I darted back to Gabe, who was staring outside with a frown. “Talk to me, Gabe. What can I do to help?”
He shook his head and flicked his thumb at something outside. “What the fuck is this guy doing?”
I looked outside and could barely see through the heavy rain that was now coming down in a distinctly horizontal fashion, but I could see the bright sheen of car headlights bouncing around as someone drove way too fast into the station. Not stopping at any of the pumps, he headed straight for the parking bay to the side of the store, narrowly missing my truck as he went.
“Recognize the car?” I asked Gabe, my brow now furrowed in concern too.
“Nope.”
“Maybe he’s looking for shelter too?”
Unconvinced and still wearing a frown, Gabe hummed before he turned around to look for Scarlett. “Everything good to go, Scar?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her pop a thumbs-up to Gabe from behind the counter.
He headed toward the lock on the door, calling back to her, “Then get ready to release the shutters.”
“What?” I turned to glare at him, trying to pull him back from the door. “There’s someone out there. You can’t lock them out!”
“The fuck I can’t!” Gabe responded, attempting to shake himself free of my grip. “They’re safe in their car. We need to secure this place, Daniel. Now.”
Just when I was about to really start arguing with him, I heard thumping on the glass.
“Twister!”
Gabe and I turned together to find a terrified young man frantically pounding on the glass. His dark hair was plastered to his scalp as the rain pelted into him, drenching him in seconds. “Well, he’s not in his car anymore, is he?” I asked Gabe pointedly.
“Help!” The young man had made it to the door and was slapping his palms against the glass in a last-ditch effort to get inside.
“Gabe! Open the fucking door!” I shouted over the now-howling wind, my heart in my throat as the noise that we’d all been trained to listen for in our tornado drills echoed through the store.
A freight train was coming.
“I can’t! It’s against protocol!”
“Shove the fucking protocol up your ass!” I rushed at the door, horrified that the young kid had almost given up on gaining entry and was now facing away from us and tearing his hair out. “We can’t let him die out there!”
When I pulled the door open, Gabe screamed in frustration before catching it with a huff once it flew away from me. “I swear to God, I’m going to fucking kill you if the fucking twister doesn’t do the job first!”
His words barely registered over the roaring noise of the oncoming tornado. My focus was solely on the kid that I was hauling through the door by the back of his top before I lost my grip, forcing him to fall on his ass at my feet.
“Daniel, get him to the shelter!” Gabe shouted as he forced the door shut against the insanely strong winds and pelting rain. “Scarlett, hit the button for the shutters! Move, move, move!”
Chapter Two
Marshall
Ihadtogetoff this fucking freeway.
Much like everyone else traveling around me, my foot lifted off the accelerator and drifted toward the brake as the unmistakable silhouette of a tornado crested the hill in front of us. It didn’t look like it was moving, which meant only one thing—it was coming straight at us.
I needed off this roadnow.
The music I’d been listening to on my phone cut off when it bleated an alert. Awkwardly, I picked up my phone with one hand, the other still gripping the steering wheel, and tapped the screen to listen, not at all surprised to hear a tornado emergency warning had been issued considering I was staring at one right in front of me.
Within seconds, quite a few motorists pulled off to the side of the road. Some had even gotten out of their vehicles and were taking photos or videos, chatting to their friends as they pointed at what was barreling toward them.
Yeah… no. I wanted none of that, thanks.
