We didn’t talk. I wasn’t sure what to say, and worried obsessively about what the others might conclude from Ozrik’s heroic attempt to save me from myself. I saw the look on Olivia’s face and the questions in Vern’s eyes. My stomach had been unsettled since from both fear and excitement.
I glanced at my unexpected partner.
Ozrik’s whole concentration seemed to be on the road. Every now and then, the radio wedged between his thighs chirped, and Maggie’s broken voice came through with updates. He clutched the steering wheel with both hands as the car shuddered in the gusting wind.
The clouds spat fat drops of rain sporadically at the windshield. It wasn’t quite raining, but the violence of the storm was ramping up. The sky was tarnished green; a witch’s pot about to boil over.
Four miles outside of the city, I lost connection on the iPad and my cell phone. “Dammit.”
“No signal?”
“No.”
“I figured it wouldn’t last. Hopefully Vern and Roe don’t lead us astray. They should have had you and me on radar.”
But that meant traveling in Twisted Fates’ car.
Ozrik smacked my thigh. “But this is cool too, eh, partner?” He winked before returning his gaze to the road. “You, me, and the open road.”
“And God wreaking havoc from above.”
“I’m a sinner, and he knows it.” Ozrik belted the lyrics to the chorus of “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC before laughing and whooping. Then he squinted at the sky, shouting, “Bring it, Daddy. Show me what you’ve got.”
“You’re certifiable.”
“It’s in my DNA. Stella Devereaux’s only son. Can’t be helped.”
I shifted uncomfortably. The comment was not meant as a reflection on his mental health. I should have kept my mouth shut.
He touched my thigh again, leaving his hand there. “I know it was a joke, Gale.”
I nodded and tried to relax. “We were coming up on the hook before I lost connection. Reports of two vortices in the area.”
I leaned forward to study the sky. It was a better map than the one I’d been staring at on the screen, anyhow.
“That’s a nice-looking wall ahead of us.” I pointed.
“That’s where we’re aimed.”
Maggie came through the radio. “We’re pulling over ahead. Roe sees ground rotation, and Vern thinks it’s going to produce based on these clouds and their movement.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Ozrik snapped up the radio. “We’re too far away. Get us closer, dammit. Tell Vern to stop being a pussy.”
No one responded, and Ozrik cursed when the brake lights in Olivia’s car lit up. Not that I wanted to get closer to the action, but he was right. The patterns we were seeing held promise, but I would have gone another mile or mile and a half farther along.
As Ozrik pulled over behind my sister, I removed my camera from its bag and slung it around my neck, reminding myself that I was here for pictures. Nothing more. Ideas for a potential article had been stirring lately. The group could do their thing, and I would do mine. I didn’t have to like it, but with this new spin, I could accept it. Besides, taking pictures made me look occupied.
The second we tumbled from the car, Ozrik shouted, “We’re way too far away. What is this? Amateur hour?”
Vern, either not hearing or not caring, pointed at the wall cloud, “You see that upward motion?”
“Only if I squint because it’s so far away.”
“Shut up. She wants to produce. We can always move.”
Ozrik continued to argue with his friend.
Olivia, Jazz, Roe, and Lex joined in. Everyone had a different opinion, and they all seemed to forget the objective.
