Chapter 1
Meeting Up

Felix Kjellberg drove his red Dodge Ram truck down the long highway of Norman, Oklahoma. His bride to-be, Marzia Bisognin, sat beside him looking out the passenger side window as the truck drove past vast empty fields and farmhouses. The view was absolutely beautiful and it was a view that she had never seen before.

They drove down the dirt road in silence, heading towards a field that Felix was sure his ex-wife Jo Kjellberg was at with the rest of her crew.

"Um, honey are you sure she's going to be there?" Marzia asked in a bubbly voice and breaking the silence between them.

Felix gave her a knowing smile and glanced back at the road. "If I know Jo, she's already dragged her whole department into the field." he said with a frown. "Ah, hell, a day like today, it's to be expected. She always forgets everything except her work."

"You're nervous about seeing her, aren't you?" Marzia pressed, seeing the look on his face.

Felix chuckled. "Nervous? No." he said. He glanced over at Marzia. "Why, do I look nervous?" he asked her.

"No," she lied, and then sighed. "Well yeah, you do a little."

Felix sighed in exasperation. "I just want to get this over with," he said, turning his attention back to the dusty road ahead.

"But she said she signed the papers, right?" Marzia asked, pressing further.

"That's what she told me," he replied. But deep down, Felix doubted that Jo had signed the divorce papers.

"You don't think so?" Marzia asked.

Felix gave her a reassuring smile. "No, I think so." he said. "Give me a kiss." Leaning over, Marzia pressed her lips to his.

A couple vans and trucks sat in a deserted field, faced in the direction of an ever-darkening sky. From time to time, a clap of thunder would be heard or a lightning bolt flashed, but the group of people did not seem to intend to leave, actually observing the approaching storm carefully.

In a blue work van with a picture of a tornado painted on the side door, a man named Beltzer was sitting inside the vehicle as a woman stood on the roof of the vehicle, fumbling with a large Doppler weather machine.

"Okay professor, hang on there, I think I fixed it!" Beltzer yelled from inside. "I've got it."

The woman on the top of the car, a blonde who was wearing a white tank top and light brown khaki pants, attempted to turn on the Doppler machine but all that happened was a spray of sparks flooding the air.

"Oh fuck!" she cursed. "This thing is useless."

"Oops! Sorry, Jo," Beltzer called from inside the van.

A few seconds later, the machine flickered back to life, and Jo started to bang on the roof with her hand. "Wait, wait, wait. Beltzer!" she called. "That's good, give me a reading!"

Beltzer opened the door clambered out. "Okay, boss lady, hold your horses," he grumbled. He walked over to a laptop connected to the Doppler Radar. "Which way do you want it, Jo?" he asked.

Jo looked up at the darkened sky off in the distance, observing thoughtfully. "Looks like the dry line has stalled." she said, keeping her gaze on the sky. "Give me a sector scan west, northwest, look at mid-levels for rotation and increase the PRF."

Over in his bus, Dusty kept his eyes on the weather forecasts and videos of old-time singers, with the sound blasting through the speaker on the top of the bus. He grinned as he belted out the words to 'Motherless Child' by Eric Clapton.

"If I mistreat you girl, sho' don't mean no harm..." though off-key, Dusty kept on singing through the whole song.

Over by their truck, Sanders and Rabbit were arguing about the maps.

"All I'm saying is don't fold the maps!" Rabbit insisted, glaring at the other storm chaser.

"I didn't fold the maps!" Sanders defended, holding his hands up, as Rabbit kept fuming.

"Yeah?" he asked through clenched teeth. "Well Kansas is a mess, and there's a big crease right through Wichita." Rabbit took the map he was holding, rolled it, and held it out for Sanders to see. "Roll the maps."

While Sanders and Rabbit were fixing the maps, they looked over and noticed a red truck that was driving towards them. Through the windshield, they saw Felix smiling.

"What do you know, it's the storm chasers," Felix said, pointing towards the group.

"Hey!" Rabbit exclaimed, as Felix parked and got out. "I don't believe it!"

"Gentlemen!" Felix announced, with a grin on his face.

"Who is that handsome devil!" Sanders exclaimed.

Rabbit and Sanders laughed and stepped forward to clap Felix on the back and extend their hands in a comradely greeting. Dusty, alerted to his presence across the site, crouched down like a linebacker and threw up the 'rock on' sign with both hands.

"The Extreme!" Dusty exclaimed. "It's The Extreme!" He laughed out loud in a goofy way and bounded over to the Swedish man, making Felix grin and blush.

"Oh man, don't start that shit!" Felix groaned with a smile and Dusty laughed again.

Dusty rolled his eyes at Felix's outstretched hand. "Our manly handshake ensues!" he said happily. He pulled Felix in for a hug. "How you doin' man?" he asked.

"I'm doing great," Felix replied, grinning as Dusty let out another laugh.

At that moment, Marzia climbed out of the truck, silently watching the exchange between Felix and Dusty. But in the back of her mind, Dusty came off a bit odd to her. Something just wasn't right with him. She shook her head of the thought as Felix beckoned her over.

"Dusty, I'd like you to meet Marzia," he introduced her, placing an arm around her shoulders. "Marzia, this is Dusty. Dustman's been chasing with us ever since we started," he spoke proudly. Marzia stretched out her hand and Dusty took it with a firm shake, smiling at the young Italian woman.

"Hello," Marzia said softly, her Italian accent obvious making Dusty grin.

"Hey listen, man," Felix said, getting down to business. "Where's Jo?"

Dusty pointed over to Beltzer's van. "She's over by the Doppler." he said, still smiling. "Broke down again, running out of grant money."

Felix nodded, with an ounce of remorse as he thought about this shutting down. He turned to Marzia, ready to get this over with and cut ties with this part of his past.

"Honey, why don't you hang out here for a little while, I'll be right back." he said.

Marzia smiled at him. "Okay," she replied.

He turned to Dusty. "Dusty, why don't you explain to Marzia... why you are the way you are!" They grinned and chuckled as Dusty gave a little dance and started to lead a distracted Marzia away.

Dusty shot a quick glance over his shoulder at Felix as he led Marzia away, "Man, Jo is gonna wig when she sees he's back." he said, looking at Marzia who gave him a small smile.

"I'm not back…" Felix called dryly, looking back at Dusty and Marzia.

Jason Rowe, another man on the team, who everyone calls Preacher, and an old friend of Felix's came up to him and smiled. "The prodigal son returns," he commented with a smile.

Felix smiled at Preacher as he kept walking, clapping a hand over another team members shoulder, who is looking at a weather instrument and taking notes.

"Hi Joey," Felix greeted and continued to walk. Joey stared after him, surprised.

"Hey Felix," he called after him, staring with wide eyes as he reached Beltzer's van.

Approaching the van, Felix stood and looked up at Jo who was still working on the Doppler radar.

"Hiya Jo," he said.

Jo stopped working on the radar and looked down at the man with dirty blonde hair and big blue eyes. "Hey Felix," she said, smiling. "I'm happy you found us."

"How you doing?" he asked.

"Good." Jo replied. She turned her gaze to the darkened sky in the distance. "You see the sky today?"

Felix nodded and looked at the distant storm, mesmerized by the dark clouds. "Yeah, she's uh, she's really talking," he commented, his eyes still glued to the sky.

"It's one of the biggest series of storms in twelve years," Jo said, as she jumped off the roof of the van. "One lined up right after another. NSSL says they've never seen anything like it."

She walked away from the van and over to the computer, with Felix following right behind her.

"Is that right?" Felix asked, commenting on the storm. "So Jo, about the divorce papers..."

"Hey Jo, you got a second?" Laurence asked, walking over with a camera.

"Yeah," she said. Turning, she bumped into Felix. "Oops. Excuse me."

By now, Beltzer and his girlfriend Haynes joined the small group. "Hey Felix!" Beltzer and Haynes both raised their hands in feeble greeting and smiled politely as Felix turned his gaze upon them, returning a distracted 'Hey' before brushing past and charging after Jo and Laurence.

"Hey this ah, this thing's acting up again," Laurence moved his hands as he stuttered apologetically.

Jo looked at the camera. "The focus mount's jammed," she said. Turning the camera over in her hands, she squinted up at Laurence. "There's grass in the auto-focus. Did you check this? You have to check it first."

"Want me to clean that out?" Laurence asked. He reached over to take back the camera and Jo passed it to him after blowing out the lens mount.

"Not unless you want to sketch the tornadoes." Jo replied. She turned, heading back past Felix to the readout monitor as Laurence called after him.

"Hey welcome back Felix," Laurence said, smiling.

"I'm not back." Felix said flatly.