Fighting For Nadia

by Nicole Flockton

  Five minutes later Nadia sat on the edge of her seat, phone in hand as John prepared to announce the answer to question seven. They were tied with the other team that was beating them. A correct answer would put them ahead. The final three answers for the round were so easy that it was guaranteed their closest competitors would get them right.

  “Okay,” John started and Nadia pressed the record button on her phone. “The answer to question seven. The quarterback from the 2000 combine, who those stats belonged to is,” he paused and Nadia made sure she had the whole table on the screen so she could video their reactions. “Tom Brady.”

  Her fellow teammates looked at her, mouths hanging open, when they heard the groan coming from the other patrons.

  “Yes,” she raised her hand in the air. “Come on everyone, I believe you’re required to do something?”

  They rolled their eyes but a collective Tom Brady’s the G.O.A.T. resounded around the room. “And don’t you forget it. Go Pats!” Nadia yelled.

  As expected the others in the bar started some good natured cat calling and trash talking.

  “Six rings, baby. Six rings.” Nadia wiggled her fingers, suddenly feeling extremely happy that Cerise had convinced her to come to the event.

  “All right everyone, settle down, I’ve still got some answers to give out, the night is not over yet, but the band of Tom Brady fans are in front.”

  Brad looked at her. “I’m never going to live this down, you know.” He tempered his words with a smile and a wink.

  Nadia laughed. “You’ll live.”

  Before John could say anything more, sirens sounded and a loud roaring from outside filled the room. Nadia had never heard anything like it. Looking around she could see confusion on most of the people’s faces.

  “What is that?” she asked Cerise.

  “Holy shit, that’s a tornado. Take cover.” Someone at the back yelled.

  Living in Boston Nadia had never had to worry about a tornado. She’d seen the aftermath of plenty on the news. She had no idea what to do. The room erupted in activity around her. People began scrambling to get away from the windows at the front of the pub.

  “Quick, come with me.” Cerise grabbed her hand and together they ran toward the restrooms, like just about everyone in the bar. “Shit. This isn’t going to work.”

  Cerise dragged her back to the room they’d just been in, aiming for the door to the right of the long bar. Pushing it open Nadia could see it was the kitchen. She wasn’t sure that would be a safe place considering one of the main utensils of a kitchen was knives.

  “Over here.” A male voice called and they headed that way. Randy, held open the door to a large walk in pantry. There were about six other people in the small space but she and Cerise squeezed into a corner.

  “Thanks Randy,” Nadia breathed out, her voice shaking. Cerise gripped her hand tightly and she was glad that her friend was right next to her.

  It could’ve only been about a minute since the sirens sounded, but the roaring of the tornado was almost deafening.

  “Fuck, it’s gonna come right over us,” Cerise cried.

  “Everyone crouch down as much as you can and put your hands over your head to protect it. I don’t have time to empty out everything on the shelves,” Randy instructed.

  Nadia squatted down, dropping her head on her knees and putting her arms over her head. She didn’t look to see if Cerise was doing the same, but she suspected her friend was.

  The building creaked and shook with the force of the winds beating at it. Through the door she could make out the sound of glasses crashing to the ground. The loud thump of pots hitting the walls as they were, no doubt, tossed around like a pizza crust.

  “Oh my God, I’m so scared,” Cerise cried and Nadia wished she could reach out and grab her friends hand, but she was too frightened to do anything but to protect her head as much as possible.

  A non-human groan echoed around the space and Nadia fully expected the roof to be ripped off the building and all of them to be sucked up into the vortex of the tornado.

  Nadia’s thoughts went to the other people who’d been at their table and prayed that they’d found a safe place to hide. She also thought of Buff and hoped that he was far, far away from the town and wherever he lived or was at that moment, that he was safe or taking shelter at least.

  The building shook again, but this time the walls surrounding them caved in. Boxes and cans rained down and Nadia grunted in pain when one caught the side of her head. Next to her Cerise cried. Forgetting about her resolved to protect herself, Nadia reached out and grabbed Cerise’s arm, hooking them together. If anything was going to happen, at least they’d be together.

  Nadia sent up a silent prayer to her family, whispering into the massive storm that she loved them, even though sometimes she hated them. If she got out of this alive, she made a vow to try and contact them more often. To share her news and her triumphs in the ER so that they could see that she’d made the right choice for herself.

  The floor beneath them seemed to lift a fraction before slamming down again, causing more things to fall on them. With only one arm covering her head, Nadia had no protection for when another can tumbled off the shelf and crashed down on her head and she cried out in pain.

  Her vision blurred, a trickle of moisture slid down her cheek. Her last thought before the blackness consumed her was, at least she wouldn’t be awake when she died.

  Chapter 5

  The storm raged outside his small cabin on his parents property. Buff had gotten home from the bar before the bad weather had hit. Another flash of lightning filled the cabin. The power had been knocked out so he was lying on his bed in the darkness. At least the animals were safe. The horses were bedded up in the barn away from the weather. While the cows were outside, he had no doubt they were all huddled together. There was safety in numbers. They would also, instinctively, find a safe place to hang out.

  Buff closed his eyes and let his mind drift to his run in with Nadia at the bar. If he breathed deep enough he was sure he could still smell coconuts. He hadn’t seen her in town since the barbeque, but that was not surprising, she probably lived in Kerrville and being a bigger town there was bound to be more places for her to hang out at, not to mention people as well.

  His phone blared, startling him. Normally he would ignore his phone this late at night, but the ringtone was the one he’d assigned to the phone Pops used for Tarpley Volunteer Fire Department calls.

  “Buff speaking.”

  “Where are you?” Pops asked straight out. The tenseness in his tone had Buff sitting up and paying attention.

  “At the ranch, what’s happened?”

  “A major tornado ripped through the center of town. We need all hands on deck ASAP. And,” Pops paused and Buff sensed he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear next. “I need to you help in all medical situations. I can’t have you standing on the sidelines, Buff. There are a ton of injuries, Randy’s Hellhouse was hit bad and it’s trivia night, so there’s a lot of people there.”

  “Fuck, I was just there earlier.” His stomach dropped to his toes. Had Nadia still been there or had she headed home? She’d been with a big group of people, he had a feeling they’d been there to play trivia, not to have one drink and then leave.

  “Well, son, I’m glad you’re home safe because we need your expertise.”

  Buff stopped mid motion from pulling on his boots, his breathing came in short, sharp gasps. He hadn’t experienced anything like this when going into a PTSD attack, but he was having a minor panic attack all the same at the thought of having to get his hands bloody.

  “Buff,” Pops said sternly. “Breathe. I know this is going to be hard, but the town needs you, Son. I have faith. You can do this.”

  All the while Pops spoke to him, he willed his breathing to return to normal. Pops was right, no matter how stressful or how panicked he was, people needed him. He had to do what he could. Nadia’s smiling face
flashed in his mind. The way she looked tonight. If she’d still been at the bar, she needed help.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said determined to pull through for the people of Tarpley, and for Nadia.

  “Good, command center is the TVD headquarters, surprisingly the motherfucker didn’t touch the building.”

  “Roger.” Buff disconnected the call and strode over to this closet, pulling out his comprehensive first aid kit and medical bag. He hadn’t looked at since he’d returned from deployment, but he’d make sure it was fully stocked with everything he’d need.

  Pulling open the door, he bound down the steps for his truck, yanking the door open he placed his stuff on the seat before closing it and going around to the driver’s side.

  Adrenaline fired through his synapses. His heart beat in time with the lightning flashing and he tried to see if another tornado was within striking distance of their house.

  He’d never heard one, but had been told on numerous occasions that it sounded like a freight train. He paused before jumping into the truck, listening for anything that would suggest danger was imminent. All he heard was the drumming of raindrops on the roof and the rumble of thunder.

  Deciding that he was safe, but promising himself he’d be on the lookout for danger on the drive in he hauled his ass into the truck and gunned the engine. He pressed the accelerator so hard that his truck fishtailed down the driveway until he got it under control. The last thing the town needed was for him to wreck his truck. As much as he wanted to get to Tarpley as quickly as possible it was better that he got there safely.

  The ranch was only twenty minutes away from the town center, fifteen when he had to get to the volunteer fire department headquarters. On those occasions he pushed the truck over the speed limit by ten miles. Unfortunately he couldn’t do that tonight. The roads would be slick and in places, flooded.

  As he passed the main ranch house, it was dark, although he could see the faint glow of lamplight coming from the main living room. His parents were prepared for all contingencies for themselves and the visitors to the dude ranch. He didn’t think they’d be prepared for a tornado though. He had to warn them. Using his blue tooth he asked the car’s inbuilt intelligence software to call his folks. He needed to let them know what had happened and the chance of a tornado hitting the farm was high.

  “What’s the emergency, Buff?” Dad asked before the first ringtone had sounded around the cab of his truck.

  “I’m on my way into Tarpley, the town was hit by a tornado. Pops said it’s bad. Do you have a contingency plan for an emergency like this?”

  “Shit, you be careful, Son. Are you going to be all right?” Concern laced his father’s tone.

  “Even if I’m not I’ll push through. I don’t have a choice. But you didn’t answer, are you going to be okay? Do you have a safe place where you and the guests can go if need be?”

  “Yes, son, your mother made sure that all bases were covered and we’ve got an underground bunker where we can all gather. It’s stocked with water and blankets and canned food.”

  This was the first Buff had heard of anything like that on the farm. When he wasn’t racing to town to deal with a disaster he would ask his dad to show him the facility. “That’s good. Make sure you turn on the news to find out what the status is. I don’t know if anyone in town had any warnings.”

  “Oh I’m sure they did, the warning systems these days are pretty spot on. And we’re always getting alerts.”

  And yet his phone had remained quiet. His phone had constantly pinged with warnings throughout the day, but not since he’d pulled up to his cabin. Had the system gone down or had the tornado formed without any warning? He could spend the whole drive speculating on what happened, but at the end of the day, a tornado had hit and action needed to be taken. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Be careful, son, and when you get a chance check in with me to let me know that you’re okay.”

  “Will do.” Buff disconnected the call, concentrating on the road in front of him. The rain was lashing down and his wipers weren’t effective at all. He reached down and snapped on his spotlights attached to his truck, hoping they’d help with his visibility. Immediately the area in front of the truck lit up.

  There didn’t appear to be any trees down, which surprised him. Then again, he had no idea the direction the tornado had been traveling. He’d also seen enough news reports to see that a tornado’s path was random and that all the buildings on one side of the street could be totally demolished but on the other side, the houses were untouched.

  Buff turned onto the road that went through the middle of town and immediately came upon a car stuck in a ditch. As much as he wanted to get into town, he had to check to make sure the occupants of the car were okay. Pulling over, he got out and grabbed his flashlight. He shone it over the front of the car. The right front end of the vehicle was crumpled but the driver’s side was unscathed. He transferred the beam of light into the interior of the car. The air bags had gone off but the car was empty. Whoever had been in it had got out and, hopefully they’d were safe. There was no blood on any of the airbags or seats so that made him feel a little better.

  Rushing back to his truck, he climbed in and continued on his way to town. He hadn’t gone half a mile from the wrecked car when he braked suddenly sliding on the wet roads. Lying across the road was a large uprooted tree. The branches were twisted.

  “Shit.” He had to find a way around the fallen tree. He looked to the left and could make out what once had to have been a barn, but now resembled a box of matchsticks. On the right, there was a fence that bordered a field. It had been torn out of the ground was now a mass of wood and wire. If he was careful he should be able to drive over the field and get around the tree that way.

  A glance at the dash clock had his blood pressure rising. It had been twenty minutes since he’d taken Pops’ call. Every minute he wasn’t there, was a minute someone went without help. He had to get there quickly, but safely.

  The first thing Nadia became aware of when she surfaced from the blackness that had consumed her, was that her head pounded. Had she gone against everything she normally did when she went out and had gotten drunk? The way her head hurt wasn’t anything she’d ever experienced before.

  A groan penetrated her fogginess, followed by another. Along with the sounds a heaviness across her back registered. As the mist in her mind cleared she began to remember things. Things that explained her pain and the weight on her back.

  Images played across her mind like a dream. Playing trivia. Panic setting in with everyone. Scrambling into the pantry with Cerise.

  Cerise.

  “Cerise?” Her voice sounded scratchy and quiet. She cleared her throat and said her friends name a little louder. “Cerise are you okay?”

  “Nadia?”

  “Oh thank goodness. Can you remember what happened?” Even though her head pounded and she wanted to cry with the pain of it, her instincts as a doctor were beginning to kick in.

  “Vaguely.”

  Another moan sounded and Nadia called out. “Who’s that? Are you in pain?” While she spoke she tried to move her legs, and was able to move them a bit. Not a lot but at least she had movement so her back wasn’t broken.

  “It’s Randy and I think my legs are broken. There’s something on them, I could try and move it.”

  “No,” Nadia shouted. “Leave whatever it is. If you move it you could end up doing more damage to yourself than if you didn’t.”

  A couple of other people called out saying that their arms and legs hurt. “Cerise, what about you.”

  “My abdomen really hurts. I fell to the side and a whole lot of cans fell on me.” Somehow in the collapse of the shelves surrounding them she’d lost her grip on Cerise. A shaft of guilt that she hadn’t been able to protect her friend pierced her gut, but she pushed it aside. She’d done the best she could and Cerise wouldn’t blame her for their hold breaking so she needn’t ei
ther.

  Out of everyone in the small cupboard she’d come out of it without any broken bones. Sure, her head hurt like a bitch but she could still move.

  “What about you, Nadia? Are you okay?” Cerise asked.

  Nadia reached up and felt around her skull. At the side she had a large goose egg where the can that knocked her must have hit. A lump was much better than an indentation. If the lump hadn’t come out then there was the chance that she may have fractured her skull and moving wouldn’t be a good idea. Continuing her examination she could feel the stickiness of the blood from the cut the can had also inflicted on her. She took a deep breath and it stung a bit. Okay, so she may have some bruised ribs from whatever had fallen on her back. But as she’d previously discovered, she had full movement of her arms and legs.

  “I’m good, Cerise, just a bump on the head. Probably come cuts and bruises. I’m going to try and see if I can wiggle around enough to get out and see if I can find some help for us.”

  As if the mention of help conjured them, she heard the faint, familiar wail of sirens. How long had they been sounding? Why was she only hearing them now? Had they just arrived? How long had she and the other occupants of the cupboard been unconscious? How long since the tornado had ripped through the town?

  She slammed the door shut on questions. They didn’t matter, all that mattered was trying to get help. God knows how the people in the other part of the bar were. Nadia had no idea where Brad and the others on the trivia team were. If they were able to get out or if they were pinned under debris like them.

  “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to move, Nadia. What if you moving causes more things to collapse on us?” Cerise had a valid point, but Nadia couldn’t sit around and wait for help. She had to do something. If only she could see what the situation was then she might be able to work her way out without causing anyone to get hurt even more.