M: startled from hearing his name amongst the heavy bass from the music Sorry, what was that?
T: I said, do you want anything from back here?
M: No thanks, I’m good for the time being.
The trio continue to wait impatiently in traffic, likely annoying the other road-goers with their loud music.
Leo: What the fuck is this Bogan music dude?
Zack: I have no idea and I wish to pour distilled water over whoever’s goddamn speaker is making that noise.
Leo: Ya don’t say. Speaking of which, doesn’t this thing have like a shit ton of wattage in it’s woofers?
Zack: Well it was considered a high premium entertainment system 14 years ago, let’s see how it holds up.
roads are starting to clear up
Zack: It’s Carpenter Brut time! Woooooo!
turns volume knob to 11
OOC:
wait… so this will be a meetup between
RK Series Racing
Team Beer Blokes & BBQs
Team “Buy Skyrim”
Team Stokes
The Thompson Family
Team Eyelashes
Team Less Than Three
whoever is running this place will be astonished by like 15 people storming his place
OOC:
Team Beer Blokes & BBQs isn’t going to join RK-R at the restaurant, they were just going to keep going