Chapter 20 - Outbreak Part 4

"Sergeant, you in here!?" Yelled Nash as he ran into the room. "We have to evacuate immediately."

"I know but where and how are we suppose to move all of these people?" Rodney replied.

"The subway Sergeant." Nash suggested. "It's far enough underground that the people should be safe, we just have to get there."

"There's four buses outside, we could pack them up and get a solid chunk out of here." Zhaire added.

"We have no time to discuss we have to act immediately and work it out as we go." Nash explained. "Sergeant notify your squad, each of you will be a driver. Get as many out of here as you can."

"What about you sir?" Rodney asked.

"I just said take immediate actions Sergeant!"

"Yessir. Everyone, you heard what we're doing let's go!"

We sprint out of the room to evacuate as the imminent threat marches its way over to us.

"Everyone's gonna be jamming through the front door, let's go through the back exit instead and go around." Angie suggested.

"Yeah let's go." Cory answered.

As we ran down the back staircase, Captain Nash's voice came over the radio throughout the school.

"As the majority of you may know, there is an extremely big tornado heading in our direction as I speak to you. However it's just not abnormally big but powerful as well. Some of you may be thinking that this is the safest place in the city, but believe me when I say this building will be flattened in seconds by that beast out there. Running is our only option. Please remain calm and move swiftly but carefully."

I don't know if he really thought that the people would comply with that last line. They're moving swiftly but as for carefully, not exactly. When we reached the back door some others were already there and making there way out. The outside looked like hell had pushed its way through a small crack in the Earth. Flashes of lightning could've been seen crawling out of the top of the tornado. It was wide enough to swallow the entire street at once, and the sound of it. Words can't describe the deafening sound that's being emitted by that thing. The world slowed down around me as I stood frozen in shock. Everything went quiet as I contemplated, maybe this is where we die. How could we escape that?

"Hey, let's go." Angie said to me as she grabbed my arm.

I looked down at her before looking back at the twister.

"Yeah let's go." I replied under my breathe.

Thank you. We ran to the front of the school to find that people weren't just waiting for the buses to pile up. Some people ran off on their own.

"Ejay, Dameer bring the rest of them!" Zhaire shouted from the furthest bus.

As we ran over one of the buses sped off. Packed to the roof and even people on the roof as well. The bus Zhaire drove only had a few others in it before we hoped on. As we're boarding we hear a call from the direction of the school's entrance.

"Hey guys!" Denny yelled as she ran over to us.

Johann followed behind her.

"Watch out behind you!" Mali yelled from inside the bus.

Without warning, the tornado hurled an entire tree towards us. Me, Angie, Lj, Denny and Johann were the only ones still on the outside and we immediately dived to the floor. Johann however didn't move fast enough. The tree that was launched out of the twister like someone throwing a dart, made direct contact with Johann and knocked him across the parking lot.

"NOO JOHANN!" Denny yelled as she tried to run over to him.

Before she could Angie grabbed her.

"Denny get on the bus." She said to her.

"We can't leave him." Denny replied.

"He's gone Denny. Unless you want that be us, please get on the bus."

She looked at Angie for a second before joining us in the bus. The second bus speeds out of the lot and leaves for the subway. As we wait for the bus to full I watch the door hoping that my mom comes out. Person after person flood out if the doorway until finally a familiar face pushes through.

"Guys Desmond is out there!" Alyssa yelled.

"He's walking on his own?" Asked Angie.

"Barely." Cory answered.

We watched as he attempted to limp his way over to us. Before he could make it though a woman and her child ran passed him and accidentally knocked him down. We could see the pain in his face as he winced and tried to get back up.

"We gotta help him!" I yelled as I pushed my way off the bus.

"I'm with you!" Dameer yelled as he followed me.

"No guys, stay on the bus!" Zhaire yelled to us but it was too late.

We were already off and running to help pick him up. Me and Dameer tool an arm each and pulled him up. The pull of the twister was strongly being felt at this point, but we managed to carry him back to the bus.

"I don't know how much I could tell you thank you in one day." He said to me as we sat him in a chair.

The third bus speeded away leaving only us still waiting. I haven't seen my mom come out so I pray she made it onto one of the other buses.

"What are you doing driver?!" A random man exclaimed. "You tryna get us killed? Drive the bus!"

That started the ruckus and wave of complaints on his opinion to wait. Captain Nash hasn't been seen yet and who knows if anybody else is still in there. Zhaire didn't seem phased by what the people were saying, but I can't help but agree that we should leave. The tornado was fully eclipsing us at this point and is now rocking the bus.

"Drive!"

"Get us out of here!"

"What are you doing!"

I watch Zhaire swiftly look back and forth between the tornado and the school's front entrance. The rain starts to fall when he finally decides to pull off. We turned out of the lot and began to accelerate down the street.

"Someone just came out the school!" Mali yelled.

We all turned around to find Captain Nash running towards us with a folder in his hand. Zhaire slammed the breaks and reversed back to meet him. The door slammed open and just within ten seconds, Nash rushed in using the inside of the door as a brake.

"GO! GO! GO!" He urged Zhaire.

Nash stood in the door way because every seat in and on top was occupied along with the aisle in the middle of the bus. Zhaire dropped his foot on the gas and the race began. As we left I looked behind us and I could've seen the roof starting to lift up and be ripped apart. The rain began to intensify but before the haze could've covered the view, we was able to witness the school being destroyed. It was like a bomb being detonated in the building. The walls and roof exploded into thousands no, millions of pieces. We all sat in silence. In shock of the sight of seeing the school that we were all just in being vaporized in a matter of seconds.

"Take us to the subway." Nash said to Zhaire as he tried to catch his breathe.

The ride there was quiet. Nothing but the sound of rain hitting against the bus and the howl of the tornado behind us. The people up on top are probably soaked but it could be worse. I realized that the bus isn't moving as fast as when we first was going to the school. It's probably because of the heavier load we're carrying. We're barely gaining distance on the twister. The entrance to the subway is only a mile away from where the school is located. We pull up next to the other buses and started to unload. Everyone began pushing and squeezing through the only door only door while some of those on top were jumping over the sides. The subway had a roughly fifteen feet long entrance that led to an immediate descent with a staircase. Since Desmond still needed help, I waited for everyone else to leave before us so we wouldn't slow them down. It wasn't long before everyone was out and making there way down. Again me and Dameer carried him down with Captain Nash and Zhaire following behind us. At the bottom of the stair case there's a corridor that led to another flight of stairs but it was gated off.

"Sergeant what's going on with that gate?" Nash asked.

"We've tried everything at our disposal to get it open sir, but we're stuck here." Rodney reported.

There were two side rooms that they did manage to break open. People have already filled those rooms to the maximum capacity.

"There's a gate at the bottom of the first staircase." Said Regine.

Zhaire and Victor ran over to it while me and Dameer sat Desmond in a corner. The rain poured into the subway and began to cover the floor because the drains were clogged. Zhaire and Victor closed the gate but they seemed to be looking for something.

"There's no lock for the gate!" Victor yelled.

"We could close it but it won't lock!" Zhaire added.

"Alright come back!" Nash responded. "We're gonna have to bunker down here and pray. Everybody find something sturdy to hold onto."

There was about forty of us who couldn't fit into either of the side rooms. All there is between us and the tornado is a flight of about forty stairs and an unlocked gate at the bottom of it. I pray we're far enough underground. I grabbed onto the second gate along with Lici, Liam and Victor. Then it began. It sounded like we were placed under a giant vacuum cleaner. In fact the wind began to pull everything out of the corridor like a vacuum. Everything and everyone was being pulled towards the gate. I looked to my left to see Lici eyes closed tight and fighting to hang on. This was hundreds of times worst than when I was in the bathtub with Angie. A man screamed as he lost his grip and flew down the corridor into the gate. His body was stuck on the gate like a fly after hitting a windshield. The force of the wind was indescribable. Immeasurable. I've never felt anything close to this in my life. Then things started going terribly wrong when the first gate started to bend. The top of it began leaning out and the gap was opening every second.

"Get low to the ground!" Lici yelled to us on the gate.

She slowly crawled to the floor and laid flat while still holding onto the gate. Victor and Liam did the same after seeing her. I couldn't though. I couldn't move. I'm too terrified to even move in the slightest way. The gap became wide enough that the man who was stuck on the gate got pulled through and was gone. The bench that a few people were holding onto broke and all four of those people went flying. Then I suddenly felt nothing but air beneath my feet. My body levitated off of the ground and I was now floating in the wind. Fighting, trying to hold on, but my fingers began to slip. I can't.

"Ejay hold on!" Khiara yelled.

I put every ounce of energy into holding on, but I couldn't. My fingers slid off and I was pulled down the corridor. Everything slowed down around me. Lici and Liam looked back and watched as I flew off. I noticed several other eyes as I flew back. Lj, Dameer, Rodney, Khiara, Angie.

"Ejay!!!" Yelled Angie.

I hit the gate but before I was pulled out I managed to grab onto it. I tried to pull myself down the gate, but the wind was too strong and the gate was bending fully horizontally now. Right before my grip failed me, I got lucky. I fell down onto the stairs. I don't believe it, I'm... still alive.

"Is it over?" A random voice asked.

"Ejay you okay!?" Lj asked as him and a few others ran over to me.

I slowly stumbled to my feet and looked up the staircase. That could've easily been my death. Wait, as I looked up the staircase I noticed something. I ran up to the top and looked around. Oh my God. We're inside the tornado. I gazed up at the seemingly endless spiraling cloud that surrounded us. The back wall of the tornado was quickly approaching. I ran back down to alert everybody.

"Ejay bro, are you alright?" Lj asked.

"Never better." I quickly responded.

I ran back in the tunnel and the people were starting to come out the rooms.

"Hey!" I yelled to get everyone's attention. "This isn't over! We're inside the eye of the tornado, we're not in the clear yet."

"What do you mean the eye?" A random man asked.

"We're in the center of it." Lici replied. "The trailing winds are going to be stronger."

"How are we suppose to make it with that broken gate?"

"We're screwed."

"This is where I die."

"Whether your willing to die now is up to you." Captain Nash exclaimed. "We've fought all our lives in this city and I'm not done fighting. I'm going to fight through this and if you want to see me or anyone else here in the next few minutes, then I suggest you hold on and fight!"

That sparked everyone's moral just enough to do exactly what he asked. Fight. We move back to our spots and this time I joined Lici and the others on the ground. Without warning the winds grew immensely strong again within seconds. Along with the wind I could've heard thunder echoing through the hall. The tornado was so strong that it was pulling the water off of the ground. The door to one of the rooms broke open flew out the tunnel. Two unlucky people that were right next to the door was also pulled out. I closed my eyes and heard another person's scream fade into the vacuum. I don't know why but something made me open my eyes and look over my left shoulder. I made eye contact with Desmond as the bench he was holding onto began rattling. He nodded his head to me as if he knew what was coming. The bench was pulled out of the ground and went flying along with the three people holding onto it. Sadly that included Desmond. Just then the gate we were holding onto began to lift up. It shook us up but we maintained our grip. However it lifted up more and more until...

CRASH!

A car was flung into the tunnel and completely took out the gate. Metal scraping against the floor as the car skidded down the corridor and the gate crumbled and climbed up the staircase. The next person that got pulled in made direct contact with the stairs before being pulled up. Finally, the force of the wind began to weaken. The wind slowed down and eventually stopped. I survived. Even though it was over I struggled to release my hand from the gate. Shaking vigorously I one by one separated my fingers from the gate and pushed myself up. Looking around and seeing how shaken up everyone else was I didn't mind showing that I was terrified. Captain Nash was the first to make his way to the staircase and started to ascend. I followed him with Lici and Lj at my side. People slowly exited the rooms and some was still fighting themselves to stand up. We walked up the stairs and found Nash standing there, taking in everything around him. The tornado was just starting to rope out and dissipate right in front of us. The city around us was destroyed. Piles of debris littered the land to the point where I don't recognize any of it. It was a very gray scene. Some cried as they came to the surface and witnessed the aftermath. While others cried tears of happiness that they survived.

"What are we suppose to do now?" I asked.

A single leaf floated down pass my face and landed in front of me. I kneeled down and picked it up while a few others watched me. A crack in the clouds allowed a single ray of sunlight to glare through over us. Captain Nash looked down at me and then back at everyone else.

"It's time to start over."