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I was drenched, I realised, dripping water, and I was shaking. I held the bird to my chest and Tully gripped my arm, none too gently, and pulled me back into the control room.
He all but shoved me to the floor where we’d been sitting before. Doreen’s glare could have cut glass, as she was still cradling Suri and Bruce. “Not real bright, are ya?”
“S-s-sorry,” I said.
Tully was back with a towel and he ran it over my face and through my hair. He was rough and frantic—my god, he was so mad at me—and he patted down my shoulders and arms, but his hands were shaking and his jaw was clenched so tight I wondered if he’d crack his teeth.
Then his eyes met mine and he sagged, falling back on his arse, the towel forgotten. He took a few deep breaths and he shook his head at me. “That was... that was not good. Christ, Jeremiah.”
Doreen looked as if she wanted to kill me, but the disappointment in Tully’s eyes hit me hard. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I said. Kept saying, over and over.
I took the towel and wrapped the bird up, tucking its wings in and covering its head to keep it safe. Tully watched me for a bit, though I still couldn’t meet his gaze. He slid back over to sit next to me. “I’m still mad at you,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t think.”
He looked at me withno fucking shitwritten all over his face. “For a bird. That’s probably gonna die of shock anyway.”
I held the bundle of towel more protectively. “No he won’t.”
Tully rolled his eyes, took the bundle of towel, and holding it to his chest, he sidled in under my arm. He held my arm over his shoulder, looking at my watch. It was flashing, though the beeps weren’t loud enough to hear over the wind.
He knew what it meant.
My heart rate was high, and he knew then just how scared I was.
His eyes cut to mine and he held my arm tighter. “I’m still mad at you,” he said, before snuggling into me and putting his head into the crook of my neck.
And then the lights went out and the dashboard went dark.
Suri let out a cry, and Doreen soothed her. “It’s okay, the generator will kick in.”
We waited and waited...
Nothing.
The generator had either been disconnected, or maybe it was no longer there at all.
I scrambled for my phone and hit the torch button. It lit up the small, dark room enough that Suri breathed a little better.
And we stayed like that for what felt like an age, until time didn’t mean anything anymore, until the winds got quieter. I only really noticed because I could hear over the roar of the wind again. I kissed the top of Tully’s head and lifted him off me so I could stand up.
I began flipping switches, trying to get anything to work. The only operational screen was the old Doppler radar.
It showed Hazer directly above us, rotating and not slowing down at all.
But within the span of maybe five minutes, the wind outside had stopped altogether. Like someone had switched the cyclone off, yet on the screen it was still very much there.
And that could only mean one thing.
We were in the eye of the cyclone.
CHAPTER NINE
TULLY
Jeremiah Overton was a genius.Supersmart, graduated early, earned his doctorate well before any of his peers. An undeniably incredibly smart man.
He was also really fuckin’ stupid.
