Dreamcatcher

Chapter Sixty-Four: Is This Goodbye?

Pure terror and fear swept through Arcadia Bay.

The Storm had finally arrived.

The strongest gusts of wind hurled throughout the town, tearing every unstable thing into its current around its great grey spiralling force of cosmic proportion. Petrified screams were muted by the sheer volume and force of said storm.

The only thing that could possibly end this chaos was Max Caulfield.

Inside the Two Whales Diner where a few survivors of the storm had taken shelter - elsewhere was also temporary until the storm would sweep through what was left of the town. Joyce Price was sheltered inside the diner, tending to those who were injured amidst the storm's rage.

Warren Graham had arrived just minutes ago well after the storm hit. He'd been in Blackwell, reading up on an upcoming exam when he heard the chaos commence. A strong rumble shook the town, alerting its residents of the incoming danger lurking in the bay. Others he was familiar with at Blackwell were absent from heading to safety or were completely unaccounted for due to buildings being torn apart and trees torn out of the ground.

Several minutes after calming down from rushing into the diner, Warren spotted a man enter with blood on the left side of his forehead, masked by his blonde hair. Naturally, Joyce aided him while others rounded themselves in one corner of the diner.

Suddenly, Warren heard his phone ring and was relieved when he recognised the called ID.

"Warren? Can you hear me?!" Max's voice came out static-y and slightly distorted.

"Max?! Boy, am I glad to hear your voice. Where are you?" Warren spoke up, drawing a few eyes onto him.

"Nevermind! Listen, do you have that photograph you took the other night outside the natatorium?"

"Uh, yeah, but why? It wasn't that great a shot..."

"Yes, it is and I need it! Where are you right now?"

"I'm at the Two Whales Diner. Pretty much trapped in here with Joyce, thanks to this Armageddon weather. I'm expecting the ocean to turn red!"

"I'm on my way!"

"Come on, that's crazy! You can barely walk on the sidewalk outside. Seriously, Max, stay wherever you are. I don't think this storm is getting smaller. I'm kinda scared."

"That's okay. Me too. But it's not over yet, Warren. So, hold on!"

Before he was given a chance to respond, Max hung up the phone.

All he could do now was sit and wait for the inevitable...

Max had commandeered the personal vehicle of her former role model, Mark Jefferson, and driven back into town. It had taken her well over half an hour to make her return, where by the time she rode into the centre of Arcadia, she found it in complete wreck.

Cars and trucks were toppled over, some flung upwards into buildings that still maintained stability. Bodies were scattered variously around the street, most trapped under the tons of steel and metal.

The closer Max got to the Two Whales, the more anxious she became to claim that photograph Warren took and go back in time to save Clark. As she came up towards the Two Whales, she found that the road was blocked off by debris and damaged vehicles and even a boat that had broken through the wall of the far left side of the diner.

Joyce immediately drew her attention away from an injured and traumatised Frank Bowers to the young brunette that entered the diner via the back entrance. Her arms wrapped around the girl's neck as she expressed her relief in seeing her alive and well before her.