Page 113 of Through the Storms
Riley gently touched Chloe’s knee. “Are you okay?”
Chloe shivered. It was soon followed by another. “I’m scared,” Chloe said, her voice barely over a whisper.
“I know.” Riley wrapped her arms around Chloe.
Chloe leaned into Riley and hugged her tight.
Oakley’s heart ached for Chloe, but she knew Chloe was in good hands. “I need to check the computers and figure out where the storm’s headed. We don’t want to drive into its path.”
“I’ve got her,” Riley said. “Do what you need to do.”
Oakley dove into her seat and swiveled toward the front as she buckled her seat belt. She punched the computer keyboard, willing it to come out of sleep mode. Britt took a sharp left, and Oakley listed sideways. The computer screen finally came to life. Oakley braced herself as she scrolled through the satelliteimages.Fuck.There was so much activity, it was hard to isolate what she needed on her tiny screen.
She grabbed her cellphone.
“Hey, Oak,” Lana said. “I’ve been hoping to hear from you, I have something—”
“Lana, I have an emergency,” Oakley said. “Summerton. What’s the status?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Please, what’s happening in Summerton?”
“It was hit about five minutes ago.”
“How bad?”
“No reports yet. What’s going on?”
“Chloe’s daughter is there.”
Lana gasped. “Oh, god. What part of town?”
“I’m not sure. Riley’s got her calmed down. I don’t want to ask her a bunch of questions until we get there. What do you know?”
“From early reports, the north side got hit much harder than the south. Where are you?”
“On our way there now.”
“The tornado’s still on the ground. You need to be careful.”
The wipers slapped against the rain that buffeted the windshield, and a gust of wind rocked the van.
“Fuck,” Britt said as she jerked the van back into its lane.
“What was that?” Lana asked.
“Gusty winds.”
“Where are you?” Lana’s normally calm voice held a note of panic.
Oakley swiveled and looked at the GPS. Out of the corner of her eye, movement drew her attention. She pointed, so Britt could see. “What the hell is that? Birds don’t fly in this weather.”
Britt leaned forward in her seat and strained her eyes. “What the fuck, those are two big fucking birds.”
What originally looked like birds continued to get larger. The birdlike objects flew past about twenty yards in front of them. “Jesus, were those powerlines?”
“And poles,” Britt said.
