“What is that?” Caldwell asked, eyes narrowed and his gaze toward Amarillo in the distance.
Ty looked west-southwest toward the city too. Lone Star sat about ten miles away, but that sound made his blood turn cold. “That’s a tornado siren.”
“Dear God in heaven,” Caldwell whispered.
Another message blasted across their phones, and it was Angel again, giving three locations for sheltering.
We want everyone there as fast as possible. Leave whatever you’re doing. The news says the dust storm is mere minutes from Amarillo, which means it will be here right after that. We’ve assigned your teams to specific locations. Get there and check in. Team leads, we want a report in five minutes.
Ty looked at Caldwell, and they weren’t on the same team. Ty had to cross the ranch to the administration building where his team was supposed to meet, and he turned to do that.
Caldwell grabbed his arm. “Ty, you’ll never make it.”
“But I’m supposed to?—”
“The admin building is a sure ten-minute walk on a good day,” he said, his voice firm and his expression fierce. “For a man with two good legs. You’re coming with me.”
He released Ty’s arm and started to march down the aisle at a pace that Ty could not keep up with. “My team is meeting in the North Stable,” he said. “And that’s like, two minutes away.”
Ty moved as quickly as he could, his body protesting, as today was Wednesday and tomorrow would be his day off. He worked, or went to classes, or spent time with Winnie from sunup until long after dark, and boy did he feel it by Wednesday.
His girlfriend’s beautiful face ran through his mind again, and he told himself that as soon as he reached the shelter checkpoint, he’d text her again. His phone buzzed and chimed over and over, but he ignored it, pouring every ounce of concentration he had into stepping correctly, so he didn’t fall down. That was the last thing he needed right now.
He rounded a corner and found Caldwell down at the end of another aisle, gesturing for him to keep coming. “You got it, buddy,” he said, and normally, Ty would hate the patronizing words, but right now he took them for what they were—encouragement.
He could do this. He just had to keep going.
He’d parked on this side of the North Stable too, and while he was sure Lone Star would have emergency supplies, he had a blanket and rations and a first-aid kit in his truck.
He had gotten there early that morning, and he’d parked right next to the door, so he felt confident he’d be able to get to his car even through the dust storm. But right now, he hurried into a tiny tack room that was usually so much bigger when it wasn’t holding eleven grown men, all of whom wore grim expressions. Most of them had their phones out and their thumbs flying, and Ty went with Caldwell to check in with his team lead, a man named Flint.
“I’ve got Ty Greene with me,” Caldwell said. “His check-in point was too far away for him to get to safely.”
Flint looked at Ty. “You’re on Terrance’s team, right, Ty?”
“Yes, sir,” Ty said.
“I’ll text him.” He did that, and Ty retreated to the corner of the room where he was able to lean against the wall and provide some relief to his hip. He also texted Terrance that he was in the North Stable, safe and accounted for, and then he turned his attention to Winnie.
Instead of texting, he tapped to call her, begging God that she would pick up.
“Hey,” Winnie said, and she sounded breathless. “I just got in my car.”
“You’re in your car?” Ty’s heart fell all the way to his boots and then rebounded strongly to the back of his throat. “Winnie, that’s not a good place.”
“They released us,” she said, her voice filled with panic. “They told us to go home.”
“Yeah, but you don’t live in Amarillo,” he said. “The dust storm’s sure to be there any second.”
“What should I do?” she asked. “Do you think I can outrun it?”
Ty scoffed. “No, sweetheart, you don’t outrun a dust storm.”
“Well, I don’t know what to do,” she said.
“Is there any way you can get back in the building?”
“I—” She yelped, and static shouted over the line. “I can’t, Ty. It’s here. I can’t see anything.”
