[2.1] THE BRIGHTEST LIGHTNING, tyler owens

He Could Live Through

As much as they hated to admit it, the whole 'Run for your lives!' thing was cut short. The water tower had finally fallen into the ground and was gushing water out of it. Making all three of them lose their balance and fall.

They were all pushed away from each other before Tyler and James got a hold on each other and ran for the movie theater, Javi not far behind.

Tyler led the way to the main theater where Frankenstein was playing and where all the people were.

More screams filled the air when parts of the ceiling fell down, narrowly missing some.

"See if you can find a basement!" Tyler yelled at her and Javi.

"I'll check the other side!" Javi yelled at her over all the noise.

Jaymes was following Tyler as he ran through the theater Rose to get to a back room. Which contained the fuse box and other electric necessities.

Tyler ran off to the left as she kept going straight. She came face to face with a pair of heavy duty doors and frantically flung them open. When did most of the work though, making the doors open to the outside chaos.

He came to stop right beside Jaymes, "There's nothing on this side!"

Javi soon came running up behind them. "I can't find anything!"

"There's nothing over here either!" She yelled back.

He looked around frantically, "This theater isn't built to withstand what's coming!"

A huge bang only fueled their worries that people screamed louder.

More pieces of the ceiling came crashing down as Tyler and Javi ran back to the main theater.

With tears in her eyes, Jaymes thought of all the possibilities of an ending; none of which were good.

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In the main theater, Javi and Tyler were helping people move and find better, more stable places.

Javi stopped for a second to scan the crowd to look for her. Only to be left to dry in answers. "Tyler, where's Jaymes?"

He showed up at the mention of her being missing. "I thought she was with you!"

Javi wore a confused expression. "I thought she was with you!"

Tyler wasted no time springing into action. "We gotta find her!"

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Jaymes can confidently say this is not what she thought she would be doing on a seemingly normal Wednesday afternoon: running towards Tyler's truck in one of the worst storms she's ever seen.

She barely managed to get the door open from the wind contradicting her, but when she did, she jumped in, put her harness on and turned the key to the ignition.

Pulling out and off of main street, she squinted while looking at the road ahead.

Hell and heavy rain pounded on her windshield as the wind slightly rocked the connected trailer.

She began to feel adrenaline rush through her veins as she saw an approach to her left; leaving directly to the storm.

Turning the steering wheel sharply, she drove through the approach and into the field. Her foot only pushing harder on the gas.

With determination in her eyes, she pressed on. Her will was now stronger than steel.

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Back at the theater, Tyler limped as fast as he could through the halls. Coming to a stop at the heavy duty double doors all three of them had been at just minutes before.

He screamed her name like his life depended on it, cuz he didn't know for sure, but maybe hers did. "Jaymes! Jaymes!"

He was contemplating whether to sit there and cry or not. In the field, going towards the danger, was his red Ram truck. The one she had always teased him about for being "too much."

Now he was hoping that "too much" was enough to keep her alive.

He didn't even notice when Javi and Boone came up behind him before Javi spoke, "Where's Jaymes?"

Tyler's stare he gave out to the open field gave him his answer. Squinting, Javi saw a pair of faint headlights in the distance. A pit full of worry filled his stomach and mind as he thought about how this would play out.

---

Jaymes swerved and ducked as peace after peace of debris hit her windshield and the truck.

Behind Wheels veered off to the right with a hard jerk as she looked to a rear view mirror and saw a big piece of metal fly by.

She was now entering a tighter space between two rows of large barrels. She gasped when a large piece of debris slammed itself into the side of one, knocking it over cleanly.

Then the knocked over barrel rolled into the other role of barrels, causing a fiery explosion.

She slammed on the brakes when she saw the tornado heading straight for her, the dark gray whirlwind visible through the flying debris.

With her heart racing, she pushed the button for the anchors down. When she felt the anchors stop moving, she flipped the switch for the silver iodide filled rockets. The rockets burst in the mid-air making more rain form.

Every breaths formed in her lungs as her hand hovered over for only way to stop this: her barrels. She waited for the storm to be damn near on top of her, pushing her luck as far as she could.

---

Tears streamed down Tyler's face as he watched the storm grow nearer to Jaymes.

When Javi saw the storm getting closer, he and Boone shoved the struggling Tyler back into the movie theater.

He leaned on the wall as Boone and Javi shut the doors.

Javi pounded his fist on the wall and yelled in frustration. "Goddamn it!"

Tyler size stone with tears as he thought of all the times they had shared together. Tipping his hat to her when he first saw her gorgeous face. Playing a silly back and forth game of 'who's better.' Seeing her homestead, going on the trail ride, having her fall asleep in his arms; the thing he loved the most, threatened to be ripped away in seconds.

That's something he didn't know if he could live through.

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Chapter 15 done! Hope you enjoy!
Word Count: 1025