Team Twin-Snail
Before the Stage
Luke looked at the terrain stretching out in front of them, while Linda plotted a fast course through the sand dunes to their destination.
“Something on your mind, Luke?” Amy asked, noticing Luke’s attention was focused across the micro-desert in front of them.
“I hate sand. Gets in everything, clogs filters, you find it months later spilling out of your shoes and all over your car.” Luke said, getting into the car. “My advice, eat anything you’ve got left open in the car now, because otherwise you’re going to have it with a side of sand.”
Scott wandered out of the porta-potty, giving an evil grin as he got into the car. “Hope no one else has to go in there. The smell’s not the only thing wrong.”
“What’d you do?” Linda asked.
“Accidentally knocked the toilet paper into the poop tank.”
“Oh, like you used to do at home, drove mom crazy all those years ago wondering which of the six of us was the shit-monster who would do a poo, wipe, throw the entire roll of toilet paper in there, and then not bother to flush.”
“Something like that, yeah.”
“Let’s get out of here before any of the other teams find that one out.” Luke said, as everyone piled into the car.
Day 2, Leg 6
Luke barely waited for the flag to drop before giving the old Sinistra Savage everything it had, the gremlin in the gearbox barely managing to keep up with the alarming amount of fury as Luke channeled every bit of his hatred of the sand in front of them through the gas pedal. The engine roared, throwing the huge car into the sand pit with full aggression, bouncing off of the rev limiter as the four speed automatic struggled to keep up.
It didn’t take long for the Snail-Boat to run off the end of the speedometer, reading 120 plus a little extra, despite them not going anywhere near that fast. The heat started to build in the intercooler and radiator, and the prolonged high RPM was causing the voltage regulator to get hot as well. Luke backed off as the car ground to a halt in the sand, then said, “Well, I’m not getting out of the car to get us un-stuck. If I do, I’ll spend the rest of my days finding sand grinding around in my chassis after sinking up to my knees in this shit.”
Scott got out, opening up the trunk and grabbing the boards to help with traction, wedging them under the rear wheels so that they could roll out of the trench they’d made. Luke pulled the car forward, then waited for Scott to pack up the boards and get back in.
They repeated that process four times, each time caused by Luke’s desire to get out of the heat and the sand, his impatience with the gas pedal causing massive delays. However, once they got out of the dunes and onto Pearson Dunes Road, Luke tried to make up time. He floored it, and for just a moment before they piled on the brakes heading into Pearson, they’d topped the car out on the road.
“Can’t make up for getting stuck four times, but at least we know the old car can run.” Luke said.
Day 2, Leg 6 Aftermath
The first place in Pearson that was visited was the car wash, not to actually wash the car, but to vacuum out all the sand they could find. Then it was a trip to the gas station to refuel, both the car and the food supply, as everything that hadn’t been eaten now had sand all over the place.
The only thing anyone could get out of Luke for several minutes was just how much he hated sand. This cycle was broken by Scott asking about what Luke wanted to play regarding music.
“Wasn’t appropriate for that area. Next downhill, though, I’ll mention it. Though you’ll have to play it loud, so that everyone around can hear it.” Luke said.
Car Condition:
Functionally identical to the previous leg. Still weighs about 10 pounds more than it did before the stage due to the sand that hasn’t yet been found. Fluids all topped up.
Team Condition:
MRL +13 overall. Feeling very lucky. Enjoying gas station pizza and junk food. Luke’s running his cooling system at 100% to keep his circuits cool.
