Page 3 of Still Afraid

A loud crash shook the wall and rained ceiling dust on them.

Josh covered Chloe’s head with his hand, and she nestled against him. She held tighter to Poirot’s neck. The dog let out a little whimper. Was he scared too?

How could the courageous dog ever born be scared? He’d faced so much, just like she and Josh had. But Poirot had kept his cool through it all.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.

More crashing sounded above their heads, and the lights went out. Not even the emergency lights remained lit.

They were engulfed in total darkness.

The thunderous roar from above stopped as suddenly as it began. Josh held Chloe to his chest. A subtle tremble shook her body. She was the bravest person he knew, always facing everything that entered her path head-on, even though she was scared out of her mind. Wasn’t that what true bravery was? Not being without fear but moving forward despite the fear.

Without loosening the grip of his left arm around her, he pulled his phone from his pocket. The intensity of the screen’s brightness made him flinch, and he quickly turned it down. He opened his storm tracking app and watched the radar. Tornado indicated on the radar. Of course, Josh was fully aware of that. But they needed to wait until the warning passed. The map indicated it was headed away from their location, but he wasn’t going to risk anyone’s life, especially Chloe’s.

Breana sat across from them, her panic reduced to a whimper at this point.

Josh switched to YouTube and turned on Ryan Hall, the weather guy he watched, who was excellent at tracking storms. Ryan said the rotation was weakening.

Chloe lifted her head, touched his wrist, and nudged it so she could see his phone as well.

Poirot decided he wasn’t getting enough attention and stuck his head between the two humans and the phone, then proceeded to give Josh a giant, sloppy kiss right across the nose.

Chloe laughed and shoved the dog away.

“How can you guys laugh at a time like this?” Breana’s strained voice broke through the darkness.

Josh removed his hand from around Chloe and wiped away the slobber. “Because the dog just licked my face. Thanks, Poirot.”

The lab barked.

Josh returned his attention to his phone in time to catch the latest update. According to Ryan, the tornado had completely dissipated, and it was safe to come out.

After turning his phone flashlight on, Josh stood and helped Chloe to her feet. They both brushed ceiling dust off themselves.

Josh said, “Let’s see if we can get out of here. Breana, you coming?”

“You can’t leave me down here.”

“Then let’s go.”

Chloe turned her flashlight toward Breana. “Would you like a hand?”

Breana shook her head and shoved herself off the ground—not an easy feat in her tight skirt.

Josh turned his focus to the door and tugged it open. Wind whipped down the stairs. That didn’t bode well for the status of the upstairs. He pointed the light at the stairs. Tree branches and several chairs littered the steps.

Chloe’s light disappeared behind him. He spun. She was hiking up her skirt and tying it in a knot at her left knee. She then retrieved her phone from her pocket. “Guess pants would have been a better choice.”

“I don’t know. You seem to have that under control.”

They started up the stairs, climbing over a limb too big to move out of the way.

At the top, Josh spotted glass strewn across the floor. “Stop, bud.” He whistled for Poirot. He had been working with the dog for the last couple of months on a command that seemed silly until this very moment.

Josh squatted and leaned forward. Poirot jumped on his back and lay on his shoulder. Thankfully Poirot only weighed sixty-three pounds. Josh placed his hand on Poirot’s back before he stood.

Sunlight peeked out from the storm clouds, illuminating the inside of the chapel … what was left of it. All of the windows on the west side were busted out and part of the wall had collapsed.