Tornado Warning (12 page)

“What exactly do we need to do?” Steve asked.

“You got any family?”

“It’s just me. Recently divorced. My ex-wife stayed in Oklahoma.”

Ryan began to walk away. He had to get away from what had just happened. With daylight burning and the possibility of more storms, they had to keep moving.

“Any kids?”

Steve shook his head. “None.”

“I’ve got a boy. He’s hurt pretty bad.”

“Where is he?”

“Back at my place with my dad. We got in the cellar just in time, but...” Ryan trailed off. “I gotta find help. He might lose his arm.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. And your wife?”

“I’m not sure if I can take the guy seriously. He could’ve just been saying that to give me false hope.” Ryan watched the clouds over the mountain range. They didn’t look too ominous yet.

“I was with them when we saw the group. He described the woman correctly. I don’t think she was with looters. It was hard to tell.”

“Lots of women could look like that, but I’m going to hold onto it and say that it is Cecilia. I don’t have much else to go on, so one glimmer of hope will be enough motivation for me to head north and find her.”

Steve patted him on the back. “I’d like to help. I have nothing else going on. I’d rather not just sit around and wait. Doesn’t look like anyone is coming for us anyway.”

Ryan hoped that was one thing the looters were wrong about. How could
no one
be coming?

Chapter Thirteen

The sun was setting over the mountain range and the heat of the day was finally fading. It made for cooler nights, so Ryan found a spot under a grove of trees that hadn’t been completely destroyed. He gathered wood from the fallen limbs and dug a small hole to start a fire. His stomach growled from hunger, and with the new food, he’d eat a little more to get his strength up.

Pulling the lighter from his bag, he struggled to get the fire going. The wood was wet from the recent rain. If he had some lighter fluid or something flammable, it would help, but nothing would work.

“We might have to do without a fire tonight.”

Steve didn’t say much. He had been quiet for most of their hike, which Ryan didn’t mind. Too much talking wasted energy and with as frustrated as he was, would probably grate on his nerves.

Rolling a few pieces of gauze from the small first aid kit he had made, he balled it up under the wood and lit it. It smoked for a bit and finally caught some pine needles on fire. It smoldered and Ryan gently blew on it. A few flames licked the twigs and with patience, a small fire finally started. It wasn’t big enough to do much, but if they stayed close, it would provide some warmth. His coat would help, but Steve didn’t have anything but the clothes he was wearing. They’d need to try and find him something for protection soon.

“You can sit closer to the fire. If you need to, I can let you use the coat and we can trade off.”

“I’m fine. It’s cool out, but nothing I can’t handle.”

Ryan opened the bag of beef jerky and offered him a piece, and he gladly accepted. The temperature outside was tolerable for the time being, but with the extreme fluctuation in the climate and atmosphere, Ryan feared that they’d come across weather where Steve would be vulnerable. Even the coat he had wasn’t made for winter type stuff. It was spring and by this time, any chance of a freeze was pretty much over, but things weren’t even close to being normal now. Nothing would seem strange after what they had been through and anything seemed possible.

“So, what did you do before the world decided to go ape shit on us?” Steve asked, tearing a piece of the jerky off with his teeth.

“I’m a mechanic. Own a shop in Harper Springs.”

“Yeah? That’s a good skill to have.”

“What about you?” Ryan washed the jerky down with a gulp of water. It tasted so good, but he resisted the urge to drink too much. At least the jerky was extinguishing the sharp hunger pangs.

“I’ve been a farmer all of my life. I heard cotton and milo did well down here, so I figured I’d try my hand at it. And grapes. I didn’t realize there were so many vineyards down here.”

“It’s a new industry that’s just getting started in this area. The heat helps the flavor of the grapes. And the soil is perfect. Lots of cotton farmers are transitioning. Seems to be a bigger money maker that doesn’t depend as much on the weather.” If there were any vineyards still standing, it’d be another way to get some food.

“Talk about irony,” Steve said, laughing. “I wonder if my ex-wife has heard about this on the news and is trying to get hold of me. My phone hasn’t worked since it all happened.”

“With her being in Oklahoma, there’s a good chance it all went up her way. What part are you from? I’ve been up that way a few times myself.”

“Near Oklahoma City. Seems to be the bull’s eye right in tornado alley.”

Ryan nodded and slipped the jerky back in his bag. Grabbing a stick, he prodded the fire, adjusting the logs. It would go out soon and he tried to keep it going, at least, until they were comfortable enough to sleep.

“Something is odd about all of this.”

“How so?” Steven asked.

“You see shit like this on the news all the time. All of these natural disasters all over the world and none of them seem to take as long in getting help to people. With the way media is now, word spreads fast. What is the exception here? I get that we’re in a rural area, but it’s been almost two weeks now. This country has a lot of resources – The National Guard, FEMA, The Red Cross… where is everyone?” Saying his concerns out loud made it seem even worse.

Steve leaned back against a tree and looked up at the sky. “All good questions that I wish I had answers to. Maybe this is worse than we know. Maybe it’s more widespread than just here.”

“Maybe. I’m not a conspiracy theorist by any means, but I think this goes well beyond a crippling weather system.” Ryan had to stop himself. If he continued to talk about it, he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep, and with all of the hiking they were doing, he needed the rest.

“You say you’re a mechanic, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I think I remember seeing a car down by the river right before the looters got me. It was torn up pretty bad and I just saw it in passing, but it might be of some use for us.”

A car would cut down travel time and as he had said before, Ryan would take anything positive. “How far from here is it?” He had found a few other cars on his hike, but there would be no chance in him being able to fix them. Maybe this one would be different.

“I’m not sure. I’ll be able to tell better in the daylight. Since I’m not from the area, I get turned around pretty easily.”

“That’s great, Steve. We’ll try and find it tomorrow. I’m going to try and get going pretty early before the sun comes up. The more day time heating the atmosphere has to work with, the better chances of more storms, and if I can get the car running, we can cover a lot more ground.”

Ryan laid back against a tree trunk and pulled his collar up around his neck and face. He felt guilty about having a coat, but each time he offered, Steve had declined. It was nice having someone walking with him. Though he didn’t know the man, talking to another human being pulled him out of reality, even if it was just for a little while. He didn’t feel like he was the last man on earth.

Sleep came easier than he thought, and he dozed, his body giving into the physical exhaustion.

~~

The first thing Ryan thought about when he woke up was the looter he had locked in the cellar. He wondered when the guilty feelings of taking a life would fade. When he thought about it in terms of survival, it felt a bit more justified, but he still had a hard time grasping that they were already that desperate.

Looking down at his clothing, he was tattered in dirt, his beard was growing in thick, and he hadn’t washed off since he took a dip in the river. How amazing a nice hot shower would feel, not to mention a big glob of toothpaste on his toothbrush. Slicking his tongue over his teeth was not pleasant, and he reached for his canteen, sloshing water around in his mouth. It was the best he could do to appease how uncomfortable he was. If they made it back to the river today, he’d wash off as best as he could.

Steve was already up and had a fire going. The scent of coffee wafted toward Ryan, reminding him that he was starving. The percolator bubbled above the flames, spilling some of the coffee over the edge.

“Where’d that come from?” Ryan pointed at the coffee pot. It looked identical to the one he had left with his father.

“Had it in my bag. One of the items I snagged before we left yesterday. A man can’t live without coffee.” He pulled two metal mugs out of the back pocket and handed one to Ryan. “You drink coffee?”

“Hell yes, I do.” Extending it, Steve poured him a mug full and Ryan blew on it, unable to wait for it to cool. Sipping it, it soothed him from the inside – a temporary healing for his aches and pains. It was simple black coffee, but it was like they had just splurged at Starbucks on their most expensive blend.

“I figure it’ll give us some early morning energy.”

Ryan enjoyed it, trying not to finish it too fast. “I think you’re my new best friend, Steve. Thanks for making it.”

“What’s the point of all of this if we can’t enjoy the simple things?”

Ryan lifted the mug in the air as a sign of agreement and poured another cup full. They both sat in silence, Ryan lost in thought about the next course of action. He wanted to find the car that Steve had mentioned, but his worry was that it would set them back. What if they came across it and it was so damaged that he couldn’t fix it? It would already be a challenge with limited tools and resources. But if he could get it running, it’d be wonderful. He had to try. If it was as damaged as the other cars he had found, he’d just continue with his original plan and keep walking. Eventually they’d find one that would work enough to get them the rest of the way into Harper Springs.

It would also make them a target if others caught word of a running vehicle, but that was a bridge they weren’t even close to crossing yet. Ryan wasn’t even sure how many people were still alive. In the past two weeks, he only came into contact with six people still living, and that included him.

“I think the car I saw was a few miles south of here.” Steve pointed behind them. “I know it was by the river. And it was close to the shelter where those guys took me.”

“By the river is a good thing. We can replenish our water and cool off when it gets hot.” The fact that it was south would mean they’d put more ground between them and where Cecilia had been spotted.  He was torn on what to do, but he needed to see the vehicle before he made any other big decisions.

They gathered up their supplies and began their walk. The sun was starting to come up and the temperature was already climbing. Ryan tied his coat around his waist and they both were quiet for a while. He kept a lookout for anything out of the ordinary, which at one time, was only the weather, but now he had to worry about other people, and one thing that had escaped him was wild animals. The area was known for coyotes, foxes, and even mountain lions would come down to hunt.

The shotgun he had acquired made him feel safer because it was stronger than his gun. It conveniently had a strap, which made lugging it around easier.

“You any good at tracking storms?” Steve asked.

“I have to take classes as part of my requirement to be on the fire department.”

“Wouldn’t you say that looks like something we need to keep our eye on?” Steve pointed toward a massive thunderhead that looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off. It was gray and white, and with the sun on it, it appeared to be something out of a painting. “It’s mighty beautiful, I will say that!”

“Definitely something we need to watch. Right now it’s still miles away and moving away from us, but that doesn’t mean we need to take it lightly.” Ryan used to love seeing thunderheads, but now it only meant that they’d be running for their lives again. Maybe it wouldn’t shift and come their way, but the jet streams seemed to be working against them.

“I remember the grove of trees ahead. The car is about a mile from that if I’m remembering correctly.”

Ryan ran the back of his hand over his forehead. It was hot and a nice rain shower would be perfect to cool them off, but there was no such thing as a simple bit of rain. It had to come with shards of hail bigger than dogs and winds strong enough to blow away farmhouses. The lack of people around was still concerning. The population of the county was barely over five thousand, but from Ryan’s calculations, six out of five thousand was an unreal ratio that he had a hard time accepting.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. It made a nice little jingle as it turned on, and the reception bars were still missing.

“I haven’t gotten mine to work either.”

“Call me a hopeless optimist,” Ryan said, dialing 911. It was the same story – nothing happened, only this time, his phone made a loud beep, warning him that his battery life was down to twenty percent. Searching for a single drained it quick, but this time, Ryan didn’t seem bugged by it. What good was it if no one was alive to accept his call? He was really starting to latch on to the idea that this was it for them. This was their new way of life, turning into foragers and nomads, moving along, their only way of life was to find food and survive. With so many post-apocalyptic books and movies out, it was only something of entertainment just a few short weeks ago, never dawning on him that it easily could become a reality.

They reached the banks of the river, and the water flowed deeper than Ryan had seen it in years. At least the storms were filling it up. “We getting close?” Ryan asked, hoping he didn’t sound impatient.

“It’s behind those trees! I remember it well.” Steve picked up the pace, leading Ryan toward what could be their saving grace.

A few branches had fallen on it and Steve pulled them off, revealing an old Dodge Neon. The windshield was busted out and Ryan’s heart skipped a beat when he opened the door, revealing a lifeless person behind the wheel.

“Oh my God...” he whispered.

“What’s wrong?” Steve got his first glimpse of what was inside. “Did you know her?”

“That’s Mrs. McElroy. She owns the bakery next door to my shop.”