Tornado Warning ("Disaster Strikes" Series)

Chapter 4: War Preparations

Still standing by the window, Sarah heard her phone vibrate in her pocket. She gave a little jump which thankfully went unnoticed by the students.

Thank God I turned my ringer off, she thought to herself as she looked down at her phone, trying to see why it had gone off. She had been silently praying for a message saying that the tornado watch had expired, and that they were all safe.

Unfortunately, that was not the news she had received. On her lock screen, Sarah could clearly read the words that made her heart sink:

The Tornado Watch has now been upgraded to a Tornado Warning for Plains County.

Seek Shelter Immediately!

Refusing to show any emotion to the students, she closed her eyes and began to think, hoping to calm herself down. Okay, so there either is a tornado, or one will probably start soon. Let's hope to God that it's the latter. Taking a deep breath, Sarah opened her eyes and was about to take a step towards Mrs. Miller's classroom when she heard it: the tornado sirens.

Before she could say much more than "Everything is okay, y'all! Calm down! I'm sure the sirens are just for the lightning!", the intercom turned on.

The calm voice of Mrs. De La Cruz rang out as she addressed the school. "Attention all students, faculty, and staff," she said. "There is a tornado warning in effect for the area. Please remain calm and go to your Safe Zones."

Despite the fact that Sarah's heart was hammering inside her chest, she miraculously managed to keep her voice steady as she told her class. "Listen up!" Of course, they were all screaming and crying and refusing to listen. Putting her fingers to her lips, Sarah whistled loud and clear. That got their attention.

"Now, I want everyone to get in a straight line. There probably isn't even a tornado in the first place!" she lied. "We're just making sure that y'all are safe in case there is one."

Dashing to Mrs. Miller's room, she caught a quick glimpse of the woman herding her students into the conference room. Turning around, Sarah began to do the same. But when she arrived, and saw Ms. Gomez there with her students, Sarah realized that there was no way that everyone would be able to fit in the tiny room.

She glanced over at Ms. Gomez again, and upon making eye contact, saw that the young woman was unable to mask her terror. Sarah had never met her until now; Ms. Gomez hadn't taught at Cedar Creek Elementary last year, or else Sarah would have seen her while volunteering. She faintly remembered Mrs. De La Cruz telling her earlier in the year that they had hired a new second-grade teacher to replace Mr. Thomas, who had retired over the summer.

This new woman was a first-time teacher, a twenty-something year old who had just graduated college. It was clear that she had never been in a situation like this before, and was completely panicking. Then again, Sarah couldn't blame her. She was terrified too.

Soon, it became apparent that Mrs. Miller was taking over, ordering students to move together in order to squeeze as many people as possible under the table. Leaving the conference room, Sarah went back into the classroom to try and find things that kids could use to shield their heads. Finding a shelf filled with textbooks, she ran back in and began to pass them out to those who hadn't been able to hide under the table. She instructed them to open the books and lay them over their heads.

Soon, the area around the table was a sea of pictures of numbers, maps, and plants as Sarah looked at the covers of math, social studies, and science textbooks. She then passed two to Mrs. Miller, who was sitting in the corner, unable to crouch down in tornado position due to her large stomach.

Whispering to the teacher so that none of the students heard, Sarah said. "Ma'am, not all the students are going to fit in the conference room."

Mrs. Miller stood up and said that she would take the remaining students into the bathroom with her. Sarah refused. "Look Mrs. Miller, there are too many kids in here. You can't leave them! Not to be rude," she lowered her voice even more, "but Ms. Gomez is terrified! If anything happens, I don't think she'd be able to remain calm enough to reassure the students. You need to stay here and keep the situation under control. Let me take the rest into the bathroom with me." Looking into the teacher's eyes, Sarah begged her to stay. "Besides, you're pregnant!" She added as an afterthought.

"Fine," Mrs. Miller relented. "But go into Mr. Greenwell's desk, you'll find a walkie-talkie in there. Grab it and clip it to your waist." Sarah nodded and left. The remnants of her class were still struggling to fit. She spoke loudly, telling them to stop. They turned and looked up at her in confusion. "Those of you who are not already in place, come out now."

Quickly, a group of students filed out of the conference room. Jada and her brother Andre, Maria, Caleb, Taylor, Cassidy, Leila, and six other kids stood in front of Sarah. "Okay everyone, I want you to listen very carefully to me. You need to walk over to the bookshelf, grab a textbook, and open it to around the middle, all right?" They quickly did as she asked and returned holding their books.

"Now, all of you need to go to the bathroom and get down in Tornado Position. Put the books over your heads and necks. Do y'all understand?"

The students nodded and muttered "yes ma'am," before filing into the small bathroom. Before joining them, Sarah stopped and peaked through the blinds again. The sky was greenish-black, so dark that she could hardly see anything. And then, her heart did a somersault as a flash of lightning lit up the sky. It was as if time had stopped for Sarah. The lightning bolt allowed her a quick glimpse of the sky and she could see the funnel cloud not very far away. It was enormous, at least an EF 3, by her guesses. Who knows, it might have even been a 4 or a 5!

The boom of thunder quickly brought Sarah back to her senses. Picking up her walkie-talkie, she spoke and was surprised to hear her voice quiver for the first time. "Mrs. Miller? Ms. Gomez?" Both responded with a "Yes, Sarah?"

She cleared her throat and continued. "Can the students near you hear what I am saying?" After a moment of silence, where she assumed that the teachers were adjusting the volume on their radios, Mrs. Gomez answered. "Go ahead."

"I can see the funnel. It's big, maybe an EF 4?" She could now hear the roar of the tornado. Unlike a boom of thunder, it didn't go away, but kept growing louder and louder.

"How close and what's the direction?" Mrs. Miller was the one speaking this time.

"It doesn't look like it's moving at all. It's in the same place and looks like it's getting bigger." After a moment of silence, something dawned on her. "That means it's coming towards us, right?"

More quiet on the radio and then Sarah heard, "Yes, dear. Now, how much time do we have?"

"Less than a minute, definitely."

"All right, sweetheart." Now Mrs. Miller's voice was the one that shook. "You need to get into the bathroom right now."

"Yes ma'am." She replied. But before she could clip the radio back to her waist, the teacher spoke again.

"Keep those children safe, okay? Protect yourself, of course, but keep. them. safe."

"Yes ma'am." Sarah repeated before walking into the restroom with the thirteen terrified students who were looking to her to be their savior, their superhero.

She locked the door and turned to them, taking a deep breath before saying, "Everything's going to be just fine, I promise."

And then... all hell broke loose.