The Tempest by A.J. Scudiere (story read aloud .txt) 📗

could have walked. She’d even managed to open one of the cans of tuna and feed little flakes of it to Toto, who ate it with glee.

The kitten was having the time of his life, while she was tied in knots of worry.

Had Cage and Dev and Sarah made it through?

Had they stayed attached to the pipe or had the five friends been thrown five different directions?

She wanted to wonder why she hadn’t found Izzy yet, but told herself that as long as she hadn’t, she could still count Izzy as alive. While her own survival wasn’t unheard of, she knew her tornado ride had beaten the odds.

The way she figured it though, she was far better off than she’d been earlier—despite the fact that it was Jerry she was with. She now had transportation, food, and water. By her calculations, she was good for at least another three days.

And surely, with the tractor tooling down the road, they would run into someone else, or some kind of functioning civilization well before then.

“Hold on!” he called back again.

She reached out quickly, now practiced at holding on and letting herself sway with the bounces. The tractor wasn't made for giving rides, and Jerry's warnings were often the only way she knew that she was going to get jostled and bounced around more.

Toto meowed softly but otherwise didn't seem to mind. And when the road settled back down, she let go.

Eww, Joule thought, looking at her tuna oil covered fingers. Toto wouldn’t mind that she’d just touched the tractor with them, and she wasn’t covered in grease or dirt or anything… just tuna. So she held them out for the little kitten to lick.

“Hey!” She yanked them back as he began to bite. “No, Toto, you don't eat fingers.”

“You okay?”

“Just the kitten.” She had to holler it, given the sound of the engine.

“Why are you even carrying him around? It’s enough to get ourselves taken care of! He’s just a burden.”

She raised one eyebrow that he couldn’t see, and whispered, “Cretin” to the kitten, who snuggled in deeper to her lap. He was small enough that she could see his little belly full of the tuna she’d fed him. She didn’t answer Jerry.

Checking the position of the sun, Joule reasoned that they were now headed south or mostly south. Jerry had swung a left at the first crossroads they’d encountered, seeming to know the area.

He’d first retraced part of her steps that had gotten her to the Johnson farm, but now she didn't think she was completely backtracking. She clearly hadn't made the right choices initially. Still, somehow she’d run into another human being, even if it was Jerry. Though he wasn’t her optimum “tornado survival companion,” he had found them the tractor. She wouldn’t have even thought to look for it.

As much as she disliked the guy, she couldn't say she’d wound up too bad off.

“Hold on!” he called back again, and for a moment, she wondered if maybe she should just hold on all the time.

She gripped the seat edge and Toto one more time before she got tossed side to side. It was an effort not to groan out at the way the hard seat—it wasn’t actually a seat—hurt her hips and her spine. And she reminded herself to be glad that she hadn’t whacked her head on any of the metal all over the big contraption. And again, she could be grateful that she wasn't walking.

She felt Toto purring in her lap and she couldn't help but kiss her finger and press it to his tiny nose. Carrying around food and water and figuring out how to get them into him was a bit of a challenge, but having another live creature—one who was much better company than Jerry—had definitely kept her hopes up. Joule was not a cat person … but maybe she was becoming one.

She swept her gaze across the landscape behind her, starting to frown.

They bounced along for another few minutes as she watched the sky slowly crept up behind them. She made her way through another “Hold on!” which turned out to be Jerry slowly Landrovering over a large section of siding from someone’s house. Not far beyond that, he rolled over an eight-by-four fragment of tin roofing. She only saw it as it emerged from under the back tires. The mystery of “what are we bouncing over now?” had occupied her for the past handful of miles.

If only she had any idea where she was or how far they’d traveled.

Jerry seemed to enjoy rough-roading over objects rather than getting out and simply pushing them out of the way. When he took another small tree, she pulled her legs up quickly, as one of the branches reached around and tried to scratch at her.

Toto, awake now, disliked the rough ride, too, and he climbed up her chest, his little claws sinking in as he made his way to her shoulder.

She wondered if she might be smarter to put her jacket on, now that he wasn’t curled in it. At least it would put another layer between her skin and Toto’s toes.

But as the tractor settled down to smoother if slow-as-hell ride, she glanced back up at the sky and realized that what she thought she'd seen before was right.

And it was getting worse.

The sky was growing darker, though it was only maybe early afternoon. There was no reason for the day to get so late, so quick, unless …

Joule fought against the feeling of dread. Darkening skies always brought that out in her, probably some form of PTSD. And well earned, she thought.

She told herself that night hunters wouldn’t appear at the edge of the shadows, but she wouldn’t have been that surprised if they did. She didn't say anything, though, just turned around and looked in the direction they were going, seeing what Jerry saw.

In front of them was blue sky, pale and bright, with white fluffy clouds chugging along. When she turned