Chapter 14 #2
Trees were not the protection in a storm like this that most thought they were.
In this dense landscape, they created wind tunnels.
That was the problem with overpasses, too.
It was true that they could be used as protection, but it was also just as true that they could be used as a vacuum, sucking anyone underneath up and away.
Their options were few and far between—and unfortunately, their first option to try to outrun the monstrosity was not working.
Grumpy tried to think. Shelter would be best, something concrete or underground.
But there literally was nothing around. And even if there was, they’d have to have a clear road path to get to it.
The highway was surrounded by deep drainage ditches and chicken wire fencing on either side of them.
This wasn’t a battle that could be won by strength or wits. Mother Nature was sending one of her most deadly assassins towards them, and luck was not on their side. The chances they would find reasonable shelter with a drivable path to it was slim to none.
He knew of people who had survived the odds.
A man out for a run had clung to a tree when a tornado touched down near him; a little boy yanked from his father’s arms and landed safely miles away; a woman jumped into her swimming pool with her dog and held her breath underwater as her house was destroyed yards away…
There were stories and tales. Incredible chances, twists of fate, miracles of God… whatever anyone wanted to call them.
They were not how-to survivor stories. They were not the rulebook.
The reality of the situation in the SUV was so much more dire.
All it would take would be one bad turn, one hit, one popped tire, and their escape vehicle would be useless to them.
They’d have no choice but to run. But run to where?
Kelly and Jackson had the highest chances of survival.
They were the strongest, most fit. They would not be able to outrun a tornado, but they had higher chances of reaching shelter than Grumpy or Maddie could.
Even with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, Grumpy knew the truth of it. He couldn’t run. At best, a speedy walk. His strength, his core, was busy healing his body of extensive injuries. And Maddie? His little Mad Pie was six months pregnant with twins. She was neither fast nor graceful.
His mind knew the stats, but could not accept them.
If leaving him behind gave the others their best chances of survival, then he would be pushing them out the doors right now.
Leave him, save themselves. But it wasn’t just him.
He couldn’t justify Kelly’s and Jackson’s survival at Maddie’s expense.
It fucking hurt. The reality of what they were facing and Grumpy’s uselessness. He was the weak link, the liability—and that weighed heavier on him than an anvil tied around his neck.
Between himself and Maddie, there was no choice.
If Jackson could get to one of them, he had to get to Maddie.
Kelly wasn’t strong enough to carry Maddie or Grumpy, and trying would only slow her down.
But Jackson could. Jackson could take Maddie and run.
Grumpy didn’t wonder if Jackson would. The younger man might only be a prospect for the club, but the club didn’t just take on any random prospects.
Jackson had proved himself to be honorable long before he’d put on his blank cut.
It wasn’t a matter of if Jackson would, but if he should.
Carrying Maddie to safety implied there was somewhere safe to go.
And if Jackson had Maddie, he couldn’t have Kelly.
This wasn’t Sophie’s Choice. This wasn’t some catch-22 where one decision was only slightly better than the other. This was one impossible choice after another with the fates themselves working against you.
For a split second, Grumpy thought their luck had turned. The tornado’s path veered away from them. It wasn’t much, and they were in no way out of danger. But it was perhaps a reprieve, a chance to turn the tides.
“It’s turning!” Jackson shouted. Grumpy didn’t need to see the young man to know he had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.
That second passed, and the small amount of relief Grumpy had felt vanquished as his eye landed on the road ahead of them. “And we’re about to!”
They’d crossed onto the southbound side when a crash on the northbound had blocked their path. Now they and several other vehicles behind them were aiming straight for the tornado as the road curved.
Jackson couldn’t just slam on the brakes or shift into reverse or pull a one-eighty turn.
At present, they led the pack of cars heading north on the southbound road.
Getting into a collision could prove just as deadly as jousting with a tornado.
One vehicle behind them already had a tree branch puncturing its windshield.
Another was driving on a flat tire, sparks flying as the metal rim rolled on the asphalt.
They were boxed in. Collisions behind them could be heard as some of the vehicles in the back tried and failed to change direction. Others stopped, their occupants running.
“Wait, Dad, what’s that?”
Grumpy couldn’t see Maddie to know what she was asking about. “What is it?” he asked into the back, not caring if it was Maddie or Kelly who answered.
The roar of the storm outside overshadowed any movement behind him, but he caught something in the mirror. “Northside, there was a drainage ditch!” Kelly shouted.
“Where?” Jackson demanded, his normal respectful demeanor replaced by the toughened soldier presently responsible for three lives.
“Maybe thirty seconds back,” Kelly answered. Grumpy felt her at his shoulder, and knew she’d unbuckled to get a better view. She pressed herself between Grumpy and Jackson, her hand on Grumpy’s shoulder. “I didn’t see it southbound.”
Grumpy didn’t need to see it to trust it had been there. Beyond that, their choices were limited. “Can you make it?” Grumpy asked Jackson.
But before Jackson could answer, the tornado changed directions again. Rather than crossing the highway path they were on, it was once again powering down the road like it realized it forgot something and made a U-turn.
“It’s circling!” Maddie screamed from the back.
Grumpy felt Kelly squeeze herself between the driver and passenger seats. “They can do that?” she shouted back to Maddie, her voice horrified.
“You really want a lesson on tornado dos and don’ts right now?” Maddie’s panic was laced in every syllable.
“Get back in your seat!” Jackson ordered Kelly harshly. “Brace with your head down, hands over your head. Do it! Now!”
Kelly’s hand left Grumpy’s shoulder immediately.
“Dad?” came from behind him, and it fucking sucked that he wasn’t able to reach her. Either of his girls.
“Do it!” Grumpy called back. He saw Jackson’s plan as easily as if he’d printed it in a memo. “Kelly, the second we stop, you run for the ditch.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Though the words were shouted, they were also muffled, which meant she had her head down as instructed.
“This is not up for discussion!” Grumpy yelled, ignoring the pain in his jaw. “Stay out of the water as long as you can. You’ll be faster on land.”
The order barely left Grumpy’s mouth before Jackson yanked the wheel to the right. They narrowly missed colliding with another vehicle that chose that exact moment to change lanes like this was any common country drive down the highway.
They smashed through the guardrail and hit the grass median hard enough that it was a wonder the airbags did not deploy. The SUV powered through the terrain, Jackson forcing it down and then back up the other side. The other guardrail caused more damage, dragging beneath the undercarriage.
Grumpy had a death grip on the doorhandle and his arm rest, trying to keep himself from flying. His seatbelt had already locked into place.
A tire popped, causing the SUV to fishtail. It dislodged the piece of guardrail they were dragging, but at these speeds, it made it too dangerous. They couldn’t risk rolling the vehicle.
Jackson none-too-smoothly slowed them without hard braking, which unfortunately wasted precious seconds.
“Kelly, go!” he shouted, even though they weren’t fully stopped.
“I can’t! I—”
“Go!” Both Grumpy and Jackson shouted together.
The second Kelly threw her door open, the wind ripped it off its hinges. Speaking no longer became an option.
Grumpy unbuckled and reached over to take off Jackson’s so the prospect didn’t have to fumble. The SUV was about to go flying—and they needed to be out of it when it did.
Wind howled like angry wolves being chased by a freight train. Grumpy spotted Kelly further up the road as he exited. Thankfully, Maddie was already out too. She tripped, landing on her hands and knees as the SUV started to move, pulled by a force once thought powered by the mythical gods.
Grumpy threw himself on her, rolling them out of the path of the SUV.
It wasn’t airborne yet, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t crush them with its weight.
Pain radiated through every inch of his body, but pain was no longer an option.
He had to power through. He had to get his daughter off this unprotected ground and into that drainage ditch.
Hands helped him rise. Jackson got Grumpy to his feet, but there was no time to check on Maddie and the babies. Wind through dirt and debris everywhere, making it difficult to see and breathe.
“I’ve got her!” Jackson shouted, bending down. “Go!”
Every instinct Grumpy had ordered him to stay. He could not abandon his daughter—not again. The courts had barred her from him when she was twelve. Would Mother Nature do the same now that she was an adult?
But his training kicked in. Maddie had a better chance of survival with Jackson than she did with him. He would not allow his pride to cost Maddie her life and the lives of her babies.