Sometime deep in the night, the wind began to howl and claw at the rooftops, rattling the whole world with all the fury of the worst West Michigan winter storms that I could recall.\u00a0 As I pressed closer to Thom and listened to the wind scream above us, I hoped against hope that we wouldn\u2019t wake to collapsed tents or dead livestock\u2014our trio of rescued cows, our horses, the chickens, and the herd of sheep.\u00a0 The cats and dogs would be safely snuggled in with someone as usual\u2014we even had a little black kitten curled between me and the wall near my knees, her purring nearly lost beneath the sound of the wind rattling the two layers of roof above us.<\/p>\n
It must be all right, since whoever\u2019s on the late watch hasn\u2019t sounded any alarms.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a bad storm.\u00a0 Everything\u2019s solid.<\/i><\/p>\n
Of course, even with everything solid, a nasty storm would make it hard for us to function for at least a few days, if not longer.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t relish the idea of everyone going stir crazy as we were trapped in the tents and our cots, unable to venture into the wide, cold world beyond if even for a little while.\u00a0 Davon, Rory, and a few of the others had realized that they enjoyed sojourns down into the fields beyond the borders of campus and the ravines surrounding us to hunt deer and smaller game.\u00a0 Kellin still headed out with small parties to scavenge what we could from empty houses and abandoned storefronts, but only when the weather held for it.<\/p>\n
But everyone trapped in the tents\u2026<\/p>\n
I shuddered at the thought.\u00a0 Thom groaned and rolled over, arms circling me and drawing me close to his chest.\u00a0 I exhaled a sigh and pressed my cheek against the soft, worn cotton of his shirt, praying I hadn\u2019t woken him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d he murmured after a moment, dashing my hopes.<\/p>\n
\u201cStorm out there,\u201d I whispered into his chest, squeezing my eyes closed in the darkness.\u00a0 I could almost see the wind ripping branches from trees, nudging some of the still-standing walls of the campus buildings into their final collapse.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t be that bad, though.\u00a0 Everything where we were seemed to be okay.\u00a0 The wind\u2014the storm\u2014couldn\u2019t be doing that so near and leave us relatively intact.<\/p>\n
Could it?<\/i><\/p>\n
I shivered again.\u00a0 \u201cIt sounds bad, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt woke you?\u201d he asked softly, glancing toward the rafters.\u00a0 \u201cIt sounds strong, but I\u2019m sure everything will be fine.\u00a0 I\u2019m not feeling any drafts, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I admitted.\u00a0 \u201cBut we\u2019ve already double-walled this cot and we\u2019ve got four blankets around us.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d feel a draft if there was one or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thom nodded absently, kissing the top of my head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure everything will be fine,\u201d he said, his voice quiet.\u00a0 \u201cThe cat\u2019s still against your knees, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we\u2019re fine.\u00a0 She\u2019d be hiding if it were worse, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe,\u201d I whispered.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe.\u201d\u00a0 Another shiver rushed through me.\u00a0 There was something about this that I didn\u2019t like, something that left me unsettled.\u00a0 Thom must have sensed it, because his arms tightened around me.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop worrying so much,\u201d he said as he buried his nose against my hair.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just a storm and we\u2019re safe and sound under shelter.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even as I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to concentrate on the sound of his heartbeat over the sound of the storm, of the wind and snow and ice lashing against the world, I couldn\u2019t shake the sinking feeling in my gut that something else had begun to go terribly wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sometime deep in the night, the wind began to howl and claw at the rooftops, rattling the whole world with all the fury of the worst West Michigan winter storms that I could recall.\u00a0 As I pressed closer to Thom … Continue reading