Racing to Their Deaths (ONC 2024)

🌪️ 1. James

Halle Brennan watched the mile-and-a-half-wide wall cloud lower over the flat Texas terrain that was devoid of natural trees.

Without warning, the thing grew exponentially.

"This storm's a monster." James Winter whistled at the intensity of the readings as he brushed thick, dark hair from the nape of his neck. He swiveled sideways in the driver's seat to check a laptop positioned between them. Mobile Net Threat displayed off-the-chart storm-chasing readings as NEXRAD's radar bounced data off two orbiting XM radio satellites. The software created detailed pictures of the storm's activity. More importantly, the program tracked the vehicle locations of other chasers in the area with GPS. A second laptop ran Street Atlas USA, a program that navigated the highways, streets, and dirt roads that tornado chasers frequented. Ironically, poor driving habits of rogue chasers killed experienced storm chasers more often than tornados. Planning an escape route during a chase was an essential tactic when traffic converged near violent storms.

Halle unbuckled her seat belt as James eased the armadillo-plated vehicle onto the soft gravel shoulder of the remote township road. With it's multiple antennae and polycarbonate armor, the high tech storm chasing SUV could have been part of a latent Star Wars ground invasion. The custom chase vehicle, nicknamed The Interceptor, slowed to a stop.

Both storm spotters remained silent as they studied the massive formation above them for updraft and inflow and tried to pinpoint the storm's genesis. The difference between the two twenty somethings was evident. With an angular face and piercing gray eyes, James remained emotionally detached as a seasoned politician while Halle bristled with the mercurial scientific curiosity of an avid field researcher. Every fiber of her being vibrated with excitement as she perused the expensive radarscope the tornado chasing vehicle was equipped with. "It's a massive front. Winds are at thirty five and the pressure's dropping. Any type of low level winds and we may get a twister." Although the Interceptor was stationary, a powerful rear draft wind buffeted their vehicle. The sound was similar to open car windows while driving fast. Around them, huge wind breakers undulated through the grass like invisible velociraptors.

Appraising Halle's vibrant intensity, James repressed an amused smirk. Newbie drivers often froze when faced with the naked savagery of vast storms, but Halle was a different breed. Instead of being intimidated by Mother Nature's ferocious wrath unleashed on mere mortals, she'd surprised him by running into the maelstrom during their first storm encounter. With a thrill, he recalled her battle cry.

I've waited my whole life for this!

The girl not only had guts, she was a human Doppler radar. A flesh and blood weather detector. Today, anyone with a car and a smartphone could go storm chasing. There were apps that precisely anticipated where a supercell would form and where a tornado would make landfall, but the average storm chase ended in disappointment and  failure. Halle excelled at choosing the right storm systems using Doppler radar, but once they sat beneath the mesocyclone, her ability to spot signs that led them to tornado activity was uncanny. He found her reckless abandon intimidating and exciting.

Previous female chasers he had invited along to impress were clueless— morons willing to sacrifice their lives for the off chance of dating him. The problem with inexperienced chasers was they had all the information they needed on their phones, but they didn't know what to do with it. They were the ones that ended up stranded on the side of the road with their windshields bashed in by golf ball-sized hail.

Vicarious thrills aside, Halle was the Wonder Woman to his Superman.

She makes me look good and doesn't have a clue how gorgeous she is.