Howdy, folks! How are you? Everything's alright with me, I guess. Well…I guess that's all I can think to talk about.

Thank you so much for the reviews, now here's a quick update. Onto Chapter 16!

Later that afternoon, everyone was now up again. Everyone except Sam. Not only that, she looked much more pale than she did last night, and she did now have a fever. Everyone else was getting worried.

Danny ran his fingers across her head and said, "She wouldn't wake up this morning. Last night, she only had a fever. I don't get it."

Valerie shook her head, "Man, she looks awfully pale."

One of the other men who had stayed said to them, "Well, guys think for a minute. None of us has had anything real to eat in days."

Lancer said, "It has to be hypothermia."

"Hey, how could it be hypothermia? We've all…"

Tucker interrupted, "Hey, it could just be the flu, you guys."

From behind them, the librarian replied, "No, it isn't the flu."

Everyone else turned to her. She was holding a medical book in her hand. Tucker asked her, "And how do you know that? You're a librarian, not a doctor."

"Young man, books can be a good use for something other than burning. Alright, let's take a look at her symptoms."

With a worried look on his face, Danny explained, "I told you, she's got a fever and she's got a really cold sweat."

"How's her pulse?"

Valerie pressed her fingers up near Sam's Adam's apple and waited for a pulse. After a second, she answered, "It's really fast."

"Did she have any injuries like maybe a cut that could've gotten infected?"

Paulina answered, "I remember that she was whining about a cut on her leg a couple days ago. I didn't really think anything of it."

Ignoring the whining crack that Paulina had made, they began to move a few blankets that were covering Sam's right leg, the leg she had cut her leg on.

When they saw Sam's leg, a few of them looked pretty grossed out. The cut, instead of being red, had turned a disgusting shade of green because of the cold.

The librarian said, "That's blood poisoning. Um, septicemia. She might go into septic shock."

The other man who was there said, "I've seen that before. That could get bad. I've taken a lot of walks around the city, so I've seen plenty of vagrants and hobos getting it."

The librarian went on, "She needs a massive dose of penicillin, or a broad-spectrum antibiotic immediately, or…" Her voice trailed off.

Danny turned to her with a much more worried look and asked, "Or what?"

The librarian turned to Danny and answered in a hushed whisper, "Amputation."

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Out in space, the NASA satellite was observing what the Earth now looked like. The two workers inside it were awestruck as they saw the three huge storm cells around the world.

Parker said, "I've never seen anything like this. There's no point of reference. All I can see is cloud cover."

Indeed. There was cloud cover spreading over all parts of the Northern Hemisphere and over several parts of the Southern.

Parker's partner floated over to a computer. Parker asked him, "What are you doing?"

"Taking infrared image of thermal currents. Send to Houston, Korolev. Your weather service.

Parker answered, "I'll give you a hand there."

The two of them took infrared images like some you saw on the Weather Channel and sent it down to Houston.

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Currently in Houston, both Brittany and Patrick were staying at the NASA base. At the moment, Patrick was asleep, but then Brittany walked over to him and nudged him.

"Patrick," she said, "Patrick, wake up."

Patrick groaned and sat up, "Huh? What is it, Brittany?"

"I've just received some satellite images from the space station. You'd better come take a look."

Patrick got up out of his bed and followed Brittany over to the computer. Brittany typed in a few keys and an infrared image that Parker and his partner had taken appeared on screen. They saw that the deadly eye of the storm over the United States was now hovering over Vermont.

Patrick asked, "How big is this thing?"

Brittany answered, "The vortex is fifty miles in diameter, and growing larger. The two cells over Europe and Asia are even bigger."

"Holy cow."

"This one's going to hit New York inside an hour."

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Meanwhile, Fredrick, Jack, and Steve were still walking through the snow. They still had a long way to go. But Steve's steps were looking a lot more uncoordinated now.

Steve said with a pant, "Fredrick…" Fredrick didn't hear him as they continued walking. After a few more seconds, Steve suddenly collapsed.

Jack saw him fall and walked over to him. Fredrick noticed the rope not being pulled and turned around. He saw Steve on the ground and yelled, "Steve! Are you alright? Steve!"

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Danny walked into the room with the fireplace. He had gone out into the hall to look for a few extra chairs.

He then started to stomp on the chairs from their sides, breaking them down. Danny then took the seat parts of the chairs and put them under his shoes. He started tying them to his shoes with rope.

The librarian asked him, "What are you doing?"

"Making snow shoes," answered Danny, "There's gotta be medicine on that ship."

Lancer said to him, "I thought you said it was too dangerous to go outside, Mr. Fenton."

"I know I did. But this is an emergency."

"Well, I must say that that is very resourceful, Mr. Fenton."

"Thanks. I saw this in a movie once."

Tucker walked over to the window and asked Danny, "Where did you find those chairs?"

Danny turned to Danny and asked, "Why?"

Tucker hesitated, and answered, "I'm going with you."

Danny smiled, "Thanks, man. Anybody else?"

No one said a word.

Danny sighed. He couldn't blame them. He was probably a fool for even trying this. But he didn't care. All he cared that Sam, the girl he officially loved, was now in danger.

Just then, he heard a voice shout, "Hey!"

Danny turned to the door. Was it Fredrick and Jack? Danny wildly shouted, "Dad?"

The voice yelled, "Fenton?" It wasn't either of them.

Tucker yelled, "Who goes there?"

A few moments later, two people suddenly walked inside, shivering.

Everyone gasped. Danny said, "Dash? Kwan?"

The two of them collapsed onto the floor. They both looked bad. There was snow all over them and they looked half-starved to death.

Danny yelled, "Get them by the fire! Get them by the fire!"

A bunch of them quickly began to move Dash and Kwan across the floor over to the fireplace. The two of them shivered as they warmed up by the fire.

Danny asked, "Are you guys okay?"

Dash answered, "Getting there."

Paulina asked them, "Why did you guys come back?"

Kwan answered, "Well, we just kept thinking about what Fenton said about the storm killing us, so we decided to turn back. We started back here yesterday. No one really tried to stop us."

Danny said to them, "I must say, you guys aren't as dumb as we thought."

"Thanks," said Dash, and then he said, "Hey!"

Danny and Tucker went back over to the chairs and started tying the seats to their shoes.

Kwan asked them, "What are you guys doing?"

Tucker answered, "Making snow shoes. Sam's sick, and Danny thinks there might be medicine on that one ship we saw a few days ago."

Danny added, "We can use a little more help, in case you're interested."

Dash shook his head, "Forget it. We've already been out in the snow long enough."

Danny frowned, and then suddenly grinned. He said, "What's this? Dash Baxter, backing down from a challenge? Unheard of!"

Dash growled, "Alright, Fenton. I'll come along."

Kwan coughed, "N-not me. I think I'm getting a cold." He sneezed.

Danny said, "Thanks. Come on. I'll show you where you can find a few chairs." He then turned to everyone else and said, "We'll be back soon. Don't worry."

The three of them began to walk out. Just before leaving, Valerie said, "Tucker, wait."

Tucker stopped in the doorway. He said to Danny, "Go on. I'll catch up." Danny nodded, and then walked out with Dash.

Valerie walked up to him and they walked out the door. Valerie then closed it. Tucker asked her, "Valerie, what is it?"

Valerie said, "Just, just…" Without warning she hugged him. Tucker blushed. Valerie finally said, "Be careful out there."

Tucker chuckled, "I will, Val."

Valerie smiled, and then grabbed the back of Tucker's head, and pulled it to her lips, kissing him. After a quick couple seconds, they pulled away.

Valerie chuckled nervously, "I don't know where that came from. Anyway, see you."

Tucker clicked his tongue and replied, "See you."

Valerie walked back into the room, while Tucker followed Danny, blushing.

Ooh, another romance is blossoming between Tucker and Valerie! Well, Dash and Kwan have come back to the library, and now Danny, Tucker, and Dash are out to find medicine for Sam. And also remember that the eye of the storm is approaching them as well. Can they get the medicine and make it back in time? Find out in Chapter 17!