Page 65 of Freedom Fighters
“A bad one. You grew up in Wyoming, so you wouldn’t know the signs. Vistaria gets smackedaround if a storm goes through because a single island thirty miles wide isn’t enough land mass to slow them down. They tear right across the island. I’ve seen a dozen hurricanes and the weather always starts out just like it is now. Muggy, hot as hell and no wind. Only, I don’t think the Insurrectos have noticed. Not these ones, anyway.”
Garrett cupped his chin, his thumb beside his mouth. “I’vehaven’t seen one. Ever.” He looked around the room thoughtfully. “Will these buildings take it?”
“They’ve bolted them onto poured concrete. The walls might stand. The roof is vulnerable. They’re all prefabricated,” Carmen said. “I looked around while they had us outside. I’d say the big building over that way—” and she pointed, “—would be our best bet. It had poured concrete walls. Even if theroof goes, the walls will stand and that will help with the wind. Wind isn’t all of it.” She hesitated.
“Tell me,” Garrett urged her.
“The Big Rock is a tiny island, compared to mainland Vistaria. If the center of the hurricane passes directly over it, or even nearby…” She bit her lip. “The wind will hit the west side of the rock first and that’s fine—there are big cliffs there and that willprotect that side of the island. Then the wind will pass over the island. On the east side, there are no cliffs at all, just a gentle slope down to the beaches, where the resort used to be. The wind will push the water out to sea. It’sthatpowerful. Only when the eye has passed, the wind changes directions.” She gripped his hand. “All the water comes back and then some,” she finished.
“Stormsurge,” Garrett murmured.
“The northern tip of Vistaria was submerged by a tidal wave, in the 1970s,” Carmen said. “Thousands of people were lost.”
Garrett got to his feet and stared at the wall behind her. Beyond that wall was the big building she had spotted. He pressed his hand against the plaster wall. “If these walls are prefabricated, then the corners will be weaker than the walls themselves.”He looked down at her. “How soon, do you think?”
He was trusting her. Taking her word for it.
“There’s no wind yet,” she said, “so it’s hard to tell. Once the wind starts, then it’s a matter of a few hours. The worst hurricanes are always tightly compacted, spinning faster than the weaker ones and drawing everything in. They move faster than the weak ones, too. If it’s a bad storm, then oncethe wind starts, it will arrive quickly.”
“There’s no window here,” Garrett muttered. “We won’t be able to tell if the wind starts.”
“Yes we will,” Carmen assured him.
He looked at her, a brow lifted.
“We’ll hear it,” she said.
