I didn’t know what that meant.
After everything that had happened between us the previous night, Gale didn’t seem any more comfortable in my presence.
“Are you angry?”
“I don’t like being crowded.”
“Not about that. Jazz—”
“Has never liked me.”
“That doesn’t make his comment okay.”
Gale shrugged. “It was mild.”
“Mild? That guy needs an ass kicking, and I’ll happily volunteer if you want me to.”
“No. We should go, or Olivia will get mad.”
“I don’t fucking care if your sister gets mad.”
But Gale aimed for the door, ending the discussion.
We met the two blended teams in the parking lot. Maggie distributed handheld radios and headcams. “Set it to channel two,” she explained. “Constant communication. Charles wants us to stick together, so no solo adventures.” The final comment was aimed at me.
Maggie went and stood by Vern, who helped her with her headcam. They shared a discreet smile that gave me pause.
Based on how the teams were gathered, I assumed Jazz, Noah, and Olivia were going together in Olivia’s car, while Maggie, Roe, Vern, and Lex were taking the bug.
Nothing about this chase was ordinary. Our smooth-running machine had so many kinks, we’d be lucky to agree on coordinates. It would devolve into a pissing contest of who could better read a storm until there were no more storms to chase.
Charles had fucked up our whole dynamic by playing king shit. We were already missing the action because we couldn’t get along. At this rate, we’d be lucky to see another tornado this season. The show would fail, our ratings would fall, our followers would leave, and some other group would steal the spotlight.
All because I’d selfishly wanted to be free from my mother.
“We have another alert.” Gale had radar pulled up on an iPad and turned it so I could see the area.
“Are you guys seeing this?” I asked the rest of the team.
“We’re on it,” Vern said. “Or rather, we would be if we could get on the fucking road.”
Without a satellite connection, Gale would probably lose service on the iPad the second we got into the thick of things. It meant our two-man party relied on others for information. The impact of my choice became clear. By rescuing Gale, I’d taken myself out of the hot seat. Usually, I was the one reading the screens, making judgment calls, and directing us where to go. Today, I was at the mercy of everyone else, and I couldn’t decide how I felt about that.
“How is this working?” I asked, afraid of the answer. “Who’s leading the pack?”
“I am,” Lex said, as people piled into vehicles. “Vern and Roe will mutually agree on where we are going based on radar. They will tell me where to drive. Maggie is overseeing communication with you and Olivia. Olivia will follow me, and you get to follow her.”
I tried to ignore the sting of being the caboose, with no way to track the system. “And them?” I motioned to Charles’s camera crew, who had gathered nearby.
“They’re staying behind,” Olivia said. “So keep your headcam on and running. Noah, Maggie, and Roe will also be filming.”
A deep rumble of thunder made us look up. In no time, we headed out.
24
Gale
Gale
