The Journal: Fault Line (The Journal Book 5) (17 page)

“I think there’s a pack of batteries in the
kitchen drawer. I don’t know what kind though. Maybe I should be
making a list of things we need.” Christine headed upstairs for
paper, a pen, and the batteries.

“At least we can test this lamp out with the
fresh batteries,” Trevor said when she returned. Christine turned
the lights out and Trevor turned the lantern on, lighting up a good
area of the large room. “Excellent!” He turned it off and placed it
back on the lower shelf. “We need more batteries though. I know
there are some at the store, but it’s dark out and I don’t want
anyone to see the lights on in there. I’ll go first thing in the
morning.”

The day broke with blue
skies, sunshine, and warmer than normal temperatures. Christine let
Holly into the backyard to do her business, and they played fetch
for a few minutes until Trevor returned from the store.

“We now have a couple of packs of D, C, and
AA batteries. That should be enough, though we should stock up more
later,” he said, setting the batteries on the kitchen table. “I
really think I should be opening the store again, for a few hours
anyway, maybe in the mornings.”

“Are we going to the park today?” Christine
asked. “I’m getting used to seeing our new friends every day, even
if it’s only for an hour.”

“It looks to be perfect weather, so I say we
go. I like seeing everyone, too, and I know the dogs sure enjoy it,
that’s why I’m thinking of morning hours for the store.”

***

“I don’t like the looks of that sky,” Seth
said, gazing to the west. The group had congregated at their usual
picnic table while the dogs romped nearby. “It looks like rain
coming, and soon. I think I’ll be heading back home.” He stood and
whistled for Dot. “I’ll see everyone tomorrow, same time, same
place, unless it’s still raining.” He smiled and ambled away,
humming to himself.

No sooner had Seth left the park when the
first crack of thunder was heard, and the wind picked up.

“That really moved in fast! We should get
going too,” Trevor said to Christine and stood to leave. “Janis,
what’s the matter?” He had turned and found Janis staring at the
sky, shaking.

“I’m really scared of thunderstorms,” she
replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “Maybe I should go
too.”

Christine took her hand. “Would you like to
come home with us until the storm passes?” Wide eyed, the girl
mutely nodded.

The wind increased to a steady blow, sending
leaves swirling in the air as they walked the two blocks. Holly
chased a few then quickly returned to Christine’s side, nudging
between her and Janis when more thunder boomed. Christine realized
it wasn’t that Holly was frightened. Holly, being a responsive and
sensitive therapy dog, was trying to comfort a very nervous and
frightened Janis.

Trevor opened the side door and a strong gust
of wind yanked it out of his hand, smacking it against the house
with a loud screech of the hinges. He ushered the girls and dog
inside and pulled the door back in place, securing it. Trevor and
Christine locked eyes, remembering what might be coming.

“Have you had lunch yet, Janis?” Christine
asked calmly. The girl shook her head, still staring out the window
at the coming storm. “We haven’t either. I think I’ll warm up some
soup. Would you like cream of mushroom, or cream of chicken?”

Janis turned to her, in a daze. “I like cream
of mushroom. My mom used to make it with extra mushrooms.”

Trevor thought about Christine’s ex-boss
buying the same ingredients, and wondered if he gave her the flu,
or maybe she gave it to him when they exchanged money. He quickly
dismissed the thought. It didn’t matter anymore. The prospect of
hot soup distracted the girl, and gave Trevor and Christine time to
discuss the situation.

“Do you think we should go to the basement?”
Christine asked nervously.

“Not yet, it hasn’t even started to rain yet.
Stay calm, please. Janis could really lose it if she sees you
upset,” Trevor said, giving her a comforting hug. “I’m glad we
moved all that stuff downstairs though. Are there blankets and
pillows in that other bedroom?”

“I’ll go check.” Having something to do
calmed Christine and brought her back to reality.

***

Christine opened the closet in her father’s
lower level bedroom to find one pillow, one blanket, and no sheets.
The rest of the closet was bare. She scanned the shelves where they
had found the lantern and spotted the two sleeping bags she and her
dad had used on the last camping trip. They had hiked part of the
Appalachian Trail and spent two nights camping out. Christine
remembered that it was fun being with her dad, though she hated
sleeping on the ground. She frowned, remembering too that she
hadn’t heard from him since the earthquake. Where was he? What was
he doing? Was he alright? Worrying about him didn’t help her
current state of mind. She pulled the sleeping bags down and tossed
them into a corner for later.

Upstairs, she found Janis rinsing her soup
bowl in the sink, still looking outside at the growing storm.
Trevor was nowhere around.

***

The storm was increasing in strength, fueled
by the warm air pressure system from the south and the cold air
coming down from the northern regions. High clouds lowered as they
filled with moisture, turning them darker and darker. Lightning
flashed high behind the black clouds, sparking more sudden
electrostatic discharges between the charged regions of the clouds.
The swirling mass of wind was taking form.

***

Trevor came back into the kitchen from the
garage, carrying a flat box covered with a plastic grocery bag.
“Find everything okay?” he asked, with a veiled question.

“Mostly,” she replied and followed him down
to the basement.

Trevor opened the louvered doors to expose
the kitchenette and turned on the apartment sized refrigerator,
placing the pizza box he had inside to stay chilled.

“I thought we’d have pizza for dinner. That
bit of normalcy should cheer Janis up.” He reached out and pulled
Christine into his arms, kissing her deeply. “What did you find?”
he asked when he let her go.

“One pillow, one blanket and two sleeping
bags,” she reported. “Not nearly enough for three of us. I guess we
need more from our bed.” She paused. “I’m thinking we should get
Janis involved, it might help soothe her nerves to know we’ll be
okay.”

“Smart!”

***

“Janis,” Christine said to get her attention
away from the windows. “If the storm gets any worse, we’re going to
wait it out in the basement and have a camp out. It should be fun.”
Trevor smiled at her inventiveness. “Do you like cards or board
games? I do, and so does Trevor. If I show you where I keep what I
have, will you pick out what you like to play and stack them here
on the table? It would be a big help while I find something for us
to sit on downstairs.” The young girl perked up and immediately
agreed.

Christine pulled their pillows off the bed,
along with the blankets, and took the pile to the basement. Trevor
took the cushions off the couch in the living room and tossed them
down the stairs to her. Next he cleared off the coffee table in
front of the now bare couch and together they took it to the
basement. By the time Janis was done carefully selecting and
stacking games, Trevor and Christine had transformed the center of
the basement. The coffee table was now surrounded by the cushions
and the lantern sat in the center. Janis had brought the boxed
games down, wide-eyed at the spacious basement, and set them on the
floor by the low table.

***

The intensity of the storm grew by the minute
as the gyrating winds collected more warm air from the south, more
cold air from the north, and more moisture from the streams and
lakes it passed over. The dark clouds turned even darker until no
light shone through them except for the lightning that cut through
the blackness. The winds increased further, reaching a swirling
60mph. At 75mph it would officially became an EF-1 tornado that
could unleash an 820-foot wide path of destruction.

***

Trevor looked through the front
room windows that faced west, his arm protectively around
Christine. The sky stretched black and pieces of debris could be
seen if one looked closely enough.

“Okay, ladies,” he said calmly, “I
think it would be wise for us to settle into the basement. Holly,
get your bone and let’s go!” Holly found her rawhide toy and
followed them down the stairs.

“I’ll be right back.” When Trevor
rejoined them he had Holly’s water and food dishes and the bag of
dog food. Holly ran up the stairs and brought down her tennis
ball.

Christine looked at what Trevor set
down on the floor, and seeing the water dish, said, “Trevor… did we
bring down that bottled water from the garage?” He froze and then
darted up the stairs again. “Stay here,” Christine said to Janis
and followed him.

The wind rattled the metal and wood
garage with a force that startled Trevor. When he saw Christine
behind him, he paused only momentarily, and then grabbed two cases
of water, shoving them into her waiting arms. “Go!” he yelled above
the wind and grabbed the remaining three cases, pulling the
interior door shut behind him then descending into the safety of
the basement.

“Let’s not do that again,”
Christine said, pressing her forehead to Trevor’s chest, shaking
from the adrenaline rush.

The three of them sat on the couch
cushions on the floor around the short wooden table and played
Monopoly, then Scrabble. The hours ticked by while the winds
outside increased.

“I’m going upstairs to have a
look,” Trevor announced, standing to stretch his back. He was over
six feet tall and sitting hunched over like that was starting to
hurt.

“I’ll come with you,” Christine
offered and shivered. “I didn’t realize how cool this basement
would be if you stayed in it for a long time. Anyone else getting
hungry? I think I’ll turn the oven on to preheat.”

“I’m staying down here, if you
don’t mind,” Janis said sheepishly.

Once upstairs in the kitchen,
Trevor stopped and pulled Christine into his arms for a long and
passionate kiss.

“I’m glad we offered Janis refuge
during the storm, but I’ll be glad when we can take her back home,”
he said, nuzzling Christine’s neck. “Danger is a strange
aphrodisiac!”

“I know what you mean.” She grinned
wickedly. “Hopefully the storm will pass soon.”

They walked hand in hand to the
windows that looked north. The sky was heavy with dark clouds, as
was the west window. The south facing window was another story.

“I’ve never seen anything like
that!” Christine breathed out. The cloud formation was even darker
and swirled, then broke up, then swirled even tighter and faster.
“Was that a tree?” she said in amazement.

“
It sure looked like one.
Christine, I think we’re watching a tornado form! Even though this
is moving from west to east and away from us, I know tornadoes can
change directions in a heartbeat. And there could be another funnel
cloud right behind it that we can’t see without going outside,
which we are
not
going to do. Come on, we need to be in the
basement!”

Trevor took her hand and
pulled her away from the mesmerizing sight. The wind continued to
roar with an unbridled fierceness.

As they emerged from the stairwell
and closed the door, the oven dinged, telling them it had reached
the temperature Christine had set. She unwrapped the frozen pizza
and slid it into the hot oven, trying to keep dinner a surprise
from Janis.

“Well, we know you’re over 21,
Janis, would you like a beer or a glass of wine?” Trevor asked,
keeping his voice light in spite of what they had witnessed
upstairs.

“Really? A beer would be great.”
She stood to uncramp her legs. Janis took the offered beer and
walked around the basement. “If we have to stay down here for the
night, where are we going to sleep?”

“We have pillows, blankets and
sleeping bags. Trevor and I will take the sleeping bags and stay in
the bedroom. You should be comfortable with all the couch cushions
and the blankets,” Christine said bringing the piping hot pizza to
the table, along with a roll of paper towels to use as napkins.

“Pizza?” Janis said in awe. “I love
pizza! I haven’t had any in… forever.” She lifted one of the slices
Trevor cut and sighed with contentment after taking a cheesy
bite.

“It was Trevor’s idea. Good choice,
babe.” Christine took a slice and nibbled on the pepperoni and
cheese delight.

“I don’t know about you ladies, but
I’m ready for another round of Scrabble!” He pushed the now empty
pizza box aside and set up the board. The lights flickered and went
out and Janis let out a muffled scream. Trevor turned on the
battery lantern and continued like it was all normal and
planned.

The morning broke with
muddy skies and a hot, humid wind. Power was slowly being restored
in the cities and towns that dotted the path of the EF-1 tornado.
Greenwood, one of the largest and closest to Indianapolis, came
back online quickly.

“Hey, the lights are on!” cried a jubilant
Janis. She tossed off the blankets she had been wrapped in and
looked around. “Are you two awake yet?” she asked tentatively and
then tapped on the closed door. Christine startled her by coming
out of the bathroom.

“Good morning, Janis. Did you sleep
well?”