Chapter 6

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A crack of thunder, far away, entered the dreams of Kevin, changing it to fit the information coming through his ears. Almost immediately, in dreamland, Kevin's dream-self started to think that maybe this world wasn't real, especially with bombs going off. Next to him, a building that just showed up blew apart in a flaming fireball.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Another building did the same thing, and now here he was with a rifle, following a bunch of soldiers to a ditch, fighting obscure people on the other side of a sandbank.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Another explosion, and this time he was in the ditch, looking over a map of the world, trying to direct his troops to the best place to attack the enemy hurricane. What? he heard his mind saying. As he watched the map, the northern parts started to disappear, and in its place the words: CONTACT LOST.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

He watched in horror as Alaska, and then Canada disappeared, followed by New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC, Hawaii, and then Los Angeles. As a point on the map, labeled "Allison's House" started to vanish, he could hear her like a ghost, The entire Artic Circle… gone. Before he knew it there was a bright flash in front of his eyes, registering as a bomb for the time being, and then another explosion, as his body vaporized. His mind said, Screw it, and decided the dream had gone too far.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Kevin woke up, and turned over onto his side. Images of his dream flashed across his mind for a bit, and then realized that the storm had come and was the one responsible for his nightmare. He took a look at his bedside alarm clock. 5:12. God the storm couldn't wait another hour? He figured that he should get up anyway, and started to notice the distinct aroma of coffee brewing, his maker set on an alarm to start at 5:00 am sharp, even if he wasn't. Still groggy and not able to focus yet, he reluctantly got out of bed onto the cold carpet, and made his way to the kitchen. As he passed his window, he looked out, and saw a completely black sky, highlighted by lighting rather quickly. He passed without taking notice, and dragged his way to the kitchen. He got out a mug, and placed it by the maker. He then went over to his computer, and turned it on, so that he may start monitoring this storm, which was sounding like a very beautiful and very un-LA-like storm. He didn't have to show up at the office in downtown till ten, so he figured he had the chance to get this storm before it dissipates, a relatively quick occurrence in Los Angeles, where storms like this don't last longer than maybe an hour, if one was lucky. Even light storms never seem to have the gas to let out everything.

As he got back to the kitchen, the coffee maker stopped, its task finally completed. He poured a cup of coffee, and looked out the kitchen window at the city way out. This was one reason for the move to the Hollywood Hills; he had the view of the whole city. The fog that choked LA last night was still here, but it was thinner, and dissipating to the fury of the storm. Winds were just a slight gust, not much to notice from someone who has been through the Santa Anna's. Down on the highways, he could see clumps of lights already forming, which was also no surprise. One of the 'joke jobs' that Los Angeles's Weather Service did was basically report on accidents on the freeways and highways, and it was a known fact at the office that one has to spray a water bottle onto the 405 to get sigalerts on the 5, the 10, the 101, the 405, and any other freeway that was in the area. And from the looks of it, there was going to be another day of accidents and bumper-to-bumper traffic, which of course was typical LA, only heightened due to the storm. We aren't even in the storm season, but the news will have another 'Storm Watch,' he thought, they always do. Even the thought made Kevin smile, or at least come as close to a smile as he could in his alertness.

It was then he turned upward to the sky, and saw black clouds. His first thoughts were of a 'textbook' storm, one he has seen in books, but then again, he had seen storms like this before. It's just not that often that a large thunderstorm appears over LA. The clouds seemed to push closer to the ground, and made the bottom look like bubble wrap. The thought made Kevin mentally giggle, the ability temporarily gone at the moment. As soon as he wakes up mentally, he would like to take photos and video of this beautiful storm.

Kevin finally left the window, and made his way back to the study. He placed his mug down, and just glanced at the monitors as the tracking program starting to boot. Kevin reached into his top drawer of his desk and pulled out a remote to the plasma screen in the living room, and turned it on, with the Weather Channel on by default. He had access to far better equipment and forecasts, not to mention information, then the weather channel, and it was closer than his TV, but Kevin wasn't interested in what the equipment said, he just wanted to watch the channel he had been picking around since his teenage years. Too tired to watch the program, Kevin leaned back, and just listened to the report, bringing the mug o his lips.

"…a low pressure system moving off the California Coastline is creating a cyclonic system across the LA basin."

Kevin sat up straight from his reclining position and starting choking on his coffee, creating spray of hot brown liquid all over his t-shirt and boxers. Yet his mind was not on coffee, it was the news. Had he heard correctly? Cyclonic system? He turned to the TV, hoping to see a Doppler lookout, or at least the weatherman to repeat his announcement. But alas, it moved to the next region in the nation, which happened to be the New England area. Still, Kevin kept his focus on the TV, in the event that they come back to the remains of Hurricane Noelani and Los Angeles, since there was obviously nothing unusual to report… yet. His attention, though, was diverted yet again, this time by his computer, which had started beeping, sounding off a warning that he hadn't experience with this program since, well, Okalahoma. He stared at the warning screen, everything flashing red, still in disbelief. And yet, there has been no statement of any kind by the Weather Service. This will probably be Bob's biggest mistake. But Kevin was still in disbelief, even though his heart had stopped. To no one in particular, he opened his mouth.

"You have got to be kid-"

He was never able to finish the statement. At that moment, his phone rang, and Kevin picked it up at the second ring, there was Allison on the other line, franticly screaming.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down…no, I wasn't asleep…. what?…. are you serious?….. Shit! …. no, I haven't heard anything from the office… I don't know why there isn't a warning, I'm pissed that there hasn't been a watch. Ally, relax, ok? Stay safe, run for cover if you need to. No, I have the perfect place. No, no, just be careful, I'm coming to get you, ok? I'm leaving right now. Ok, I will see you when I get there, right? Ok, bye."

Kevin immediately went to his room, and grabbed a pair of slacks, a belt, a dress shirt, and a tie. He quickly threw on shocks and shoes, and made for the entrance hall, with his pants on, shirt there unbuttoned, and his belt and tie around his neck. He knew he might be expected to be at work, especially since he was a specialist in this particular area of weather. He grabbed his keys and his suit jacket, and made for the door. He took one look at his computer, before hitting a switch to transfer data to his other place, a safe place, the reason why he built this house where it was. Then he was in his jeep, and sped off.

Inside, his computer was still giving the alarm, and the alert message, before shutting down:

ALERT: CYCLONIC ROTATION DETECTED. FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED. TORNADO WARNING REQUIRED.