After living your entire life in tornado alley, you get pretty familiar with the sounds of sirens.
Dana Pierce slammed her palms over her ears. The tornado siren echoed in her head, intensifying the already-existing headache. The third time this week. Closing the novel she had been reading, Dana stood and peered through a window. It had gotten darker since the last time she looked outside. Rain pelted the street. She stepped out of the bedroom, slung a tote bag over her shoulder, and headed for the door. The apartment complex had a storm shelter beneath the first floor. Everyone was to gather there until the sirens stopped. And that was usually for quite a while. The wind whipped against her face as she stepped outside of the apartment. After locking the door, she headed for the stairs. Several others from neighboring apartments did the same.
No one seemed concerned. Maybe inconvenienced, at best. Every warning this month had resulted in a weak funnel cloud. They dissipated before ever touching down. Entering the storm shelter, Dana saw that everyone shared similar feelings.
The wind howled louder. Children cried as mothers hurried to shush them. Someone turned on a radio. A warning followed several beeps. Tornado warning issued for El Reno, Oklahoma and the surrounding areas. That was already understood from the siren. Loud cluncks on the shelter door suggested hail.
"The storm looked to be moving fast. It'll pass soon," a man said from the side of the room.
Some time passed, and the sounds only grew louder. Dana looked around, seeing annoyed expressions shift into concern. Someone grew curious and approached the door, opening it slightly. The slight opening welcomed strong wind and rain into the shelter. Startled, the man opened it let go, and the wind created lift beneath the doors, swinging them wide open.
It was stronger than anyone had anticipated. The doors flapped wildly. The screeching of metal rivaled the roar of wind. "Everyone get back!" Another man shouted as he inched along the wall toward the doors. He reached for one of the doors, hoping to be able to pull it closed.
The strength of the wind pulled both the door and the man. Pulled off it's hinges, the door was tossed outside, the man with it. The room filled with screams. Dana watched as he crawled back to the open entrance, fighting against the invisible forces.
Looking around the room, she spotted a metal pipe in a heap of trash. It was long enough to reach him. Or so she hoped.
"Someone help me with this!" Dana dragged the pipe out of the pile with the help of others. They helped her raise it and gradually inch toward the open doors. "Grab onto this! Hurry!"
He pulled himself to the steps, holding himself down with one hand, while grabbing the pipe with the other. On the other end of the pipe, she stood with several others behind, assisting with holding it.
When he grabbed hold of the pipe with the other hand, nature's vacuum threatened to take him back. Dana's feet began to slip as the pipe was pulled further away.
Loud cracking and crashing could be heard from outside. The apartment building was being stripped apart. "Please don't let me go!" The man cried.
She didn't let go when large debris was blown across the opening, pulling the man, the pipe, and the rescuers away with it.
YOU ARE READING
Tornadogenesis | Tyler Owens x OC
Fanfiction*ON HOLD* "She wasn't alright. But he promised she would be." After being rescued in the wake of a devastating tornado, Dana Pierce seeks to put the pieces of her life back together again. Tyler Owens hadn't expected the path of a tornado would lead...
