Page 51 of Into the Tempest

The camera on the news building was gone, now just a screen of fuzzy white snow. And then I looked at the security camera out the front of the building we were huddled in...

A sheet of something had been swept into the yard. It looked like roofing iron. And there was rubbish and debris stuck in the fence, and something dark on the landing at the steps.

Something... an odd shape. A moving odd shape...

“What’s that?” I said. I tapped Tully’s shoulder to get him to loosen his grip so I could get up. I went to the screen to get a better look.

It looked like a...

Something alive.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, doubting they could hear me. I went into the foyer area and grabbed the door. It wouldn’t budge at first, as if it were locked or suction-cupped shut, and I had to pull it with all my strength until it budged, and then the wind got it and it flew inward, almost knocking me off my feet.

The wind...

My god.

And the rain, and the noise. So much louder than I could have imagined. Something flew through the air past the building. A garden chair? Part of a house?

But there, huddled against the wall and utterly defeated, was a bird. Drenched, and the sorriest thing I’d ever seen. I wasn’t even sure it was still alive, but I stepped outside, trying to keep my body mass as low as possible, almost getting blown off the landing. I grabbed the bird as the wind tried to take me, and I almost lost my footing... until an arm grabbed me.

Tully, holding the door with one hand, holding me with his other, a wild look of fear and anger on his face. He pulled me inside, the door slamming shut behind me. I think he’d kicked it.

The whole building shook.

“Are you in-fucking-sane?” he screamed at me.

The pot plant was knocked over, the baseball bat across the other side of the foyer. Tully’s face was pale, his eyes wild. “Are you trying to get us all killed? Opening the fucking door could have blown the windows out or the goddamn roof off. What were you thinking?” He tapped the side of his head.

I shook my head, his anger at me was not expected, and my adrenaline was starting to crash. I tried to speak but couldn’t find the words, so I held up the bird instead. It was the size of a magpie or pigeon, but it was hard to tell what it was because it was so wet and ruffled. Soaked to its fragile, hollow bones.

It was limp, but it was trembling.

Or maybe that was me.

I was drenched, I realised, dripping water, and I was shaking. I held the bird to my chest and Tully gripped my arm, none too gently, and pulled me back into the control room.

He all but shoved me to the floor where we’d been sitting before. Doreen’s glare could have cut glass, as she was still cradling Suri and Bruce. “Not real bright, are ya?”

“S-s-sorry,” I said.

Tully was back with a towel and he ran it over my face and through my hair. He was rough and frantic—my god, he was so mad at me—and he patted down my shoulders and arms, but his hands were shaking and his jaw was clenched so tight I wondered if he’d crack his teeth.

Then his eyes met mine and he sagged, falling back on his arse, the towel forgotten. He took a few deep breaths and he shook his head at me. “That was... that was not good. Christ, Jeremiah.”

Doreen looked as if she wanted to kill me, but the disappointment in Tully’s eyes hit me hard. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I said. Kept saying, over and over.

I took the towel and wrapped the bird up, tucking its wings in and covering its head to keep it safe. Tully watched me for a bit, though I still couldn’t meet his gaze. He slid back over to sit next to me. “I’m still mad at you,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t think.”

He looked at me withno fucking shitwritten all over his face. “For a bird. That’s probably gonna die of shock anyway.”

I held the bundle of towel more protectively. “No he won’t.”

Tully rolled his eyes, took the bundle of towel, and holding it to his chest, he sidled in under my arm. He held my arm over his shoulder, looking at my watch. It was flashing, though the beeps weren’t loud enough to hear over the wind.

He knew what it meant.

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