I step in front of Mom and Dad and Tommy. The wind dies away but we stand there. There’s nowhere to go.
Madeline's eyes are anger. Sadness. They shine with the pain of Evansburg.
It hits me like a fist to the stomach.
She chose Williams Town to take revenge on me.
“Allie,” she orders. “Stand to the side.”
I lift my arms to shield Tommy. To shield Mom and Dad. It’s no use. I can’t protect them from the Deathwind by myself.
Mom grabs my shoulder and pulls me back.
“Allie!” Madeline’s voice is a wrecking ball. “You know this needs to be done.”
“Not them,” I shout against the growing roar above our heads. “Go somewhere else. Find more people like me.”
Madeline looks up at the Deathwind. It's a cloudy, twisting gate to some hell, waiting for her order. We're pinned up against the school building. There's no running backwards. Nobody speaks. Bethany looks down with her eyes closed. Tommy breathes heavy next to me. Even Dad says nothing.
I'm the only one who can do anything.
Madeline looks at the emptying parking lot. Only a few cars remain.
“I have no choice but to turn all of you now,” she says, snapping her gaze back to us. The roar grows stronger, punctuating her sentences. She glares at Bethany. “Your screaming ruined everything. And you!” She turns her stare to Tommy. “This would have been over already if it wasn't for you. If you hadn't panicked everyone, there's a chance you might not have had to be turned.”
“Turned?” Bethany looks up at the Deathwind, then at me. “You mean--” Her eyes pop open and she screams so loud that it drowns out the wind.
“No!” I'm frantic. Madeline means it this time. There's no Uncle Cassius to stop it. He doesn’t want to stop this. Or does he? Maybe he came along to try to convince her to pick another town.
She takes a step forward. Her dress whips against her. “Allie, we need to choose the lesser evil.”
I know we do. God, I know we have to. But I can't let Tommy or my parents get turned. Either way, people will suffer. Either way, people will die.
The Deathwind gives one final battle roar and Madeline closes her eyes.
I leap at her.
We collide and go down.
Pavement races up. Madeline opens her eyes and hits the ground. My elbow scrapes concrete and screams. Dad shouts and rushes to me.
“Run!” I land on my butt next to Madeline and point at the car. “Get out of here! The Deathwind can’t hurt me.”
“Allie!” Dad grabs my arm. He won’t leave without me. Tommy’s there. Mom’s there. Above them, the Deathwind still waits, spinning at attention.
Madeline groans and turns her head to the side.
“Up!” Tommy shouts, pulling on my other arm.
We run. There’s no time for Dad to find his keys on the ground.
The lot’s empty now. The last taillights whip around the corner and the distant wail of an ambulance comes closer. They’re coming for the people passed out in the field. Until they get here, we’re the only targets for the Deathwind.
I run behind Mom and Dad. Behind Tommy. Bethany bolts ahead of everyone, darting for the gate of the school. I’ve got to keep myself between them and the Deathwind. That’s the only thought that races through my head.
The ambulance grows louder. Wails into the parking lot, lights flashing. Tommy faces it and waves his arms, shouting something.
Someone crashes into me from the side. Wraps their arms around me in a bear hug. Covers my mouth with one hand. Mom and Dad keep running. So does Tommy. Fireworks keep exploding. The wind keeps roaring. They have no idea.
I pull against my captor. Twist to escape his grasp. I catch a glimpse of a black T-shirt. Do not disturb…
It’s Uncle Cassius.
“Allie,” he breathes, dragging me towards the fence where the van’s parked. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d be here. We can’t have you telling the police about Madeline.”
I try to shout something. I manage a muffled curse. There’s no way anyone will hear it in this noise. Mom and Dad vanish around the wooden fence and into a yard, Tommy in tow. In a few seconds they’ll realize I’m gone. They’ll come back. They—
Kyle appears in front of us. Nods to the van. Uncle Cassius forces me back.
He’s kidnapping me.
My own uncle is taking me captive and for no good reason.
I try to pull away. I can’t. I might be a new Outbreaker, but so is he and he’s bigger than me. I squirm. Stomp, hoping to hit his feet. My shoes scrape against concrete. I can’t make a sound. The Deathwind swirls after my parents on the other side of the fence, then stops and changes course. It’s headed for the ambulance that’s now parked near the gate. They’re the next victims, and I can’t shout out a warning.
That means Madeline’s up. Fully conscious and guiding the Deathwind.
I look. She’s standing there, looking in the direction of the ambulance. She waves at my uncle. “Get her in.”
Kyle slides open the van door. Uncle Cassius pulls me in. My leg catches on the rim and I’m inside. Kyle closes the door and hops into the front.
Madeline gets in and crawls back in, forcing me to sit in the middle. The van revs to life and we’re off.
Uncle Cassius lets go. “Allie, I’m sorry I had to do that.”
The growl explodes in my head again. “So much for you having a good reason to side with her. What was I going to tell the cops about her, anyway?”
“My background,” Madeline snaps at me. She rubs her head. “They could narrow down all the former Oklahoma State Troopers that quit two years ago pretty well. I can’t have the police knowing who I am. At least, not until I’m finished with all of this. There’s way too much at stake. We should have grabbed the Tommy boy, too. I’m sure Allie told him about me.” She looks over me to Uncle Cassius. “You said she wouldn’t be here.”
“Then go to a different town,” I say. “It doesn’t have to be this one.” I feel awful for saying it, but it’s true. And there’s only one explanation. I turn to Uncle Cassius. “I know you offered her our town. Why else would she come here?” I leave out Evansburg.
“I did,” he says. There’s no regret in his voice. No sign of the sadness he had over turning that guy that they dragged into that barn. He faces me…faces me!
I’m shaking, so angry that I can’t speak.
Kyle turns and takes us through the light to downtown. His headlights shine on plywood windows. A pile of trash on the side of the road. The cleanup.
Then Uncle Cassius speaks. “I suggested Williams Town because it would make your life easier if you were surrounded by a lot of other Outbreakers. Remember when I told you I’d work something out where you wouldn’t have to worry about hurting anyone here anymore?”
“I don’t want Tommy to get turned into an Outbreaker. Or my parents.”
Uncle Cassius shifts in his seat. “Allie, if there are enough Outbreakers in Williams Town, it’ll become immune to tornadoes. That’s why the old Outbreaker town, Mobley, never got hit by one.” He looks out at the damage, which blurs past in the dark. “You would never have to worry about hurting anyone so long as you remained here. That’s why I had Madeline come to the display. And I had no intention of seeing my sister turned. Or your father. Or Tommy. Like I said, you guys never go to the displays.”
I can hear the anger in his voice. It’s not directed at me. It goes over me and stabs into Madeline. She flinches.
Uncle Cassius is ticked off at her. It gives me a glimmer of hope, but I’m no less angry. No less hurt. “You could have told me this on the way home.”
“I didn’t know this was going to happen until today.”
So Madeline did choose Williams Town to get back at me. At the very least, she was in the area, loo
king for a way to hurt me. Why didn’t Uncle Cassius see this?
“Well, I’m really upset right now.” I look up. Kyle’s parking us at the Williams Town McDonald’s. It’s closing, judging from the chairs that are sitting up on all the tables and the kid mopping the floor inside. “Going to turn him, too?”
Madeline leans forward. “I might have to. Finding more people this time of night will be difficult. No one will be sleeping tonight after what they saw. A lot of people may even leave this town.”
A few cars rush past the McDonald’s entrance, going for the freeway. She’s right. If I saw some spinning force hitting people, I’d leave, too.
Great. “Look, I know you have to keep up on all of this. I understand why. But do you have to do all this right now? Tommy and I have found a way to manage my transformations without hurting anyone here. Maybe.”
Madeline faces me. She’s that mask of fear again. My stomach turns.
“The Deathwind is impatient,” she says. “And I’m still behind. Very behind. If I don’t turn enough people by sunrise, it’s going to form the deadliest tornado in the history of the world. And it’s going to start here.”