“Jana …”
“No, Lane.” I held up my hand and turned my body. When I did, it seemed all breath was sucked out of my body. The sky had changed. Not one cloud that I could see, but across the sky it was red. Just as described to me, set oddly mid-sky, were swirls of what looked like red smoke trailing upward. “Oh my God, Lane, there, look at the sky.”
“Okay.”
“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor’s take warning. Red sky at noon. The earth is doomed.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not how that goes.”
“It’s happening now.”
“Jana, no, listen to me.” He gently held my arms. “I know you believe this, I know you do. I don’t blame you, but you were brainwashed. It was like a cult. You and three hundred others sent money probably to some guy in another country and he’s laughing at you.”
“We were securing our spot at Olympus.”
“Yep.” Lance nodded. “Olympus is a mountain. You’re not going to a mountain.”
My gut swirled with frustration. He just wasn’t hearing me. “No, it’s a bunker located in the mountains.”
“Greenbrier, right? Famous old bunker built during the cold war era. Jana, it’s a resort. The bunker is a casino and museum. I hardly think those resort people are renting it out to your survival group.”
“I don’t want to hear it.” I stepped back.
“There are no rockets causing the weather. Think about it, Jana. Who told you all this? Who gave you this information? Some scientist named Julius Caesar?”
“His name is not Julius Caesar. It’s pronounced Say-Zar. And spelt S-E-Z-A-R.”
“Yeah. And there is no Julius Caesar or Say-zar who works for NASA, I checked.”
“They’re not going to tell you anything. He’s in this deep, special secret department.”
“Do you hear yourself? Do you? Hon, listen, I don’t blame you. And if you want us to trek across country to this place. We can take a road trip. But there is no weather bomb, no massive anomaly coming. Life will go on as normal. Red sky or not.”
I growled. “Damn it, Lane, I’m not nuts. This is real. What will it take for you to believe this?”
“Honestly? One hell of a storm.”
Closing my eyes, I stepped back, I even and slowly swayed my head. Was he right? Had I been duped? I wished I had the answers, I truly believed what I had been told. He had never once acted like I had lost my mind. Maybe he did and I never listened until this very moment.
“What is that?” Lane asked softly.
I was ready to question what he meant, when I felt it under my feet. It was a vibration, steady, tickling at first then it grew stronger.
It was exceptionally quiet for a few seconds; all sound had evaporated. It was broken when all at once every bird in the sky or on the ground, squawked loudly and flew upwards. They flew erratically, smashing into each other.
The horses went wild, their nays rowdier than I had ever heard, they ran toward the fences, trying to break out.
Then the noise came, a soft humming, it resembled a train or a tractor trailer convoy. As the sound increased, the vibration beneath my feet intensified. It felt like every small pebble in the ground shot up like daggers against the soles of my shoes.
“Earthquake?” Lane asked. “Can that be …?”
“Lane!” Martin shouted as he barged from the house. “Help me get the horses in the barn!”
Carlie and Reese ran out of the house holding Rosie’s hand.
“Rosie, get the kids in the shelter. Jana, you, too. Now!” He pointed.
Rosie ran with the kids across the yard to where the storm shelter was located.
I couldn’t move. My eyes stuck on watching Rosie open the hatch. Carlie waved to hurry me.
“Jana, now,” Martin said as he approached. His voice was louder, fighting to be heard against the increasing wind.
“What’s happening?” Lane asked loudly.
“Dust devils,” Martin replied. “And I have never in my life seen anything like it. Lane, we need to lock them in. Not sure it will hold. And Jana, if you aren’t going below. Get the doors to the barn.”
I nodded, trying to figure out what was happening, but I knew.
This was the beginning.
The second Martin and Lane moved; it was like the red sea parting. Then I observed them in the sky.
Three of them. They weren’t like the dust devils you see formed on a baseball field. The three funnels were massive, brown and upside down. The wide part reached for the sky, blackening the sun as the narrow ends moved across the ground, creating a colossal rolling cloud of dust.
A dancing trio of death moving our way.
The shock of it was nothing compared to the pressure I felt in my ears as the wind picked up. At the pace they were moving, we had minutes, maybe.
I ran for the barn, each step getting harder to take. I fought to keep my legs steady and to see as dirt flew in my eyes. I made it to the doors and opened them, slipping inside to get a break from the wind.
Lane and Martin gathered all the horses they could, some ran away as soon as the fence opened.
Perhaps they had some sort of survival instinct and knew the barn wasn’t safe.
I didn’t understand why Martin would want to put them in the barn, even though it was a metal structure.
“Go!” Martin shouted at me. “Get to the shelter, now!”
I nodded and took only one step from the barn and knew it was useless. My feet slipped on the air, and it was the scariest feeling. Not being in control, knowing I could just be lifted up.
“Grab her!” Martin instructed.
Lane pulled me to him as Martin struggled and finally closed the doors to the barn.
We ran, together, locking our arms. It was the only way to keep enough weight, so we didn't
