Chapter 16
As Lana ran into the tornado she saw the truck. Clark was slumped unconscious over the steering wheel. He must have banged his head against the window or something. Lana wasn't really too concerned about that. She had to get him out of this tornado before he got more injured. She didn't stop moving her feet for fear of being swept up by the tornado. The truck was being lifted into the air now. As she ran under it she managed to grab a hold of the front axel. She actually had to strain to force the truck to move out of the tornado. However once it started to move it went flying and dragged Lana with it.
Instinctually Lana let go and hit ground and rolled. Her dress got torn a bit a she slid roughly across pavement. As Lana looked up she saw the truck rolling over several times before coming to a stop on its side. Lana quickly ran to the truck and pulled Clark out. He was breathing but he was unconscious. Lana picked him up in a fireman's carry and began running to the Smallville Medical Centre.
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The spaceship flew across the cornfields of Smallville towards the tornado. It was seeking out its former occupant. It flew into the tornado undaunted by the danger it posed. However the tornado had other ideas. The octagonal key was ripped out of the slot and pulled away by the winds of the tornado. The ship lost power and became just another bit of debris caught up in the tornado.
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"Somebody you've got to help him," Lana said as she dropped Clark onto a gurney. "I need a doctor here!"
A doctor quickly came over and began examining Clark by checking his eyes with a flashlight. Clark began to come too.
"Breathing's normal, he's got a pulse. He's going to be alright," the doctor said.
"Can you tell me his name?" the doctor turning around, but Lana was gone.
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Lana arrived back at the farm in the storm cellar.
"Mom? Dad?" Lana shouted frightened since she couldn't see her parents.
She turned around and noticed her mother lying on the ground near the stair. She must passed her as she rushed down into the storm cellar.
"Mom?" Lana asked as she knelt down beside her mother.
Martha Kent awoke with. "Lana? Oh thank god you're alright. We have to find your father. He was outside when the tornado hit."
"I'm gonna get you to a hospital," Lana said.
"No, no, Lana listen to me. That stalker was in the cellar." Martha said.
"Roger Nixon?" Lana asked.
"He videotaped the ship," Martha explained. "He's going to expose your secret. Your father chased him out into the storm."
"I've gotta find him," Lana said.
She turned to run out of the storm cellar but then she noticed something.
"Mom," Lana asked worried. "Where's the ship?"
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Lana was out in the field searching amongst the debris for some sign of her father.
"Lana," her mother yelled running from the house. "He's not in the house."
"He must have taken shelter somewhere," Lana said. "Dad grew up in tornado country. You never get caught in the open first thing you do is take shelter."
"I know but your father wasn't thinking rationally," Martha said. "He was intent on stopping Nixon from breaking up our family."
"Do you think he…" Lana began to ask.
"No he would never do that," Martha said, although she wasn't entirely sure.
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Down in the crypt of an old church Roger Nixon and Jonathon Kent were trapped. Nixon had run down their and Jonathon had just barely managed to follow him before a trailer house came crashing down blocking the exit.
Jonathon Kent picked himself up from off the ground. He was covered in dust and dirt. Nixon was pinned underneath a stone column nearby. Jonathon grabbed a metal bar and advanced towards Nixon.
"Oh no!" Nixon cried in horror. "Please I won't say anything about your son! Just don't kill me!"
But Jonathon Kent never had any intention of killing Nixon. He used the metal bar as a lever to free Nixon from under the column.
"Oh god, I thought you were gonna kill me," Nixon said.
"Yeah well you would think that," Jonathon said.
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Chloe arrived at the hospital looking for Clark.
"Hey, you back from Oz?" Chloe asked as she reached the room Clark was in.
Clark looked as if he was getting ready to leave.
"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be in bed for like a month?" Chloe asked.
"I'm okay," Clark replied. "The doctor said it was just a mild concussion."
"Well I'm just glad you're okay," Chloe said. "What happened?"
"Well I was driving to the Spring Formal after dropping Whitney off and the truck got hit by a mailbox. I lost control and ran into a ditch. That's when I saw the twisters. Before I knew it the truck was being sucked in." Clark explained.
"And you walked away with a small bump on your head," Chloe commented. "That's amazing even by Smallville standards."
"No it's impossible," Clark said.
"What?" Chloe asked.
"Nothing," Clark replied. "I mean the next thing I knew I was waking up in here."
"So clicked your heels, said 'there's no place like home' and you woke up in Smallville Medical Centre?" Chloe asked.
"Apparently Lana brought me here." Clark replied.
"Lana?" Chloe inquired curiously.
"Yeah," Clark answered. "Have you seen her?"
"No not since she vanished from the dance," Chloe replied. "Pete and I spent like 3 hours looking for her."
"Look Chloe I'm sorry I wasn't able to get to the Spring Formal," Clark apologized.
"Hey don't sweat it," Chloe said. "You've got a pretty good excuse."
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Lana was frantically searching through the barn when she heard the noise of somebody entering.
"Dad?" Lana called hopefully.
Instead she was greeted by the sight of Lex Luthor standing in the entrance of the barn.
"Lana, I ran into your mother at the hospital." Lex said. "She told me about your dad."
"I've searched every inch of this place," Lana said frantically. "I've got go search the woods."
"Lana," Lex said. "My father was injured in the twister. He's in pretty bad shape."
"Lex I'm sorry is there anything I can do?" Lana offered, knowing that full well there wasn't anything she could do.
"Nah, it's in the doctor's hand now." Lex said. "During the storm my father was trapped beneath a column. If I hadn't pulled him out he would have died. Before I did… I hesitated."
Lana wasn't really sure what to say about that.
"I was thinking that maybe my life would be better off if I just left him to die," Lex continued.
"You saved him, that's the important part." Lana tried to console Lex.
"No my father won't see it that way," Lex retorted. "Forgiveness is not in his emotional lexicon. If anything he'll probably see my saving him as a sign of weakness."
"What are you going to do?" Lana asked.
"I'm going to help my friend find her dad," Lex replied. "Do you have another flashlight?"
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Please Read Over:
The Tornado clean up will take at least 3 chapters but they should be exciting. So stick with it.
Just another one of the usual reminders that if you want to talk to me about the story or Smallville in general. Go on IRC to the otherside servers, irc. (Port 7000) or irc. (Port 7000), channel #smallville. Hope to see some people there. If you're looking for an IRC client I would recommend X-Chat although there are many other options out there. Really, please go there to discuss any questions answers will be a lot more direct. That and it gets kind of boring talking to the same two people all the time, I need fresh opinions. Look forward to seeing some of you there.