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her when they found her father, it
wouldn’t be right to use that discovery for his own needs. He’d be the worst
shit in the world to do that. No. He had to keep his damn hormones under
control for now. She made that nearly impossible, but he’d have to step up and
do it anyway.
    ****
    Nadine
wasn’t sure she could handle it when, an hour later, the clouds built quickly
again. This time, there was a shelter close by, but just as they all reached
it, the clouds dissipated.
    “ False alarm,” said Gina.
    The
group laughed nervously as they all watched the sun emerge from behind the
clouds, just as if it had been there all morning. Nadine shook her head.
“That’s insane.”
    “ This is how it is up here all the time now,” said
Addison, giving her hand a squeeze.
    “ How do you stand it? It’s like walking on edge every
second.”
    He
grinned and nodded. “Yes. Exactly.”
    She
couldn’t imagine doing this all the time, for days or weeks on end. This was
what her father had been doing for seven years now. This horrible wind noise,
the odd feel to the air, and the clouds that looked like something out of a
horror movie, then disappeared as if someone had simply flipped a switch.
    Every
single day, all day long. How did anyone stay sane up here?
    She
watched Addison walk along, his head held high and his entire demeanor radiating
confidence. He didn’t look the least bit afraid. None of them did. As they made
their way toward the bunker, they talked about the items they’d found over the
years, and occasionally Gina would stop to show them something on the radar.
    It
took another fifteen minutes to reach the bunker, and Nadine’s entire body
ached by then. The Storm Troopers, with the exception of George, were at the
bunker waiting for them. Merrill gave Nadine a big hug, and she was thrilled to
see him again. He had a smile that crinkled up the skin around his eyes and
made it appear that he was squinting into the sun. That’s what she had always
remembered about him.
    “ Your dad talks about you all the time, you know. He is
so proud of everything you’ve accomplished.”
    Nadine
didn’t think she’d accomplished much of anything compared to her father, or to
anyone in this group, but she smiled and thanked Merrill anyway. Alesia
Gonzales couldn’t have been much older than she was, but her eyes held a
maturity and confidence that Nadine wished she felt inside.
    “ I met your father once,” she said, “and we talked for
hours about tropical storm formation. It’s still his passion, isn’t it?”
    “ Yes. It always has been, from as far back as I can
remember.”
    Alesia
gave her a serious look. “We’re going to find him, Nadine. He’s the most
resourceful person anyone in this group has never met. He didn’t let that storm
take him.”
    She
had to swallow against the sudden lump in her throat. “Thank you. I hope you’re
right.”
    The
bunker was far larger than she’d been picturing, and it had plenty of
bathrooms, which was like finding nirvana right now. After the group who had
arrived took care of their more immediate needs, Gina showed Nadine where they
had computers in case any of them wanted to check email or do research.
    The
Wi-Fi signal in the bunker was too weak to access her email on her phone, and
she could have used a cable to plug it into the modem, but instead she logged
into her email on one of the computers, only to see if her mother had written
her back. She had not.
    While
the group caught up with one another and went into the kitchen area to make a
meal they could share, Addison took her aside into one of the bedrooms. It
looked like she’d always pictured a convent bedroom. Drab walls, single
mattress on a metal frame, table, chair, and mirror hanging on the wall. No
windows, of course.
    The
bathroom was barely large enough to turn around in. She was surprised to find
the rooms even had private baths. The bedrooms were all in a row, and she
didn’t imagine the walls