The Outsider Meet Katrina

Part 1

Traveling

DARRY

Right now, I have a headache. It's not because of the altitude, or the noise, or even the height. No, it's mostly because of the two people sitting diagonal to me. If you haven't already guessed, I'm talking about Two Bit and Steve. Those two are more of a handful, than anyone else I know. Even more so than taking care of my two younger brothers.

Pony was sitting next to me, reading a book, not making a sound. Soda was in front of me, doing God only knows what, but at least he was quiet.

I can't keep tabs on my brothers, and my two seemingly adopted ones as well. That's just too much work. Mind you, I didn't adopt them, they just kind of showed up, which I can't do much about. But, I guess they have their advantages. Besides living at my house, and eating my food, they keep Soda and Pony company while I'm at work. I guess Alyssa is kind of looking after Soda for me as well. She keeps him in line. Maybe it's just because he's so head over heels in love with her, that he listens to every word she says.

I'm starting to wonder when this darn plane is going to land, because I don't think I can take much more of spit balls on the ceiling.

"Please God, let us land soon." I whisper

Suddenly, I hear this voice.

"Attention passengers, we will be landing in approximately 10 minutes. Please remain seated, and fasten your seat belts. Enjoy the landing."

I looked up. It was as if I'd gotten my answer.

"Hey thanks." I whispered again. I guess God really does answer prayer.

I sat back and tried to enjoy the remaining 10 minutes like they had told me too. When you get an answer to a prayer, you listen to what goes along with it.

Needless to say, my idea of enjoying it went out the window, because Steve and Two Bit wouldn't let me. I had tried ignoring them, and even breathing fire down their necks, but nothing was working.

I looked up once again. "Well, I tried. Don't hold it against me."

Finally, after the last five minutes of extreme torture, we finally touched down.

Pony finally looked up from his book.

"Huh? What's happening?" He said, looking around.

"Never mind. Just follow me." I said.

I got up, and lead my crew off the plane. We picked up our luggage in the terminal, and headed outside.

Suddenly, Steve stopped walking.

"I just realized something. What are we driving to the hotel in?" He asked.

"We're renting a car once we get there." I replied.

"A car that seats six people? Good luck with that." Alyssa said.

"For now, we're taking two taxis." I said.

Alyssa, Soda and Steve got one taxi, and Pony, myself and Two Bit got another. We all managed to get to the same hotel, without getting the poor drivers so confused. Somehow I managed to end up paying both taxi bills. Alyssa offered to chip in for hers, but Soda wouldn't let her. To be honest, I really didn't want her to pay anyway.

We took all our suitcases inside, and walked up to the front desk.

"Hi, we have three rooms booked. They should be under the name Curtis." I said to the woman.

She gave us three keys, and directed us in the direction of the elevator.

"Ok, your room numbers are 234, 235, and 236." She said.

"Thanks." I replied, and we started towards the elevator.

We took the elevator to the second floor. We came to Steve and Two Bit's room first. They went inside, and we continued on. We did the same when we got to Soda and Alyssa's room. Finally, we came to me and Pony's room.

It was a nice room. It had a nice color wallpaper, and two beds. Pony chose the one in front of the window, so I dumped my bag on the other one, and switched on the TV. It was originally on the weather channel, so I just watched that.

"There's a tropical storm moving just off the coast. Expected to hit New Orleans by tomorrow night. Expect heavy rain and wind." The weather man said.

Pony looked up at me. I noticed a slightly nervous look on his face.

"Hey don't worry kiddo. These things never come this far north. We'll just have a bit on wind and rain. That's all." I said, trying to reassure him. Maybe I was trying to reassure myself.

Pony was still looking at me, and the expression on his face hadn't changed.

"You sure about that? I mean, isn't it possible that a tropical storm could come up this far?" He asked.

"I suppose. But this is only a tropical storm. Nothing to worry about."

"Can't tropical storms turn into hurricanes or something?" Pony asked, still not convinced.

"It's possible. But, I told you, don't worry. These things, like I said, hardly ever come this far north. Even if it does, it will downgrade to a small storm before it makes contact with land." I said, reassuring him as much as I could.

"Ok, if you say so." Pony said, going back to his book.

I laid my head back down on my pillow, and just relaxed. The first time I had had a chance to since five o clock this morning. How retarded is that?

I decided to close my eyes for a bit, but no sooner had I thought the thought, that I heard a knock on our door.

"Pony, get that please." I said.

I heard the door open, then I heard Two Bit and Steve's voices from outside in the hallway.

"Man, this place is sweet! It's got everything! A pool, a games room, satellite TV, and room service! How awesome is that! Room service! What more could you want?" I heard Two Bit saying excitedly.

"Just another excuse for you to be lazy." I called, laughing to myself.

"This coming from the guy who's currently laying flat on his back?" Steve called from the hall.

"After traveling with you two all day, it's the least I deserve." I said.

They laughed, then I heard them leave.

I closed my eyes again. But again, as soon as I had almost relaxed, a thought came to me. Something I hadn't thought of before. Right at this very moment, Soda and Alyssa were alone in a locked hotel room. They could be doing anything. But, what was even scarier, was that Two Bit and Steve were also alone in a hotel, unsupervised.

I prayed again. "Please, let the hotel be still standing when we leave. Don't let them burn it to the ground."

I guess that if I had known what was coming in the next couple of days, I wouldn't have wasted a prayer on Two Bit and Steve.

Please R&R!

Jess