Induction

“Too bad, Emma. She’s a fucking dog. It doesn’t mean I love her any less, but get something straight. She’s the expendable one.” He closed the closet door and my heart constricted with pain. It was silent for all of thirty seconds. The whining began, escalating quickly to desperate, pleading barks. Jake threw the door open and yelled at her. She cowered in the back of the closet in fear.

“Jake, please. I need her.” He closed the door again and the sound of her cries cut through me like a scalpel.

“Fine!” he said as he opened the door, fury written all over his face. Daphne didn’t move. The form of Jakes body loomed in the doorway, freezing her in fear. “Go,” he commanded, and pointed to the bed. She skulked out of the closet with her head hung low and her tail between her legs, giving Jake a wide berth. As she saw me, her ears perked up and she jumped to the bed and nuzzled into my arms. “One peep, Emma, and she stays here when we leave tomorrow. Don’t try me. I’m not joking, not even a little.”

Jake crawled into bed beside me and turned off the flashlight. My body stiffened as he moved behind me and put his arm around my waist. Tears flowed freely from my eyes, the effects of his verbal lashing. The rain continued. I didn’t think it would ever stop.

“I’m sorry, Em.”

“Fuck you, Jake,” I spat, and shoved his arm off me. I felt his body tense in reaction to my harsh words, and he rolled over and moved further to his side of the bed, leaving a tangible space between us. I cried myself to sleep holding my precious animal tight against my chest and prayed to a God, who probably wasn’t even listening, that my dog would remain silent.

Chapter 10 Fuck You Helen Hunt

I awoke to the feeling of a bass drum rumbling through my chest. The window panes rattled in their frames and the increasing sound of a freight train roared from every direction. Jake shouted something at me, but the sound was so loud I couldn’t hear him. I picked up my phone to call my mother-in-law, forgetting the phone had no service. Confused as to what was happening, I looked around the room like I was going to find the answers.

Jake got close and yelled in my ear, “TORNADO!” A chill slid down my spine as thoughts of the house being ripped from its foundation and tossed through the sky came to mind. I’d seen The Wizard of Oz. I did not want to end up in the Emerald City, or worse, lay dead under a pile of detritus.

I couldn’t discern any individual sounds, just the single, very loud, roar of the storm. The noise increased to the point of pain. I slapped my hands over my ears and stood looking wide-eyed at Jake. Daphne had run to the closet and was hiding under a row of clothes. Smart dog that she was, she had enough sense to get to an area without windows; so I followed her lead. Jake followed me in and slammed the door behind him.

The small room did nothing to dull the earth shattering sounds. The three of us huddled at the back of the closet. I have no idea how much time passed; all I knew was that one moment my eardrums hurt from the sound, and then they didn’t. All at once, the reverberations stopped and it became silent. We sat in the dark, shaking our heads and tensing our jaws open and closed to pop our ears from the pressure build up, until Jake stood up and opened the door.

On first glance, the room looked normal. All at once the scene snapped into focus and I stood there, mouth agape, and fully bewildered. Rain poured from the ceiling fan, and the wall at the head of the bed looked like it was one of those fountains that ran water down a sheet of glass. I set Daphne on the bed and helped Jake slide the dresser away from the door.

As soon as the door opened, I could smell the scent of fresh rain and ozone. We walked into the living room and were transfixed by the carnage at the front of the house.

The main door stood intact. A lot of good it did since a tree was jutting through the smashed bay window, letting in not only the elements but creating an easy route for the undead masses. Yes, I was now convinced they were zombies. Rabies? Rabies didn’t do this to people! I thought about that movie Twister and wondered who in their right mind would want to chase a tornado having now seen firsthand the destruction they caused.

“Are you kidding me?” I said. “All I’m asking for here is a break. One. Solitary. Fucking. Break.” I threw my hands in the air and looked at the ceiling. “Throw me a frickin’ bone, will ya?” A distinct moan floated in through the front window and my mouth went wide in surprise. “Now you’re just messing with me.”