Island Rush (Sample)

Chapter 18

We didn't get the chance to start our day of walking. When we were about to walk out towards the edge of trees, it started to downpour to the point where it was hard to see anything. The wind started to pick up too, and we once again sat against a tree that blocked the wind and rain. At least it was hot outside, and we didn't need to worry about getting cold.

I would have rather been freezing though than go through a storm of this magnitude. It only took minutes for the wind and rain to pick up to the point where we couldn't even hear ourselves speak! It got serious real quick. Above us, we could see the trees swaying back and forth in a rough motion, the leaves and branches hanging on for dear life. They bent forward and sideways from what we could see in the blur of this disaster. I instinctively pushed myself into Mr. Rush's side. In return, he wound his arm around me and held me to him when we realized the tree we were huddled up against wasn't shielding much.

I didn't expect a slightly dark sky this morning to turn into this. As minutes passed, it got worse. The wind began affecting our balance, even with us against the tree! My hair blew over my face and, between those strands, my eyes caught a swift motion. A small tree many yards away was swaying until it snapped and fell to the ground! Another tree nearby also lost its hold but didn't fall to the ground. I thought my eyes were tricking me with what I witnessed. The tree was being dragged through the air at an intense speed until it disappeared from my vision. I wasn't sure if I could believe my eyes until Mr. Rush reacted.

Gripping my arm hard, he pulled me away from the tree. All I wanted to do was go back. That was until I turned around and saw the tree we were against was struggling to keep its place too! Was this a fucking hurricane?!

It was a blur with how fast everything happened. I couldn't believe a storm could come on like this. The trees were being whipped into the freaking air for God's sake! Mr. Rush though understood that we could process this craziness later. He pulled me down to the ground for a quick second and yelled loudly so I could hear him. "We need to—"

With us kneeling before each other on the ground, I managed to see what happened through the rain and unearthly winds. He was cut off by a large branch that hit him from the side, throwing him to his back a few feet away from me. I watched in horror at his shocked face and the weather around us.

I scrambled on my knees over to him, gripping the grass for assistance as I moved. When I got to him and saw he was okay, he rolled back up onto his knees. Finding my eyes as he held us to the ground, I noticed he was breathing hard. He seemed okay otherwise.

He took my hand, a daring moment for him with his next action. Mr. Rush stood and pulled me to him until I was on both feet. Then we were running, with him pulling me back into the heavily guarded woods. It was a hard process no matter how quickly it flashed by. You couldn't call it running when we were as balanced as a drunk. We nearly fell after each step! All I focused on were my feet since he held my hand in guidance.

From the corner of my eye, I caught more small plants and trees whipping up and out of sight. You couldn't even call this rain and wind anymore! The massive gusts led the sharp drops to its destination, picking up sticks, leaves, and now small trees with it. My own hair wasn't all that was blasting in my face either. Twigs and dirt, water and leaves, wind and salt, held blind me too.

He was leading us back into the packed woods for more cover, but we didn't make it. His hand that I was grasping slid down and towards the ground as I saw Mr. Rush fall before me. He wouldn't let my hand go, which made me feel secure. It came with a price though as my eyes widened. On the ground, he suddenly started to slide back towards me! Being dragged by this extremely forceful weather! It was crazy but not something I had time to wrap my head around. As he slid along the ground, he knocked me to the ground with him.