David kept trying to call Jason. No one answered.
I wondered if his phone died. I really hoped his phone died. I could hear terrible things happening to the building above us.
I leaned myself against David's shoulder and closed my eyes. He wrapped his arm around me, and somehow, even in the middle of all the confusion and terror, I felt safe.
I don't know how long I was asleep for. I wished I would wake up on my pullout bed with Jason and Isa in the same room while David was yelling for us to get ready for school. But I didn't. I woke up with my head resting on David's shoulder in a basement full of people I didn't know.
He was still holding his phone, scrolling through text messages from Jason.
"Did he pick up?" I moaned.
David shook his head. Every muscle in my body felt tight and tears stung my eyes. David noticed. "Hey, they'll be alright," He tried to reassure. I don't think he believed it himself.
I tried to picture a future with just the two of us. Then I remembered that this was all just an experiment and I wouldn't have David in my future.
Before I came here I always would envision myself with a nice suburban couple. In a yellow house with a picket fence. I always imagined them with a kid or two of there own. For some reason when people said "home" that's what I pictured.
Now it all felt like a lie. "Home" was with David and Jason and Isa in the attic of a house made in the 1940s located far away from anyone else, because why would I need anyone else when I have them.
David called Zoe. She was fine. She lived on the side of town that didn't get hit so her house was still intact.
About an hour later someone said the news declared it was safe to go outside.
Someone told us to be careful because the building was probably in ruins. I felt like a little kid. I held David's hand like something terrible would happen if I let go. Right now it wasn't the most ambitious thought.
We slowly made our way up the stairs. I tried not to look at the remains of the building. It actually wasn't that bad now that I think about it. The windows were broken and the rooms were a mess, but nothing had happened to the actual structure of the building.
I stayed as close as possible to David. He whispered encouraging things as we left the building. The car had rolled into a different parking spot but wasn't damaged.
"Do you think it works?" I asked David.
"One way to find out." He mumbled.
He walked to the car. The thing that beeped and unlocked the car didn't work. But the regular key did. I went to sit where I normally did in the back seat. David told me to sit in the front with him.
The puttered and started. Like it was just as unsure about driving as we were.
The city looked terrible. Buildings were completely destroyed. Houses. Coffee shops. Government buildings. Everything. Just Gone.
I wondered about people. If anyone was hurt. Or worse.
I started crying. Not nice polite pretty girl crying either. Just full on ugly crying. David's knuckles were white around the steering wheel. And still one of his hands was able to find mine. He squeezed it tight and I cried harder.
"Hey, hey," He kept saying until my sobbing turned to sniffling, "It's going to be okay. I promise you. I love you and I promise that everything is going to end up being okay."
I nodded. I don't know if I believed it, but it felt good for the time being.
We got to the part of the city where the streets and building turned into uphill pebble roads and trees that lasted forever. I take that back when the car pulled up there were almost no trees standing.
"The car won't make it to the house," David said.
"Is there still a house?"
David didn't answer.
Without saying anything we decided to walk to the house. We climbed over trees and flooded parts of the road area. I followed the road best that I could but it was hard. Hard to move ahead. Hard to think about what was up ahead.
I saw I piece of wood that definitely didn't come from a tree. I knew that we didn't have a house anymore. Just seeing how the storm affected the well-built buildings in the city our scrawny little wooden house didn't stand a chance.
My dress got caught on twigs and my nice bun was falling out, but I didn't care. Every now and then David would look at me. Asking with his eyes if I was okay. I would pretend that I didn't see him. I didn't want him to be disappointed if my eyes said "no".
After nearly a mile of walking, we came to the house. I expected what I saw and it still came as a shock to me.
Nothing.
Just nothing. Like a house of playing cards that were knocked over by the slighted touch. There was just nothing there.
I didn't have any more tears to cry. So I just stared numbly at the place that I was just beginning to call home.
The rain had stopped and everything felt like a ghost town. Like the ruins of the house had been there a hundred years instead of two hours.
David and I were both silent for a second. Then David had the obvious idea of calling for Jason and Isa.
He screamed their names and looked around the rubbish. I joined in.
He stopped at one point and started digging through the pieces of wood and dirt. I held my breath expecting him to find the bodies of my experimental siblings. Instead, he revealed the bomb shelter thing.
Of course. If there wasn't a basement the bomb shelter would be the ideal place to hide from a tornado.
David shouted Jason's name again.
I heard something. It was Isa. I almost started crying again because it just felt so good to hear her voice.
David heard it too.
"Isa!" He shouted.
"Papa! Papa, I'm down here!"
I didn't hear Jason. And my head scrolled through all the worse possible ideas.
David opened the bomb shelter thing and let me go down the latter first.
I was immediately tackled by Isa.
"Vee. I thought that the tornado ate you."
The shelter was made of mostly concrete. There were a bench and a shelf in the back with a ton of canned food from the fifty's. There was one hanging light like the one in the attic.
David had followed me down and ran straight to Jason. I was so busy hugging Isa I didn't even notice. Jason was holding a bloody cloth to his head. His eyes didn't focus and he looked really confused.
"Jason, what happened? Are you okay?
Isa let go of me and went over to David.
"Jason hit his head. He's really bad at talking and walking. And he curses every time I turn on the light." Isa said.
She turned on the light. Jason blinked a lot and cursed. I had a really weird feeling like Isa had been doing this a lot while we were gone. David rolled his eyes.
"Okay, so Jason needs to go to the hospital. Is everyone else okay?" David asked.
Isa and I nodded.
"How are we going to get to the hospital if we walked here?" I asked.
"You walked here?" Jason said slurring his words. David sushed him.
"And wasn't the hospital destroyed in the storm?" I added.
David just looked forward. He looked like he was thinking.
"We can call someone." He said.
"Like 911 or..."
"Ooh, I wanna call 911. We've been practicing in school!" Isa shouted.
Jason winced at the noise level.
"Maybe they'll send the helicopter thing," Isa said a little quieter.
David looked apprehensive for a while. "Okay, okay fine whatever. Let's just make sure everyone's safe."
"Thanks, Dad."
Everything stopped. Because Jason said those words. Isa was the only one who had ever referred to David as a parental figure. We all thought of him that way, but she's the only one who had said anything.
"Jason," David said, "Jason you're... you're confused."
"No, he's not." I piped. "You're our dad. This is our family. This is where we belong." I said slowly without a hint of sarcasticness in my voice.
David looked like he was going to cry. Maybe he was. Isa ran over and hugged him. I joined them too. So did Jason.
I didn't care why I was here. It was home.