Henry had a sad feeling in the pit of his stomach but he knew he had to at least TRY everything he could before he gave up rescuing Duct Tape. 

"Wiggle really wanted to be his friend," thought Henry as he reached the chop shop and stopped to catch his breath.

"This place sure looks like a junk yard," he said to no one in pawticular.

"Duct Tape, are you here?" he called out.

There was no answer.
Henry looked through the old parts of vehicles that were once prized pawsessions of the Uprights.  There was no sign of Duct Tape, and Henry knew he probably wouldn't recognize him once he was disassembled.

"Why oh why couldn't you hang on until I got here?" sighed Henry. 
"If only I had more time!"
"Time is the most precious thing of all," said an old Ford Schoolbus that heard what Henry said. "Is there someone I can help you find?"

"I don't know his real name," Henry said, "But we called him Duct Tape. He was an old school bus too, but if you'll pardon my saying, he was not as old as you."

The school bus laughed.  "They call me "Snout" here," said the old bus, and I'm not the oldest one still cranking around!"

Henry looked embarrassed.  He knew his next question would be delicate to ask the old bus.

"My name is Henry," he said.  "Do all the busses live here forever?"

 
Snout understood Henry's question before he asked it.  "Your friend has been disassembled," the old bus said sadly.  "It usually happens to the newer models.  They are still needed for busses on the road that need replacement parts.  Anything still good in him will be sold in the shop.

"I just don't understand," said Henry.  "It seemed like he could have been so useful, and Wiggle really seemed to care about him."

"But inside he stopped trying," said Snout.  "When you stop trying, you die inside.  No one else can bring you back if you don't want to try."
"I guess I wanted a different ending to his story," sighed Henry. 
"I really thought he could do it!"

"You are right about that Henry," said Snout. "But for whatever reason, he decided not to.  If it makes you feel any better, his parts will go on to help other busses who need them".

"Do you think it would be ok if I brought some of them home for Wiggle?" asked Henry.  "I know that she always wanted to have some hub caps of her very own."

"Your friend didn't have any hub caps Henry," said Snout.  "But you can check in the store.  I know they'll have some in there."

Henry still had the 100.00 he was going to save Duct Tape with. 
"I guess I can still get Wiggle something," he decided.
"I'm sorry you lost your friend," said a sad old car who looked like he wanted to cry.

"For goodness sake, don't start leaking," said Snout. "You know how rusty you get."

"If you hurry, you can get those hub caps before they close today," said the sad car. 

"Imagine having someone care about you so much, they'd follow you all the way to the chop shop!" he said to Snout after Henry was gone.

"Looks like Duct Tape missed the best years of his life," said Snout.