Hurricane Rescue

by Jennifer Li Shotz

  Noah rolled his eyes. “Scout and Jack this. Jack and Scout that,” he said in pretend exasperation.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Ben said. “Very funny.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the screen. There were two texts from his dad. Hurricane changed course. Could be bad for Gulfport, his dad wrote. Everyone needs to prep for storm & shelter ASAP. Coming to pick you & Noah up now.

  Ok thx, Ben wrote back. Then he texted Jack. Totally not a good day 2 go see ur dad right? he wrote. He waited. After a second, a return message popped up from Jack. It was two emojis: a winking smiley face, and a thumbs-up.

  Ben had a weird feeling. It must have shown on his face, because Noah shot him a strange look.

  “What’s up?” Noah asked.

  “Nothing,” Ben said, wishing he sounded more sure of himself. “My dad’s coming to get us. I have to get some stuff from my locker. Meet you out front in five?”

  “Right. I’ll be there,” Noah said.

  Ben pushed his way through the thick crowd of students jamming the hallways. He made a beeline for Jack’s locker. Thankfully, Jack was there. Ben let out a sigh of relief. Jack closed the door and spun around to find Ben standing behind him.

  “’Sup, Ben.” Jack looked over Ben’s shoulder, at the floor, even up at the ceiling—anywhere but at Ben. He shifted from one foot to the other.

  “You’re going to see your dad, aren’t you?” Ben asked.

  Jack didn’t say anything. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out. Ben took it as a yes.

  “Jack. Seriously. Don’t go,” Ben said. “The storm is going to be bad. It’s really not safe for you to travel right now.”

  “We don’t even know if it’s going to hit us.” Jack hefted his backpack onto one shoulder. “They always exaggerate.”

  Ben racked his brain for something he could say to convince Jack not to get on the road by himself. “My dad just texted me from the station.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, as if that would be more convincing somehow. “He said we all need to take shelter—like, now.”

  “Well, how great that you have your dad here to look out for you.”

  “Come on,” Ben said. “That’s not what I mean. My dad’s at work, and the cops have more information than we do. And he said—”

  “Ben!” Jack cut him off. “Thanks, but I’m good.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ben said, shaking his head, “but it’s just not safe. . . .” Ben trailed off. He thought he saw something cross Jack’s face—was it fear? For a split second, Ben was hopeful that he’d gotten through to him, but then the faraway look returned to Jack’s face.

  “I know you’re just trying to help.” Jack looked up and locked his eyes on Ben. “But if I did go see my dad, you wouldn’t tell anyone, right?”

  Ben studied Jack. He was torn—he knew it was a bad idea for Jack to go. But he also knew that if the roles were reversed, Jack would keep Ben’s secret. That’s what friends did. Right?

  “Fine,” Ben finally said. “I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

  Jack held up his closed fist. Ben bumped it.

  “You better get home, man. Hero’s waiting, right?” Jack started to walk away. The crowd of students was thinning as the school emptied out.

  Ben started to walk away too, then spun back around and called after Jack. “What about Scout?” Jack was totally devoted to the puppy. Surely he would never put the dog in danger? “I can’t stop you from going, but you can bring Scout to my house, okay?”

  Jack stopped and turned to look at Ben. He shook his head.

  “Thanks. But I never said I was going.”

  “Right,” Ben said softly to himself as he watched Jack walk away. “You never said you were going. Got it.”

  4

  BEN’S HEAD WAS SPINNING.

  He couldn’t believe Jack was acting like this. He knew Jack wasn’t quite himself because he really missed his dad. But was he really going to hit the road—with Scout—during a massive storm?

  Ben just wished his friend had given him a straight answer. He’d promised Jack he wouldn’t tell anyone about his plan, and Ben couldn’t go back on his word. If Jack wasn’t really leaving but Ben broke his promise—well, then Ben would just look like a bad friend and everyone would be upset for nothing.

  He stood alone in the hallway. The school was practically empty—all the other students had taken off as quickly as possible.

  Ben tried to think logically, but the thoughts just ran circles in his head. Just as he felt like his brain was about to implode, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Phew, Ben thought. Jack’s calling to say he’s been messing with me. He fished it out and answered without even glancing at the screen.

  “Dude—” Ben started.

  “Ben? It’s Dad. I’m out front. Where are you?”

  “Oh, uh—hey, Dad. I’m still inside. Sorry, I’m coming now.”

  “Noah’s already with me. Hurry it up, Ben. I need to get back to work.”

  “Okay—coming.” Ben clicked off the call and scrambled down the hall to his locker. He spun the combination lock as quickly as he could, grunting as books tumbled out of the locker and into his chest. He caught them before they hit the ground. Ben slammed his locker shut and raced outside.

  The gray sky hung low over the school.

  Ben ran to his dad’s police cruiser idling at the curb. He hopped in, and with one look at his dad’s face he knew that the storm was going to be really bad. Noah sat in the back, his face white as a ghost and his eyes rounded with worry. Ben’s stomach dropped.

  “Ben, this isn’t public information yet,” his dad started, his voice low and serious. “We just heard this about ten minutes ago.” He steered the car out of the parking lot. “No one expected this, but the hurricane hasn’t just headed farther west. It’s moving north, too—toward land. It’s totally changed course, and it’s headed right for Gulfport, son.”

  “Are you serious?” A chill went through Ben’s body.

  “Yeah. Dead serious.” His dad pressed his lips together.

  “Are Mom and Erin okay? And Noah’s parents?”

  “Their flights took off before the airport got too backed up. They all landed safely. Everyone’s fine and out of the path of the storm.”

  Ben exhaled.

  “When? I mean, when will it hit?”

  “We still have a few hours.”

  Ben took a moment to absorb what his dad was saying. “So what now?”

  “Now we make sure we keep people safe. It’s all hands on deck at the station, and it’s going to be a long night.”

  Ben understood what that meant. His dad would be at work until the storm had passed and he knew the people of Gulfport were okay. And he and Noah would need to look out for themselves.

  “Here’s the thing, boys,” his dad went on. “The governor is scrambling the National Guard and lots of backup right now, and her people need a few more minutes to get everything in place before she announces it on the news. Once she does, people are going to start panicking. There isn’t enough time to evacuate, so we’re going to have to get people to shelter in place. It’s not going to be easy.”

  Ben shuddered at the thought of all the people in his town feeling terrified and freaking out. He pictured them all calling the police station at once. And his dad would be the one to help them. Pride surged in his chest—but was quickly replaced with worry for his dad. He wished they could all be at home together. But that’s not what happens when your dad is a cop.

  “So I’m going to get you back to our house,” his dad was saying, “and I need you to stay there.”

  “Yeah, of course.” Ben turned to look at his pale, scared friend in the backseat. “Don’t worry,” Ben reassured him. “It’s going to be fine, okay?” Noah nodded.

  “Noah, I promised your parents I’d keep you safe,” Ben’s dad said. “I need to know that you boys are in the house and out of harm’s way, okay? If I know you’re safe, I can help other people—
you get that, right?”

  “We get it, Dad.”

  “Yes, Sergeant Landry.”

  Ben studied the sky. It was a solid mass of clouds and rain. He looked for the horizon but couldn’t make it out. Everything had turned the same flat, suffocating gray. Which direction would the hurricane come from? he wondered.

  He felt his dad looking at him.

  “Ben?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m counting on you—you understand that?”

  “Of course, Dad.”

  “No heroics with Hero, right?”

  “No heroics with Hero, Dad. Promise.”

  “Okay.” They drove in silence for a few blocks. “You guys will need to do a few things around the house for me.”

  “Sure,” Ben and Noah said in unison.

  “I know what to do, Dad,” Ben said. No hurricanes had hit the town in Ben’s lifetime, but he’d seen his parents prepare for some near misses in the past. They had also reviewed emergency steps in school a million times. “We’ll board up the windows—”

  “Boards are in the basement,” his dad interjected.

  “—and we’ll put all the outdoor furniture and garbage cans into the garage.”

  “And Mom’s potted plants.”

  “Yep, Mom’s potted plants. And we’ll have to go do the same things at Noah’s house, right?”

  “Right,” Noah said from the back.

  “Okay, but then you have to go right back home,” his dad said, looking at Noah in the rearview mirror. “Once the storm starts, I want you both to take Hero and get into our basement. Stay there until either I tell you it’s okay to come out or you hear the siren from town telling you the storm is over. You understand? Don’t come upstairs for anything.”

  “We won’t.”

  “Charge your phones. Make sure the flashlights are within reach. Turn off the gas . . .”

  Ben nodded as his dad ran down the list.

  “Tell me again,” his dad finished. “You’re not going to leave the house once the storm starts, right?”

  Ben’s dad wasn’t the kind of parent who repeated things. He didn’t usually need to. As a police sergeant, he was used to people doing what he told them to do—and Ben rarely disobeyed. Well, except for once or twice when Hero and Scout were missing. Oh, and when he’d led Noah into the middle of a dangerous gang of dogfighting criminals. But that was different. Ben couldn’t just sit still when someone he loved was in danger. But who would go out in a hurricane?

  One terrifying thought occurred to Ben: Jack.

  Would Jack be crazy enough to try to get to his dad’s house with a hurricane barreling down on them? Would he try to get out of town before the storm hit?

  Ben broke out in a cold sweat. He put his hand on the phone in his pocket, ready to call Jack. He wanted to call or text his friend right away, but he didn’t want his dad to know anything about Jack’s plans. He’d promised he’d keep his mouth shut.

  There was no way Jack would go now, Ben told himself.

  He would never take the risk. Especially not with Scout.

  Would he?

  “And don’t forget Hero’s food . . . Ben? You listening to me?”

  “Yes—sorry, Dad.”

  Ben tried to pay attention, but his mind was on his friend. Jack was sad and angry about his family—Ben got that. But that didn’t make it okay for Jack to take Scout and head out, alone and unprepared, into a storm that could threaten their lives.

  5

  BEN AND NOAH WERE IN OVERDRIVE. They stood outside and banged nails through boards into the window frames.

  They went back inside and raced around the house, carrying supplies downstairs to the basement and running back up for more. Ben gave Hero a few things that he could carry in his strong jaw. Hero seemed to understand that these were important tasks.

  Ben and Noah took a can opener, dozens of cans of food, and bags of kibble to the basement. They set up air mattresses and carried blankets and sheets down too. Ben found the crank radio that they could use to get updates and emergency instructions. He charged his phone and Noah’s.

  And every few minutes, he checked his phone screen to see if Jack had texted or called. As soon as Ben’s dad had pulled away from the house—after an extra-tight hug—Ben had gone into the bathroom where Noah couldn’t hear him and called Jack. There was no answer. He’d left a message. “Please,” Ben had begged his friend, “just tell me you’re okay and you’re not going. This is really serious.”

  No response.

  When they were done at Ben’s house, the boys hopped on their bikes and rode as quickly as they could to Noah’s, Hero chasing alongside them. Hero scurried into Noah’s backyard and started nosing at all the things they needed to move.

  “Thanks, Hero.” Noah chuckled drily. “Don’t worry—we’ll take care of all the heavy lifting.”

  “Today is one of the rare days when I wish you had thumbs, Hero.” Ben groaned as he tried to lift a massive wrought-iron deck chair. Hero wagged his tail at the sound of his name. “Just kidding, buddy.” Ben finally gave up and started dragging the chair toward the garage. Hero ran ahead of him, leading the way.

  Ben checked his phone. It was four o’clock, but it felt much later. The sky had darkened to a steely gray and the air was heavy. It pressed down on him from above. Ben could feel the barometric pressure dropping—the storm was getting closer. The thick, still air had a sound-dampening effect, but Ben could hear Noah’s neighbors on both sides hammering boards over their windows.

  They finished, and Noah shut and locked the door behind them. “Let’s go,” he said. “I just want to lie down on an air mattress in your basement and go to sleep. Wake me when the hurricane is over.”

  “No kidding,” Ben said. His whole body was exhausted. But he barely noticed—he was too distracted by the fact that he still hadn’t heard from Jack.

  The boys pedaled as fast as their tired legs could go, Hero trotting along with them. They reached the corner. If they turned left, they’d head straight for Ben’s house. If they turned right, they would be going toward Jack’s house.

  They stopped to check for oncoming cars. In that second, Ben made a decision. Noah started to turn left. Ben turned right. Hero ran alongside Ben’s bike.

  “Dude!” Noah called out, slamming on his brakes. “Where are you going?”

  “Gotta swing by Jack’s house. You go on ahead. I’ll meet you at my house in a minute.”

  Noah looked anxious. He glanced up at the sky, then back at Ben. The worst part of the storm wasn’t supposed to hit for a few more hours, but there was no telling how much longer they had before the advance front of rain and wind kicked in.

  “We really need to get to your house. The storm is going to be here soon.”

  “It’s okay, it’ll just take a few minutes.”

  “Why do you need to go to Jack’s? Can’t you just call him?”

  “Uh, he’s . . .” Ben scrambled to think of an answer. He didn’t want to lie to Noah, but he also couldn’t break his promise to Jack. “I just want to make sure Scout is okay. I’m sure he’s scared by all the activity and the weather. It’ll make him feel better to see Hero.” It wasn’t technically a lie. It was just part of the truth.

  Noah groaned. He pedaled in a circle and rode up next to Ben.

  “Fine,” Noah said. “I’m coming with you.”

  They rode toward Jack’s house. Ben felt terrible for keeping the truth from his lifelong best friend, but he didn’t know what else to do. He needed to talk to Jack in person and try to convince him—again—not to do anything stupid.

  Thunder rumbled in the distance. They had to hurry.

  Jack’s house was dark and quiet. Ben rang the bell, a prickly feeling running up and down the back of his neck. A long silence followed. He was about to ring again when he heard footsteps. Finally, the door swung open, and Jack’s mom stood in the doorway, a look of surprise on her face.

  “Oh, hello, Ben,”
she said. She wore her white doctor’s coat and was tapping out a text into the phone in her hand, even as she gave Ben a distracted look. Ben could hear the television in the background. A newscaster was instructing viewers to shelter in place. “Sorry, I was out back putting some things away.” She looked down at Hero, who stood by Ben’s legs. “Hi, Hero.”

  Hero sniffed at the air just inside the house, looking for Scout.

  “Hi, Dr. Murphy. I was just . . .” Ben trailed off. Something told him to stop talking. Jack’s mom was looking over his shoulder, a half smile painted on her lips.

  “Where’s Jack?” she asked. “And Scout?”

  Ben quickly processed the meaning of her words.

  She thought Jack and Scout were with him.

  Because Jack must have told her they were with Ben.

  Because Jack and Scout weren’t here.

  A bolt of fear shot through Ben. He tried to fight off the rising sense of panic. Maybe there was another explanation. But right now he needed to get back home so he could think about what to do next.

  “Oh, they’re back at my house,” he said as casually as he could. He hoped his face didn’t betray how uncomfortable he felt about lying. “Noah and I”—Ben gestured over his shoulder at Noah, who gave a quick wave from the sidewalk—“had to run over to Noah’s house to get a few things, but Jack stayed at my place.” Ben’s brain was running a thousand miles a minute, trying to come up with a remotely plausible explanation for why he was there. “And I promised him I’d swing by here and pick up some extra puppy food for Scout.”

  She looked at Ben with a curious expression, as if she were deciding whether or not to believe him. But then she smiled and said, “Oh, of course, honey. Come on in. I’ll just get it for you.”

  “Great, thanks.” Ben stepped into the front hallway of Jack’s house. Coats, sweatshirts, and dog leashes dangled from hooks in the entryway. Chew toys and tennis balls littered the floor. Ben stood there awkwardly, trying not to count the number of lies he’d just told. They weren’t real lies, he told himself. They were just to buy time.