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♯ ❝ DRIVE, JED! ❞
PROLOGUE ✧･ﾟ: * 🌪️🌀
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THE WIND GENTLY BLEW THROUGH THE FIELD SHE STOOD IN, RUSTLING THE GRASS THAT COVERED HER BLACK BOOTS AND THE DIRT BELOW SHE STOOD ON. Charlie Carter always seemed to find herself right in the middle of a storm, even now when she was older that didn't change. She was born in a storm, and would die in one too -- well that's what she always thought would happen.

Ferocious looking clouds were forming above in the once bright skies, now changed to a darker, more greyish one that she knew meant something was brewing. She even felt in the direction of the wind, when it began to pick up and blow around her shoulder length hair.

A content smile was spread across her face, cheeks a bit tinted red from the wind burn she suffered before, but never paid mind to it, as her focus was on the gorgeous sight in front of her. The long never ending field with the sky, and every now and then lighting struck followed by thunder.

Her brown eyes glanced down at the camera hanging around her chest, fingers brushing against the two names that were written on the side of it, one being hers and another's whom gave her the camera. She gently switched the lense on, slipping it off from around her neck, and held the camera up to her right eye.

The wind began to pick up even more as she stood away from the group behind her, and she zoomed in on the sky, just snapping a shot when the lighting went off, "That's gotta be a good one." She mumbled to herself giddy, and pulled back from the camera to look at it, hearing the thunder getting louder.

"Char! Time to go!" She now heard the familiar voice of her sister, Kate, calling out to her, and she span around spotting Kate waving her arm around at their camp with their friends, "The storms here, come on!"

The said girl grumbled to herself, use to her sister interrupting her times to admire the storm, but knew Kate was only looking out for her, "Yeah, yeah. I know." She huffed out, placing the camera around her neck again, being careful of the jewellery that laid there also, and began to walk through the long grass, "Saw it brewing ages ago."

She continued to try not to stumble her way towards their campsite, and arrived not even a few seconds later to be met with her sister getting filmed by Jeb, Kate's boyfriend. She smiled at the scene, coming to a stop beside Jeb who greeted her with a silent wave, and she gave one back chuckling.

"Today, our science team from the Tornado Tamer project is out in the field," Kate was talking to the camera, standing in front of the van and the barrels full of their science project, "about to chase a storm southwest of us. Our experiment is designed to decrease the moisture inside of a tornado to see if we can make it collapse."

Her eyes moved across from her boyfriend, away from the camera and landed on her sister, who was fiddling with her camera straps, "Charlie, why don't you tell us how we do that?" She promoted with a wide smile, wanting the input from her genius twin.

Charlie tensed a bit hearing her name being called, and glanced up nervously seeing Kate motioning for her to come into the camera's view, "Ah, y-yes, sure." She chuckled out, moving a bit stiffly now next to her sister, and gave the camera an awkward smile, "I think it's pretty obvious what we need first, and that's a tornado. We need to find one, so it can suck up our superabsorbent polymers in these barrels--"

"Diapers." Another familiar voice whispered beside the Cater sisters, making Charlie's words trail off and saw Addy standing across from them, the one whom was whispering, "Tell them it's the same stuff they use in diapers."

The camera moved to Addy next who stood up straighter with a sheepish expression, "It's nontoxic." She added just as she passed the sisters in the camera, and Charlie had a deadpanning look, while Kate laughed nervously, both giving her a fist bump.

"Uh, the Dopper doesn't show a storm until the afternoon." Praveen appeared around the truck now, and held onto his laptop as he had read the data on it for the upcoming weather event.

"The data doesn't see what Char and Kate sees, remember?" Addy reminds the stressed male, sticking up for her best friend who sent her a grateful smile, and Addy blew a kiss back as she was working on cleaning up the area before they left.

An annoyed groan came from the male sat in a chair, his hair placed back in a low bun and had sunglasses covering his dark eyes, "How about Char sees a few more hours sleep?" Javi complains, taking some pain killers for his head and the girl shakes her head at the male chuckling.

Praveen carelessly placed the laptop onto the machine behind the sisters, and it made Javi exclaim his name in a scolding way, "Dorothy's not a desk. Bear, help me out with this." He adds on looking to Charlie for help, who grumbled at the use of her childhood nickname.

"He's right, Prav. Dorothy is to be treated gently, you know this." She now spoke up on behalf of her best friend, leaving the camera's shot and went up beside Javi now who rested his head against her arm, "Anyway, it's time to go. We don't want to miss another storm, guys."

Kate nodded in agreement, taking the camera back from her boyfriend as she filmed the others now grinning, "She's right. Today's the day we tame a tornado!" She cheered along with the rest of the group, who were all huddled together in a big hug.

Once they split apart to hope into the selected transport, but not before Charlie was stuck rubbing Javi's back as he yucked his hangover out. After that the little group was back on the road heading toward where the storm would land, and the skies were getting much darker the more they traveled along the road.

"Charlie was right, as usual." Praveen voiced to the four in the main car, looking at his laptop in his lap seeing how the cell was traveling towards where she said it would, "Southwest winds are picking up."

The girl only hummed quietly hearing what he said, she being sat in between Kate and Jeb in the front of the truck, as her fingers nervously fiddled with her camera's straps. For some reason, her stomach was twisting with unease, something she normally wouldn't feel chasing after storms. But, she felt like this time was different -- she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Kate, like the observant person she was noticed how her sister was acting, and instantly knew something was up since Charlie was always so enthusiastic when getting closer to a storm. She was about to ask Charlie, but the sound of her phone caused her to stop mid way, and pull it out to see their mother calling.

"Oh, hey mom." Kate instantly answered in a cheery tone, Charlie glancing up away from the clouds above and listened to the conversation, "Yeah, just chasing weather around. Yes, Charlie is here with me. We'll be careful, I promise."

The other three began to call out to their mother in a teasing way, causing the sisters to share a smile and chuckle amused, just as Kate ended the call, "Uh, she says there's barbecue at the house when we're done."

Chorus pleased answers break out through the truck, all happy to hear about the food once they were done with the storm chase. Charlie glanced over the group smiling softly knowing they all loved her mother's cooking just as much as she did, before looking back up to the forming cloud of the tornado.

"Oklahoma really is something else." She muttered more so to herself, thinking of what she found in the country and also what she lost but hoped to gain back someday. She sighed leaning back into Kate, who instantly lopped their arms together in a comforting hold.

Jed turns the truck into a path leading off the main road, and began to drive up a small hill of sorts with Javi following behind them in the van. Now they were getting closer to where the tornado would land, as Char felt the little hairs on the back of her neck stand now, and how the sky was almost pitch black.

"Okay, we should get the mixture ready." Kate state just as the rain began to start, it hitting the windshield pretty heavy. Jed pulls to a stop now, and the group jump out of the truck to prepare for the storm that was just about to take land.

Charlie placed her hair back into a lose piggy tail to keep it out of her face, and left her camera in Javi's van for safety reasons. She walked through the area they had stopped in, watching Kate and Jeb get the mixture ready, and Javi scolding Addy about pressing Dorothy's button too hard.

"If it's not gonna work, Javi, we may have to forget about getting data." She tells the male now coming up beside him, and went to place the lids on the yellow barrels, feeling his stare on the side of her head, "I know we need that data, but we can worry about it later."

He gave her an incredulous expression, blinking rapidly to understand what she said, "Forget the data--" He repeated what she said, face scrunching up as he held onto his laptop now that had the data storage on it.

"There's a death ridge setting in." Kate now steps in to defend her sister, standing up on the trailer that held the barrels as she held Jeb finish up the last touches to them, "Probably our last chase of the season. No matter what, we got to get these barrels in the air and see if they can make a tornado vanish, okay? It's more important."

Charlie's eyebrows furrowed hearing what her sister said, the words not exactly being what she first said, as the data was just as important, just as much as their life's were. She decided to stay quiet standing beside Javi, who shared a nervous look with her.

"No, how about it's equally as important we do both, right?" Javi was quick to retort in a rush, motioning to the barrels that were behind Dorothy on the trailer, "Look, if you make a tornado vanish with this, but you don't get the data with this, who's gonna believe it?"

Just as he said that, Addy managed to switch Dorothy on properly, and the little drones inside now made a buzzing noise to signal they were working, "Got it!" She declared, and stepped back beside Praveen, who was scanning away on the other laptop.

"Good, now please get us the numbers, Javi." Charlie skipped around the male a bit, reaching in to grab a drone from out of Dorothy, and held it up in front of her face with a cheeky grin, "Whatever we need to win a big fat grant. And of course, so we can help people in the future if this works."

A soft smile appeared on his face, and chuckled through his teeth, "Well, I'm all about my cash money, right?" He reminded the girl who giggled amused, and raised her finger out to do their handshake, fingers tapping each others from side to side which ended up with her wrapping him in a bear hug, hence her childhood name.

"Be careful out there, alright Char?" His accented voice dropped to a softer one, his right hand pressed against the middle of her back for the embrace as they break apart slowly after a few more seconds.

She nodded her head rapidly trying to ignore the bad feeling in her stomach, "Always am, don't worry." She reassured him and placed the drone back into the container. She made her way towards the truck, and gave Javi a lopsided grin before sliding into the seat beside Kate.

"Let's go!" Kate cheered in excitement when her sister sat down next to her, the other three cheering in sync with her minus Charlie who was looking outside at the brewing storm circling above them.

Jed began to drive the truck now down the road, and the more he did the more they were traveling inside the tornado. The rain was much heavier, and it was hard to see from the windows fogging up so much, which made Charlie rub her side down with the jacket she was wearing.

"Uh, got a CAPE of 4,000." Praveen informs them from inside the back seat, watching his screen that showed the direction and how large the storm was beginning to be, "100 knots gate-to-gate wind shear aflot."

"Come on. Give us a nice respectable EF1." Kate mumbled louder enough for everyone to hear, voice getting louder as she licked her bottom lip turning to Charlie and Jed, "I mean, EF2, we'll take it."

Charlie gave her sister a sharp look at the comment, but once more didn't say anything. Her fingers fiddled with the necklace around her neck, as loose bushes and debri began to fly across the road, and some even landed into the truck causing the group to yelp in surprise not expecting it.

"Are we in the tornado?" Praveen now questioned a bit nervously, but he still had a smile on his face that was more fearful then anything, as he glanced to the Carter sisters for answers.

Kate's eyes flickered to her quiet sister, watching how her gaze was moving back and forth around the windows, and back behind them, before it landed back on the group, "No. It's behind us. It's most definitely behind us."

This sent them into panic mode now, and Kate shakes her head when Jed wanted to drive faster, "No, no, no. We've got to drop the barrels in it's path." She quickly said to her boyfriend, just as a massive piece of debri slammed into the vehicle.

Everyone exclaimed in alarm feeling the thud, as Jed tried to steady the truck on the wet road, and managed to come to a harsh stop. In result of this, Dorothy and the barrels were now flipped onto their side, and the truck was unable to move.

Charlie slowly looked up from ducking her head around Kate's arms, heavy breaths leaving her hearing the loud noises of the storm around them, and saw the trailer flipped on it's side. She swallowed the lump in her throat knowing exactly where they were, and shared a look with her sister, "I-I think, no, this is the path. Where we are now. Say here, I'll go fix the trailer."

She ignored the in sync protests from the group inside the car, and slipped out of Kate's embrace who tried to stop her. She pushed aside her fear of the situation, and opened the door to be instantly hit with the fierce weather outside.

Squinting her eyes from the rain and the rapid winds, she pushed her bangs out of her face, and stumbled her way towards the trail, "Oh no. It's spilling out--" She gasped, not wasting a second as she now tried to get a grip on the edge of the metal, and began to heave it up.

"Charlie!" She heard her sisters voice exclaim over the loud winds, her brown eyes going wider spotting Kate on the other side of her, and the rest of the group now helping pushing the trailer back up, "We need leverage to tip it!"

Jeb located a piece of metal on the ground, picking that up to drag it back towards the trailer, and placed it in between the barrels. Once it was secure inside, all of them began to push the trailer back up and cheered once it was on all fours again on the road.

While Kate and Jed were getting the barrels ready, and the others were having fun in the rain which normally Charlie would be doing, she instead was watching the dangerous clouds in the sky, and how the winds suddenly picked up which had her stomach dropping. This wasn't a small storm, she knew that much.

"Guys! We gotta go, now!" She yelled over the wind blowing through her hair, arm coming up to block the rain getting into her eyes as she jogged back to the truck, making the others instantly follow her.

She slid into the middle seat now between her sister and Jeb, to grab the walkie-talky off the hanger, "Javi, we dropped the trailer. Get ready for that data." She talks to him through the piece she was holding, and heard him speak back before placed it back on the dashboard.

Jed started to drive off once more at a steady pace, the trailer becoming a bit hard to see from how the rain was impacting on their visual. But even so, they managed to see the barrels lids being blow off, and the mixture inside of them be sucked up into the wind, followed by the little drones in Dorothy.

"WHOO, BABY!" They all hear Javi celebrating over the radio now, followed by his laughter which signaled that it worked and it was getting the data they needed, "We just shot up 10,000 feet!"

The four in the truck all cheered with him minus Charlie once more, who's wide eyes were stuck looking at the tornado forming behind them, "Jed drive." She now spoke up in a quiet voice, gaining his attention and everyone else's, as he looked most confused while Kate followed her sisters line of sight.

"Char, what--"

"That tornado heading towards us isn't a EF1, it never was. It's a EF5!" She now exclaimed in a louder way, frantic gaze moving to Jed as she pointed at the massive storm now heading right for them, "If we don't move now, we're dead. Hurry up and drive, Jed!"

As soon as she said that he was pressing down on the gas, and started to quickly drive on out of the way along the road, being careful of the debri in the way, and how pieces were flying around them too in the wind, "Go, go, go!" Everyone was yelling at Jed to pick up the speed, to which he did and was now driving way past the speed limit.

Charlie kept a firm grasp on her sister now that they were in danger, heart rate picking up in speed as her eyes stayed focused on the tornado chasing them down behind, and destroying anything in it's path. She really wished she listened to her gut feeling now.

"Look out--!" Addy's warning was far to late for Jeb to hear, as he ended up crashing into another piece of debri and it sent the truck spinning out of control. He tried to turn the wheel but the vehicle slammed into the fence on the side of the road, and it continued to tumble until it came to a crashing stop on the grass field.

When it came to a full stop on the grass, Charlie lifted her head up from protecting Kate's figure with her arms, "Is everyone okay?" She exclaimed breathing heavily, scanning over her friends for injuries and landed on her sister last, who shakily nodded her head.

The wind was howling outside the car also, which she knew that meant the tornado was getting much closer to them. She shared a strong look with Jed, who squeezed her forearm in a silent agreement, "We can't stay here." He voiced next in a pant, head turned back to look at the group.

Her brown eyes squinted a bit trying to see outside the windows, and only just spotted a bridge where she knew would be the safest option, "Come on! This car is not gonna last, we gotta move!" She tell them all, staring to unbuckle her seatbelt connected to Kate's, "Get out of the car, and follow me!"

Once the seatbelt was unbuckled she pushed the door open, and was instantly hit with the harsh winds and rain outside. She felt Kate grab onto her hand tightly, as Jed lead them off in front and the other two got out next to quickly follow along the best they could.

The sisters held onto each other's hands as they ran through the field, fighting against the strong winds that now managed to pick up the truck they left behind. Charlie glanced back with squinted eyes, and felt her voice get caught in her throat watching Praveen get sucked up by the winds, to be never seen again.

If it weren't for Kate tugging her along, she could of ran back to try and grab him, which would result in them both dying, but she couldn't stop no matter how much it hurt her heart to leave their best friend to die.

Debri was flying around them in the wind, making the four duck a few times to avoid it, and the dip to under the bridge was closer now. Jed helped the sisters down the small hill, while Charlie managed to pull down Addy with her, and kept a tight grasp on her forearm to not lose another best friend.

"Come on!" Jeb yelled to the girls motiong to the steep hill upwards, as he began to climb up the way that lead to where the underside of the bridge was. He made sure the sisters were behind him also, before he continued to climb up.

Charlie pushed up Kate first despite the protests leaving her, and watched the girl make her way up next. Charlie's hair was blowing all over the place, some locks sticking to her cheeks, but still placed her boots onto the slippery surface and began to pull herself up also just as the wind got worse.

She had a death grip on the wall the best she could, and felt her muscles straining with how much strength she was putting into the climb. Her head snapped up hearing Kate cry out, and saw how her sisters thigh was now bleeding, "Kate!" She shouted in panic, reaching out to push her sister up the best she could with one hand, while Jeb slid down a bit to pull Kate the right of the way up.

"Charlie!" Addy's desperate cry reached her ears next, and the girl looked back behind her quickly to see Addy still at the bottom, slipping each time she tried to get up onto the surface, "CHAR!"

The brunette ignored her sisters and Jeb's yell to hurry, as she reached down the best she could with her arm, now stretching to reach her best friend, "ADDY! Grab on!" She shouted just as desperate, their fingers brushing one anothers as Addy tried to grab onto Charlie's hand.

She wanted to move down more to grab onto Addy, but she knew if she did, the both of them would slip off and get blown away. Charlie's fingers just graze along Addy's once more, before the figure of her best friend was suddenly taken away by the force of the winds, and the debri flying under the bridge.

"NO! Addy! Addy--" Her screams for the girl were loud, wide eyes staring at where once the bubbly girl stood and felt her throat start to tightening up knowing that it was her fault for not grabbing Addy sooner. A small sob fell free from her mouth, before she felt strong arms pull her up the rest of the way, and into Kate's embrace next.

Jed guided the sisters to the opposite side of the metal beam, his figure blocking out most of the wind the best he could, "Put your arms around the rail, girls!" He ordered them over the howling noises around them, "Get in! Get in! You're both gonna be okay!"

Charlie slipped under the railing first to wrap her arms tightly around her, and felt Kate on the other side of her, one of her arms wrapped around Charlie's head, as the older one felt he younger one shaking. Whether it was from the rain, or not being able to save their best friends, she didn't know.

"It's gonna be okay! I've got you two!" She heard Jeb's voice yelling in reassurance, feeling his weight over the both of them which made her feel a bit more safer, but it wasn't the person whom she longed to feel the embrace of again. And of course she thought of him in situation's like this.

Her fingers gripping onto the metal beam like her life depended on it, which it did and felt Kate squeezing her even more closer as they hanged on together. The wind continued to blow through the tunnel, and it was getting harder to hold on, as their grips were slipping.

"Keep holding on, girls! I've got you--" His words were cut into a scream as he too was now swept up by the strong winds, and his grip on the was forcefully removed, making the both of them cry out his name no longer feeling him around them.

Charlie's wide eyes were larger than ever looking at where Jed had disappeared, hearing her sister's painful cries for the loss of her boyfriend, and the brutal storm now on top of them. She swallowed her own cries, ducking her head back against Kate's, and focused on holding onto her until the tornado passed over them.

From that moment on, Charlie Carter never knew peace, no matter how hard she tried to find it.

❪ ✏️ ❫ 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂 : 4391
─►☆ AUTHOR'S NOTE :

boring chapter right now my bad guys but next one shall be better then this angst filled one and i think tyler may make an appearance depending on how much i write (im dying to write him and char actually so he prolly will be LMFAOOA) 😭

since twisters is in hd now i shall be writing chapters and updates shall be quick which im sorry for those readers who read slow or hate
fast updates i just cannot help it, i am very obsessed with this fic and probably will be for a hot minute🙏🏻