STORM CHASERS

Chapter 1 - Len

Tornadoes are among the most terrifying things in nature, up there with pissed off grizzly bears and the Sun. So getting used to them is something mostly unheard of to anyone that doesn't live in tornado alley. For Len though, tornadoes are like another wild animal roaming Thunderbell County. A giant, whirling, massively destructive wild animal.

Len is a tricky one, she's not exactly what you would call a cooperative cat. Suspended from Thunderbell Middle School more times than she can feasibly count and never graduated as a Senior. Instead, she spent most of her time living with her dad and his sister in their relatively large farm house in the middle of nowhere.

Despite her troubled school life, ask anyone who knew Len and they would tell you that she was the sweetest person around, albeit a little slow and chaotic if given the chance. She got all of this from her dad, who's basically the same as her but just older.

Her father puts his chaotic energy to good use however, as he works as one of Thunderbell County's many storm-chasers. Well, I say worked, it's more of a volunteer service — or a group of deranged, suicidal hobbyists depending on who you ask.

Len took a liking to her dad's job, seeing all of the photos and videos he took with giant columns of wind. She never saw one in person, let alone up close, but she was still awestruck at every polaroid and VHS her father brought home with him.

"You know, maybe you could do this too someday" her dad would always tell her, to which Len would almost always say "No way, I couldn't do that" in response.

Despite this, Len would dream of being a storm-chaser, driving an armored truck into the heart of natures vacuum cleaner, experiencing the monstrous wind speeds, just taking it all in. Apparently it pays good too, with the whole 'you might literally die' thing.

Len didn't really mind that fact though. Partly because she still believed the whole 'nine lives' thing, but mostly because she felt it was a worthy risk to see such natural strength up close and personal.

Her father would always come back home in his old blue Dystan Penrose with it covered in dirt and mud, with the occasional broken windshield. His truck was dinky, small compared to most other pickups, but was fitted to hunt storms.

It was originally a rally truck custom built to race in the Baja 500, but was sold to her dad and converted into a storm hunting truck. One day, Len's father was  servicing the truck when she came in to pester him about what he was doing.

Len strutted towards her father, leaning over the front fender of the truck, tapping him on the shoulder. "Whatchu up to?" She asked. Her father turned his head slightly, still working on the engine of his truck. "Working on this thing again, seeing if I can push a few more horses out of it before it up and explodes." He said, jokingly.

"Well, I hope I won't be near it when it does." Len replied, leaning to get a better view of the engine. "Heh, nor do I but, captain's gotta go down with the ship right?" He took his paws back out of the engine bay and walked over to his workbench, setting his oil-stained glove down on top of it.

"Anything on the radar today?" Len asked, enthusiastically. "A few thunderstorms, some potential hail over by the mall, nothing too interesting. Len frowned, and walked over to the workbench as well. There were dozens of framed pictures above the bench, all of her father posed in front of tornadoes.

Her father noticed this, following her gaze up to the pictures. "They're such fascinating things, aren't they?" He started. "All unique in shape and size, but all the same fundamentally. It's astounding that something as simple as a rotating column of air can be so strong."

Len giggled, he had ranted about this topic hundreds of times before, but nonetheless she was interested in these storms. Something about them spoke to her, maybe it was that she saw a little bit of herself in them. Chaotic, unruly, uncooperative, the works.

"ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS OF THE THUNDERBELL COUNTY STORM CHASING COMMITTEE-" a radio blared, without warning. Len and her dad both focused their ears to it, listening to what it had to say. "WE HAVE REPORTS OF A SUDDEN FLASH STORM FORMING FIVE DEGREES SOUTH OF THE TOWN OF WOODLINK, UNSURE OF SIZE-" it explained.

"A storm? Now? But it's clear as day outside!" Len exclaimed. Her father was more focused on the latter half of the message- "Woodlink? That's only a mile out from here..." He turned back towards the truck, and bolted towards it, pulling his keys out and unlocking it.

"Hey- Wait!" Len shouted, following her dad. He started the truck, and with a loud roar is shook to life, Len grabbed the windowsill before her dad could reverse out of the garage though. "Let me go with you!" She demanded. "Len, you know I can't do that. It's dangerous and I don't want you getting hurt." He responded, frowning at her. Len persisted, "Well you haven't died yet, so I doubt I'll die if I go with you!"

Her father thought for a moment. "Fine." He answered, "But please don't distract me too-" before he could finish, Len ran to the passenger side door and hopped in the truck. "-much..." Her dad sighed, before whipping the truck backwards out of the garage, nearly taking out the mailbox.

"This is gonna be so much fun! I'm gonna see a real tornado!" Len exclaimed, very ecstatic about the situation. "Trust me, it's even better that you can imagine. He poked Lens forehead with his finger, before continuing, "Now, hold on, we have a storm to catch." And with that, he slammed on the gas, and the truck roared off into the distance.

—End Chapter 1—

Author's note - Trying something new with this story, mostly the way it's structured. Also new OCs I have to design AUGH

Feedback is really appreciated and wanted for this, I'd like to make this story as nice to read as possible. XOXO - Christine