Chapter 80 Tornado Warning

I took a deep breath and gathered my thoughts before focusing on Gloria. "It's a bit complicated to explain," I added, noticing the confused look on her face.

Gloria leaned forward with a look of excitement and curiosity on her face. "So, you know how something like this is created?" she asked eagerly.

I nodded, ready to explain what I knew. However, I left out the fact that it could be related to movies or shows. Instead, I simply stated that it was something I didn't have any information about. "Yes, I do know how," I said before starting my explanation.

Wednesday looked at me with a knowing expression, understanding that it would be better to not reveal everything and cause an existential crisis for my family. She was strong enough to handle this information, but my other family members were not.

I was in the middle of explaining when loud sirens suddenly filled the air, drawing everyone's attention to the noise.

The blaring sirens carried a message that was broadcasted loudly.

Everyone in the room gasped and turned to each other, "Ayy! What's that sound?" Gloria shouted annoyed at the sound interrupting my story.

A message was spoken through the sirens, causing everyone in the room to panic even more. "Warning! Warning! All citizens of Los Angeles, be warned that a P5 Tornado originating from the Pacific Ocean is heading straight for the city. We recommend everyone to find shelter in the basement of your homes and remain low with food and water supplies. If you live in a high-rise building, we advise you to evacuate the building uniformly and follow the military and the LAPD officers deployed to lead you to multiple underground bunkers. This tornado is moving at 120 miles per hour and is expected to cause an uncalculatable amount of destruction to property. Please remain calm and find shelter."

The blaring sound of the tornado warning siren echoed through the sky, piercing through the chaos of the moment. It had been repeated five times already, but its was still shocking hearing about such a tornado.

My mind was in a whirlwind of confusion, trying to make sense of the situation, when Grandpa suddenly spoke up, his voice filled with urgency.

Grandpa didn't waste any time, he immediately sprang into action shouting, "Hurry!"

Mom and Dad were still stunned, but Mom quickly regained her composure and grabbed my hand and Hayley's. Dad grabbed Luke's and Alex's hands, and we all started following Grandpa, who was leading the way, with Manny and Gloria, Uncle Mitch, and Cam close behind us.

I handed Wednesday back her phone as we all started quickly walking out of the room. Wednesday was right beside me, her expression unafraid, which helped me calm down a little as I started to think about the oddity of the situation.

Grandpa shouted, "Everyone follow me to the basement!" as he rushed out of the room, and we all followed behind him. The suddenness of the situation seemed to have caught him off guard, as if he wasn't expecting the storm at all.

The tornado warning was unexpected and strange, as there had been no signs of a tornado forming. I was sure that Jarvis would have informed me if there were even the slightest hints of tornadoes heading towards LA. And Grandpa reads the news every day, so it was strange that he didn't seem to know about the Tornado warning.

The loud tornado sirens outside scared Luke, and he started crying as we rushed down the staircase. Dad picked him up and continued walking down, trying to calm him down.

As we rushed down the staircase, we passed by a large window that showed the outside scene. The wind was picking up and sand was flying around, but our attention was quickly drawn to the massive Tornado heading straight towards us. It was stationary, which only added to the fear that it was indeed coming straight for us.

The sight of the Tornado outside caused everyone to start panicking. Grandpa, however, remained calm and quickly grabbed a few dustbin bags and headed to the drawers. He started grabbing cans of food and bottles of water, preparing for the worst.

Uncle Mitchell shouted in panic, holding onto Uncle Cameron's hands tightly. Uncle Cameron, trying to calm him down, told him to relax and that they would be fine. He pointed out that Mitchell's grasp was too tight, causing him to loosen his grip and look apologetic.

Luke, who was in Dad's arms, spoke through his tears. "Dad, are we gonna die?" he asked. Dad chuckled and asked who taught him that word. Luke responded that it was Alex.

Dad let out a sigh, "Well, that's really bad to say. We will punish Alex later after this is over." He continued in a soft and comforting tone, "We will be fine, let's hurry up into the basement where the tornado won't be able to hurt us. Okay?" Luke nodded his head softly, his tears having stopped.

With the threat of the Tornado looming, we quickly made our way further into the house, straight to the basement. We didn't want to take any chances and stayed away from the windows.

I turned my gaze towards Wednesday who was standing right beside me, and my attention was immediately drawn to the phone in her hand.

As I peered closer at the screen, I saw text and realized that it was a message from Jarvis that I had missed amidst the chaos of the blaring sirens. The words caught my eye and I quickly snatched the phone from Wednesday's hand, a sense of unease settling in my chest as I read the words with utmost care, hoping that what I was reading wasn't true.

The message read, "Sir, A Storm is heading for the Warehouse and it is estimated to have the strength to destroy it." My eyes widened in alarm as I remembered all the valuable technology stored in the warehouse, which if lost, could fall into the wrong hands and be used for malicious purposes. The tech was too advanced for me to let it fall into the wrong hands.

For instance, there was the laptop that Jarvis was running on, even a basic understanding of its capabilities would give away the immense potential it holds. And then there were the Arc Reactors, I couldn't afford to let the government get their hands on those at any cost.

I gently removed my hand from mom's grasp, causing her to stop and stare at me with a look of concern. "What's wrong James? Hurry up!" she asked, her voice laced with worry.

I cast my gaze downwards at the phone, before looking up at my mother with an apologetic expression.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I can't come with you. Please go hide," I said, trying to hide the regret in my voice.

"James, this isn't a game. The storm is getting closer and closer by the minute."

"I'm sorry, Mom. I have something more pressing I need to attend to. My warehouse has some vital technology that I can't risk losing in the storm."

I quickly slipped Wednesday's phone into my pocket and made a dash for the door. I could hear my family's frantic voices, my mom, dad, grandpa Jay, calling for me to return, but I was resolute in my mission. I knew that what I was doing was crucial.

If the government were to get their hands on my laptop and even just a small piece of Jarvis's code, it would be catastrophic. I couldn't even begin to imagine the consequences, they could easily go to War which will cause a lot of Death and Destruction.

I stepped outside, and the wind and sand immediately bombarded me. The tornado was still far away, but its winds had already reached us, whipping sand and water around. I shuddered at the thought of how much more powerful it would be when it finally arrived.

Squinting against the wind and sand, I trudged through the storm. It wasn't too bad, and I was able to make it to my car with just a few coughs. As I was about to get in, I caught a glimpse of Wednesday standing behind me.

"What are you doing out here? Go back inside!" I shouted at her.

"I'm coming with you!" Wednesday yelled back, determined.

"No, you're not," I shot back.

"The tornado is on its way, and I you are going to need all the help you could get, getting all of your items" As I thought about the situation, I nodded at her.

" ... Fine Get in quickly"

She gave me a curt nod in response, and without hesitation, she got into the passenger seat of my car. I followed suit, closing the door behind me. I coughed a few times, feeling the effects of the dust in the air. She, on the other hand, seemed to be unaffected.

I let out a sigh and turned the key in the ignition. Jarvis, my AI assistant, immediately sprang into action, opening the gates to my grandpa's house. I was ready to get this over with.

To be honest, I wasn't particularly invested in the weapons or the holographic table. What I was concerned about were the arc reactors, the armor, and Jarvis' laptop, all of which were stored in the warehouse.

The gates soon opened, and I hit the accelerator. The car took off, and I could see the storm looming in the distance. I knew it would take at least an hour for it to reach this Area.

I was speeding down the street, trying to beat the storm's speed. I could see police cars directing other vehicles to underground shelters. I was getting frustrated with the slow pace, so I hit the gas pedal and cut through the yellow line. I was determined to get to the warehouse as quickly as possible.