A/N: This fic is being written for RocketScientist, who requested something along these lines. The basic outline of this story belongs to RocketScientist! Also, although I will be going out of town for an entire week, and won't be able to update until I return, I hope that everyone enjoys this first installment of The Storm!
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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Rating T (because man, can this one kid swear)
Title: The Storm
Summary: A raging storm, four trapped children, and an exploding vehicle. Will Grissom be able to save the day?
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Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
“‘Goodbye, Norma Jean, though I never knew you at all, you had the grace to hold yourself, while those around you crawled,’” the sweet melodies of Elton John played on the radio, as the green Saturn’s four young occupants kept nervously glancing out of the window at the storm raging around their tiny vehicle.
“I don’t like this, Bobby,” four year old Katie whispered to her seventeen year old brother. “I don’t like the boomers and the lights,” she sniffled, clutching Mr. Peanut, her stuffed bear, tightly to her chest. “Mr. Peanut said that he’s scared, too, and he wants to go home!” she mumbled, scrunching further down in one of the two back seats, and trying to protect her ears against the loud noises piercing the air every few moments.
“Don’t be such a wuss,” Jake, her thirteen year old brother, laughed at her from his place in the front passenger seat. “It’s just a little rain,” he pointed out, as a sudden flash of lightning lit up the two-lane road, giving the four youngsters a glimpse of some of the trees that had already been struck down by the storm.
“Bobby,” fifteen year old Lucy uneasily spoke up from her place beside Katie. “Maybe you should just pull over until the storm passes? It’s not… it’s not exactly safe out here.”
“It’s not safe?” Katie again sniffled, slipping her hand into her older sister’s palm. “It’s not safe?” she repeated, holding Mr. Peanut even more tightly and securely against her body.
“It’s fine,” Bobby mumbled to his sister, as he turned the windshield wipers up to the fastest possible speed, frowning, when they still could not handle the volume of rain pelting the windows. “We’ll be home in a couple of hours, and sleeping in our own beds.”
“Unless we drive off the road first,” Jake chuckled, twisting around in his seat to observe Katie’s terrified expression.
“I don’t wanna die!” Katie wailed, as the tears instantly started to slide down her cheeks. “I wanna go home! I don’t wanna drive off of the road! Bobby, I don’t wanna go off of the road!”
“JAKE!” Lucy yelled at her brother. “Why’d you have to do that?”
Because she’s a brat, and I’m tired of listening to her whine? He thought to himself with a sigh, settling back in his seat, and staring out of his window. “I don’t know,” he mumbled aloud. “But she’s being a little shit-head.”
“I am not!” Katie cried even harder. “And Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t like you calling me a bad name!” she added, burying her head in her sister’s lap.
“Would all of you fucking stop swearing and yelling?” Bobby screamed at his siblings, his eyes plastered to the road in front of him. “Jesus-fucking-Christ! Just shut the hell up, both of you! I need to concentrate!”
Katie, surprised at her brother’s outburst, looked up at her sister, the tears still sliding down her cheeks. “Bobby’s mad at me,” she whispered, before once again burying her head in her sister’s lap.
Lucy swallowed, the color instantly draining from her face. Bobby was usually the calm one out of the four, and he rarely swore. It took a lot for him to get upset, which led Lucy to believe that he was terrified of what was going on around them. “Bobby, just pull over,” she quietly ordered him, gently running her fingers through Katie’s hair.
“No! We told Mom and Dad that we would be home by dinner, and we’re going to be home by dinner!”
“Unless we crash,” Jake again pointed out, turning around to grin at his little sister. “But let’s just say that we did crash. At least we wouldn’t be alone,” he softly said, still looking at Katie.
“Ri-right,” she sniffled. “We’d all be together.”
“With the boogeyman. The boogeyman comes out at night!” he chuckled.
“Lucy?” Katie sniffled, her lower lip quivering, as she stuck her thumb back into her mouth, sucking on it.
“He’s just joking, Katie, it’s okay,” Lucy softly told her, glaring at her brother. “Knock it off,” she mouthed to him.
Jake just shrugged, before turning around in his seat. Bitch.
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Two-Cents Diner, Nevada
“It’s pretty bad out here, Catherine,” Grissom sighed, his cell phone clutched tightly in one hand. Staring out of the diner’s front main window, he frowned. “The storm just keeps on coming and coming; it has to stop eventually, I realize that, but I really need to get back home.”
“Why?” Catherine asked him, sitting in her office, and staring at the Carter case file. “Wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry?”
“Of course,” he replied. “But I’ve already been gone for a week, and I need to be home in order to—”
“Gil, Sara is already feeding your—” she paused for a moment, scrunching up her nose. “Your insects. They’ll be fine; just trust her!”
“I do trust her,” Grissom tried again. “But I have work to do at the lab.”
“The work can wait,” Catherine pointed out. “If the weather is bad, you need to stay indoors. Are you listening to me, Gil?” she prompted him.
“Yes, Catherine, I’m listening to you,” he replied, already standing up from his booth, and moving toward the door.
“So are you going to stay inside, until the storm lets up?”
“Of course I am.”
“Inside of a building? Or inside of your car?”
“My car,” Grissom admitted, clearing his throat. “I’ll see you in around five hours.”
“Just be careful,” Catherine sighed. “And call me if you need anything.”
Grissom simply nodded, saying his goodbyes, before slamming his phone shut with a definitive thud. Glancing down at the phone in annoyance, he immediately deposited it into his pocket, before pushing open the diner’s door, and rushing out to the Denali. “It can’t keep up!” he mumbled aloud, climbing into the vehicle, and locking the door behind him. “It really can’t.”
Scanning the back of the Denali for a brief moment, Grissom nodded in satisfaction, convinced that all of his lecture materials were still safe and unharmed. Although he realized that he was currently in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a violent thunder storm, he also realized that he was carrying valuable equipment—equipment that he did not want to have to replace.
With one more sigh, Grissom pulled out of the parking lot, raising his eyebrows as the rain started to diminish. “See? It can’t last forever,” he reassured himself, as he continued his journey back home.
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Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
“See, Katie? The storm is starting to go away,” Bobby pointed out with relief, as he glanced at his little sister through the rearview mirror.
“I don’t wanna talk to you, Bobby!” the little four-year old girl angrily told him, closing her eyes, and sticking her thumb back into her mouth. “Mr. Peanut said that you swore, and that you were bad boy!”
“Katie,” Lucy sighed, wrapping her arms around her sister. “He was just nervous, okay? That was some scary rain.”
“I don’t care!” Katie persisted. “Mommy said that it’s bad to swear!”
Bobby bit his lip, trying to control his frustration. “I’m sorry, Katie,” he calmly told his sister. “And I’m sorry, Mr. Peanut,” he added after a moment’s hesitation.
“Well, I’m not,” Jake muttered from the front seat. “You’re still a baby, and babies are stupid.”
“Jake,” Bobby warned, turning his head for a split second to warn his brother to stop teasing their sister.
“LOOK OUT!” Lucy suddenly yelled from the backseat, her eyes widening at the sight of a fallen tree blocking the entire width of their lane. “BOBBY, LOOK OUT!”
Bobby immediately slammed his foot on the breaks, holding back a scream, as the car’s tires tried to find traction on the wet pavement. His eyes wide, and his fingers gripping the steering wheel for dear life, he let out a sigh of relief, as the car stopped just short of the fallen tree. “We’re okay!” he announced to his three siblings, trying to calm his racing heart. “Really, we’re okay!”
“You almost got us killed!” Jake shouted at his older brother. “Would you keep your damn eyes on the road? Unless you plan on stopping until the rain has completely stopped, you need to be more careful, or we’re all going to die!”
“I don’t wanna die!” Katie started to wail again, instantly shoving her thumb back into her mouth, with Mr. Peanut clutched tightly in the crook of her arm. “I don’t wanna die, Bobby!”
“Calm down, Katie,” Bobby sighed. “We’re not going to die,” he added, as he very carefully released the car’s break, driving them around the fallen tree. “We’re going to be just fine,” he muttered, glancing out the window at the rain that just would not stop.
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Gorge Road, nearing Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
“Me, again,” Grissom said into his phone. “The rain had slowed down for a little bit, Catherine, but it’s coming back harder than ever,” he informed her.
“Then would you just pull over?” she asked, rubbing her forehead. “We would rather have you back later than expected, rather than never at all!”
“I don’t want to pull over,” Grissom stubbornly told her. “I’ll be fine, except—” he trailed off.
“Except what, Gil?”
“Except for the fact that there are fallen trees all over the road, and I’m having a difficult time seeing through the rain.”
“Would you just pull over?” she repeated her advice again. “You’re being silly!”
“I promise to pull over if it gets any worse,” Grissom calmly assured her. “And just so you know, I’m about to turn onto Mountain Pass Road. I probably won’t be able to use my cell phone for a little while.”
“Fine,” Catherine sighed. “Just be careful, understand? We want you back in one piece.”
“I understand,” Grissom chuckled. “And I’ll be fine,” he told her, once again cutting the connection.
Gripping the steering wheel tightly in both hands, Grissom frowned, as the rain once again began to pelt his windshield. “I can’t see a thing,” he mumbled, as the windshield wipers worked tirelessly to rid his window of rain. Slowing down to a mere crawl, and putting his four-way flashers on, Grissom prepared himself for one difficult drive. “Perhaps I should pull over,” he sighed, flicking the radio on for company. “But not right now; maybe a little bit later. I want to get home.”
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Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
We’re going to be just fine, Jake inwardly mocked his brother. Right; that’s what Mom said, just before Dad left us. Before Dad left me, he corrected himself. Bastard; I hope he rots in hell.
“Bobby, are you doing okay?” Lucy hesitantly asked her brother, her fingers still gently running through Katie’s hair.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled under his breath, frowning, as the rain just continued to pound against the Saturn’s walls and roof. Jumping as a flash of lightning lit up the night sky, he blinked, glancing through the rearview mirror at his two sisters. “Are you two okay back there?”
“I am,” Lucy told him.
“Me, too,” Katie yawned. “But Mr. Peanut doesn’t like the boomers or the lightning,” she added, jumping, as another loud thunder clap seemed to crash just above their heads.
“Well, you just hold on tightly to Mr. Peanut, okay?” Bobby told her, once again looking at her through the rearview mirror. “And Lucy will hold onto you, and I’ll just drive.”
“‘Kay,” Katie cautiously agreed, putting her head back down on Lucy’s lap. “You’re okay, Mr. Peanut; I promise. Love you!” she told her bear, closing her eyes.
“Shit,” Bobby muttered under his breath, his eyes once again glued to the road. “Of all of the nights for a flash flood, why now? And why on a curvy road?”
“You do know that the road can’t talk back, right?” Jake asked his brother, raising an amused eyebrow.
“Yes, Einstein,” Bobby retorted. “But shush; I’m concentrating.”
“Concentrating my ass!” Jake goaded his brother, staring at him across the center console.
“Would you please watch your mouth in front of Katie?” Bobby frowned, taking his eyes off of the road for a brief moment, in order to glare at Jake.
“Whatever,” Jake shrugged, turning away from his older brother, and resting his head on the window.
“I know that you’re upset with Dad,” Bobby hesitantly continued, his eyes still on the road. “But you need to find some way of dealing with the pain.”
“No shit, Sherlock, but I’m fine. Just drive, okay?” he hissed at his older brother, starting to close his eyes.
“No, you’re not,” Bobby sighed. “But I’ll drop it, for now.”
All of a sudden, before anyone could say or do anything else, the rain began to come down even harder, and even faster, completely obstructing Bobby’s view of the road. Scared, and a little bit unsure of what to do, he immediately slammed on the car’s breaks, once again causing the wheels to lock into place.
“What’s going on?” Lucy screamed in terror from the backseat, as her body instantly lurched forward.
“I want my Mommy!” Katie shouted, sitting up, and clutching Lucy’s shirt sleeve as if it would rescue her from everything. “Mommy!” she repeated, trying to hold onto Mr. Peanut so that he would remain safe.
I don’t want to die like this! Jake anxiously thought to himself, as tried to ignore what was taking place around him. I don’t want to die! God, please help us not die! I’m sorry, I take it all back!
“Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit!” Bobby chanted, as he held onto the steering wheel, attempting to stop the car from sliding any further. Rather than coming to a complete stop, however, the Saturn fish-tailed, spun out of control, and rammed into a tree that just happened to be covering both lanes of the road. Bouncing off the tree, the little car then did another complete turn, before slowly sliding off of the road, and down a fifty foot embankment. Within moments, the sound of an engine on fire could be heard.
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Further on down Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
Grissom once again rubbed the back of his neck, before returning his grip to the steering wheel. “I’m just going to pull over,” he finally muttered. “This is ridiculous.” Moving to the side of the road, he hit the button for his four-way flashers, sighing in frustration as he stared out his front window. “I just want to get home to Sara,” he bitterly fumed aloud. “I miss her.”
Swallowing, and once again glancing out of the front window, Grissom shrugged, as he turned his car on, and pulled out onto the road. “I want to go home, and I want to go home now. It’ll be fine; I’ll just go slowly.”
But twenty minutes later, it became clear to Grissom that everything was not okay. He was at a stand-still, with a large tree blocking the road ahead of him. “And glass? Is that glass strewn about the pavement?” he mused, as lightning lit up the sky, reflecting off of something shiny. “But… why is there glass here?”
Slowly getting out of his car to investigate, Grissom jumped, as he heard a popping noise coming from somewhere to his left. “Was that an explosion?” he muttered, carefully making his way to the edge of the embankment, wiping the rain out of his eyes. “What’s going on here?” Anxiously glancing over the edge, Grissom’s eyes widened in alarm, as he observed an upside down car, with steam coming out of the engine.
“HELP!” a young voice called out. “PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP ME!”
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TO BE CONTINUED
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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Rating T (because man, can this one kid swear)
Title: The Storm
Summary: A raging storm, four trapped children, and an exploding vehicle. Will Grissom be able to save the day?
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Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
“‘Goodbye, Norma Jean, though I never knew you at all, you had the grace to hold yourself, while those around you crawled,’” the sweet melodies of Elton John played on the radio, as the green Saturn’s four young occupants kept nervously glancing out of the window at the storm raging around their tiny vehicle.
“I don’t like this, Bobby,” four year old Katie whispered to her seventeen year old brother. “I don’t like the boomers and the lights,” she sniffled, clutching Mr. Peanut, her stuffed bear, tightly to her chest. “Mr. Peanut said that he’s scared, too, and he wants to go home!” she mumbled, scrunching further down in one of the two back seats, and trying to protect her ears against the loud noises piercing the air every few moments.
“Don’t be such a wuss,” Jake, her thirteen year old brother, laughed at her from his place in the front passenger seat. “It’s just a little rain,” he pointed out, as a sudden flash of lightning lit up the two-lane road, giving the four youngsters a glimpse of some of the trees that had already been struck down by the storm.
“Bobby,” fifteen year old Lucy uneasily spoke up from her place beside Katie. “Maybe you should just pull over until the storm passes? It’s not… it’s not exactly safe out here.”
“It’s not safe?” Katie again sniffled, slipping her hand into her older sister’s palm. “It’s not safe?” she repeated, holding Mr. Peanut even more tightly and securely against her body.
“It’s fine,” Bobby mumbled to his sister, as he turned the windshield wipers up to the fastest possible speed, frowning, when they still could not handle the volume of rain pelting the windows. “We’ll be home in a couple of hours, and sleeping in our own beds.”
“Unless we drive off the road first,” Jake chuckled, twisting around in his seat to observe Katie’s terrified expression.
“I don’t wanna die!” Katie wailed, as the tears instantly started to slide down her cheeks. “I wanna go home! I don’t wanna drive off of the road! Bobby, I don’t wanna go off of the road!”
“JAKE!” Lucy yelled at her brother. “Why’d you have to do that?”
Because she’s a brat, and I’m tired of listening to her whine? He thought to himself with a sigh, settling back in his seat, and staring out of his window. “I don’t know,” he mumbled aloud. “But she’s being a little shit-head.”
“I am not!” Katie cried even harder. “And Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t like you calling me a bad name!” she added, burying her head in her sister’s lap.
“Would all of you fucking stop swearing and yelling?” Bobby screamed at his siblings, his eyes plastered to the road in front of him. “Jesus-fucking-Christ! Just shut the hell up, both of you! I need to concentrate!”
Katie, surprised at her brother’s outburst, looked up at her sister, the tears still sliding down her cheeks. “Bobby’s mad at me,” she whispered, before once again burying her head in her sister’s lap.
Lucy swallowed, the color instantly draining from her face. Bobby was usually the calm one out of the four, and he rarely swore. It took a lot for him to get upset, which led Lucy to believe that he was terrified of what was going on around them. “Bobby, just pull over,” she quietly ordered him, gently running her fingers through Katie’s hair.
“No! We told Mom and Dad that we would be home by dinner, and we’re going to be home by dinner!”
“Unless we crash,” Jake again pointed out, turning around to grin at his little sister. “But let’s just say that we did crash. At least we wouldn’t be alone,” he softly said, still looking at Katie.
“Ri-right,” she sniffled. “We’d all be together.”
“With the boogeyman. The boogeyman comes out at night!” he chuckled.
“Lucy?” Katie sniffled, her lower lip quivering, as she stuck her thumb back into her mouth, sucking on it.
“He’s just joking, Katie, it’s okay,” Lucy softly told her, glaring at her brother. “Knock it off,” she mouthed to him.
Jake just shrugged, before turning around in his seat. Bitch.
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Two-Cents Diner, Nevada
“It’s pretty bad out here, Catherine,” Grissom sighed, his cell phone clutched tightly in one hand. Staring out of the diner’s front main window, he frowned. “The storm just keeps on coming and coming; it has to stop eventually, I realize that, but I really need to get back home.”
“Why?” Catherine asked him, sitting in her office, and staring at the Carter case file. “Wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry?”
“Of course,” he replied. “But I’ve already been gone for a week, and I need to be home in order to—”
“Gil, Sara is already feeding your—” she paused for a moment, scrunching up her nose. “Your insects. They’ll be fine; just trust her!”
“I do trust her,” Grissom tried again. “But I have work to do at the lab.”
“The work can wait,” Catherine pointed out. “If the weather is bad, you need to stay indoors. Are you listening to me, Gil?” she prompted him.
“Yes, Catherine, I’m listening to you,” he replied, already standing up from his booth, and moving toward the door.
“So are you going to stay inside, until the storm lets up?”
“Of course I am.”
“Inside of a building? Or inside of your car?”
“My car,” Grissom admitted, clearing his throat. “I’ll see you in around five hours.”
“Just be careful,” Catherine sighed. “And call me if you need anything.”
Grissom simply nodded, saying his goodbyes, before slamming his phone shut with a definitive thud. Glancing down at the phone in annoyance, he immediately deposited it into his pocket, before pushing open the diner’s door, and rushing out to the Denali. “It can’t keep up!” he mumbled aloud, climbing into the vehicle, and locking the door behind him. “It really can’t.”
Scanning the back of the Denali for a brief moment, Grissom nodded in satisfaction, convinced that all of his lecture materials were still safe and unharmed. Although he realized that he was currently in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a violent thunder storm, he also realized that he was carrying valuable equipment—equipment that he did not want to have to replace.
With one more sigh, Grissom pulled out of the parking lot, raising his eyebrows as the rain started to diminish. “See? It can’t last forever,” he reassured himself, as he continued his journey back home.
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Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
“See, Katie? The storm is starting to go away,” Bobby pointed out with relief, as he glanced at his little sister through the rearview mirror.
“I don’t wanna talk to you, Bobby!” the little four-year old girl angrily told him, closing her eyes, and sticking her thumb back into her mouth. “Mr. Peanut said that you swore, and that you were bad boy!”
“Katie,” Lucy sighed, wrapping her arms around her sister. “He was just nervous, okay? That was some scary rain.”
“I don’t care!” Katie persisted. “Mommy said that it’s bad to swear!”
Bobby bit his lip, trying to control his frustration. “I’m sorry, Katie,” he calmly told his sister. “And I’m sorry, Mr. Peanut,” he added after a moment’s hesitation.
“Well, I’m not,” Jake muttered from the front seat. “You’re still a baby, and babies are stupid.”
“Jake,” Bobby warned, turning his head for a split second to warn his brother to stop teasing their sister.
“LOOK OUT!” Lucy suddenly yelled from the backseat, her eyes widening at the sight of a fallen tree blocking the entire width of their lane. “BOBBY, LOOK OUT!”
Bobby immediately slammed his foot on the breaks, holding back a scream, as the car’s tires tried to find traction on the wet pavement. His eyes wide, and his fingers gripping the steering wheel for dear life, he let out a sigh of relief, as the car stopped just short of the fallen tree. “We’re okay!” he announced to his three siblings, trying to calm his racing heart. “Really, we’re okay!”
“You almost got us killed!” Jake shouted at his older brother. “Would you keep your damn eyes on the road? Unless you plan on stopping until the rain has completely stopped, you need to be more careful, or we’re all going to die!”
“I don’t wanna die!” Katie started to wail again, instantly shoving her thumb back into her mouth, with Mr. Peanut clutched tightly in the crook of her arm. “I don’t wanna die, Bobby!”
“Calm down, Katie,” Bobby sighed. “We’re not going to die,” he added, as he very carefully released the car’s break, driving them around the fallen tree. “We’re going to be just fine,” he muttered, glancing out the window at the rain that just would not stop.
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Gorge Road, nearing Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
“Me, again,” Grissom said into his phone. “The rain had slowed down for a little bit, Catherine, but it’s coming back harder than ever,” he informed her.
“Then would you just pull over?” she asked, rubbing her forehead. “We would rather have you back later than expected, rather than never at all!”
“I don’t want to pull over,” Grissom stubbornly told her. “I’ll be fine, except—” he trailed off.
“Except what, Gil?”
“Except for the fact that there are fallen trees all over the road, and I’m having a difficult time seeing through the rain.”
“Would you just pull over?” she repeated her advice again. “You’re being silly!”
“I promise to pull over if it gets any worse,” Grissom calmly assured her. “And just so you know, I’m about to turn onto Mountain Pass Road. I probably won’t be able to use my cell phone for a little while.”
“Fine,” Catherine sighed. “Just be careful, understand? We want you back in one piece.”
“I understand,” Grissom chuckled. “And I’ll be fine,” he told her, once again cutting the connection.
Gripping the steering wheel tightly in both hands, Grissom frowned, as the rain once again began to pelt his windshield. “I can’t see a thing,” he mumbled, as the windshield wipers worked tirelessly to rid his window of rain. Slowing down to a mere crawl, and putting his four-way flashers on, Grissom prepared himself for one difficult drive. “Perhaps I should pull over,” he sighed, flicking the radio on for company. “But not right now; maybe a little bit later. I want to get home.”
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Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
We’re going to be just fine, Jake inwardly mocked his brother. Right; that’s what Mom said, just before Dad left us. Before Dad left me, he corrected himself. Bastard; I hope he rots in hell.
“Bobby, are you doing okay?” Lucy hesitantly asked her brother, her fingers still gently running through Katie’s hair.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled under his breath, frowning, as the rain just continued to pound against the Saturn’s walls and roof. Jumping as a flash of lightning lit up the night sky, he blinked, glancing through the rearview mirror at his two sisters. “Are you two okay back there?”
“I am,” Lucy told him.
“Me, too,” Katie yawned. “But Mr. Peanut doesn’t like the boomers or the lightning,” she added, jumping, as another loud thunder clap seemed to crash just above their heads.
“Well, you just hold on tightly to Mr. Peanut, okay?” Bobby told her, once again looking at her through the rearview mirror. “And Lucy will hold onto you, and I’ll just drive.”
“‘Kay,” Katie cautiously agreed, putting her head back down on Lucy’s lap. “You’re okay, Mr. Peanut; I promise. Love you!” she told her bear, closing her eyes.
“Shit,” Bobby muttered under his breath, his eyes once again glued to the road. “Of all of the nights for a flash flood, why now? And why on a curvy road?”
“You do know that the road can’t talk back, right?” Jake asked his brother, raising an amused eyebrow.
“Yes, Einstein,” Bobby retorted. “But shush; I’m concentrating.”
“Concentrating my ass!” Jake goaded his brother, staring at him across the center console.
“Would you please watch your mouth in front of Katie?” Bobby frowned, taking his eyes off of the road for a brief moment, in order to glare at Jake.
“Whatever,” Jake shrugged, turning away from his older brother, and resting his head on the window.
“I know that you’re upset with Dad,” Bobby hesitantly continued, his eyes still on the road. “But you need to find some way of dealing with the pain.”
“No shit, Sherlock, but I’m fine. Just drive, okay?” he hissed at his older brother, starting to close his eyes.
“No, you’re not,” Bobby sighed. “But I’ll drop it, for now.”
All of a sudden, before anyone could say or do anything else, the rain began to come down even harder, and even faster, completely obstructing Bobby’s view of the road. Scared, and a little bit unsure of what to do, he immediately slammed on the car’s breaks, once again causing the wheels to lock into place.
“What’s going on?” Lucy screamed in terror from the backseat, as her body instantly lurched forward.
“I want my Mommy!” Katie shouted, sitting up, and clutching Lucy’s shirt sleeve as if it would rescue her from everything. “Mommy!” she repeated, trying to hold onto Mr. Peanut so that he would remain safe.
I don’t want to die like this! Jake anxiously thought to himself, as tried to ignore what was taking place around him. I don’t want to die! God, please help us not die! I’m sorry, I take it all back!
“Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit!” Bobby chanted, as he held onto the steering wheel, attempting to stop the car from sliding any further. Rather than coming to a complete stop, however, the Saturn fish-tailed, spun out of control, and rammed into a tree that just happened to be covering both lanes of the road. Bouncing off the tree, the little car then did another complete turn, before slowly sliding off of the road, and down a fifty foot embankment. Within moments, the sound of an engine on fire could be heard.
---------------
Further on down Mountain Pass Road, Nevada
Grissom once again rubbed the back of his neck, before returning his grip to the steering wheel. “I’m just going to pull over,” he finally muttered. “This is ridiculous.” Moving to the side of the road, he hit the button for his four-way flashers, sighing in frustration as he stared out his front window. “I just want to get home to Sara,” he bitterly fumed aloud. “I miss her.”
Swallowing, and once again glancing out of the front window, Grissom shrugged, as he turned his car on, and pulled out onto the road. “I want to go home, and I want to go home now. It’ll be fine; I’ll just go slowly.”
But twenty minutes later, it became clear to Grissom that everything was not okay. He was at a stand-still, with a large tree blocking the road ahead of him. “And glass? Is that glass strewn about the pavement?” he mused, as lightning lit up the sky, reflecting off of something shiny. “But… why is there glass here?”
Slowly getting out of his car to investigate, Grissom jumped, as he heard a popping noise coming from somewhere to his left. “Was that an explosion?” he muttered, carefully making his way to the edge of the embankment, wiping the rain out of his eyes. “What’s going on here?” Anxiously glancing over the edge, Grissom’s eyes widened in alarm, as he observed an upside down car, with steam coming out of the engine.
“HELP!” a young voice called out. “PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP ME!”
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TO BE CONTINUED
