Page 83 of Sheltering Instinct

“No, get down!” Tess swung an arm through the air to catch his attention.

A second flash of lightning filled the air with the sharp, pungent odor of ozone. She waited for the thunder to shake the hillside before she turned to where Levi was checking on Mojo.

“Well, at least there aren’t rhinos,” Tess said as she stood and pointed toward a pickup truck bouncing off-road in their direction.

“Yup. I’m on it. Tess, you get the kids.” Levi buckled Mojo into his vest then grabbed his pack. “I’m going to get him to stop.” He handed Tess’s cap back, and she pulled it over her curls.

Slinging her pack into place, Tess grabbed the boy’s hand.

The girl—who was older—sprang out ahead, following Levi as he sprinted down the hillside.

Tess moved as fast as she could. The boy’s short legs were a hindrance. Finally, Tess dragged her hand up until he was dangling near her hip, and he intuitively wrapped his legs around her and clung to her neck.

The rain began with a few drips and drizzles, followed by a normal rain shower.

Her baseball cap offered Tess a bit of protection, but the rain was coming in sideways. By the time she reached the bottom of the hill and was tracing after Levi and Mojo, it was pelting her so hard that she was having trouble seeing.

Levi stood in the path of the pickup.

The guy came right up to Levi, making Tess shriek as he barely stopped in time.

The man’s eyelids were peeled back, showing the whites of his eyes, panicking.

Tess thought that the driver Hadn’t seen Levi signaling through the curtain of rain.

After slamming his hands onto the guy's hood, Levi rounded to the driver’s side. “I need you to take us to the school.”

“I cannot. No.” He pointed across the blackened stretch. “I've got to get to my mother.”

“Look, man. I've got two small children here. We need to get them back to the school.”

As the rain beat against the sooty earth, baked to a clay-like hardness, Tess called, “We're not going to make it without a vehicle.”

Levi was obviously not playing around.

And the driver, too, was single-minded in his focus.

Their back and forth was taking up precious time.

"Move over, guy," Levi commanded.

“No.” He moved his hand to the gear to shift into drive.

Levi unlocked the door, popped it open, and dragged the guy out of the cab. “Look, man, I'm gonna give you your truck back. I just need to get these kids to safety.”

As Levi tossed the driver into the back of his pickup, Levi yelled, “Get in. Let’s go!”

While Tess loaded Mojo into the front, Levi grabbed the children with their wool blanket shields and popped them in next to the driver in the back. Tess climbed in the back as well.

Following his GPS, Levi raced for the school, squealing to a halt at the front door.

A middle-aged woman was standing in the doorframe, wringing her hands.

As they unloaded, the man got back under his steering wheel.

Tess yelled at him. “Don’t go north. Donotgo north.

He stared at her for a moment, considering her words. A decision made, he slammed the gear into drive and jetted off, heading north.

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