Chapter 1: The Storm

Smallville High school

He was gone and she didn't know where he had gone to. Not that this was unusual for Clark Kent. He had a tendency to disappear and reappear whenever you had your back turned. But this time was different. They were out together, on their first real date and it had been going so well. They had gotten dressed up so fancy, with Clark looking especially dashing in a tuxedo. They had danced and laughed and had an amazing time. Even the thought of potential death by tornado had not really bothered her. She was here with Clark and she always felt safe when Clark was around. Heck if it wasn't for him she would probably be dead a half dozen times over by now anyway. But now she was worried. Clark had left right after the announcement about the approaching storm and she didn't know why. She tried looking for him figuring that he couldn't have gone far without a ride. Maybe he had gone to check on his parents, she didn't know. Well wherever he was he wasn't here. She ended up taking shelter with the rest of the students inside the school and waited out the storm feeling a lot less safe then when she got there.

Downtown Smallville

Chris Voss liked helping his dad out delivering the wood working projects he did on the side. He enjoyed driving the old pickup truck and he got to do it whenever he helped his father out. So when Dad asked he happily went. This afternoon he had had to make a couple of deliveries to the hardware store downtown. There weren't very many and James who worked down there was a nice enough guy to talk to for a little while. He had heard the news reports of the storm that was coming but figured he would have a enough time to get back before it hit.

"So is that the last of it?" James said with a groan. Working in the hardware store was a pretty easy gig but sometimes it played havoc on his back.

"Yeah looks like." Chris replied, a sudden gust of wind almost blowing the cap off his head.

"Well tell your dad these ones will probably go as quickly as the others. Almost everyone in town has something of his but they still seem to go fast no matter what they are."

Chris's father made some of the best wood carved furniture pieces in the state. They always sold fast and for a pretty penny too. It was a good deal for the hardware store. All they had to do was display the merchandise and they got a commission for each item that was sold. Why Chris's father never went into business for himself he would never know but until he did the store would happily keep selling whatever he wanted to make.

"I'll let him know." Chris told James as he secured the tailgate on the truck. "Dad has decided to branch out and try some other kinds of wood so there should be some new stuff coming up soon."

"Well you tell him thats a good idea. I got people coming in all the time looking for his stuff. He is turning into Smallville's very own Geppetto." he replied with a laugh. "Lex Luthor even came in last week and bought that huge armoire that he built. It was the only one that I couldn't sell cause of the price and Luthor just came in, looked at the tag and said 'I'll take it' So anything he wants to send me I'll gladly take." Chris finished tying everything down and walked back over to James.

"Well till next time" he said putting out his hand. The two men shook hands and then Chris got into the truck.

"Yeah you better get out of here and head home. This storm is coming up fast." James said as he peered up into the sky.

"I'm on my way home now." Chris replied with a smile as he started the truck. "See ya later James." He said with a wave.

"Yeah, by Chris." James said a with a wave back as Chris drove away, thunder rolling in the distance.

Route 4

The storm was coming up really fast now. Chris was only a couple miles from his parents place though so he wasn't worried. He flicked the dial on the radio to take his mind off the storm.

"We interrupt this program for an important weather bulletin." So much for that idea. "Funnel clouds have been spotted in the Smallville area. Sheriffs deputies have reported touchdowns on the outskirts of town on or around State Route 4" 'Crap' he thought 'I'm on State Route 4.' "People are advised to take shelter immediately. Lightning, hail and damaging wind gusts in excess of 100 miles per hour have already been reported."

No sooner had the anchor said that then a massive gust of wind slammed into the truck. He swerved trying to get some semblance of control back. As he righted the truck in the road another gust hit him and this time he could see it. The funnel was still off in the distance but the wind and debris were every where. Tree branches, trash and what looked like a cat flew through the air on the strength of the tornado's wind speed. He dodged and swerved as best he could but a large tree branch came from behind and slammed into the back of the trucks cab. Glass shattered and he lurched the wheel to the right. The truck slammed into the ditch and he went forward into the steering wheel. He lay there face pressed up against the wheel. Trying to clear his head. His vision was foggy and something hot and wet ran down his arm. The pain in his head was to much though and as the blackness over took him all he heard was:

"We repeat take shelter immediately. Lightning, hail and damaging winds..."

Smallville Medical Center

"What have we got?" The ER doctor demanded as the ambulance pulled up.

"Teenage boy, approximately 16 years of age. Severe laceration to the left arm and blunt force trauma to the left side of the skull along with minor cuts to the face and neck. He was found in a ditch in a truck along State Route 4."

"Route 4?" The ER doctor said. "Thats right where the tornado went through." Smallville being a mostly farming town the people either lived near the town or way outside it. There weren't really any suburbs so unless a tornado runs right through the middle of the town there weren't going to be that many injured. But being that far out of town sometimes meant that help did not always arrive quickly. She didn't know how long the kid sat out there in that ditch but the tornado was over an hour ago although this kid must have just missed the actual funnel or else he probably wouldn't be alive. As it was he did have some serious injuries. He was really pale from what appeared to be loss of blood due to the laceration on his arm and any kind of head injury was something to worry about.

"Ok lets get this kid inside fast. Nurse type his blood and lets get a transfusion going. The blood loss seems to be substantial and order up a CT scan for this head injury." The EMTs and the doctor moved the stretcher the kid was strapped to into the hospital.

"You got any info on who this kid is so we can contact the parents?" the ER doctor asked one of the EMTs.

"Yeah we pulled his wallet on the way in." Reaching into a pocket he pulled out a faded leather wallet."Here you go." He said handing it over.

"Alright, Christopher Voss is it? Well Chris lets get you inside and make you better."