After training with Shadow, Leo walked back home.
"Sir, I detect that a storm is coming in. Those clouds in the south will be here in 3 hours."
"Well, I guess I'm not going to get to see the bison today. Joe will upset."
"Sir, this storm is a severe one."
"Alright Sprite, I will stay in."
Walking up to the house, Joe was sitting outside looking up at the clouds rolling in. These days have been the best Joe had in a long time. He had lived with several vagabond groups. This place was the first one he was truly happy. A gut feeling told him that this storm was going to be an important one. Then looking down he saw a young man walking up, and he couldn't help but smile at him.
"Hey, Joe." As Leo walked over, he patted Joe on the shoulder. "Sprite said we should head inside."
"Well don't forget to invite the little lady in."
Turning around, Leo saw a curly brown hair girl walking towards them. Her hazel eyes and that left dimple when smiles always make the bleakest days brighter. Today she was wearing a blue dress with white flowers on it. "Oh, you didn't dress up for little old me. Did you?" Joe winked at her and laughed.
"Of course not." She tried to act mad at the old man.
"So, you wanted to impress our little Leo here." When Samantha heard that she turned bright red.
Leo couldn't stand her being teased anymore. "Cut it out, Joe. We are lucky Samantha comes joins us so often." Leo said that and looked down. For some reason, he felt kind of embarrassed.
"Fine. Fine. I give up. You two win. Either way, Miss Samantha, come in, and we can start cooking dinner. It is looking like it is going to rain anyway."
All three of them walked inside. Over on the counter, Leo and Sprite built an iron stove of sorts. Leo went outside to grab some wood and started to hear thunder. Leo grabbed a few pieces of wood and looked out onto the storm. In the distance, he could see flashes of light rolling through the sky. He walked back in to see Samantha and Joe talking.
Leo walked over to the counter and started preparing food to make stew. In this era where most food was hunted and foraged, soups and stews became the best way to cook a meal. After boiling the water a bit, Leo added in some dried meat and some grasses Samantha brought over. Luckily Anna and Samantha have a garden they maintain.
"Kaboom." A lightning bolt struck on the outskirts of the settlement.
"That was really close by." Startled Samantha responded.
"Yeah. Sprite, when was our last storm this bad?"
"Sir, our last thunderstorm was 6 months 3 days 45mins ago."
Rolling his eyes at Sprites over informative answer. Leo said, "It has been a minute since we had a good downpour. Samantha at least your garden will get a lot of water."
"Kaboom." This bolt of lightning hit the blaster cannons in the center of the settlement. The same ones that fired on Joe and Leo before.
"Well, I hope none of the men on the Defense brigade out in this storm."
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Over in the council room. A Defense member ran in to report to Jack and Anna. "Reporting that last lightning strike took down our generator for the main blaster."
"Damn it." Jack slammed his fist on the table. "Call in the engineers to repair it at all cost. Go now." The Defense member exited the room in a hurry. Turning to Anna, Jack said, "I think we need to put everyone on high alert."
"I don't want to scare everyone, Jack." Looking out the window then back at the man in front of her. "It is just a storm it will pass."
"Anna if beast attack while we are defenseless and hiding from the rain, we will be massacred."
"Just take a deep breathe Jack. This is my call, and I'm not going to cause panic through the settlement."
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"Kaboom"
"Sir, I have analyzed the storm. There is a threat of tornados forming."
"Sprite, what is a tornado?" Leo asked. When Samantha and Joe stopped their conversation when Sprite mentioned a word they didn't know.
"Sir, in the books you found in the ruins of D.C., it told me about when and what a tornado is."
"I don't care how you know Sprite. Just tell me what it is."
"A tornado is a destructive vortex of violently rotating winds having the appearance of a funnel-shaped cloud. Usually in conjunction with a large thunderstorm."
Samantha dropped the cup of water she was drinking. "Sprite that sounds like Death Winds," Samantha replied. "Those funneled winds kill anything it touches if we see one we have to stay far away from it. Okay?"
"Well, you only said threat, right? Then that means there isn't one at the moment." Leo remarked. By now he understood the way Sprite said things indicates the importance of it.
"Sir, you are correct. At the moment, Independence has only a 34% chance of a tornado to appear."
Leo picked up Samantha cup. Refilled it and handed it back to her. "Don't worry too much. I have been through tons of storms and have always been fine."
A defense member ran inside the home and looked at Leo. "Sorry to disturb you guys, but we need your help, Leo. The generator short-circuited. We need Sprite to scan it."
The worry told Leo it was severe. "Alright lead the way. I will be back in a bit. Samantha can you finish the stew for you and Joe."
"It would be my pleasure." She responded so sweetly.
Leo gave a quick smile and then ran out the door to follow the Defense member. Running through the rain, they finally got to the building with the giant blaster on top. Entering the building soak and wet, Leo looked around seeing many engineer members scurrying about.
He walked over to a man, he talked to when building Joe's chair. The man was about 50 years old and had a long grey patchy beard. He was old, but his eyes showed great wisdom. "Young Leo, come over here. Hello Mr. Sprite."
"Hello, Gladius. Where is the generator?" Leo responded.
"Yes, yes. Come this way." Gladius lead Leo to the center room with the generator in it. Leo lifted up Sprite, and the watch flashed a light scanning the giant machine.
"Sir, the batteries and fuses were burnt out. The storage won't hold a charge anymore."
"What can we do Sprite?"
"Sir, we can use the parts from the hovercraft to fix the generator."
Gladius perked up. "That a great idea Sprite. Leo can you go fetch it for us."
"Sure let me go grab it." Leaving the room, he was headed to the door. Gladius stopped him.
"Hey, Leo catch." Gladius threw him a Swiss army knife. "Also take my coat by the door. No reason to be out in the rain without one." Leo thanked him and grabbed the jacket.
Once he stepped outside the rain was pouring down. The wind was almost pushing it sideways. Leo sat there for a second to try and remember where the bay was. Anna mentioned in passing that the bay was down south. Running down that way, Leo thought he saw an enormous shadow in the clouds. With the rain and lightning, he stopped looking up. He continued on running to the storage area.