Andy

I opened my eyes to the dreary dark light of the car dashboard, everything was illuminated in a soft shade of mint green. We were parked, and as my eyes adjusted and I got my berrings, I sat up straighter to see where we were.

Confused at first, my mind struggled to slowly assemble the pieces of what was in front of me.

Not but maybe fifteen feet from the front of the car, the headlights illuminated the Hampton bridge that cut through the busy side of Pendant. Except, it was different.

As the fog drifted away and I finally understood what was in front of me, I gasped.

There was long chunks of rebar and steel beams, twisted awkwardly into the air like the lashing tentacles of an octopus. There was pieces of wood and steel drifting in the angry wind and heavy downpour.

“Sweet Jesus.” My Dad mumbled to himself, gripping the wheel with white knuckles, staring at the mutilated bridge.

“What happened to it?” I whispered, gently gripping the headrest of my Dad’s chair to lean forward a bit.

“Hard to say,” He replied in shock, “Lightning? Water pressure?...”

The asphalt road we sat on went on for another five feet, before it transitioned to heavy wood beams on the bridge, which after fifteen feet, sharply sloped downwards, leaving a shower of jagged metal to stick out of the overflowing river below.

Dad pushed open his door and climbed out, taking the flashlight from the glove compartment, flipping it on. I pushed open mine, too, and followed him out. I hesitated a few steps behind him, my hand lingering on the rain drenched car door. The downpour was heavy, cold and sticky, leaving my hair matted to my skin in a matter of seconds.

Slowly, I walked behind my Dad towards the edge of the bridge. He cast the golden beam of light down below, and his jaw fell open. Not even six inches below where the bridge had collapsed, I could see the murky brown glow of the water immediately beneath.

My heart sank to my stomach and my anxiety skyrocketed. The beam of light shivered along the river, and we saw what took out the bridge.

A massive pile of tangled, pulverized treetrunks were wedged up under the bridge. The water had gotten too high, and the debris built up. I felt sick looking at the damage, made all the more disturbing in the quiet dark, under the eery glow of the flashlight.

“It doesn’t look like the City has been informed of this yet, there’s no road blocks or signs.” My Mom said, shaking her head slowly. I looked over at her, raindrops falling from my lashes. I was terrified, and I could tell they were, too.

The headlights bounced bright light off the moisture drenched metal, giving it an eery metallic glow in the dark, like when you come upon a fresh car accident, and you can’t feel anything aside from the complete and utter dread of what you might find.

“I’ll call it in.” She sighed, turning back towards the car. Me and my Dad remained frozen at the edge of the bridge, staring in the deadly rapids below. I finally shook the daze when a chilled shiver ravaged my body. I shook, and reached for my Dad’s arm.

“Dad, come on.” I said through chattering teeth. He remained motionless for a few more long, quiet moments before turning slowly, placing a hand on my back, and guiding us back to the car.

We were all drenched, but too scared to care. This was easily the worst storm we’d ever encountered. In all my life, storms tended to avoid Pendant, as though it were too small to bother with, so we always got off easy. I guess now we were facing the ultimate wrath of the Gods.

We got back in, and Mom was on the phone. We all seemed to be caught up in our own strange haze. Instead of pulling out, and attempting to find another route, my Dad remained parked, with the windshield wipers trying desperately to wipe the glass clean of the quickly accumilating raindrops. His face was void of emotion, like he’d just been punched in the stomach. I don’t think he realized how bad it’d be. None of us did.

I got out my cellphone and immediately selected CC’s name from my contact list, quickly sending him a text.

-Did you know Hampton Bridge is out?

I sat there fidgeting nervously while Mom worked her way through a series of receptionists to get someone to talk to about the problem. Dad still hadn’t moved, he just stared at the mess. A few minutes later, my phone dinged with a new message.

- That ungodly thing in the middle of town?
-Yeah.
- Shit... No, I didn’t. Where are you?
- Sitting right here in front of it. It’s a damn mess.
- Fuck. Can you get home?
- I don’t know. I’ll update you.
- Let me know if you need a place to stay. I have an apartment on mainstreet on the unspeakable side of town.

If it were any other time that CC was making a joke about the forbidden side of town, I would have laughed. It only got stuck in my throat and filled me with guilt.

I looked over at Andy and Ashley, both of them were asleep. Ashley had his face pressed against the glass of the window, and Andy’s head was on his shoulder.

Dad finally blinked, shook his head and sighed loudly. “What do you want to do? Try the other bridge?”

Mom was still on the phone, waiting to the sound of elevator music. She nodded, “Might as well.”

We all stared at the mangled bridge for a few more moments before he put the car in reverse and backed out, headed back into the other half of town to make our way towards the bridge at the opposite end of the river.

Andy and Ashley were awake now, looking tired and confused. They quickly got caught up when they got a glimpse of the bridge, and my Mom’s concerned phonecall. Pendant’s Sheriff’s department is a messy maze of receptionists and being put on hold. Calling in the middle of a shitstorm like this only made the process of getting through much worse.

It took us seven minutes of backtracking through some mildly flooded streets to get to the overpass two miles south. Luckily, this bridge went much high over the water, so it hadn’t risen nearly as much here.

I felt an unbelieveable level of relief when we crossed that bridge to the otherside. To my side. To my hometown. All the familiar places rushed by, but it wasn’t the same as any other night in the town. The streets were full to the sidewalk’s edge with rainwater, and some of the street lights weren’t on, leading me to believe there were some power problems, too.

“Damn...” Ashley muttered to himself, shaking his head. “I leave for a few years and this place wastes zero time going to shit.”

I looked out the blurry glass of the window, as we turn off of Mainstreet and stop at a useless, flickering stop light. The intersection is empty and there’s no one vehicles in sight. All the ones I saw were up the hill from Mainstreet.

We enter the neighborhoods, and my heart sinks further. Yards are strewn with trash carries on the water, and there’s mud smeared on porches. The place could easily pass for a swamp.

I tightly held onto Andy’s hand, and he squeezed back anxiously. We looked out the windows, both disheartened by what we saw.

We turned onto my street, headed for the large white house on the end. Part of me was excited to be home, and part of me was too scared to see what it looked like. The dread was eating me alive.

Dad pulled into the driveway, flashing the house in bright light. I stared at it, into it’s dead, black windows, breathing in relief. Not too worse for wear, it was still standing. The lawn was sopping wet, and there were ribbon trails of water running down the driveway, but other than that, it was still amazing. It was still my safe haven.

I climbed out quickly before my Dad even turned off the ignition, and I ran to the trunk to collect my things, the downpour soaking through any spots it missed before.

Mom went to the front door to unlock it, and me and Dad got most of the luggage in one go. I darted into the foyer and dropped everything, as Dad flipped on the chandelier light above. I stared up in wonder, taking in the details of my home, longingly smiling as I looked around.

Then with a loud pop, the room went dark.

Notes

dun dun dunnn