“Okay,” he said.
I opened the door and we slipped inside just before the water slammed into the stairwell door. There were windows on every other floor landing but they didn’t give me much light. I was nearly as blind as Gage was.
On the fourth floor, I stopped to take a breath and look out the window. A brief flicker of light was enough to cause my heart to sink.
“Oh, my God,” I said covering my mouth with my hand.
“What is it?” Gage asked in a squeaky tone as he turned toward the window.
“Can you see anything?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Not really. When there is lightning, I can see the change in lighting but everything is just a mash of black shapes.”
“It’s gone,” I said.
“What do you mean it’s gone?” By the shakiness of his tone, it seemed as though he already knew exactly what I meant.
“The entire town, for as far as I can see, is more than halfway underwater,” I said squeezing my eyes closed. I sucked in a breath and grabbed his hand. “Let’s keep going up.”
The water level seemed to continue to rise, even if it had slowed somewhat. The storm still raged and water was thrown at the windows with enough force to shake them. We’d still want to be as high as we could get and even then, we’d have to cross our fingers that it would be high enough to survive and that the building would stay in one piece.
I pushed open the door at the top of the stairs and drew in a breath. My lungs filled with the soggy air as if I’d been drowning in the stairwell.
I walked over to the closest window and looked at the town below. It looked like we were in the middle of the ocean.
Gage must have sensed the change in my body through where our hands touched. His voice was coated in defeat. “Tell me what you see.”
“Devastation,” I said.
“What’s left?” he asked.
I lowered my gaze. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Jace could have still made it,” Gage said.
I shook my head, knowing he couldn’t see it. We’d only just made it ourselves… there was no way Jace made it to the same building we were in. Maybe there was a slim chance he was inside one of the other two buildings sticking up above the water but something told me he wasn’t.
Everything was gone. My home. My family.
I was trapped inside an office building of some sort surrounded by miles of water. It probably wouldn’t be long before Gage and I joined the rest of the town.
Gage let go of my hand and slumped down on the floor. He buried his face in his hands and his shoulders bounced with his silent sobs.
I sat down next to him but I couldn’t find any more tears. If anything, it felt like my body was hardening even more.
“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” Gage asked.
I exhaled and for a brief moment, I considered lying. He’d lost his family, his best friend, and his sight. He didn’t need another blow.
“Yeah,” I said. “I think so. But we don’t have to go down without a fight.”
“I don’t have any fight left,” Gage said.
I placed my hand on his shoulder before I got to my feet. I watched the lightning flicker and reflect off the water. Oddly, it was kind of beautiful.
“Close your eyes,” I said. “Try to get some rest.”
“Get some rest?” he said sniffing hard. “You must be joking.”
“Try. There isn’t much we can do right now,” I said in the same bossy tone I’d use on my little brother and sister. “Rebuild your strength. Maybe it’ll help your eyes.”
Gage sighed but curled up on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. He was too exhausted to argue but he didn’t close his eyes. Maybe he hadn’t needed to.
In the quiet, I could hear odd squeaks the building made when the waves crashed against the side. At times it felt like the structure below was moving and the top was going to break off. Gage and I would go sailing off into the unknown.
We were going to have to figure out a way to survive until help came. I walked around the office, looking into the cubicles and out of each tall window to study our surroundings.
When my foot squished down into the carpet near the stairwell, I knew our time was limited. The water had reached the top floor.
7
Joss
The rain came down impossibly hard on the windshield. If it became any stronger, the glass would surely crack.
Deacon was trying to drive the car forward but it was impossible to see the road with the blankets of rain falling from the sky. He was so nervous, he looked like an elderly woman who hadn’t driven a car in five years.
“I don’t know what to do here, guys,” Deacon muttered fearfully.
A gust of wind slammed into the car again and this time, there had been no doubt in my mind that the car had moved at least several inches. Lexi screamed as she grabbed onto the back of the front seats.
The car settled and Lexi sunk down as low as she could in the backseat, as if trying to make herself invisible. She looked like a small, frightened child. I wanted to tell her it would be okay but I didn’t know if it would be. I probably looked just as scared as she did.
Lightning flashed in front of us, lighting the surrounding area. It had only been a quick look but my eyes widened at the funnel-shaped shadow that plunged down from the sky. It couldn’t have been more than a few miles away.
I exhaled slowly between my nearly closed lips. My fingers trembled. A cold, wet fear stung my dry eyes, causing me to blink several times.
“Did you see that?” I asked forcing my voice to remain calm. Maybe I’d imagined it.
“See what?” Caleb asked looking at me instead of out the front window.
“A tornado.” My voice cracked and had barely escaped from between my lips.
Deacon pressed his foot down on the brake. “Where?”
“Right in front of us,” I said setting my eyes forward. “Watch.”
We didn’t have time to sit there and wait but I needed to know if it had really been there. The car was silent. It sounded as if we were at the bottom of a bathtub while water poured in around us. We stared out of the front window waiting for another flash of light.
When it finally came, Lexi screamed. I hadn’t imagined it. The funnel cloud was even closer and I was pretty sure there was another tornado further in the distance.
“Holy shit!” Caleb said.
Deacon hit the shifter and threw the car in reverse. He looked over his shoulder, but the car didn’t move. Deacon turned back and hit the steering wheel with his palms.
“I can’t see anything!” Deacon shouted.
“We can’t outrun it in the car,” I said. “You’ll drive us into a tree.”
“What choice do we have?” Deacon asked harshly.
I bit down on the side of my cheek and swallowed back the sourness bubbling up my throat. “Hide in the ditch?”
“Oh, my God!” Lexi cried.
“Maybe it’ll miss us,” Deacon said.
“You guys are crazy,” Caleb said opening the passenger door. “We have to go. Time to abandon your baby.”
Rain came pouring in through the open door. It soaked me and the passenger seat in seconds. Caleb looked at me, his eyes wide as he waited for me to exit the car with him.
Deacon grabbed me as I scooted closer to the door. “Joss,” he shook his head and begged with soft, round, fear-filled eyes. “No, don’t.”
I had no idea what the right thing to do was. But something inside me was telling me to run… that if we stayed in the car, we’d be pulled away in the funnel.
“I’m sorry,” I said wiggling free of his grip.
I stepped out of the car, water spilling over the edges of my shoes and soaking my socks. A gust of wind threatened to pull me off my feet. Caleb held onto me as he tried to move me away from the car.
“Come with us,” I begged. “Put it in park and let’s all make a run for it.”
“Get back inside!” Lexi howled. “You’re going to die out there!”
“Geez, Lexi,” Deacon said sharply over his shoulder. “They’re not going to die.”
Caleb pulled on me harder. I was glad Deacon was sure of our future because I most definitely was not. Lightning crashed ear-shatteringly close by. The ground shook and it felt as though electricity was surging through my body.
“Get back in the car!” Lexi demanded as she covered her ears. The sounds from the storm were intense. It was the sound of a million semi-trucks zipping past us in every possible direction.
“Please,” I begged. “Come with us!”
An intense wind picked Caleb and me up, tossing us several feet away from the car. Caleb didn’t let go. He didn’t loosen his grip even after we’d landed in a puddle that was several inches deep.
Our bodies skidded to a stop but the wind still smacked against my face, stinging my skin as if I was being poked by thousands of needles over and over again.
“Get up, Joss,” Caleb said jerking me to my feet.
I hesitated, staring at the car. I couldn’t leave them.
“They’re being stubborn,” Caleb said. “We have to go.”
“They’re going to get killed,” I said staring in the direction of the funnel cloud. Caleb and I were running out of time.
“They saw the same thing we did,” Caleb said. “There is only so much we can do.”
I shrugged my shoulder, trying to break free of his grip. “We can’t just leave them!”
The wind screeched at us again. It was like a horrific ghost howling in pain as it pushed us further away from Deacon’s car.
Caleb wrapped his arms around me protectively. The terrified look in his eyes caused my heart to leap into my throat.
I scrambled to get to my feet. It was like walking through hardening cement as I forced myself toward the car but both Caleb and the wind pushed me back away from it.
Caleb and I started sliding away. I had little control over my body as we rolled down the road, stopping when our backs slammed into a barbed-wire fence.
A searing pain scorched the back of my arm. Caleb climbed to his feet, holding on to me and a wooden post.
“Deacon!” I screamed but there was no possible way he would have heard me over the roaring storm.
His reverse lights came on and he started backing the car toward us. At first, the car was going painfully slow but then it began to pick up speed.
“No, no, no,” Caleb said digging his fingertips deeper into my arm.
He started pulling me away but the wind whipped at us, forcing us into the fence again… and again. Each time my body hit the wires, it was like being stabbed with several little blades.
“Shit,” Caleb said grabbing me and pulling me over the fence.
Deacon’s car sped toward us at an alarming rate. I could see the dash lights reflecting in a pair of eyes looking at us through the rear side window. Lexi was beyond terrified.
The back end of the car lifted off of the ground and Lexi’s mouth stretched open. I thought I could hear a high-pitched scream cutting through the storm as the entire car was pulled off the road. In a blink, the car was gone.
“No!” I cried as Caleb pulled me away from the road. My shoes were slipping and sliding through the deep, muddy puddles.
The wind was so intense I was sure there was no point in trying to run away. Caleb and I should just jump into the air and float away to join Deacon and Lexi. We weren’t going to win our battle with the wind.
“There!” Caleb said when a flicker of lightning brightened our world for half a second.
There was a small shed that seemed to be shaking like a phone on vibrate. It didn’t look like it was going to stay together for much longer.
“Like that will help,” I complained.
The wind pushed us toward the building. I was surprised that when Caleb and I slammed against the door, the whole thing hadn’t collapsed to the ground.
He twisted the knob and the door opened. Caleb threw me inside and slammed the door shut behind us. He leaned back against the door, holding it closed as his breaths came at him quickly.
It felt like there was no oxygen inside the small shed. My whole body prickled as I took in my own breaths rapidly.
Caleb’s head was down, his fingers spread as he pushed against the door. Water dripped down off of him and onto the already wet concrete floor.
Another flicker of light illuminated our surroundings enough to see the various gardening tools around us. We couldn’t have been far from a house which could quite possibly have a basement where we’d be much safer.
“Caleb,” I said trying to catch my breath. “Maybe there is a house nearby. There wouldn’t be a shed like this out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Maybe,” he replied. Water dripped down his face but I wasn’t sure all of it was rain. “I’m not sure we can make it to the house.”
The walls of the shed started to shake. If the funnel cloud came toward the shed, it wouldn’t matter that we were inside. It would rip the flimsy building to shreds, taking us with it.
My heart was racing and I couldn’t stop the warm tears from racing down my numb cheeks. I couldn’t stop picturing the terror on Lexi’s face as she was pulled away.
“Do you see it?” Caleb asked gesturing toward a small, grime-covered window.
I waited with my hands on my hips for a flash of light. Our little shed was still shaking as the winds howled and screeched around us as if they were in mourning.
“I don’t see anything,” I said.
I didn’t hear anything either. Before the car had been yanked away, there had been a noise I couldn’t describe. It wasn’t like a freight train but it had been a loud, heavy sound like a skyscraper being crushed into dust.
“Check again,” Caleb said.
I waited. But when lightning flashed again, I still couldn’t see anything but the shadows of trees flopping around in the wind.
“Do you see a house?”
I shook my head.
“Maybe it’s directly behind us,” Caleb said. “I could run out and take a look.”
“Maybe if it had been there, it’s gone now,” I said sucking in a breath. “You saw what happened to the car.”
Caleb swallowed hard. “It’ll just take me a second.”
“Don’t leave me,” I said grabbing his arm. “If we go, we go together.”
Caleb nodded and took my hand into his. “The wind doesn’t seem quite as strong.” He looked into my eyes. “Hey,” he said forcing a strange half-smile. “We can do this, okay?”
My mouth was dry despite all the water everywhere. “Okay.”
8
Adam
It wasn’t just any rain. Sheets and sheets of dense, heavy rain instantly soaked us to the bone.
Eva whined.
I cursed.
The air around us was warm but the rain felt like jagged ice pebbles hitting my skin. I ran my hand down my face wiping away the wetness but it instantly returned.
“This is all your fault,” Eva said.
I couldn’t argue with her. Nor did I want to. It wasn’t a time for blame games.
“We need to get back to the city,” I said. “Need to get you to a doctor. Maybe me too.”
“Don’t be a baby. You’re fine,” she said glancing at my leg as I limped forward, baring much more of her weight than I should have.
I stepped away from her, almost a bit too roughly. “Find your own way back to the city.”
Anger washed over her face but it was quickly rinsed away and was replaced with panic. “Adam, I was only kidding.”
Her ability to lie hadn’t been injured in the crash. I wrapped my arm around her and help her across the road.
The water poured out of the sky and raced down the hill. If we would have had a floating device, it would have been a quick albeit super dangerous ride back down to the city.
“Isn’t this too steep?”
Eva asked as I led her toward the trees where not that long ago, Mike had emerged.
“I think we’ll be okay,” I said glancing at the road. “We could take the road but it’ll add miles to our walk. We’ll get there quicker cutting through.”
“You’re sure about this?” Eva looked at me with doubt in her eyes. The way she looked at me made me wonder why she’d ever gone out with me in the first place.
When I first saw her at a pool party, I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She was slender but not stick thin. Her glossy hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. Really, though, it had been her contagious smile. A smile I hadn’t seen in a long time.
There hadn’t ever been a point when I looked at her that I thought she was the one. And the more time I’d spent with her, the more I knew she wasn’t.
“No, I’m not sure,” I said. “But I want to get us back to the city as soon as possible. This storm doesn’t seem like it’s going to be letting up anytime soon. I’ll do whatever you want, though.”
“You’re just saying that so you can blame me if something goes wrong,” Eva said with a scowl.
I sighed. “Okay, then let’s take the hill.”
“Fine.”
She agreed only so she could blame me if something went wrong. But I didn’t care. I really, really didn’t.
We stepped off the road and she made a noise of disgust. It was like the soft ground was akin to walking through a mound of slugs.
“You okay?” I asked even though I knew it was our surroundings that were agitating her.
“Yes,” she said sharply. “Thank you for asking.”
We ducked under a low-hanging branch and stepped under the umbrella of the tall trees. The rain still fell but some of the drops were blocked by the leaves and branches, making each drop feel a bit softer.
It was a challenge to keep both Eva and myself upright. Puddles were forming in the muddy, grass-covered ground, making the terrain uneven. Each step sent a jolt of pain up through my leg, stopping at my hip.
Eva could barely put any weight down on her bad leg. There was a chance she was being a bit dramatic but I kept that thought to myself.
The Reset Series (Book 1): Flood Page 4
