Into the Wind

by Ginger Zee

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I told you he was weird. But he’s special, too. My new digital camera? He gave it to me. Just gave it to me.” He shook his head in wonderment. “He said he wasn’t sure when he’d get outdoors again. So, he asked me to bring the outdoors to him.”

  “Camping,” Helicity guessed. “You went camping and shot videos and photos to share with him.”

  “He tucked a wad of cash inside the camera case. He refused to let me give it back. So I made good use of it. Bought the camping stuff secondhand, then headed up to the Upper Peninsula and worked my way down the shore of Lake Michigan. The camera is loaded with features—slo-mo, remote start from my phone, low light, you name it—so getting great footage was a cinch.” He paused. “But I’m pretty sure Mr. Chalmers had an ulterior motive for sending me off that didn’t include videography.”

  He let his hand fall into the waves. V’s streamed from his fingertips. “He wanted me to have the freedom to process what had happened. And I did. Being alone in the wilderness like that…it gave me time to think. Get some clarity, as they say.” He glanced at her. “The thing I kept coming back to the most? How wrong I was to leave without seeing you. So, when I neared home, I went to your house, only to discover you’d come here.”

  She bit her lip. “You didn’t have to come all this way to see me. You could have just texted or called.”

  He tilted his head to one side. “No. I had to see you in person. To see for myself that you were okay.”

  “I am okay, Sam,” she said quietly. “Or at least, I’m getting there.”

  “Me too. I never thought I would, but…yeah.” He shook his head. “That’s the first time I’ve said that out loud. But I feel like I can tell you anything…Fifteen.” He gave her a mischievous smile.

  Just then, a speedboat pulling a water skier raced by. The skier slalomed expertly back and forth across the boat’s wake, then suddenly swerved toward them. An arc of water blasted up from the ski. Helicity caught the drenching spray in her face full force. She sputtered and gasped in shock as the speedboat raced off, the driver and a female passenger hooting with laughter, the skier pumping his fist.

  “Idiots!” Sam bellowed after them. He crouch-walked over to Helicity. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” She dashed the water off her face. “I must look like a drowned rat.”

  “You ask me, you never looked better.”

  Sam’s voice sounded odd. She looked up—and found herself staring into his eyes. For two beats of her heart, the world stopped moving. Sam’s face was so near to hers, she could feel the magnetism electrifying the air between them. Her lips parted. He leaned in closer, eyes still on hers.

  Suddenly, something on the horizon stole Helicity’s attention. She blinked, not sure what she was seeing at first. When she figured it out, her stomach lurched.

  “Sam,” she said urgently, “we need to find Mia and Trey and get to shore. Now.”

  An ominous dark cloud sat like a hulking beast over the distant shore. But as frightening as it looked, the cloud wasn’t what had Helicity urging Sam to power up the motor and find their friends. It was the wind.

  When they’d first started out onto the lake, the wind had been a steady breeze. But while Sam was telling her about Mr. Chalmers, it had changed. Now it blew in erratic gusts that were more frequent and gaining in strength with every passing moment. If what she suspected was true…

  “It’s not a thunderstorm, Sam!”

  Sam looked at Helicity quizzically. “Then what is it?”

  “I—I think it’s a derecho!”

  Sam’s eyes widened with fear. “Oh, God. If you’re right—if Mia and Trey get caught in it in that little sailboat—” He clipped off the rest of the sentence and fired up the motor—this time on the first try.

  A derecho was not just a thunderstorm, but a long line of them, an army of thunderstorms. When that army organized, the front line bowed out and became a highly destructive windstorm. Like tornadoes, derechos produced wind gusts that could exceed 120 miles per hour. They could do more damage and over a larger area than weak tornadoes could, because instead of spinning, their winds marched straight forward, blasting over everything in their path—including boats.

  At the far side of the lake, sailboats were rocking and tipping, threatening to capsize. Closer by, motorboats were racing toward the docks, causing near collisions as their drivers jockeyed to escape the mounting waves. Jet-Skiers wove in and out among the boats in their quest to get to land.

  Suddenly, a fierce gust pummeled the surface of the water near their dinghy. A wave crashed into the boat’s side, and water sloshed over the edge, drowning Helicity’s beach bag as the tiny craft fought to stay upright. Sam steered as best he could while Helicity searched the sailboats for Trey and Mia.

  “There!” She spotted the distinctive bright purple hull and number 3. The boat was heeling over and back at dangerous angles. Trey was moving about, trying to drop sail to keep them from capsizing. But his skill on the sail was no match for these winds.

  “Faster, Sam!”

  The dinghy bounced over the waves, the bow rising up and slapping down with dull, jarring thuds.

  “Helicity!”

  Mia’s panicked voice made Helicity’s stomach clutch. “Hold on! We’re coming!” She turned to Sam. “Is our motor strong enough to pull the sailboat behind us?”

  Sam’s lips tightened. “I don’t think so!”

  “Then you’ll have to get close enough for them to jump into our boat!”

  Helicity wasn’t sure the dinghy would hold them all, and she could tell Sam wasn’t, either. But she was out of ideas—and from the way the waves were humping and rolling higher and harder, she was also running out of time.

  As they drew near to the sailboat, another bigger motorboat cut through the waves ahead of them. With a shock, Helicity realized it was the speedboat. Its three occupants weren’t laughing now.

  “You need help?” the driver shouted.

  “Can you tow that sailboat?”

  The girl shot her friends a doubtful look, but the skier crab-walked to the swim deck in the stern with a length of rope. Trey was still trying to lower the sail, so Mia crouched in readiness to catch the line. But just as the boy threw, a blast of wind whipped the boom from Trey’s grasp. The beam caught Mia across the shoulders with a sickening thump. She toppled forward and disappeared in the lake.

  “Mia!”

  Helicity scrambled up.

  “No!” Sam lunged forward and grabbed her life vest. “Don’t, Helicity!”

  “Let me go! She’ll drown!”

  “And you might, too, if you go in after her!”

  Mia bobbed to the surface, gulping for air and sobbing. Her life jacket held her head above the water, but it couldn’t stop the waves from crashing into her face.

  “Help…me…please!” she gasped. Her fingers clutched at empty air.

  “The line!” Helicity shrieked at the speedboat. “For God’s sake, throw her the rope!”

  The boy reeled in the rope hand over hand and threw it toward Mia. It fell far from her reach. And her struggles were getting weaker.

  Helicity whirled on Sam. “I have to help her!”

  He stared at her for a long moment. Then he let go of her life jacket.

  She leaped feetfirst into the water, arms outstretched to keep her from plunging under. With powerful kicks, she battled the waves to reach Mia’s side. She grabbed her with one arm and thrust the other above the waves. “Throw me the line!” she cried, thrashing her legs to stay in one place. “Now!”

  This time, the rope reached its target. Helicity swiveled her wrist to wrap the end around it, then held on tight. “Pull!”

  The waves fought against them, but at last the passengers dragged them onto the swim deck. Mia rolled into a fetal position, coughing up water and choking on her sobs. Helicity lay next to her. Her chest was heaving, and her lungs burned. The skin on her wrist was rubbed
raw. But they were safe. Alive.

  For now.

  “Get us out of here!” the girl yelled. The driver gunned the motor and headed for the nearest stretch of shore.

  “Wait!” Helicity shouted. “My friends!”

  But the motor drowned out her cries. Heart in her throat, she watched Sam swing the dinghy as near to the sailboat as he could. Trey jumped on board. The dinghy rocked dangerously. Then they took off after the speedboat.

  And not a moment too soon. Behind them, a gust of wind tore at the boat’s sail. Then a wave flipped the tiny craft on its side—a stark reminder that they weren’t out of danger yet.

  When they finally reached shore, Helicity helped Mia out of the boat. Together, they slogged through the shallows and collapsed in the sand. They lay there for a minute, the winds raging around them. Then Helicity forced herself to sit up.

  “Sam? Trey?”

  “Over here,” Trey responded. He, Sam, and the teens from the speedboat were huddled beneath a tree. “We’re okay…mostly.”

  “Good.” Helicity struggled up. “Because we need to get out of here. Fast.”

  “What? Why?” asked the girl.

  A powerful gust of wind bent a nearby tree. The trunk snapped in half with an ear-shattering crack. “That’s why!”

  Sam was already on his feet. “This way!” he yelled, waving them toward a footpath that led through a sparsely wooded area. “Come on!”

  Another wind gust blew a dead branch out of a tree above him. He dodged as the limb shattered in an explosion of sharp sticks and twigs where he’d been standing.

  “Are you crazy?” the girl cried. “If we go in there, we’ll get our heads bashed in! Or worse!”

  Helicity knew she couldn’t do anything about the “or worse.” But she had an idea to protect their heads. “Our life vests.” She whipped hers from around her neck and put it on her head like an oversize hat.

  “I’ve got something better!” The driver started tossing out seat cushions and beach towels. Within seconds, everyone was swaddled in makeshift protective gear.

  Sam pushed aside an overgrown bush blocking the footpath and led the way, with Trey and Helicity helping Mia, and the others following close behind. A sudden rain turned the ground into a soggy, sucking quicksand. The girl stepped on something that made her cry out in pain.

  She swore when she saw what it was. “Broken glass!” She swore some more as the speedboat driver tried to extract the shard.

  “Hold still, Summer!” he railed at her. “There!” He threw the glass into the underbrush. Summer hobbled on, leaving a trail of blood behind her.

  The path took them to a small wooden cabin. It was obviously abandoned, most of its windows boarded up and covered with graffiti. The front door sagged on its hinges. But it was better than nothing. Helicity pushed in front of the others and yanked open the door. The whole crew filed inside behind her.

  Except for a few simple plank shelves falling off the walls, the interior had been stripped clean of furnishings. But something was clearly living there. The smell of decay and animal droppings was overpowering, like a neglected zoo enclosure whose occupants had been left to rot.

  “Oh, God.” Gagging, Summer covered her mouth and nose with her towel. “How long are we going to have to stay here?”

  Sam looked at Helicity. “If this is a derecho, it could be at least half an hour.”

  “Please tell me one of you has a cell phone!” Summer said.

  “Sorry,” Helicity said shortly. “I was a little busy.” Just saving my best friends’ lives and probably yours, she added silently as she piled the seat cushions together. Sam had left his phone in his car, and Trey’s and Mia’s were lost with the sailboat. “But hey, look on the bright side.”

  “What bright side?” Summer whined.

  Helicity eased Mia down onto the pillow pile. “You’re alive.”

  The words were barely out of Helicity’s mouth when boom! Something outside pounded against the cabin like a giant fist. The skier screamed and hurled himself into the arms of his friends. They looked so ridiculous clutching one another that Helicity nearly laughed out loud.

  Mia’s trembling voice stopped her. “What was that?”

  “It’s debris from the storm,” Helicity told her. “Don’t worry. We’ll be safe in here.” I hope.

  Crash! Boom! Thwack!

  Wreckage battered the already crumbling cabin, shaking it to the foundation and sending Helicity’s mind back to the tornado. She muttered her mantra in her mind to fight against the rising panic. I’m a survivor, not a victim. I’m a survivor, not a victim. This time it was not cheesy, Helicity knew that. This time it was more than valid.

  A cloud of thick, choking dust filled the air, then her nostrils, making her cough. An old bird’s nest with broken eggshells fell from the ceiling rafters and rolled at their feet. Howling wind tore at the boarded-up windows and rattled the door. The cabin felt like it was going to implode. So did her fear.

  Then Sam pressed his hand into hers and squeezed. “Deep breaths. In through the nose. Out through the mouth,” he murmured in her ear.

  She caught his eye. And remembered the time in Lana’s office after the tornado when he’d witnessed her spiraling out of control. Lana had sent him out of the room before helping her regain control. But had Sam heard Lana’s whispered instructions after all? If so, she was glad. Listening to him now calmed her inner turbulence. She coughed again, then focused on breathing slowly and steadily. Her mind cleared, and her strength returned.

  Then suddenly, it went eerily quiet. Summer and the friends stared at one other, hope blooming on their faces.

  “It’s over!” The speedboat driver jumped to his feet and ran to look out the last remaining window.

  “No!” Helicity yelled. “Stay down!”

  Her cry saved him. As he turned to look at her, a gust more powerful than any they had heard before blasted the window. It exploded into thousands of razor-sharp fragments. Had he not looked away, that deadly shower would have hit him directly in his eyes.

  Instead, the flying shards embedded in his cheek, ear, and hair. He shrieked and fell to his knees, cupping a hand to his face. Blood oozed from multiple pinprick cuts and dripped from one particularly deep slash on his jawline. He rocked back and forth, moaning.

  Summer and the skier stared at him in horror. But when the boy made a move to help his friend, Summer grabbed his arm. “No! Don’t leave me!”

  Sam growled in disgust and pushed himself to his feet.

  “Wait!” Helicity cried. She thrust a beach towel into his hand. “Take this!” Helicity and Sam’s new deal, not being selfish or stupid, was implied.

  He scuttled toward the wounded boy. Halfway there, a loud crack split the air. Then a thunderous crash as a giant tree smashed through the roof.

  “Sam!” Helicity screamed.

  What happened next seemed to play out in slow motion. The rafters caught the massive trunk—only for a heartbeat, but long enough for Trey to launch himself at Sam and shove him out of harm’s way. Then the rafters gave way and the tree crashed on top of him.

  For one horrible moment, Helicity was sure Trey was dead. Then he let out a shriek of pain that pierced through the wind’s howls.

  Helicity raced to Trey’s side. Sam threw the towel to the speedboat driver and skidded up beside her. “Oh. God,” he breathed as he stared at Trey in horror. Helicity’s hands flew to her mouth to keep herself from screaming.

  The tree was top-heavy with thick, stout branches. Those branches had stopped the trunk just short of crushing him. Trey might have even escaped unscathed…if not for one short, jagged limb. Like a wooden spear, it had stabbed into the back of his thigh, pinning him where he’d fallen. Blood dripped from the wound, running in bright red rivulets down his bare leg to form a small puddle.

  A puddle that was spreading wider by the second.

  Trey groaned and made a move as if to crawl forward.

  “No! D
on’t!” Sam cried.

  Trey’s eyes bugged with pain, then rolled up into his head. He passed out face-first in a pile of splinters and broken glass.

  “His leg. The blood,” Helicity choked.

  “We have to get the tree off him,” Sam said urgently.

  They tried shifting the trunk themselves, but it was just too enormous. Helicity glanced at the speedboat driver. No. He had his own problems to deal with. Mia was in no shape to help, either. That left Summer and the skier.

  “You two, get over here! Now!” she demanded.

  “And have a tree land on me? No way!” Summer yelled.

  The skier stared at her, then shook his head. “You’re a waste.”

  He started toward them, then backtracked and ripped two shelves from the wall. He stacked the boards under the trunk in front of Trey, then positioned himself under the top edge of one of the sides.

  Sam got under the other side of the boards. “Helicity, take hold of Trey. When I say so, pull him free.”

  Helicity crouched low and gently looped her arms under Trey’s shoulders. This was the closest she had ever been to him. How horribly ironic, Helicity thought. The one time she has someone that isn’t related to her tumultuous past, they are becoming part of her stormy present and future. There was no time for admiration or self-loathing. Fear and adrenaline set her heart pounding in her chest.

  To the boy, Sam said, “On three. One. Two. Three.”

  Heavy rain pelted them through the gaping roof as they leveraged their shoulders under the boards, pushing up and straining to lift the tree. The old wooden planks bent and groaned in protest. Helicity held her breath and closed her eyes. When she peered through, she saw physics at work.

  The trunk moved. The jagged branch, coated with Trey’s blood, skin, and bits of flesh, pulled out of his leg inch by horrifying inch.

  “Get ready, Fifteen!”

  The boys gave one big push. The tip of the branch came free.

  “Now!”