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

waited as the wind began to kick up again and the roar of the approaching storm started to fight the fire for noisiest night creature. He yelled, “It's either going to put the fire out, or it's going to throw pieces of flaming wood everywhere.”

That would be even more ass-tastic than this day had already been, Joule thought, as she remembered what she’d seen yesterday when the big funnel had collapsed houses like a fist on gingerbread and flung the pieces into the air. What if they had been on fire?

Looking to her brother, Joule’s hands dropped now, one tucking into her pocket and checking for Toto. She found him still curled in a tight little ball. The poor thing had to be hungry and petrified, but there was nothing she could do for him now except save him to be fed later.

“I've got a shelter!” Paul hollered at them as the winds rose even higher. “Come on!”

Joule watched the embers start to move in uniform directions as the wind whipped them first one way then another. They all turned to go, but only Boomer and Bob were smart enough to watch for Laura and Levi.

As the sky rolled in and the wind picked up, the fire burned higher, shooting long yellow tongues of flame up into the sky.

A thick, dark funnel turned and touched the ground near the edge of the property, the heavy roar of the wind beginning to overtake the roaring of the fire.

Joule and her brother were already following Paul, as most of them were, but she turned to check over her shoulder. She counted on Cage and Izzy on either side of her to keep her upright as her feet flew over ground she wasn’t watching.

As Joule looked back at Boomer and Bob and Levi, she saw Laura jump up. The woman had found a gun and was brandishing it wildly.

Her eyes looked feral and scared, or maybe that was just the reflection of the flames in them, Joule couldn't tell for sure. But Laura spun around and, swinging erratically, fired three times.

Next to her, Joule felt her chain of friends jerk and start to fall.

69

Cage tripped. He’d stubbed his toe on something or gotten bumped maybe. He didn't know, but the white-hot poker of pain searing through his leg brought him to his knees. He was still holding Joule's hand as his knees hit the wet grass.

It all must have happened very fast, but it seemed that it took forever for him to recognize the sounds he’d heard as gunshots. Behind him, things were going down but he didn’t know quite what only that it was bad. He worried about Boomer and Bob. He wondered why his own leg wasn’t quite working.

As Joule leaned over to pull him back to his feet, Cage turned and saw past her. Izzy jolted and fell face-forward, into the grass.

Dr. Murasawa screamed, her hands flying to her face as she watched Izzy crumple. Had she been hit, too? It looked like Izzy had, but he wasn’t sure.

His brain was a touch fuzzy now. Time was out of scope and flowing oddly, as he struggled to get everything into its proper mental place. He was trying to run, but every time he took a step on the hurt leg, the pain shifted from feeling as though someone had pierced him with a burning arrow to feeling as if it was shooting up his entire left side.

He stumbled forward again, but this time Joule grabbed his right hand and viciously slung his arm around her shoulder. It felt as if she had tackled him, shoving her own shoulder into his ribs and lifting him as she ran. He’d known she was strong, but he hadn't quite known she could do this.

Another retort fired behind him and he wondered if anyone else had been shot. To his right, Paul turned, raising the shotgun—but he looked as if he was too unsure to fire it. Instead, he yelled, waving them all past him. As the wind and fire tried to steal his words, he cried out, “Brenda! Brenda take them down into the shelter!”

Cage tried to be useful and run, but he also wanted to see what was going on behind him. He twisted around but realized he couldn’t actually hear anything. Once again, the gunfire had rung his brain like a bell and he was still listening to the echoes inside his skull.

But he saw Laura, Levi, Boomer, and Bob out on the open grass in an epic struggle. One of the brothers—he couldn’t tell which at this point—had Laura by one arm. It seemed he’d pulled her hands behind her, as though he were struggling to handcuff her. Cage had a ridiculous thought: Did the brothers simply carry handcuffs on them all the time?

As he watched, the other brother took a hard right to his jaw. Levi had managed to make the move without anyone noticing the windup, and Boomer’s—or Bob’s—head snapped back as he stumbled. The man seemed too big for quick moves, but he countered by bringing his hand up rapidly against the side of Levi's head.

Cage was surprised to see a single punch have such an effect. It appeared that Levi reverberated from the hit, stumbling away and shaking his head until he simply collapsed.

Cage was still trying to focus on putting his feet on the ground—but one leg screamed each time he stepped—to help Joule run forward, but he was clearly doing a crappy job of it. The scene behind him was fascinating. He saw as the brother raised his hand back up that he had a gun in his fist and he must have clocked Levi with it.

Laura had escaped and turned around, still somehow with a gun in her hand. Had she and Levi brought spare weapons? Had they stolen guns from Boomer or Bob? Cage couldn’t keep straight who had what, or even what he should be doing.

“Come on, Cage!” his