AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Thunder rolled and a crack boomed not far from us. Maybe five kilometres away, and my excitement grew even more.
“I can’t believe we slept that long,” Tully said.
Neither could I. We’d napped for hours. “I didn’t wake once,” I admitted. “As soon as you put your arm over me, it was lights out for me.”
He tried to rein in his smile. “I didn’t expect you to join me.”
“I barely slept at all last night. Kept waiting for a crocodile to open the door or climb onto the Jeep and fall through the canopy top.”
He laughed, just as a boom of thunder shook the shed and lightning lit up the darkened sky outside. The radar warning started to beep on my laptop, and we flew into action.
“Jesus, it looks wild out there,” Tully said, his eyes glued to the camera screen. “I’m gonna put the other wall down to the ground.”
I nodded. “Good idea.”
The footage outside showed the trees being whipped in all directions, the cloud cover was low and heavy, swelling and rolling. Lightning sent its spidery fingers through the clouds, cracking and hissing, sending forks to the ground in the forest around us. Rain pummelled the bunker, the wind was roaring, rattling the shed, and I couldn’t hear anything over the furore of it all.
I saw the automatic station get ripped from the ground, and a second later, the wind data cut.
Dammit.
Tully grabbed my arm and he had to yell so I could hear him. “Leave it. It’s too dangerous. There are trees down out there.”
I looked at the footage screen and saw a small branch shoot across the clearing.
I nodded, because even I knew that it was too dangerous to go out in.
And then the water canister flew across the clearing.
Jesus.
It was deafening, but somehow the bunker remained unscathed. Oh, it rattled and protested, but it held...
Then a familiar and dreadful taste filled my mouth. It was cloying and strong. It was going to be close.
Shit.
“Lightning!” I yelled.
Tully spun to face me, confused, just as thunder boomed so close, so loud, it almost knocked us off our feet. And with a flash of bright light outside, a massive crack ripped through the bunker. Deafening.
Frightening.
The power board exploded, sparks flying.
Tully lunged for me, grabbing me, pulling me close and wrapping his arms around me, ducking my head to his chest. My ears popped, and for one moment, all I could hear was his heart, his pulse. Or maybe it was mine. Our panting breaths, one arm around my back, the other holding my head.
He was protecting me.
After a few heart-thumping minutes, the sound of the rain and wind died off, whether the storm had lessened any or if it was just my hearing, I couldn’t be sure.
But he held me until our chests stopped heaving. When he slowly pulled me back, I saw the look of fear on his face. He was a shade paler, his eyes wide. There was the pungent smell of smoke, but thankfully no fire. The power board was still smouldering.
“Did we just get struck by lightning?”
I swallowed thickly, the acrid copper taste lingering in my mouth. “The bunker, yes.” The lightning rods on the roof worked.
When he let go of me, I noticed his hands were shaking. I quickly grabbed one hand and held it, squeezing. “Are you okay?”
