The air swooshed and rumbled like water tumbling over the edge of a cliff. The ground started to tremble, threatening to knock me off balance. So much was happening and all I could think was to run faster.
“Jake!” I yelled, the wind swallowing the words as soon as they left my mouth. “Where the hell are you going?”
My fear told me to run back to the car, to head back to something I thought was safe. But then then I saw it, I saw what Jake had heard. It was to my left, bearing down on us like a pack of hungry lions. I could see then that it didn’t matter how fast we ran or where we ran to, there was no outrunning it.
It looked like hell had opened up and reached its gnarled fingers into the sky to pull the world down into the depths. Streaks of swirling gray whipped around, twirling through the night like malign ballerinas.
Everything in its path was plucked from the ground and churned into nothing, before being spat out like cannon fodder. It was death, it was a spinning cyclone of treacherous mayhem and it was headed straight for us.
I was never much of an athlete and now I regretted all of the PE classes I’d skipped along the years. No matter how hard I pumped my legs and swung my arms I couldn’t catch up with Jake, I’d been left to die alone. I wanted to shout, to scream, but it was useless. They wouldn’t hear me and I needed every bit of oxygen so I didn’t pass out.
The grass whipped against my legs as I charged through the field. I didn’t want to die, not here, not now. Burying Brent had given me a new appreciation for life and I didn’t want to let it go so easily.
Suddenly, Jake stopped running and waved his hands at me. They were nearly fifty yards away and the tornado was almost as close. He was shouting to me, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. So, I lowered my head and ran faster.
The ground was uneven and covered with rocks and short, thick shrubs. The closer I got to them the more uneven it became, until it took a sharp decline and I stumbled and rolled across the ground.
High off adrenaline, I jumped to my feet as soon as I came to a stop. I was almost certain I’d broken a bone or two, but that was nothing in comparison to what was coming.
“Hurry up!” Jake screamed. “Down here!”
I could see what he was doing now. The field ran into a culvert where a thin stream of water stood. I followed after him and slid down the bank, landing in the shallow muck.
“In here,” Jake called out.
As the tornado roared behind me I rushed inside of the concrete cylinder and collapsed against the wall.
“How did you know?” I asked. “How did you know it was coming?”
“It’s a sound you never forget,” Jake replied with wide eyes, staring at the roof of the culvert.
Outside the wind bellowed its displeasure at our escape. The sound of chaos thundered as a heavy rain began to fall. The sky roared and my arms trickled with goosebumps.
“Is it safe in here?” Cindy asked.
I pulled her toward me and wrapped my arms around her. “We should be fine,” I whispered.
“It was this or the car,” Jake added. “And I’m sure the car ain’t there no more.”
A high-pitched whistle blared and gusts of wind rushed into our little shelter. Toward the back there was a metal grate that separated the culvert from where the storm drain ran underneath the road. I pulled Cindy along and we huddled near it with Jake crouched beside us.
The sound of the storm was horrid. It was every nightmare I’d ever had, every fear manifested in the destruction taking place right outside.
Pellets of rain pushed by the wind swept into the tunnel like machinegun fire. The sting against my back was agonizing, but I squeezed Cindy tighter and shut my eyes. It sounded like the world was falling apart above our heads. Loud booms and deafening collisions shook our little haven. Every time the culvert rattled I thought it was going to cave in and crush us.
A loud roar droned as the tornado stopped directly above. The strafing rain stopped and I could feel the cyclone pulling at my back.
I reached around Cindy and locked my fingers into the grate, pinning her underneath me. A barrage of shrills and resounding clatter filled the culvert. I could feel the wind pulling at me, ripping me from the ground.
My legs slipped in the grimy water and Cindy shifted underneath me. She latched onto my waist and I grabbed her and pulled her back toward the grate.
“We’re gonna die!” Jake shouted as he clamped his fingers around the thick, metal.
It was like the tornado was alive. It had found us and wouldn’t leave until it peeled us from our hiding spot like a pearl from an oyster.
“Don’t let me go,” Cindy said as the wind shrieked in pain.
I tightened my grip and struggled to plant my feet back onto the ground. Everything seemed unreal. There I was, nearly horizontal with the floor, being sucked into the air by a giant vacuum.
“I’m losing my grip! Max, help me, I’m losing my grip!” Jake cried out in panic.
There was nothing I could do. I had one hand over Cindy’s and the other squeezing the grate with every ounce of strength I had.
“It’s gonna pass!” I yelled, my attempt at encouragement.
“Max, help me!” he screamed, and I felt it in my spine.
He made a loud groaning noise then he was plucked from the grate like a feather. Jake didn’t go quietly though. As the tornado pulled at him, he slammed into the ground then caught my leg on his way out.
The sudden jolt ripped my hand off and I slid down Cindy’s waist. I grasped at the air, but found nothing solid, I was flying and suddenly I was outside.
CHAPTER 21
THE TRUTH HURTS
I slid across the slime covered concrete as my life flashed before me. The wedding that didn’t happen, the children I would never have, the sound of my daughter calling me daddy. It was the life I’d wished for, but put off for so long, always thinking there would be more time.
I strained to keep my eyes open. Fighting my own instincts to brace for my death like a coward. I wanted to see it, I wanted to look death in the eyes before it took me.
Flinching, I stared up to the dark sky and gasped. The cyclone had shifted and was tearing across the field back toward the road. It dropped us onto the concrete like unwanted laundry and left. We weren’t gonna die, not yet.
I jumped up and ran back toward the culvert. Cindy was still latched to the grate, shaking and crying hysterically.
“Cindy!” I called out to her.
She turned her head and glared at me like she was seeing a ghost. Her hands trembled as she slowly uncoiled them and reached out toward me.
I knelt down and wrapped my arms around her. She buried her head into my shoulder and moaned in pain. I’d never felt closer to her than I did in that moment.
“I thought you were dead. I thought you left me.”
“I thought I was dead too, but it passed right over us.”
“I’m alright too,” Jake called from behind us.
I kissed Cindy’s cheek and squeezed her tighter. With a deep breath, I sucked in the scent of her hair, vowing to never forget it. There was something surreal about holding someone that you thought you’d lost forever.
I could’ve sat there for hours, hours just holding her. I wanted to stay with her for the rest of my life and that’s when it hit me.
“Marry me,” I suddenly said.
I felt her jolt and she lifted her head slowly. “What?”
“Marry me. I don’t care how, I just, I just want you to marry me. I’m sorry it took me so long to ask, but I’m ready. I want you to marry me.”
Cindy dropped her jaw in shock. She looked like she wanted to pass out. He eyes were wide and unfocused like she was staring right through me.
An explosion of thunder stole my moment and I was reminded of the danger we were still in. Lightning flashed and Cindy shivered in my arms.
“We, we need to get moving,” Jake said loudly. “It’s coming back and we can’t st
ay here.”
I slowly released Cindy and she straightened up and looked down at me. She placed her hands on my face and kissed me.
“We’ll pick this up when we get somewhere safe,” she quivered. “I love you.”
I didn’t know what to make of that. I smiled and grabbed her hand then rushed out of the culvert as wisps of cool wind blew against my face.
“Up here,” Jake called.
Following after him, we climbed up the embankment and stopped. Flashes of lightning illuminated the abysmal landscape and I felt my stomach drop into the dirt. The car was gone. Twisted metal beams and all manner of debris was sprawled across the ground. There was nothing left standing except the frame of a farmhouse nearly half a mile away. It’s skeletal remains appeared and vanished with each crack of entwining electricity.
“That way,” Jake pointed.
At a jog, we took off toward the farmhouse. The tornado spiraled recklessly in the distance, sporadically shifting from side to side. Heavy wind gusts pushed against us with every step as the rain returned like a shower of nails.
I could hear the tornado brewing in the dark. Like a giant child throwing a temper tantrum in a glass room. It was coming back for a second round.
“Hurry up!” I shouted for no reason at all. Cindy had released my hand and was several steps ahead of me and Jake was a step or two behind her.
By the time I reached the rickety frame, Cindy was already searching the grounds with Jake. He was convinced they would have a cellar and I prayed he was right because we didn’t have time for a backup plan.
“Over here!” Cindy shouted.
On the far side of the farmhouse, where a few panels of wood stubbornly held on, there was a wooden door in the ground. I grabbed the iron handle and pulled it open and without a second thought we all climbed in.
“Close the latch,” Jake warned. “If not the storm is gonna rip the doors off.”
The old wooden steps that led into the basement creaked with every step we took. It was completely dark down there, but anything was better than what was about to happen outside. Holding onto Cindy, I made my way to the concrete floor one groaning step at a time.
“See if you can find a light,” I said as I blindly felt around.
There were rows of metal shelves with tools and collections of junk crammed on top of them. As I clumsily swept my hands through them a light erupted behind me and I froze.
“Found one,” Cindy said calmly.
The little gas lantern burned like a star. It cast its glow around the room and I felt a tiny bit of relief. Men were never meant to linger in dark places.
Above us the war had started again. Wind pounded the door as the sound of the collapsing farmhouse shook the ground. We were safe for now, but we were in for one hell of a night.
“How long do you think it’ll last?” Cindy asked.
“I’m surprised it’s been going for this long.” I took the lantern from Cindy and found a clearing on the floor. Grunting, I sat down and leaned my back against one of the shelves while Cindy sat leaning on my legs.
Jake looked around the room for a minute then joined us. “It’s like it’s looking for us or something,” he griped.
“What?”
“I mean we beat it. We made it out of the car and into that damn pipe. Now it’s back, it just won’t go away. Do you think…do you think we’re supposed to die?”
I didn’t respond, I sat on the floor in silence just happy to be wherever I was. It felt odd, having accepted my death and finding myself alive. It was like I’d been given a second chance.
Cindy leaned back and rested against my shoulder and I stroked her hair. She sighed in exhaustion then rubbed her hand across my face.
“I love you,” she whispered.
I smiled back, afraid to say the words, afraid of the silence she left me with after I proposed. Sure, it was out of the blue and born out of my fear of losing her. But that didn’t make it any less sincere.
We’d talked about getting married for years and just never got around to it. I thought she would’ve been happy, I thought those were the words she’d been waiting for since I met her. Maybe I’d waited too long, maybe it was too little too late.
Jake paced the floor anxiously. Every bump, every crash he looked up to the ceiling like it was going to cave in. I’d never seen him so frantic and I wondered if his mind would hold up all the way to Wyoming.
Wyoming, our promised sanctuary. What could I expect when we got there? Were we too late or was it just a pipe dream to begin with? There were so many moving parts, so many jobs that were dependent on others. I dragged us across the country betting on a plan that was never completely finished.
As the winds outside started to die the tapping of rain increased. There was something calming about it, peaceful even. It brought back some normalcy and I latched onto that feeling.
I closed my eyes and listened to the drumline of water. My mind wandered and thoughts of Brent drifted by. I missed him, I missed his level head and optimism. I couldn’t believe I’d never talk to him again.
I thought about his parents and wondered if they were even alive. He hadn’t said much about them since everything had happened and I think that was kinda his way of avoiding what was probably inevitable. We all had a lot we were avoiding.
It felt like years had passed since we left my apartment and headed to the club. That night was the last carefree night of my life. It was the last time all four of us would ever be together again. Disaster had a way of showing you that nothing was trivial.
“Is he sleeping?” Jake asked.
At first I thought I was dreaming. I was exhausted and I felt my self drifting away as I lay there. I’d been around the world in my mind, so Jake playing some part in my brain’s motion picture wasn’t shocking.
“Yeah, but keep your voice down,” Cindy replied and I felt her slide from under my arm.
I wasn’t dreaming and I was now deadly curious. Their hushed tones and tip-toeing about made my hairs stand on end. They tried to keep quiet, but everything echoed down in the basement.
“What are you thinking?” Jake growled in a menacing whisper. “Marriage?”
“I have to tell him.”
“Are you fucking crazy? Now, you want to tell him now?”
Cindy sighed and I could hear her pacing the floor.
“It’s killing me inside. I feel like shit, I deserve to be dead instead of Brent.”
“You love who you love,” Jake replied.
The sound of feet shuffling echoed then there was an awkward silence. I started to open my eyes, but just as I did a wet smacking noise sounded and Cindy giggled.
“He doesn’t have to know. He never needs to know. That was the deal when all of this started,” Jake continued.
“I can’t keep this up. I might die, he might die. He deserves to know the truth. I owe him at least that.”
“And what is the truth Cindy? What are you gonna tell him?”
Cindy took a long, deep breath. “I’ll tell him…I’ll tell him about us, that I, that I cheated.”
“And that’s all this was? I was just some mistake?”
“That’s not fair.”
As they argued back and forth I felt galaxies of emotions flood through my body. First I was breathless. It was a feeling I’d never experienced before, like the floor had suddenly vanished under me and I was free falling into an empty pit with no bottom.
Why? I thought. Why wasn’t I good enough for her? How could she? I’d given her my all, my everything until there was nothing left of me. Why wasn’t that enough?
I felt sick to my stomach. My head spun and if my eyes weren’t already closed I probably would’ve passed out. I just wanted her to love me the way I loved her.
As quickly as those thoughts had formed they were replaced with a rage I didn’t think was possible. I clenched my fists at my side and clamped my jaw like a bear trap. I wanted to hit something, I wanted to hit Jake. I felt
like I could kill him at that moment.
What a two-faced little shit. I’d trusted him, treated him like a brother and he was nothing more than a snake. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I couldn’t believe what was happening.
My anger boiled, but I realized it was misplaced. Jake was an asshole, but he didn’t owe me anything, Cindy did. Cindy was the person I trusted, Cindy was the person I loved.
“Do whatever makes you happy, Cindy. That’s what you always do,” Jake finished.
“You know how I feel about you. Don’t act like that.”
“Don’t act like what? I thought we meant something to each other. I thought you loved me.”
I’d heard enough. It was time for this to end. My anger was about to explode and I couldn’t just sit there anymore in silence.
Opening my eyes, I scuffled to my feet before either of them noticed me. “I thought you loved me too,” I barked in the harshest tone I could muster.
CHAPTER 22
STARING THROUGH THE WINDOW
Jake’s eyes looked like satellite dishes. His jaw dangled in shock and the stupid look on his face was perfectly fitting.
Cindy collapsed to the floor and started to cry, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I looked at her with nothing but hate, everything about her made my blood turn to lava.
“Max!” Jake found his voice first. “Max, I…I…”
“Save it, asshole,” I snapped. “I could fucking kill you right now.”
Cindy looked up at me with eyes full of tears. She begged forgiveness without words, but I’d become hate.
“How could you!” I shouted.
“Max, just listen,” Jake said.
My hand shot out so fast I wasn’t sure it belonged to me. I struck Jake in the throat like a blade and he gagged then doubled over.
“Why!” I shouted back at Cindy. “I loved you. Why!”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“Fuck your sorry. I was gonna marry you. Fuck!”
I slammed my hand into one of the wooden beams and roared. I felt like I could tear the entire foundation apart and bring the whole thing falling down on us. In the back of my mind, that seemed like the best thing to do.
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 29