Free Tornado Warning by J.R. Tate Page A

in regard to his son had him second guessing himself.
    “Yeah. What do we have?” Ty sat up, his dark hair disheveled.
    “How about you come over here and help me look through everything?” Ryan motioned toward the cabinet full of food.
    Ty hesitated, but swung his legs over the side of the lawn chair and got to his feet, taking a second to gain his composure. He moved forward, taking it slow. Meeting him at the counter, he grabbed one of the bags with his good arm.
    “Is that oatmeal?” Ty held up a tan package and shook it.
    “Instant oatmeal. Is that what you want?”
    “We don’t have a microwave, Dad.”
    “No, but I can fire up the camp stove.”
    Ty nodded and sat down on the lawn chair, like the small walk to the food had taken everything out of him. “Where’s Mommy? How come she’s not here?”
    Ryan felt a lump form in his throat. Connecting a bottle of propane to the stove, he struck a match and lit the front burner. The orange and blue flames were small, but they’d do the trick in warming up water for the oatmeal. He had been trying to find a way to explain it to Ty, but he couldn’t think up the words. The truth was the best thing, even if his son was only five years old.
    He stirred the oatmeal into the water and looked at Ty. “She went to the store to get something for supper. And that’s when the storm hit, Ty. I don’t...” Ryan looked down at the stove and back up. “I’m not sure where she is.”
    “Did the tornado get her?” Ty’s eyes were red and swollen, maybe from exhaustion, maybe from sadness. It was hard to tell.
    “No, Ty. I don’t think the tornado got her.” Ryan hoped to God he was right. He poured the oatmeal into a plastic cup and handed it to Ty. “Let me get you a spoon.”
    Ty ate like it was a delicacy, slurping up every last bit. “Can you call her?”
    Ryan pulled his cell phone out and turned it on. No signal, no missed calls or messages – his battery life was holding strong, but once it was dead, that was it. “I tried before, but I can try again. I’ll have to do it up there.” He pointed upward. “I’m going to find her, Ty. I promise you, I’ll find her.”
    He was in a predicament. He couldn’t leave Ty to go look for Cecilia, and Ty was in no shape to run all over the area in search of his mother. He was showing signs of slow improvement, but it would deteriorate if he didn’t get adequate rest. And the longer Ryan waited, the chances of locating Cecilia grew slimmer. Ryan also didn’t like the fact of leaving the food supply behind. It’d surely be gone by the time they got back, and they also they had a stable structure to protect them in case more severe weather came through. He couldn’t put Ty through it. He couldn’t let anything else happen to his son.
    “I’m gonna climb up there real quick and see if I can call her, Ty. Drink your water. All of it.”
    At ground level, he felt the emotions bubble up. His worry for Cecilia had been constant on his mind, but this was the first time he felt on the verge of losing his cool. Warmth escaped the corners of his eyes, and the moisture trailed down his cheeks. Swiping the tears with the back of his hand, he paced near the pile of rope he had constructed.
    Dialing his wife’s number, there was no response. It ate away about two percent of his battery, so he quickly shut it off. It was a dead end, but he had to try, especially since Ty had requested it. Sliding to the ground, Ryan hugged his knees to his chest and looked up at the sky. How in the hell could this have happened? How come no one was coming to help? Texas was a huge state. Where was Red Cross and FEMA? It was like they were shut off from the entire world.
    He didn’t know what he was going to do. He had to find Cecilia, but he also had to protect his son. Someone had to come for them soon. Maybe Cecilia was safe at a hospital or at a shelter in town and they’d be reunited soon. It was Ryan’s desperate attempt to be