eventually starve. As she dealt with thawing meat and prepping jars, she dwelled on how much she hated it so her mind would stop bringing up Amanda every two seconds. It was as if she was already starting to mourn her daughter because she hadn’t come home. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours yet.
“Mom, how long do we have to do this?” Zoe groaned.
“Until all this meat in the freezer and those frozen veggies are put into something we can eat later.” She pushed her sticky wet hair out of her face with her wrist. One more thing she was already missing, just as she knew she would, was air conditioning. She liked being in the safe room. Always a pleasant temperature inside. She was using the oversized canning pan outside on the burner of the barbeque.
Tammy felt as if she hadn’t accomplished much when it was nearly one and she had to clean up to go to the meeting at the church. She took her change of clothes down to the safe room so she could cool off a little before she put them on. As she was in the middle of pulling on her capris, there was a loud frantic banging knock at the door. She struggled to put her other leg in her pants and she jumped a few times to pull them up over her butt before she ran for the stairs.
She knew the knock and clearly she was right when the girls filled the house with happy squeals once they opened the door.
There was her oldest daughter, a little rough, very sweaty with her long brown hair sticking to her forehead and flushed cheeks as her sisters embraced her in a big group hug.
“Where have you been?” Tammy couldn’t stop the flood. She wiped her face dry and reached for her Amanda.
“They wouldn’t let us leave, Mom. I wanted to once they finally told us they had no idea when the power would come back on. I tried to leave at first even though they said not too. I didn’t realize all the cars weren’t working either. It was crazy downtown. So many people on the streets at once and then there were fights and fires. A plane crashed on the mountain rather close to the capital building. I was too scared to go home with all that going on. I stayed in the dorm with my friends.” She broke down. “Then it was awful once they told us the power was out everywhere. The staff seemed to know more than that as they took down all the kids’ names and where they were from. What is happening mom? Is this it? I figured it had to be so all I did was sit there all night thinking about how all those out of state kids are stuck here.”
Even though Amanda’s build and height matched Tammy, she consoled her daughter. She was so relieved to have her in her arms. She could only imagine what those parents of all the kids stranded at the university must be feeling. She wiped her eyes and pulled away to look Amanda over. “You’re just wrinkled from sleeping in your clothes, right?’ She made sure her daughter looked her in the eye.
“Yes.” She pushed her hair away from her face.
“Which way did you walk home? Was it safe?”
She shrugged. “I left really early, that’s what they said to do. I started on the greenbelt, which seemed fine at first. Then I realized how many stranded people wound up down there. Not sure why with all the mosquitoes. Soon I didn’t feel safe. That’s when a couple of guys around my age got up and followed me, asked where I was going, if I had food or water I could give them. I had water in my backpack but I only had enough for me to get home. The three turned into five. The greenbelt path was about to go under one of the bridges and I didn’t want to be there so I went up to the road. They followed and I started to walk faster. Some man got out of his stalled car and stepped in to help me. Then it got scary. They told him to go away, they just wanted some of my water. He hooked his arm in mine and we jogged a short distance and then he scared me as he reached under his shirt. He pulled out a small handgun, mom. He pointed it at the men that were
“Mom, how long do we have to do this?” Zoe groaned.
“Until all this meat in the freezer and those frozen veggies are put into something we can eat later.” She pushed her sticky wet hair out of her face with her wrist. One more thing she was already missing, just as she knew she would, was air conditioning. She liked being in the safe room. Always a pleasant temperature inside. She was using the oversized canning pan outside on the burner of the barbeque.
Tammy felt as if she hadn’t accomplished much when it was nearly one and she had to clean up to go to the meeting at the church. She took her change of clothes down to the safe room so she could cool off a little before she put them on. As she was in the middle of pulling on her capris, there was a loud frantic banging knock at the door. She struggled to put her other leg in her pants and she jumped a few times to pull them up over her butt before she ran for the stairs.
She knew the knock and clearly she was right when the girls filled the house with happy squeals once they opened the door.
There was her oldest daughter, a little rough, very sweaty with her long brown hair sticking to her forehead and flushed cheeks as her sisters embraced her in a big group hug.
“Where have you been?” Tammy couldn’t stop the flood. She wiped her face dry and reached for her Amanda.
“They wouldn’t let us leave, Mom. I wanted to once they finally told us they had no idea when the power would come back on. I tried to leave at first even though they said not too. I didn’t realize all the cars weren’t working either. It was crazy downtown. So many people on the streets at once and then there were fights and fires. A plane crashed on the mountain rather close to the capital building. I was too scared to go home with all that going on. I stayed in the dorm with my friends.” She broke down. “Then it was awful once they told us the power was out everywhere. The staff seemed to know more than that as they took down all the kids’ names and where they were from. What is happening mom? Is this it? I figured it had to be so all I did was sit there all night thinking about how all those out of state kids are stuck here.”
Even though Amanda’s build and height matched Tammy, she consoled her daughter. She was so relieved to have her in her arms. She could only imagine what those parents of all the kids stranded at the university must be feeling. She wiped her eyes and pulled away to look Amanda over. “You’re just wrinkled from sleeping in your clothes, right?’ She made sure her daughter looked her in the eye.
“Yes.” She pushed her hair away from her face.
“Which way did you walk home? Was it safe?”
She shrugged. “I left really early, that’s what they said to do. I started on the greenbelt, which seemed fine at first. Then I realized how many stranded people wound up down there. Not sure why with all the mosquitoes. Soon I didn’t feel safe. That’s when a couple of guys around my age got up and followed me, asked where I was going, if I had food or water I could give them. I had water in my backpack but I only had enough for me to get home. The three turned into five. The greenbelt path was about to go under one of the bridges and I didn’t want to be there so I went up to the road. They followed and I started to walk faster. Some man got out of his stalled car and stepped in to help me. Then it got scary. They told him to go away, they just wanted some of my water. He hooked his arm in mine and we jogged a short distance and then he scared me as he reached under his shirt. He pulled out a small handgun, mom. He pointed it at the men that were
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