Dimensional Travels: Chapter 128: The turn of Tides

Chapter 128: The turn of Tides

Eric and Mia sat at their desks in their office at Hood Hill. He sighed, looking out the window at the clouds building in the distance. "It will hit any day now." He grumbled, his eyes tracing the golden lightning flickering in the distance. Over the past few days, they had been getting brief showers of mana and rain, but so far, those did not affect anyone caught in them.

"Didn’t Milano say he would order a ’shelter in place’ today?" Mia said. She closed her laptop and stretched her back, yawning.

Eric nodded. "Yeah. In this morning’s brief, he told

that President Nieto, the Mayor of Austin, the Dragon King, and Remory have already told their citizens to shelter in place. We don’t have that luxury right now because we are still moving people."

Mia groaned. "Can we just have one day where nothing crazy happens?" She said, looking out the window.

Eric laughed, hugging her from behind.

"Yesterday was sane compared to what happened at Freedom town."

Mia shook her head. "Sure. If you call a mountain popping up in the middle of the highway ’sane’."

Justin walked in. He saw Eric hugging Mia from behind and turned around to walk out. Eric smirked. "Co back here. What’s up?"

Justin walked back in. "We have the newest satellite imagery of the storm. The best that the teorologists in Austin can estimate is that it will be here tomorrow or the next day."

Eric let go of Mia and took the folder. He sifted through the reports and paused on the last page. "That’s crazy. It looks like a hurricane." He murmured, giving the papers to Mia.

"What’s a hurricane?" She said while browsing through the docunts. Her fingers traced through the data before setting them down. "I don’t know what these numbers an."

Eric laughed. "Yeah. Neither do I. Barotric pressure? Shear? CAPE? Out of my area of expertise. What I do know is that it looks like this."

He pulled up images from past hurricanes on his laptop. "That is a hurricane. They almost look the sa."

"Okay, so we have a hurricane coming for us." Justin said as he folded his arms. "What do we do when it hits?"

"We stay in our hos until it passes. It seems to be moving pretty fast, it started over in Brishan City and hit Dresken within three days. It will hit Esponia by tonight, and then make it out to sea within two to three days."

Justin sighed, and Erica walked in. "Eric, Mia? General Milano told

to tell you they will have a staff sync at 1600."

Eric nodded. "Alright. I want you two to go down to Freedom Town. Talk to Kar and tell him I sent you. Ask him if anything else needs to be done before the storm hits. Justin, whatever he says, do. If the guys give you any pushback, tell them I said to follow your orders."

Justin nodded. He took Erica’s hand and the two left.

Eric turned to Mia. "Well, it looks like we will be getting a staycation."

She glared at him. "Just like how we always wanted."

Back at Freedom Town, Justin and Erica approached Kar.

"Go take one box of MRE’s to the Mcfaren family." Kar said, handing the box to a soldier from Echo. "They are the third house on Second Street behind the new store."

He noticed Erica and Justin walk up.

"Eric sent us sir. He told us to ask you if you need any help."

Kar rubbed his beard, looking around. "We have everything handled for the most part. If anything, I only need to make sure the last of the evacuees make it here safely. We already have rooms set aside at the hotel for them."

Justin nodded. "The next convoy is due to arrive in two hours. Erica and I will take care of it."

Kar looked down at Justin, smiling. "Thank you. I trust that you can handle it. Make sure to make a proper log of who goes where. We already have spreadsheets for what rooms are available."

Justin and Erica left, taking the clipboard with them. Kar watched the young couple leave and chuckled. "You really found a good soldier, Eric."

Dark clouds began to move in from the north, and Kar looked up, his arms folded. "Its moving faster than expected." He grumbled. He looked around, seeing that the townspeople were oblivious. "Everyone get inside!" He yelled, using mana to amplify his voice. "I don’t care if you have to jump into a strangers house! Get inside sowhere!"

Justin heard Kar’s yelling and looked up. The storm clouds bubbled higher into the sky with every second. His eyes widened. "I’ve seen this before. It happens when bad storms get stronger."

He looked around, noticing people scrambling for shelter. Erica turned towards him. "The evacuees are still out there. We need to radio the LMTV’s."

Justin nodded and Erica ran to Kar. "Sir, the evacuees are still out there. They are too far out to make it to shelter, but what if they used the canvas from the LMTV and the forest canopy?"

Kar rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowing on the clouds rely a few miles away. "Yes. Radio it in. And call Hood Hill. Tell them the storm is closer than we thought. They need to begin the shelter in place now."

"Roger."

Before Justin could move, Kar grabbed his arm. "You get to shelter too. Go ho after radioing the convoy."

"But-"

"Do as I say, kid. This is not sothing to ss around with." Kar growled. "Now go."

The town beca a flurry of activity as the storm clouds neared. n and won grabbed their children and ran into stores, families separated by re feet as they ran into the nearest shelters they could find. Kar felt a drop, and looked around. Families were still trying to find shelter. "God dammit." He growled.

Red mana began to surround him. His neck strained as he held his hands up, and red mana began to push out from him, soon surrounding the whole town. He gasped as he held the barrier up, each drop of mana from the sky pelting against his barrier.

He saw Justin and Erica staring at him.

"What about you?"

"Forget about ! Just go. Divine rain won’t affect

as much as it will you. Go. Now." He groaned, his teeth clenching.

Justin and Erica ran into their house. Kar felt his arms shaking, and he looked around. His breathing beca anguished as he searched for any stragglers. "Alright. Thats good." He held his hands up as he walked to his house, collapsing through the open door as he let the barrier loose. He crawled the rest of the way inside, letting his door shut behind him as the divine rain began to fall. He laid there, catching his breath and unable to move.

"I haven’t done that in a while." He groaned.

After seeing Kar make it to his house, Erica exhaled sharply. "He made it."

Justin nodded as he took out his phone and called Eric. "Since we can’t radio the convoy, I am telling Master Sergeant about your plan."

Eric looked at his phone with a frown. "Justin is calling ."

Mia looked up, her eyes arched. "It’s only been a few hours. Weren’t the evacuees supposed to reach town tonight?"

Eric answered the phone and looked at his notes. "What’s up?"

"The mana storm is already here!"

Eric looked outside, his eyes narrowing.

"Alright. Are you and Erica safe? What about the townspeople?"

"Yes. Kar was able to put a barrier up to protect the town. Everyone was able to reach shelter in ti before they were affected."

Eric sighed, sitting down. "Good. You know the deal. Shelter in place until the coast is clear. I will call you once we are sure the storm has passed."

There was a slight pause, and Eric looked at the phone, thinking he lost connection. "Hello?"

"Yes. I’m Here. Erica has a plan for the evacuees. The mana storm will only effect humans if it makes contact with skin, right? She said that if they park the vehicles under the forest canopy, they can shelter in place. The soldiers would have to stay in their vehicles, and the civilians under the covering of the LMTV’s, but it is better than being caught out in the open."

Eric stared at the phone in shock. "That’s actually a really good idea. Good job. Both of you. Stay sheltered. I will call you when the coast is clear."

After he hung up, Eric turned to Mia. "Call Samara. Make sure she and the kids stay inside. The storm is already hitting Freedom town."

Mia looked at the map, her breathing becoming shallow.

"Liara." Tears began to fall, and Eric wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. "Don’t worry. She’s safe. She’s with your sister. You call your sister. Have her send pictures of Liara."

He kissed her head and looked at his watch. "1430. This couldn’t have happened at a worse ti. I have to go tell Milano and have Hood Hill shelter in place." He grumbled while Mia sat down. Her hands trembled as she dialed Samaras number. Eric walked out of the office, and imdiately slamd his fist against the wall. "Please let Liara be with Samara." He mumbled before heading down the hallway.