An ancient Native American legend speaks of the dead man walking. If you see him in a tornado, you are about to die. —Anonymous

"This is Lars Winter of Weather Warriors. Our vehicle is trapped under downed power lines. Request immediate assistance at the thirty mile marker on Trinity road."

He released the mike button and waited for a response. The airwaves were filled with a cacophony of emergency chatter. After a minute he exhaled through his nose. "Could be worse. I could be trapped in here with that girl instead of you."

"Why do you dislike Halle Brennan? She and James coordinated the rescue of a trapped girl. She's a good influence on him."

"I'm the only role model he needs," he snarled. "She's from the wrong side of the tracks. I knew her mother."

Surprised by Lars vehemence against Magenta, Irwin glanced at the other man. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but after a moment's reflection thought it wiser to remain silent.

There's more to his relationship with Halle's mother than he's admitting.

Forty minutes later, Irwin pointed at the cracked windshield where a baby blue Cadillac was bearing down on them beneath the anvil-colored sky. "Lars, look. Isn't that Charlottesville's Mayor Rambo?"

Lars nodded, "The Elvis impersonator. I'm embarrassed to admit I voted for him."

The vintage Cadillac halted ten feet from them and Charlottesville's Mayor exited his car. Irwin waved him away from the power lines snaking over the militaristic SUV. "Don't get any closer. It's too dangerous. You need to get help!" Irwin continued to signal him to move back.

Ignoring him, the mayor ambled forward. "There's no current. Didn't you hear the explosion? The transformer blew." A tidal surge of wind rose out of nowhere and rippled through the prairie grass. The mayor raised his arm to his face as he was buffeted a few feet backwards. Irwin looked up at the darkened sky and stiffened. The green tint poisoning the sky made him want to scream in terror.

That thing's coming for us. And it's powerful. We have to get out here.

Beside him, Lars lost his patience. "Listen, Rambo, there could be residual current in the lines. Are you trying to get us electrocuted? For the love of God, get back, you idiot."

"Winter, you're as bossy as your son and his Amazon girlfriend." The mayor's face reddened, and his jowls quivered as he shouted over the wind.

"Are other people coming, or is it just you, Batman?" Lars scanned the empty road.

"No one's available. All the emergency vehicles are transporting injured people to the hospital. I'll attach the hitch to your undercarriage and haul you both outta there."

"We don't need your misguided help," Lars spat.

"Suit yourself, ingrate." The mayor exhaled as he turned to leave.

"Wait." Lars voice rose and their rescuer hesitated. He turned to face him.

"What about my son, James. You saw him? Is he safe?"

The public servant opened his mouth to respond, but a vicious wind ripped the words from his mouth. As quickly as it appeared, the wind died to an eerie dead calm. The hairs on the back of the mayor's neck rose as the barometric pressure plummeted. Instinctive fear replaced his bravado as a smoky funnel dropped from the sky and touched the ground several hundred yards in front of him. In a few seconds, the swirling tornado had widened into fifty yard wide shaft with a deadly gale force wind shear.

"Shit!" The mayor spun on his heel and ran towards his car. Irwin winced as the overweight man tripped and fell face first onto the gravel road, three feet from his vehicle. With excruciating slowness, Mayor Rambo placed his hands on the ground and raised himself to his knees. Irwin recalled an aging bull seal he had seen on the nature channel.

"That idiot. Looks like we're going to have to save our savior." Lars grabbed his gear and threw it out of the SUV's window. He flung open the door and vaulted out the door and onto the ground.  Keeping his feet together, he turned and faced Irwin. "Now you. Don't touch the door frame."

Irwin glared at him, insulted at being schooled by a man, who in comparison to him, had half his education and scientific learning. "Move out of the way." Taking a deep breath, he jumped out of the vehicle. His teeth clamped together when the crepe sole of his shoe caught on the  lower part of the seat and he landed in a heap with his right leg caught inside the van.

"Good. No electricity verified thanks to your clumsiness. Come on!" Lars grabbed Irwin by his collar and hauled him to his feet as the tornado bore down on them. They watched in horror as the twister tumbled the Cadillac on its side as if delivering a technical knockout. The mayor's clothes flapped in the suction vortex as the he shambled in their direction. He leaned at a thirty degree angle to escape the twister. The Cadillac flipped end-over-end and missed the mayor by a few feet. Irwin and Lars gasped and threw themselves onto the ground as the three foot silver spoiler spun through the air and sliced off the unlucky man' head with the precision of a razor-sharp guillotine.

—————

Standing beside Zane, Maria Salvatore clutched her Tea Cup terrier and shivered while her mother wrapped her arms around her. "Thank you for saving my daughter."

James leaned down and squeezed the young girl's hand. "Maria, you were very brave." His heart warmed in his chest as if a small  flame had been ignited in the darkness.

Halle smiled at the mother and her young daughter. In her mind, she saw herself in her mother's arms. "We're glad we could help."

She turned to Zane, now seated in the back of the Nova. Amy had rigged a sling for his arm. "How's your back and shoulder?"

He smiled at her. "I'll live. Halle, that was one of the bravest rescues I've ever witnessed."

She glanced at her feet. "Amy was nearly killed."

"But she wasn't.

Monitoring the cb radio, Amy waved at them. "James, your father needs help!" His car's trapped under power lines on Trinity road."

"What?" James face grew pale. "Where?"

"At the thirty mile marker. Mayor Rambo took off to help." Naseem shook his head. "I couldn't stop him."

"Figures. What does he know about downed power lines?" James raked a hand through his hair. "He'll get all of them killed."

Halle joined Amy at the computer screen and saw the supercell had shifted away from their direction and towards the location Lars was trapped. "The storm's building and traveling fast. Up to thirty miles per an hour." Multiple green and yellow moving dots populated the screen like a line of ants as storm chasers jumped in their cars and chased down the storm.

"Halle, I need your help," James implored.

She nodded. "We'll save him."

"I'm coming too. No arguments." Amy grinned as Zane got up and jumped into the back seat of the Nova.

(*Tornado image is from dailydot.com)