With a Chance of Severe Weather
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: see chapter 1
It had seemed like forever, but only twenty minutes had passed from the time John had pulled the Impala into the gas station, till the time the attendant pushed open the stockroom door to find the front window of the establishment shattered by a large tree branch. Mac and John followed the clerk, who they learned was named George toward the front doors to find what could be closely described as a war zone outside. The area around the station was mostly residential so much of the debris was tree limbs and yard furniture.
"Son of a bitch." John mumbled as the two hunters exited the building.
George had followed them out and took in the shocking site before them, "I'd say you guys are damn lucky."
The three stood in amazement, the island that John had pulled the Impala under was now lying over blocking half the parking lot, but by what could only be described as a miracle, the Impala wasn't buried beneath. The structure had fallen in the opposite direction to which the car was parked. John started walking around the vehicle, checking it for damage, surprised to only find a few scratches that he could easily take care of with some rubbing compound and touch-up paint.
Mac had joined him at the car as the young attendant spoke up again, "Looks like we missed the worst of it, I'd be willing to bet New Haven was an almost direct hit, least by what the weatherman had been saying before you guys showed up."
Still feeling the residual fear he had picked up from his son, Mac looked at John. "We need to try and get to the farm, check on the boys."
"Yeah." John answered as the worry that had settled in his stomach at Mac's feeling earlier was kicked up a notch, the thought of his boys having to go through something like this without him there was nearly making him sick.
As John and Mac got into the car they heard George holler, "You guys be careful!" Slowly John was able to make his way out of the parking lot as he could only go a fraction of the speed he wanted to go, as debris littered the two-lane road, hindering his progress.
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"Oh dear," Martha Hazelwood whispered as Jim Murphy had helped her back up the basement stairs and out onto the front porch of her small house. It wasn't as bad as Jim had been expecting, considering the howling of the wind they had heard, but there were tree branches and even a few trees strewn across the yard of the elderly woman's home, as well as, the lawns of her neighbors.
The Pastor helped the woman to sit on one of the steps that led down from her porch, as he walked over to inspect his truck, which had a medium size limb lying over the windshield, "Oh, Pastor Jim, I hope your window isn't shattered." The woman's voice filtered across the unusually quiet yard as Jim reached up and pulled the branch from the truck.
Releasing a sigh of relief Jim glanced back, "Fortunately it looks fine Martha." As Jim did a quick look around the truck Martha Hazelwood's next door neighbor came rushing across the yard.
The young man spoke up as he neared Jim, "Martha, Pastor Jim are you guys okay?"
Jim watched as the young man neared the porch as Martha answered, "Just a little shaken is all Michael, but it just looks like we will be cleaning up for a few days. Is your family okay?"
Michael replied as Jim came back toward the porch, "The kids and Ellie are a bit shaken, but we seem to be fine."
Worry started to flare again in Jim's gut as Michael had mentioned his children. The Pastor glanced around, trying to see if he could possible get out of the neighborhood without much trouble. "Michael I hate to do this, but is it possible for Martha to stay with you until she can get a hold of her daughter, I've left Caleb and the boys at the farm and I'm rather concerned as to how they handled the storm."
It was Martha who spoke up, "Good Lord, don't worry about me, you need to try and check on those boys. I almost forgot that you said they were at the farm, to think of those children going through something like this, that little Sammy must be terrified."
Michael nodded in agreement, "You go ahead Pastor, I'm sure Ellie would like to have the company, to take her mind off all this. Let us know if everything is okay at your place."
"Thank you both." Jim raced toward his truck, knowing he wouldn't be able to get to his farm fast enough for his liking, but he just hoped that it was only moderate winds that hit the farm and not something worse.
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Dean had continued to wipe Caleb's blood covered face until most of the red liquid was removed. He tried to figure out where the blood was coming from, but was still afraid to move the teen too much. Dean looked at Sammy who had been sitting quietly for several minutes, just rubbing Caleb's hand with his smaller one. "Will he wake up soon?" Sammy looked at his brother with the look Dean knew was Sammy's way of expecting his big brother to fix what was wrong.
"I'm not sure Sammy, but I'm sure you are helping him by letting him know you're close by." When Sammy was scared or nervous he would cling to those who were a comfort to him and normally that was Dean, but as the younger boy saw that his brother was trying to help Caleb, the small child, instead, was clinging to Caleb's hand.
"I want daddy." Again the small voice broke as the fear of what had happened was starting to sink in. "Dean, what happened? Why can't we get out of the barn?"
Dean blew out a deep breath, running his hand through his short blond hair. "Sammy, do you remember that TV program we watched a while back with that tornado in it, the one where it picked up that house with the girl and her dog in it?"
Sammy's eyes got big, "The Lizard of Oz?"
Dean chuckled a little, "The Wizard of Oz, yeah that one, you remember how the storm picked up and caused the tornado that lifted the house up? Well I think a tornado hit the barn and now it is covering the opening and we can't get out just yet."
A fearful look over took the small boys face, "Will we be stuck in here forever?"
Dean reached across and pulled his little brother into an awkward hug, "No Sammy, not forever. Pastor Jim will come find us as soon as he can and maybe even Dad and Mac too."
"Good, I'm getting hungry." Dean rolled his eyes slightly, a little relieved that his baby brother didn't really realize how bad of a situation they were in; trapped in a collapsed barn with an injured, unconscious Caleb. Sammy suddenly turned toward his brother, again panic entering his face, "The witch won't get Pastor Jim will she?"
Dean was confused a minute, "The witch?"
"Yeah, the one that got Toto and gave him to the mean monkey?" Sammy pleading for his brother to understand.
Finally Dean got it, "No Sammy, there's no witch waiting for Jim, just a really big mess where the barn use to be."
The small boy smiled, then looked at the still unconscious teen, "Are we going to blame Caleb for the barn being a mess? Like when I got the flour all over the kitchen when I wanted to make pancakes and he caught me?"
Dean smiled sadly at his little brother, then back at his best friend. "No Sammy, it wasn't Caleb's fault, it was the tornados." Quiet settled between the two as Dean continued to check Caleb's pulse, if only to reassure himself the teen was still alive, and Sammy again started rubbing the older boy's hand, trying to comfort them both.
A/N: don't own the Wizard of Oz either, but thought it would be a good example for Dean to give Sammy. Plus I remember a time with that movie came on every year, so with the time frame and ages of the boys the movie was still coming on TV on a regular basis.
