Forecast (12 page)

Then I saw them.

The water had come too fast and too hard. People always thought they could wade through. Four bodies were in a pile against a wall. The wave must have pushed them into it. One of them had been younger than me.

A shadow fell over us and I looked up to see swarms of ravens splitting into groups. Some swooped toward the bodies and horror swamped me. I sucked back sobs and frantically ran at the birds, waving my arms and yelling, trying to scare them away. I started to slip and grabbed onto part of a fence.

Taran knelt next to the bodies and reached for the first one’s neck to check for a pulse.

I let go, got my footing and continued to scream at the birds even as I watched others descending—knowing more bodies were out there.

The ravens come early to battle.
Ready to feed upon the dead.

It’s why they’d come to Florida. The knowledge threatened to send me to my knees.

Taran stood and met my eyes.

I stopped yelling as he sadly shook his head.

“We can’t just leave them there for the birds to...for the birds to—” I broke off, one of my sobs tearing loose.

A man who must have heard me screaming walked toward us dragging a tarp. Taran ran to help and together they covered the bodies. Taran thanked him before coming back to pull me close to his side. He had to be as miserable as I was in the wet clothes, but his expression showed only determination.

“Damn.” He started shivering. “We’re going to have to find warmer clothes very soon. And I really want to find Josh and Grim, too.”

So did I. I’d grown attached to the twins pretty fast.

Taran and I had to go around deep puddles, and I tripped on more broken concrete by a small boatyard across from some condominiums as we went north. Most of the boats had been smashed into pieces—the condos were missing doors and windows. We saw people crouched on roofs under blankets. We passed mangled fences and overturned cars as the loud chop of helicopters filled the sky.

My exhaustion grew until it felt like I had weights strapped to my ankles and wrists, like my bones had been filled with metal. Parts of my clothes had started to freeze and the icy material chafed. I wanted to lie down more than I wanted anything. But we couldn’t stop.

A pileup of vehicles blocked the entrance to the police station, including fire engines—some on their sides. It was hard to imagine the power of the water that had surged through here.
And so far north.
We cut across the grass. My snow boots kept slipping on the ice-coated blades. Taran never let me fall. He held on to my arm and when I’d start to slip, his other hand would come up to steady me. I noticed how careful he was not to squeeze. Like overly careful. But I’d also noticed something since he’d pushed the boat off the front of the hotel. “Is it me, or does it seem like you’re getting stronger?” I asked

His lips tightened. “It’s not you. Something is going on inside me, something weird. I feel like I could pick up one of those fire engines. It’s freaking me out.” He started to let go of my hand. “I shouldn’t be holding on to you. What if I pull your arm out of its socket or something?”

“If you hadn’t been holding me, I would have hit the ground by now.” I glanced at him. “You hurt a girl before, didn’t you?”

His lips tightened even more as he looked away from me.

“That other stuff Billy said at the seafood place—that’s what he was talking about, right?”

He didn’t answer right away, frowning at a pile of tree trunks. He carefully picked me up and carried me over them, moving slowly so he didn’t slip on the ice forming on their surfaces. Loud voices caught my attention and I turned my head to see that huge crowds of people had gathered outside the police station.

He put me down. We were still semihidden behind a car that had been turned onto its side. “About what you asked. Yeah, I had a girlfriend. She um...we um...” His cheeks were so red already with cold, his flush didn’t show, but I knew it was there just from his expression. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

I waited for him to go on and could figure out why he hesitated. “During sex?” I whispered before tugging his hand to get him to walk. I wanted out of this cold.

“We didn’t get quite that far. But I got excited, grabbed her arms too hard. The bruises were so huge. It was an accident, but it’s made me...worry since. I felt rotten about it.”

“So around here, you really are the bad boy.”

“Yeah, maybe you should rethink hanging out with me.”

“I’ve been with you for days now and you haven’t hurt me. You’ve gone out of your way not to.” The crowd grew noisier—there had to be hundreds of people here. They took up most of the lawn and parking lot.

He stopped. “It’s not going to be easy to find my dad in this. Come on.” He took my hand, paused. “Tell me if I’m holding on too hard, okay?”

I nodded.

He pulled me toward the station, still making sure to help me find my balance when I slipped, but obviously in a hurry. When Taran suddenly stopped, I ran into him.

“Officer Warner!” He yelled, then glanced over his shoulder at me. “Hold on to my coat. I don’t want to lose you in this crowd like I did Josh and Grim.”

I didn’t want to get lost in it, either. People filled the area in front of the police station. Shivering, huddled in groups or wandering around, their expressions ranging from scared, to tired, to lost. Yelling, crying and angry shouts filled the air—the noise hurt my ears. Everything and everyone was wet. If this had happened in true summer, already the smell of mildew would be in the air.

“Officer Warner, have you seen my dad?” Taran yelled.

“Yes.” The policeman pushed out of the crowd, patted the hand of an older woman who wouldn’t let go of his arm. She clung to him. He grimaced and it was obvious he was trying not to drag her along. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” He tried to hug Taran, but the woman wouldn’t let go. “Your dad is looking for you. He’s really worried. Headed south, said your house had been badly damaged. The Tanner boys are around here somewhere, too.” He cleared his throat, his mouth turning down. “Their house is mostly gone.”

I closed my eyes, grief a hard lump in my throat.

“Your dad could be anywhere and the cells aren’t working.” He pointed toward the station. “The water didn’t go much farther past this building, so getting around north of here is easier. You have a place you and the Tanner boys can go so we know where to find you?”

I cleared my throat. “I do. They can come to my house. I live north so my house should be okay. And I grew up in campgrounds, so I have supplies we’ll need.”

The woman clinging to his arm whimpered, and the cop looked down at her. “We’re going to find your son, Mrs. Durbin. He was at the station working earlier.” He put his hand over hers on his arm and looked back at me. “Do you have something to write on so you can give me the address?”

I reached toward my back pocket only to find it empty, then grabbed Taran’s arm. He turned concerned eyes my way.

“I don’t have my notebook,” I whispered through gritted teeth.

“Okay.” He looked around. “Guess we can fight our way through the crowd to get a piece of paper.”

“No, I’ll just put it on my phone on the memo app.” Warner let go of Mrs. Durbin and pulled out his cell phone. “At least that part of the phone still works. For now. We’ll have generators going soon. You got a generator?” he asked me.

I shook my head. “No, but I have propane heaters and a camp stove.”

“That’ll do it. Make sure the rooms are ventilated. You guys need to get into dry clothes soon.”

I gave him my address and cell number. Though Taran’s dad had already followed me home the other night, I doubt he remembered the details. I hoped Warner attributed the hard clatter of my teeth to just the cold. Taran didn’t understand why I was freaking out—I could tell. He was trying to, though. Staring hard at me, his eyebrows raised.

I could never,
ever
, be without something to write on.

The cop frowned at me. “I meant it. You need to get warm. Grim and Josh are around here somewhere, Taran. You all stay at her house. If your father knows you’re safe, he can do his job.” He looked over our heads. “There they are now. Good, they have bags of things. Probably dry clothes.”

I tugged on Taran’s arm. “I doubt my car is still at your house. And from the looks of things on the way here, driving would be impossible. How are we going to get to my place?” I loved that silly little orange car. My eyes started to tear up and I fought for control. Crying about a car when there was all this...this heartbreak around us was petty. But the mix of sadness, fear and exhaustion twisting inside my chest made me think anything could make me cry at this point. I looked at the silently crying Mrs. Durbin, who was terrified she’d lost her son, my heart aching for her.

“Take my Jeep.” Officer Warner handed Taran the keys. “You’ll have to walk to that church up the street.” He pointed north. “Do you know which one? I left the Jeep there and walked here.”

Taran nodded.

“It’ll be safer away from here anyway. The roads south of here are impassable, but you should be okay. Mostly. Just be careful.”

“Thanks.” Taran pocketed them. “Make sure you tell Dad where we’ll be.” He frowned. “Warner, is your family okay?”

The officer nodded. “I moved them out yesterday when the newscasters started looking green around the gills.”

Josh and Grim stopped beside us, both holding trash bags that bulged at odd angles. Josh had dirt streaking his face, blood on his neck, and his coat had been ripped all the way down the side.

Grim’s jeans had taken a bad hit, rips covering one thigh and shin—one of the knees was out. His limbs shook as he clutched his trash bag close.

“I’m so sorry about your home,” I said softly.

Grim nodded, tried to smile and failed.

“We don’t know where our parents are. They weren’t in our hou...what’s left of our house.” Josh put his hand on Grim’s shoulder, squeezed. “We found an open pawnshop and got one of those corded phones that will still work without power.” He looked at Officer Warner. “Could you tell my parents when they show up?”

“I’ll keep a lookout for them.” The cop pulled his phone back out. “That corded phone will come in handy. What was your name again?” He looked at me.

“Coral.”

“Coral, do you mind giving me your home phone? That way his dad can call and check in as soon as he can. And I can pass the number along to the Tanners.”

I gave him my number even though my urge to get going was making me feel crazy. I had to have something to write with and soon. I didn’t have a rune font in my phone, so I couldn’t use the memo thing. Though I wished I’d thought of that before.

Taran was frowning at me again. He turned to Josh and Grim. “We’re going to crash at her place and we’re taking Officer Warner’s Jeep.”

* * *

The Jeep’s heater was the most wonderful thing I’d ever felt. The twins insisted I take the passenger front seat, so one of the vents blasted in my face. Normally, I hated that—found it hard to breathe as my sinuses dried out. But this time was different. I closed my eyes and absorbed the heat. And even though it took us an hour to reach my house, I still didn’t feel warm. When I opened my eyes, I looked around in amazement at all the cars jamming our street. I’d known my neighbors were taking people in before the wave, but it looked like the numbers had doubled.

“Coral?” Taran brought the Jeep to a stop.

I turned toward him, taking in the signs of exhaustion in the shadows. I could only see him because of the moonlight reflecting off snow—so I couldn’t see much. I hadn’t realized that much time had passed. I must have slept longer than I’d thought at the hotel.

“Did you leave your door open?” he asked.

My gaze flew to the open front door, then I turned to scramble from the Jeep.

“Wait!” he yelled. “You can’t go in there without me.”

“Without us,” Grim added as he got out and stood beside the vehicle. “It might be neighbors looting.”

“None of my neighbors would do that.” My heart started to pound harder. “In fact, they all kind of help look out for us—have ever since we moved in.” I rubbed my stomach.

“I’m hungry, too.” Taran said, misunderstanding my gesture. He touched my shoulder as I stepped beside him. “We need to get you food and dry clothes. I’m going in first to check it out.”

“Wait,” I whispered as my stomach cramped. Hard. I hadn’t been rubbing it because I was hungry. I grimaced, wrapped my arms around my waist.

“What is it?” He lifted my chin. “Hey, you okay?”

“No,” I gasped out. “This is worse than usual. I usually get sick after.” I groaned, dropped to my knees in the snow.

“What does she mean worse than usual?” Grim asked. “And after?”

Taran knelt beside me. “Coral. Is it that thing again? That rune thing?”

I nodded, then shook my head. “I think so, but it’s different.” This time, the moan I couldn’t stop sounded truly pathetic. I grasped my stomach, bending until my forehead was nearly in the snow. My hair fell forward into it. I didn’t remember losing my hair scrunchie. Gasping at the cramps tearing through my abdomen, I lifted my head to tell Taran to take me inside, biting my tongue when the world didn’t go into its usual slow spin. It took off, kind of like someone grabbing the handle of a top and spinning.

“Crap,” Taran gasped. But he managed to slide his hands under my arms and lift me out of the cold snow. He stood, bracing his legs and wrapped me around him, burying my face in his neck. I was surprised to find a little warmth there, so I burrowed in. “Scared I’m going to puke on you,” I murmured into his skin.

“I’ll wash if you do.” He clasped his hand on the back of my head, quiet as he held me. I had my eyes jammed so tightly shut, I didn’t feel the spin stop. Taran turned so his lips were by my ear. “You okay now? Josh and Grim are frozen into big, ugly statues.”

“I need something to write with. Fast. It’s not the way it usually is. This is worse.”

He carried me toward the porch.

“I can walk.”

“Humor me. You look like you’re in a lot of pain. I don’t like it.”