Leaning forward, Zac placed his hands on Isaac and Taylor’s seats to hear the radio better. It was five o’clock in the afternoon and almost pitch black because of the storm clouds. The rain pounded down onto the streets and cars like sheets. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed across the sky. Isaac could barely see ten feet in front of him. The three boys were on their way to their hotel from the rental car place. Mr. Hanson told had told Isaac that since they would be staying in Wisconsin for a while to shoot a video for “Man From Milwaukee,” he could rent his own car to drive himself and his brothers around in. They were at least 20 minutes away from their hotel and as lost as three teenage boys could get.
“I thought you knew where you were going,” Taylor accused his older brother.
“I never said that,” Isaac replied, trying to remain calm, “Actually, I said I knew the general direction of where the hotel was but that you would have to help me navigate.”
The newly sixteen-year-old Taylor glanced wistfully at the steering wheel. “This wouldn’t have happened if I was driving.”
“Tay, if you were driving, we’d be in the ditch!” Zac disagreed. Although Isaac was a crazy driver, Taylor was even worse. Isaac had his driver’s license for two years now and had experience with wet, slick roads. Taylor, on the other hand, had only one driven on slippery roads.
Silently, Taylor glanced down at the map of southeastern Wisconsin in his lap. Putting it close to his face, he studied the area he thought they were in. He told Isaac to get off at the next exit.
“I don’t recall a highway 16,” Isaac commented.
“Ike, I think I know how to read a dumb map!” retorted Taylor. He hadn’t gotten much sleep at all the night before. He and thirteen-year-old Zac had an eating contest which left Taylor with an upset stomach. They got pizza from room service to see who could devour the most. Taylor won after eating a whole medium pepperoni pizza with no help from anyone except five-year-old Mackie, who had one piece.
Since Isaac was in a great mood and didn’t want to fight, he pulled took the exit. A bolt of lightning that illuminated the whole city was immediately followed by a deafeningly loud clap of thunder. Coming to the end of the road, Isaac slowed down, and made a right turn, the only way he could go. As he continued to make random turns wherever his younger brothers told him, the atmosphere around them turned less urban and more rural. Trees and small but nice houses lined the sides of the newly paved roads.
“Taylor,” Ike snapped, “this is a subdivision.”
Taylor sheepishly looked up from his map. Not only was it a subdivision, but Taylor had led them onto a dead end culdisac. Getting restless with the static that replaced the reporter on the radio, Zac was about to shut it off. “Wait, Zac,” Ike warned.
“A twister has been spotted,” the three brothers heard. They caught their breaths and listened. “It hasn’t touched down yet, but it’s heading toward the Hartland area near highway 16 in Waukesha county. The weather center predicts it might touch down somewhere around Delafield or Hartland.”
Taylor paled. They wold definitely be lost if they didn’t get to shelter soon. The wind around the small car suddenly seemed louder and more ominous than it had before. Zac leaned back in his seat, resting his head on the headrest. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a tiny, gray conical object looming above the houses on top of a huge hill in the distance. In horror he realized it was the tornado. “Ike!” he squealed. His voice hadn’t gone all the way through puberty yet, and it still squeaked once in a while.
Looking in the direction Zac had before, Taylor noticed the twister. “It’s so far away,” he predicted. “It won’t get to us that fast. All we have to do is find someplace to stay.”
“Well, guys,” Isaac started, “pick a house.” Each boy frantically glanced at each house on the small street. There were ten houses to choose from. Most of them were one story houses. Four had two stories. Zac was drawn to the one at the end of the street because of how big it was. It looked large enough for two families to live in. Zac pointed it out to his brothers. “That house looks deserted. There aren’t any lights on.” In fact, there were only lights on in a few of the houses. One two story one and two one story houses. They decided on the cute, cream colored house with the blue trim. It looked like a place that housed a nice, safe family. Pulling into the driveway, Isaac shut off the engine and took a deep breath. Turning to his little brothers, he said, “Here goes nothing.”
Ten-year-old Jamie Saladen sat in a tight ball in the corner of her couch, wishing her parents were home. It was storming out, and she was terrified of storms. This wasn’t a little thunderstorm either. It was a tornado. Her 15-year-old sister, Shannon and her friend, Lori, sat next to her, trying to calm her down. Shannon was having a Hanson party with her four closest friends--Lori, Nicole, Kim, and her neighbor, Courtney Warren. Also, she was watching her 12-year-old sister, Lindsey, and Jamie since her parents were at a friend’s house. Both of the Courtney’s parents were still at work, so they had no adults at all to turn to during the storm. Courtney’s fourteen-year-old brother, Steve, had also gotten scared alone in the Warren’s house and came over to join the seven girls.
Steve sat on the loveseat with Courtney and Lindsey, watching Hanson’s tour video. “Zac is so gay,” Steve quipped. He never really liked Hanson, but he hated Zac.
“Shut up, Steve,” commanded Lindsey. She and Steve used to be friends until Courtney and Shannon started making fun of them for hanging out together all the time. The radio on in the kitchen that Nicole and Kim were listening to started beeping. The announcer told all listeners to go directly to a safe spot in the house. Jamie whimpered.
“Oh my gosh! A tornado!” shrieked Nicole. Fifteen-year-old Nicole was always hyper and scared of everything. Kim, who was sixteen, ran downstairs, following Nicole.
“Thanks for turning off the radio, guys!” screamed Shannon. She grabbed Lindsey, Lori took the frantic Jamie, and walked into the basement. Sixteen-year-old Courtney wasn’t scared of storms, so she didn’t move as quickly as the others. Courtney removed the tour video from the VCR, grabbed the bag of chips that Nicole and Kim had left on the kitchen counter and followed Steve.
“I have to go to the bathroom!” moaned Jamie.
“You can’t. There’s a tornado up there,” Shannon insisted.
Jamie frowned. Her voice became annoying high. “I have to go bad, Shannon!”
“Well,” began Lindsey, “if you want to die from the tornado, go ahead!” A faint bell sounded from upstairs.
Nicole squealed and covered her mouth. “What was that!”
“It’s the doorbell,” Shannon said.
“It’s probably my mom,” suggested Courtney, “Maybe the phone lines are down, and she walked over here to get us. We better go check.” Courtney looked around the room, but no one was with her. She asked Jamie to come with her since she needed to go to the bathroom anyway. “But if it’s not my mom, I’ll feel weird. Shannon, please come.” Shannon still refused, so Lori said she’d come with her. The doorbell rang two more times.
“Jeez!” yelled Shannon, “I think your mom is getting mad.” Courtney, Lori, and Jamie crept up the stairs. As they opened the door, the wind howled and the house creaked as the strong current pressed against it. Thunder rolled across the silent night. The house was still lighted by the kitchen light that the children had forgotten to turn off in their haste.
Jamie ran to the bathroom and slammed the door. She wanted to be as quick as possible. While Jamie relieved herself, Lori and Courtney made their way to the front door. The doorbell ran again. “We’re coming!” Courtney yelped in annoyance. She flipped on the porch light and pressed her eye to the peephole. “Lori,” she said, her voice trembling.
“What?” Terrible thought ran through Lori’s head. Was it a robber? Did the tornado sweep them away?
“Lori, look!” Courntey removed her eye to let Lori take a look.
Peaking through the hole, Lori gasped. “They look like Hanson. Let them in!” Both girls dove for the doorknob. Flinging open the door, they found their three favorite guys looking curiously back at them.
“Uh, can we come in?” asked Zac. Lori started nervously laughing. Jamie came out of the bathroom. Scared of the storm, she hurried downstairs without casting a glance at the front door. Lori ran downstairs also, wanting to tell her friends about their unexpected guests. Becoming shy without a friend by her, Courtney slowly opened the door. Realizing she was wearing a hanson shirt under her long sleeved denim shirt, she pulled the sides of the denim shirt closer together.
