Chapter 2
Charlotte stared at her phone screen, reading the bold red warning that dominated the display.
Extreme weather alert. Stay indoors. Dangerous atmospheric conditions are imminent.
The message scrolled, noting severe weather expected to impact coastal New Jersey within the next hour, with unusual atmospheric pressure readings and possible electrical interference.
She glanced up at the clear blue sky above, feeling a mix of confusion and mild irritation.
“It’s just a weather alert,” she said. “Telling us to stay inside.”
“That’s strange. There’s not a cloud to be seen. Do you think it’s one of those false alarms again?”
“Probably. Last month, they sent out a flood warning for the whole county, and it barely drizzled.”
“Maybe we should pay attention anyway. At my age, you learn not to take chances with the weather.”
Charlotte nodded. “I’ve still got most of my route to finish. I’ll keep an eye out, but if the sky suddenly turns green, I promise I’ll find shelter.”
“The sky turning green? Now that would be something worth seeing. I think I’ll make myself a cup of tea and wait for this storm that apparently no one can see coming.” She reached for the mail Charlotte held. “Thank you, dear. Be careful out there.”
“I always am. You take care, too, Connie.”
She turned back toward her mail truck, glancing at her phone once more.
The alert was still there, bright red against the white screen.
Shaking her head, she climbed into the driver’s seat and put the device in the cup holder, where it couldn’t distract her.
She had nineteen more stops on that street alone, and she was determined to maintain her early pace.
Two houses down, Mrs. Donovan was already waiting on her porch, a worried expression on her face.
“Did you get the alert?” she called as Charlotte approached. “My husband says we should head to the basement, but I don’t want to miss my package.”
“It was just a weather warning,” Charlotte said. “Though, honestly, I can’t see anything to worry about.”
“I don’t know. My knee’s been acting up all morning. It always does before a storm.”
“Well, maybe something is coming that we just can’t see yet, but I’m going to keep making my deliveries unless something changes.”
“Stay safe, dear.” Mrs. Donovan clutched her package to her chest. “These alerts are getting more frequent, aren’t they?”
“They are.”
She’d been delivering mail for twelve years, and in the past few months, the emergency notifications had been coming almost weekly.
Flood warnings when the reservoir was at normal levels, extreme heat alerts when the temperature was barely above seventy, and evacuation notices for neighborhoods that turned out to be perfectly safe.
Each one left her a little more skeptical than the last.
As she continued down the street, Charlotte found herself checking the sky more often, searching for any sign of the approaching weather.
The air remained still, the sun warm on her shoulders as she made her way from house to house.
Each person she encountered mentioned the alert, and each time she offered the same reassurance.
By the time she reached the end of the street, her initial unease had faded.
The alert was just another in a series of increasingly frequent warnings that never materialized into anything real.
The postal service had strict policies about completing routes regardless of weather, and in twelve years, she’d never once called in because of a forecast.
She climbed back into her truck and started the engine, glancing at the clock on the dashboard.
It was just after ten-thirty, and she was still well ahead of schedule.
Her phone sat silently in the cup holder, the alert still displayed on its screen.
She considered dismissing it but decided to leave it.
She felt like it was better to know if another message came through.
As she pulled away from the curb, the phone began to ring, not the emergency alert tone, but her regular ringtone.
She glanced at the screen and felt her heart skip a beat.
It was Tuckerton High School, Sophia’s school.
Her hand trembled as she reached for the phone.
The school only called parents during the day for two reasons.
Either their child was sick, or something was wrong.
Charlotte’s mind immediately jumped to the latter, a dozen worst-case scenarios flashing through her thoughts in the span of a single heartbeat.