"Look out, folks-the flood of the century is on its way," warned weatherman Bill Reyes through the television. "Please stay safe out there and don't drive anywhere unless you absolutely have to. And if you do, avoid low water crossings!"
Ryan Spencer laughed to himself as he powered off the television. He looked to his right, out a window. It had already begun to pour down rain, and Ryan sat wondering when he was going to get the call. Soon enough, just as he began to daydream in syncopation with the brewing storm, his cell phone rang.
As a volunteer of the town's Flood Readiness Program, Ryan was obliged to drive civilians that were not picked up by busses to the designated flood shelter in a van assigned to him after briefing at headquarters. Knowing the inaccuracy of the bus system and its emergency operations, he knew there was no question he'd be called in.
He reported to headquarters and received information that the entire southern portion of the town was predicted to be underwater in 24 hours. A mandatory evacuation was in order for some five thousand people, and the evacuees were told to report to the high school, where they would then be bussed to a shelter north of town.
The busses had finished what operations they could and some fifteen families were still stranded at the high school. The van drivers, such as Ryan, were each to pick up a family and take them to the shelter. The drivers were then to stay at the shelter with their assigned van to prevent vandalism and also to help the shelter volunteers, if necessary.
Ryan departed the parking lot of the FRP office and began for the high school. The vans were to be used only for emergencies, so they were authorized by the town's government to use siren lights and sounds. He flipped his siren on and drove as quickly as he could at a safe enough speed, dodging straggling vehicles trying to make their way out of town. Gradually, he arrived at the high school.
Some policemen were operating the van traffic, so Ryan watched the one in the orange vest as he guided the van to a stop alongside a fire zone. Another policeman helped a family with the van door as Ryan jumped out to grab their luggage and put it in the back. Of course, being in the rush he was in, he didn't get much of chance to see the family that he'd been placed with, but he did notice that there were not that many of them.
As Ryan struggled back into the driver's seat, a hand from the passenger side reached out to help him, and he did not hesitate at the offer. He looked up to see who the stranger offering a hand was. "Hi! I'm Ted Norman," a man in a blue business shirt and red tie said rather enthusiastically, considering the circumstances. Ted looked to be in his mid forties, but in great shape for his age.
"Ryan Spencer," Ryan returned the greeting as he shook Ted's hand. Ryan thought the man looked to be a little too successful to be in such a situation, but he made nothing of it; only a passing thought.
Ted quickly broke the silence, almost as if it bothered him, "This is my wife Sheilaβ¦" Ted held a lady's hand as he pointed to the middle row of seats, and then squeezed her hand lovingly. "β¦And in the back is my daughter Loren and her friend Dakota. Dakota is visiting us from out of state."
Ryan was quick to react at the opportunity of humor and sarcastically snapped, "Wow! What a vacation! I'll bet you'll never want to leave." He wasn't thinking of the feelings of the family at the time as he was beginning to pull away from the high school loading zone and onto the street. Suddenly he realized that this wasn't a dream or some TV show, but real. He felt very intense from guilt for the next few moments, hoping he hadn't offended the family.
Laughter burst from all parts of the van, however, and the family was thinking the same thing. Ryan quickly sighed in relief. After what seemed to be a good five minutes of driving, random laughter, and pointless conversation, Ryan heard a young voice from the back seat chime in, "So where are you taking us?"
He glanced back through his rear view mirror to see if he could find the girl who said it. He couldn't take his eyes off the road for very long, but he did see two girls that looked to be his age-one a brunette and the other a blonde. His mind wondered a little and thought on how cute they were. But, reality set back in and he focused back on the road. He aimlessly answered the girl's question; "We're going to a shelter a few minutes north of town. It's way up in the hill country, so flooding won't be much of a problem except maybe in the nearby river."
Then, the other young voice spoke, "What do they make you guys do after you've taken us there?"
Ryan answered, "Oh, we stay there. It's unsafe for us to return to town by the time we finish. Basically, we just camp out in our van to prevent any shelter-dwellers from taking off and returning to town. And, once in a while, the shelter people ask for some help."
After some back seat giggling occurred, the rest of the ride was relatively silent as they wound their way up and down the narrow highways of the hills. Finally, they arrived at a log cabin-style civic center, nestled way back in the pine and cedar trees. Sheila, who had been silent for most of the journey, finally asked, "Who the hell puts a civic center out here in the boonies?"
Ryan snickered at her inquiry as he brought the van to a stop in a clearing. It was far from most of the other vans, but Ryan was a nature boy and tried to get away from civilization whenever he noticed a chance. "Okay," he announced, "before y'all start wondering around and getting to know this place, I've been instructed to direct some procedures to y'all. It's going to be complete mayhem in there, so you'll have to figure out how to sleep through it. There's going to be a lot of depressed people as well, so if you need a break from them, come outside for a while. They allow free roaming of the entire property until lights out, which is at 11 pm. If you want to swim, you can swim in the river, which is the western border of the property here. Now, when you go in those doors, you'll see a booth with volunteers and papers. That's where y'all sign in. They will be more specific with everything I just told you and some other things, so basically, that's all I know. Also, if you need to purchase something that they do not have inside, you can ask me to go get it in Cornersville for you; it's just up the road. I'm also here if you want to talk to someone. By the way, don't go bragging that information to everyone. That's only because I like you folks. Now, are there any questions?"
"How long do you think this will be for?" Ted solemnly asked.
"Ted," Ryan uttered, "I'll be honest with you. I really don't know. It all matters on what happens to the town and how much rain falls. I'd say with some luck that y'all could get out of here as early as tomorrow, but dodging a bullet weather-wise isn't very common."
"Yeah, that's what I figured too," Ted said as he shook his head in disbelief. Then, Ted's spirits seemed to return to him as he perked up from his sadness and said, "Well, we're just gonna enjoy the country life while we're here then."
"That's the spirit!" Ryan rallied. Afterwards, the entire family seemed to jump out of the van simultaneously, as if in equally high spirits. Ryan jumped out and helped Ted carry luggage in. It was finally time that Ryan got a view of what he'd been anticipating on his backburner-a view of the girls. As they walked ahead of him, he couldn't see their fronts, but he could see their backs.