North (A Robert Downey Jr Fanfic)

"Safe & Sound"

"Bobby, weren't you just in Baytown?" his publicist Rick asked from behind his laptop.
"Uh, sort of. I was close to there."
"And the lady from the picture? Vanessa? She's there?"
"Yeah, why?"
"The news is saying a big storm just ripped through there...a big one."
"What?! What do you mean, big?" his stomach dropped as he pulled up the news story on his own computer.

"EF4 tornado rips through Northern Wisconsin National Forest"

"What the--" he clicked on a news clip to get more on the story.

"We're just getting word of an EF4 tornado that dropped to the ground unexpectedly, about two hours northeast of Duluth, Minnesota just this evening. The tornado hit a largely unpopulated area of the National Forest but we don't know yet the extent of the damage. Please stay tuned for more as this story develops."

"Vanessa...Oh my god--"
"Bobby, what's up?"
He stood up, went outside and dialed Vanessa but her phone went straight to voicemail.

"Hello there! You've reached the voicemail of Vanessa Day, owner and operator of Chip's Lodge. Please leave a message and I will call you as soon as I can. Thank you and have a great day!"

"Ness, call me back. I need to know you're ok...please. Please?"
He ended the call and looked up the number for Earl's store, hoping he'd have some answers. Thankfully he picked up right away.
"General Store. How can I help you?"
"Earl! It's Robert. Do you know anything about the storm? I tried calling Ness and she's not answering."
"Storm ripped right through there ya know...a biggun. I was just about to drive over there...check it out."
"Please do, take down my number and call me as soon as you know anything."
"Sure will, Bobby. It's a gall-dang mess out there, ya know. I'll keep you posted."
"Thanks."

He went back inside and found Rick transfixed on the television. A news reporter was standing in front of the sign for the National Forest he'd passed on the way to Chip's.

"Here behind me lies the Northern Wisconsin National Forest, and just over the hill there, you can see the trail of devastation carved by today's EF4 tornado. The strength of a storm producing a tornado of that magnitude has the capacity to tear down anything in its path, to turn lush forests into match sticks and blow down any structure like a house of cards. The tornado has left a trail of destruction estimated at about ten miles long at least and the Forest Service is surveying the area to find out if there was anyone in the path of this terrifying storm."

"Shhhhhit," Robert whispered.
"Bobby, this doesn't look good."

***

"Mom! What's out there?"
"Nothing," she whimpered, tears filling her eyes, "There's nothing out here."
The group from the cellar followed her up and out and a collective gasp came from each and every one of them. Vanessa stepped over a pile of unrecognizable wood splinters and twisted metal that was part of what once was the garage.
"Mom!" Penny screamed and pointed to the Big Cabin. It wasn't a Cabin any more at all though and the Tornado had dropped her Jeep right in the center of it.
"Holy shit," Vanessa whispered to herself, creeping through the wreckage as broken glass crunched under her boots. She hollered over her shoulder,"are you all okay?"
"Thanks to you, Nessie...we're all safe," June whimpered, clutching Henry's arm as they navigated through the rubble.

Rampy had been tossed through the air and landed in the lake and her boats and kayaks lay destroyed on shore. Her stomach lurched as she surveyed the grounds of Chip's Lodge, torn to shreds by nature's fury. Every single building had been destroyed. They'd had just barely enough warning to get to safety, the storm hit them hard, fast and then it was gone. Everything was gone. All that was left for them was to sift through the wreckage to find anything to be salvaged. The weight of what lay in front of her slammed down on Vanessa and she sunk to her knees in a pile of debris from God knows where and softly sobbed into her hands.