Strong Spirits

Chapter Four

The slick black road slipped by as I drove down to the school the next morning. Tommy was happily looking out the window as we pulled up to the school. I tucked our bows away under the seat before we walked inside.

A few people stopped to stare at me as I walked in with my brother at my tail. I made my way down the hall to my friends and sat him down on the table. "You have to behave today, ok?" I said looking at his freckled face. He nodded and smiled as my girl friends started fussing over him.

Dixy wasn't there. Maybe she was at home because of the storm. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I sat down by James. He was to busy playing with his phone to respond when I said, "Do you know what's going on with the storm?"
Slamming my fist into his shoulder, I sighed as he turned slowly and yelled.

"Whaaat do you waaaant Ricky?" He groaned. Repeating my question, he shook his head and opened Google. "Looks like a typhoon? I thought we didn't get those here." Reading the article labeled, 'Abnormal Weather Disrupting Washington' I scrolled down until I saw a message in bold red letters. It said, "Dangerous weather watch, severe storm ahead. Prepare for strong wind, lightning, and extreme rainfall."

A nervous, instinctual fear crept into my throat as I glanced around to see all the windows in my school. Pulling Tommy off my friend Angel's lap, I directed him towards my first class. Students crowded the halls as we all sought a different location. The day progressed as any normal day, but worry clung to everyone's minds.

5th period. Finally, only an hour and a half before we could leave. Tommy sat beside me in the biology lab playing with a double-helix model while I jotted down notes. The wind, which had been growing steadily stronger all day, let out a violent gust, shaking the glass in it's frame. The class went silent as Mrs. Phillips approached the window slowly, inspecting the glass. "Everyone.." it was almost a whisper above the wind. Fear spiked and tension rose as the class pulled their stuff closer. "Its cracking..." Mrs. Phillips turned to face us with a terrified look. "Go to the hallway and stay away from glass." She ran to the door and we started filing through, me and Tommy near the back.

Before half the class had reached the hall, another violent gust shattered the massive windows and glass exploded inwards. Wrapping my body around Tommy, I felt the sharp shards slice through my sweater. Everyone rushed through the door in panic. Other classes had the same idea. As the intercom came on, we huddled in the halls. "Attention everyone. Due to the severity of the storm, we have decided to lock dow-"

It was cut short. Black. The school had lost power. Everyone screamed and panicked, tripping over one another in the new found darkness. I sheltered my little brother from the mass of people. Some kids ran out the back door into the storm and up the hill. A teacher slammed the doors shut and turned on a flashlight to shine on people. Everyone quieted down and looked at him, afraid and confused.

"Tommy, we have to go, NOW." I helped him up and we shoved our way through the crowd in the dark, nearing the front of the school. A teacher was guarding the entrance. Thinking quickly I turned down another hall and stood by a metal door. Texting Dixy, I said, "Emergency, meet at 728 Oak Lane." Then picked up Tommy and bolted out the door.

The rain and wind battered me and yanked me around as I raced toward the truck. My hat flew off and was flung across the lot, but I kept running. Throwing open the driver door, Tommy and I climbed in and I slammed the door shut. "Are you ok?"" I asked, turning to him. He had a cut on his cheek, and a little shard of glass poked out. He sat in silence as I pulled out my first aid kit and tended to him.

Slamming the truck into drive, I sped out of the parking lot. The wind was blowing branches and random bits of trash through the air and across the road in front of me. My phone vibrated in my pocket, but I didn't look at it. Turning corners faster than I should have, I flew down the twisting streets. The rain was falling so heavily I had a hard time seeing through the windows. Tommy sat in silence beside me.

I slowed down as I pulled onto Oak Lane. It's normally gravel, but now it is nothing but mud. No buildings. I drive on in the battering wind until I reach a sharp turn with a shadowy old set of tire tracks turning into the woods. The trees swayed and scraped against the truck as I pushed on. "Ricky? Where are we going?" Tommy looked out the window.
"A safe place." I slowed the truck to a crawl. A large flat concrete building, mostly buried, stood hidden underneath some massive maple trees.

Shutting off the truck, I grabbed my bag and my bow. Tommy grabbed his and scooted over to me. I waited for the wind to calm for a moment then flung open the door and grabbed Thomas. Slamming the door, I ran to a cellar door and unlocked it. A sudden blast of wind knocked me over, but we ran down the stairs after shutting the door behind us. Flicking on a light, I revealed a large house, complete with a large couch, tables, chairs, and bookshelves stocked with food.

"This is something me and Dixy have been working on for a long time." I said proudly as he moved across the main room. I hung the bows on hooks near the stairs, and set my bag down along a wall. I had forgotten about my wounds. Cold blood stuck my shirt to my back.  There came a loud bang on the door in the front of the room, startling me and Tommy. As I grabbed a bat and went to the entrance, the lock clanged and the door  slid open to reveal Dixy, distressed, soaked and covered in scratches and leafs. "You're fucking here!" I sighed with relief and put away the bat. We stood there for a minute in silence, then she set down her bags and peeled off her soaking wet jacket. "Ricky can you bring me a first-aid kit?" She asked as she sank into the big recliner in the living room.

I sat down on the couch across the coffee table from her while she cleaned a big scrape on her forearm. "You should let me have a look at your back too," she stopped and gestured at me. "You have blood all down your shirt," she wrapped her scrape and pulled out more cotton strips as I took of my coat and pulled up my shirt. "Your full of glass! What did you do, jump out a window?!" She mocked as she pulled out the long shards. As I explained what happened in class she continued wiping off the blood and sewing up the big gashes.

I found Tommy sitting in the back room. He was reading a book on the soft little blue bench in the corner, with the big white lamp in the middle of the floor. I put the lamp back on it's side table and turned it off, picking up a little remote. "Hey bud, watch this." I clicked a button on it and hundreds of tiny colored lights began to glow around the room. A soft gasp and he was standing next to me gazing at the ceiling in awe. "It's like stars," he whispered happily. "It is the stars," for a moment we both stood still, staring into the hypnotic swirl of lights as they danced across the walls.

"Ricky?"
"What is it bud?"
It took him a moment to ponder his question then, "What's gonna happen to Mom?" A whole new wave of stress washed over me as I realized, Mom never knew about this place. It was between me and Dixy. "Mom's gonna be ok. She's tough and I know she will find somewhere to lye low until we can find her again."
My words were of little consolation to Tommy. His dirt stained face was blank of expression.