ο½’ III ; the storm ο½£

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THREE ; THE STORM

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Β  Β  Β THREE HOURS, eight cans of tea, and an entire pizza later, Ray comes down the staircase, rubbing his eyes. He walks into the living room to find his daughter laying on the couch with her feet resting on a young man's lap, who is sitting at the end of the couch.

"Taron," Ray says, standing by the television.

"Hello," Taron replies, waving once to Ray.

"When'd you get here?"

"A few hours ago." Ray nods and Eleanor pauses the movie.

"Where's Robbie?" Eleanor shrugs, sitting up. "What, so you two have been down here by yourselves?"

"We're just watching movies," Eleanor assures.

"Yeah, I know what that leads to. I was a teenage guy once."

"Jesus," Eleanor says in agitation as Taron clears his throat.

Ray puts his hands up in defense, saying, "Hey, I'm just being a dad."

"Yeah, well, knock it off," Eleanor replies, running her fingers through her hair.

"So, you don't know where Robbie is?" Ray asks.

"Nope," Eleanor says, looking at her father with the slightest trace of a smirk. "He just took your car and left."

"You're joking." Eleanor shakes her head. Without another word, Ray walks out of the living room and through the front door. Eleanor looks at Taron and rolls her eyes, causing Taron to chuckle.

Outside, Ray's attention redirects to what everyone on the street is staring at: a gnarly storm hovering just a few miles behind the line of condos. He jogs around the house to the backyard, allowing a clear line of sight to the congregation of dark, swirling clouds and sparks of electricity.

He stares for a moment longer before jogging to the back door of the house, saying, "Hey, do you guys want to see something cool?" through the screen door. "Come check this out."

Taron and Eleanor look at each other before standing, Taron following Eleanor through the kitchen and into the backyard. The two of them join Ray in staring at the black clouds overhead. Eleanor pushes her hair out of her face, for the intense wind that continuously picks up speed has managed to blow the red strands in her line of sight.

"I've never seen a storm like that," Taron declares.

"Yeah, me either," Ray replies.

Eleanor looks around, noticing the direction in which trees and plants are bending. She realizes which way her hair is blowing, too, and why it's so odd that she can't seem to get her hair out of her face.

"The wind is blowing toward the storm," Eleanor says. "That's definitely not normal."

"You're right, that is weird," Ray replies.

The three of them watch the clouds overhead until the wind dies down to nothing at all. Eleanor pushes her hair back. Not a minute later, lightning strikes the pavement not far away, causing the three of them to jump slightly.

"Where's the thunder?" Eleanor asks after a few moments. Taron glances at her, his subconscious noticing the similarities between her eyes and the sky above; both are typically a faded blue, but at the moment, a striking gray.

"That's odd," Taron declares once he looks away.

"I'm gonna go back inside," Eleanor says, crossing her arms.

"Oh, come on, Ellie," her father replies.

"Don't call me Ellie," Eleanor declares.

Suddenly, lightning begins to plummet to the ground in a rapid fashion.

Eleanor, Taron, and Ray run to the side of the house without one more word of protest.

"It's kind of fun, ain't it?" Ray questions, an amused smile on his face; he's crouching next to the wall.

"Not really," Eleanor replies, her heart racing.

"Oh, come on. It's like the Fourth of July."

"No, it's not."

Ray begins singing the Star Spangled Banner, however the increase in volume of the lightning striking the ground nearby cuts him off. The sudden occurrence scares the three of them enough to where they all run into the kitchen as fast as they can, Ray nearly tripping over a plastic chair. Car alarms begin to go off as the lightning continues to grow louder and more rapid.

Eleanor, Taron, and Ray stare outside, all of them breathing heavier than normal.

Another bolt of lightning strikes nearby, causing Eleanor to say, "Jesus Christ."

"It's okay. You're fine," Ray replies.

"It hit right behind our house!"

"Yeah, well it's not gonna hit there again. Lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place." As if the storm were challenging Ray personally, another strike hits the same place again, possibly even louder. "Oh shit!"

The three of them crawl under the kitchen table for safety, Eleanor between the other two. They stare out of the window and screen door at the rapid lightning, which makes an odd sound as it strikes through the air and plunges to the ground. Eleanor leans closer to Taron, undeniably frightened. Taron leans closer to Eleanor, too, in an attempt to make her feel safe.

"Where's Robbie?" Eleanor questions, mostly to herself.

"I don't know," Ray replies. He sounds tremendously more nervous than he did a moment ago. The lightning begins to strike much more rapidly in completely uncharacteristic ways.

"Is he okay?" Eleanor inquires, not expecting an answer. She glances at Ray, saying, "Are you okay?"

Ray doesn't reply.

"Why won't it stop?" Taron asks, the three of them returning their gazes to the sky outside.

Finally, the lightning subsides and everything is silent. Eleanor, Taron, and Ray remain underneath the table.

"Is it over?" Eleanor asks with hesitation. A moment later, Ray crawls away from the table and stands, Taron following a second later. Eleanor remains where she is.

Taron bends down, catching Eleanor's eye.

"You coming?" he asks. Eleanor nods, crawling out from underneath the table and standing next to Taron. She runs her fingers through her hair and Taron puts his hands on his hips. Ray, on the other hand, begins to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Eleanor asks him.

"I'm just gonna check things out. Both of you just wait... wait here," Ray replies, glancing around the room. He checks the appliances.

"Is the power out?"

"Yeah, it is," Ray says.

"Are we going to be okay?"

"I don't know. Just β€” Eleanor, stop asking so many questions. Just wait here," Ray replies, leaving the two teenagers alone in the kitchen.

After a few moments, Taron asks, "You all right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Eleanor says with a smile. She takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm her heartbeat.

She most definitely is not fine.

☁

On the street outside of his house, Ray finds that a number of other people have the same idea as him. The storm continues to swirl and spark overhead. Cars are stopped in the middle of the street and their owners are getting out, looking around in confusion. Every single car has stopped working due to an electromagnetic pulse.

Ray looks down the street, finding his son walking toward him.

"The car just stopped, and...." Robbie starts.

"Are you okay?" Ray asks, worry in his voice.

"... and the lightning started hitting about a block away over and over again. And me and this other guy, we...."

"Where the hell did you go?" Ray questions, getting angry.

"Over on Lincoln Avenue, by the church."

"Did you see it? Were you near it?"

"Yeah. We counted twenty-six strikes. Over and over the lightning started hitting. It opened up this hole or something," Robbie says.

"But you're okay?"

"Yeah." Robbie takes a deep breath, nodding.

"Good, because your sister and Taron are in the house. I want you to go in that house and I want you to stay with them, okay?" Ray says, beginning to jog down the street. "And the next time you take my car with no driver's license and no permission, I'll call the cops. You better be there when I get back." Robbie stays where he is out of fear. "Robbie!" Ray exclaims, clapping his hands together. Robbie looks at him before finally running back to the house.

Meanwhile, Eleanor and Taron are in the kitchen, waiting. Eleanor is laying down on the floor and Taron is sitting at the table, his hands folded and his eyes frequently glancing to Eleanor. They haven't said a word for the past ten minutes, which is uncharacteristic of them unless their attention is being occupied by something else, such as the television.

"I wonder what's taking him so long," Eleanor finally says.

"It's a big town, Rigby," Taron replies. Eleanor pulls her cell phone out of her pocket. She attempts to dial a number but the screen remains black.

"My phone is dead," Eleanor declares, dropping it on the floor next to her and looking up at the ceiling.

"I bet there was an EMP, then," Taron says. He looks at Eleanor as she chews on her lower lip, as she does when she is nervous. A moment later the two of them hear the door open and shut. Eleanor and Taron look at each other before standing.

"Eleanor?" Robbie calls just as he walks into the kitchen. He seems to let out a breath of relief when he sees his younger sister and Taron.

"Robbie," Eleanor says.

"Hey," Robbie replies simply, nodding to Taron.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

"Peachy," Eleanor says. Taron nods, for Robbie looked at him to see how he was, too. "Did you see Ray?"

"Yeah. He knows I'm here."

"Why didn't he come with you?"

"He ran off to check things out. When the power died, the cars did, too. Everyone is kind of panicking," Robbie says. Eleanor turns around and walks slowly, thinking.

The three of them stand in silence until the house begins to tremble a moment later, signaling an earthquake.

"C'mon!" Taron exclaims, grabbing Eleanor's arm gently and pulling her underneath a doorway. Robbie stands underneath a different doorway in the room. Eleanor and Taron stand on opposite sides with their backs against the threshold, Taron looking at Eleanor and Eleanor squinting her eyes shut. They stand there for a few moments, feeling the ground underneath them rumble and listening to things around the house tremble.

The earthquake ends moments later. Taron relaxes, letting out a breath. He looks at Eleanor, who still has her eyes squinted shut.

"Hey, it's fine now," Taron says, stepping forward. Eleanor opens her eyes. She looks around, then at Taron.

"It feels like the world's ending," Eleanor declares.

"Oh, the world's not ending. We haven't even graduated high school yet," Taron replies with a smile. "The world's not allowed to end until the Dream Team is tearing it up at Columbia." His words manage to make Eleanor grin.

The two of them have planned to go to Columbia University together ever since they were informed of its existence, for they both want to explore a career in the arts and both have a record of brilliant grades. Eleanor wishes to be a writer and Taron a photographer; they even plan to travel the world together, Taron taking photographs for travel magazines and Eleanor writing the articles.

The moment between Eleanor and Taron, involving the two of them simply smiling at each other, ends when the front door opens. Eleanor and Taron step out of the doorway to find Robbie following suit. The teenagers watch as Ray comes into the house, his clothes, face, and hair covered in white dust.

"What happened?" Robbie asks with anxious eyes as he, Eleanor, and Taron follow him back into the kitchen. Ray sits down against the wall of the island, not responding.

"What's going on?" Taron questions. The three teenagers bend down next to Ray, Taron kneeling on one knee, Robbie squatting, and Eleanor sitting on her calves.

"Ray, what's the matter?" Eleanor asks. Taron glances at her.

"What's that stuff all over you?" Robbie asks. Ray looks delirious as he turns his head toward his son. Eleanor touches Ray's shoulder, causing him to jump and jerk his head toward Eleanor fast enough to cause some of the powder to unsettle.

Little do they know that Ray was previously running away from a giant, tripod-like machine that emerged from one of the spots in which the lightning strikes hit various times, causing the short earthquake, as it disintegrated as many people as it could.

"What's all the stuff?" Eleanor says, deeply worried. Ray looks at his arms, noticing the white dust covering his clothes. He immediately stands and walks to the bathroom.

Eleanor, Taron, and Robbie stand as well. In the bathroom, Ray desperately does his best to wash off the powder, realizing what it is: human ash. He looks at his reflection a moment longer before walking back into the kitchen.

"We're leaving this house in sixty seconds," Ray states, dumping tools out of an old cardboard box and shoving it into Robbie, who grasps onto it, startled at the amount of force Ray used.

"What? Wait, we have absolutely no idea what's going on...." Robbie says.

Talking over him, Ray says, "All the food from the refrigerator and the cupboard, put it in here. Taron, there's a baseball bat in the closet. Get it."

"Ray, I think we're all in a bit of a shock here, so I think it'd be best if you told us what's happening," Taron replies.

"Both of you, just do it," Ray says. Taron and Eleanor briefly meet eyes, both of them panicking slightly, before Taron walks out of the room to retrieve the baseball bat. Robbie continues looking at Ray as he grabs anything he can find and shoves it into the box.

"Dad, you're really freaking me out," Eleanor says, wringing her hands together as she watches her father attempt to get a flashlight to work. Taron returns with a metal baseball bat in his hand.

"Eleanor, sweetheart, go grab your bag and anything you need, okay?"

Eleanor nods before running up the stairs. She knows something's up when Ray calls her 'sweetheart.' She grabs her bag, taking out unnecessary items and replacing them with a blanket. Thankfully, she has already packed a weekend's worth of clothing, a substantial amount of tampons, hair ties, a bandana, her medication, and other relevant items.

Meanwhile, Ray runs upstairs to his own room, retrieving his handgun from a metal box. He tucks the gun into his belt and covers it with his layers of clothing.

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author's note ;

spoopy. honestly if there was an alien invasion it'd be cool to have a bat as a weapon but i'd pee my pants if i ever had to get that close to anything worth using the bat on

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