Ray Of Light

We lost signal

Emily woke up early the next morning, she was an early bird when it came to summer time, the heat was too much for laying around all day.  She was stood in the kitchen cooking breakfast when her phone started vibrating in her back pocket, she jumped but pulled it out as her face turned into a happy expression when she read the name that was dancing across the screen.  Without hesitation, she answered it.
Emily: "hey, everything okay?"
Jay: "yeah we're all good, did you see the news this morning?"
Emily: "uhh no? Wait let me go turn the TV on"
Jay: "good idea"
Emily: "uhhhhm I can't find the news channel...oh wait never mind...what? a storm?!"
Jay: "well it's just a warning but the skies here are looking a little grey, what about yours?"
Emily: "hmm, nope. Ours are looking clear, but I guess there's always the calm before the storm huh?"
Jay: "mmhmm, so, what you up to?"
Emily: "cooking breakfast, what about you?"
Jay: "I'm at Kelly's place, but woah woah woah, hold up a second. You can cook edible food?!"
Emily: "hey! my foods not that bad...okay maybe it is a little bit..."
Jay: "just a little...? but on a serious note, please stay safe out there"
Emily: "jay Halstead, are you worried about me?"
Jay: "shut up"
Emily: "that's what I thought, but don't worry, we'll be fine. If the weather takes a turn for the worst we'll just stay inside"
Jay: "good, I'll let you get back to trying to cook..."
Emily: "haha very funny, I'll call you later"
Jay: "alright then, see you later"

                 Jay put the phone down and smiled before Kelly and Casey walked out into the kitchen, "how comes you're up so early?" Kelly smiled, jay turned to face them with a coffee in his hands, "I'm an early bird, besides I wanted to check on the girls so I called Emily. None of them knew about the storm warning, but they do now" he nodded.  The boys nodded and sat down to eat breakfast, it was only them three in Kelly's studio apartment.

"Hey guys? Where are you?" Emily shouted out through stellas cabin. There was a moments silence before all the girls pounded out on her from around the corner, "got you" Mackey laughed. Emily jumped out of her skin but laughed back, "what's up?" Brett smiled. Emily nodded, "jay just called, asked me if Id seen the news. Turns out there's a storm warning and it's already looking grey over Kelly's apartment..." she sighed.  The girls all groaned, as if a storm could ruin their all girls vacation, "well it's still sunny here so let's just enjoy it while we can" Kim laughed.  All the girls noticed the surprisingly well cook pancakes and jumped over to grab some before they were all gone.

"So much for golf..." Matt sighed and closed the door behind him, Kelly and jay laughed but agreed. It had been 4 hours since the storm warning was broadcasted on the news and it was now 1:30pm, the trio were still at Kelly's apartment since neither of them could go home, it was hailing, raining and Gail force winds outside, it was too risky to drive so they stayed there instead. They sat down on the couch with beers and watched the TV instead, the immediately put the news channel on to find any weather updates, so much for having a good summer. "Are you guys seeing this? A tornado watch? Seriously?" Matt scoffed. The two nodded, "I'm gonna go call em, see how they're holding up" jay pulled out his phone and headed over to the kitchen, Matt and Kelly nodded then turned their attention back to the TV.

Jay got into the kitchen and pulled up Emily's contact, it ran for a while but it eventually cut off to voicemail. Strange. He tried again but still no answer so this time he left a voicemail for her in case she was just busy.
Jay: "hey em, I just wanted to check on you all. I don't know if you've saw the tornado watch warning but it's looking pretty bad on our side. If you get chance give me a call, I need to hear that you're okay"

He hung up the call and wandered back over to the couch, "no answer, straight to voicemail..." jay huffed and sat down, he was a little worried. "Same for Stella and Brett, I'm sure they're just busy having fun or the weathers just affecting the connection. But you my friend, need to hurry up and tell em how you feel" Kelly laughed as Matt smirked. Jay raised his eyebrows, "huh?" He shook him off. Matt laughed, "oh come on...we all know you like her, and it's obvious she likes you too, so just tell her how you feel before it's too late" he shook his head playfully. Jay looked back at the TV, "we're partners..." he sighed in defeat. Kelly shrugged his shoulders, "so?" He took a sip from his beer. Jay raised his eyebrows, "voights got a very strict in house relationship policy" he huffed. Matt shook his head, "didn't ruzek get Kim pregnant? I'm pretty sure hank'll let you off with dating..." he laughed. Jay tilted his head, "fair point" he nodded. Kelly smiled, "so you'll tell her how you feel then?" He enquired curiously. Jay laughed and took a sip from his beer, "maybe..." he shrugged his shoulders.

The girls were all swimming, they still had clear skies and warm weather which was confusing, but they weren't complaining since they knew it wouldn't last long. "I say we dry off just in case a storm does come over us" Mackey splashed them all. Emily laughed, "good idea" she nodded. They all swam back to shore and got out of the water to dry off. Luckily the sun and the heat done most of the work while they just sun bathed, "your tan lines are to die for..." Brett tugged on Emily's bikini strap. Emily laughed, "I'm surprised I haven't burned yet..." she shrugged her shoulders. They all laughed and envied Emily's tan lines, it was fair to say she was the winner of the bet.

"Kelly, jay! Get out here!" Matt shouted out through Kelly's apartment. Outside was torrential rain so they all had to stay indoors still, "what? What is it?" Kelly came running out followed by jay, they were looking through Kelly's car logs to see when the next rally show was. Matt unpaused the TV.
News presenter: "we're urging everyone to stay indoors and take cover where possible, the tornado watch has now turned into a tornado warning and it's only a matter of time before we can call in a touch down, as always, stay safe!"

"I'll call em" jay grabbed his phone and walked off to the kitchen, Kelly and Matt cracked on with trying to reach Brett and Stella too. It rang a few times before jay finally heard Emily pick up, it was a relief to hear her giggles and her voice again.
Emily: "hey, all good?"
Jay: "I tried calling you before but it went to voicemail, is everything okay?"
Emily; "yeah we're all fine, our service cut out"
Jay: "have you seen the news?"
Emily; "no...we lost signal"
Jay: "get everyone inside now, the tornado watch has turned into a warning..."
Emily: "woah woah woah, since when was there a tornado warning?"
Jay: "about two hours ago..."
Emily: "oh god, one sec. Hey Brett! Get Mackey and Kim and take them inside! There's a tornado warning!"
Stella: "what?!"
Jay: "em listen to me okay? Get Stella and the rest of the girls, go to the basement and stay there until I call you again..."

He was about to say something else but the line went fuzzy and static as Emily and stellas voice started breaking up. Matt and Kelly walked into the kitchen to listen in since they couldn't reach their girls so jay put Emily on speaker so they could hear too.
Emily: "stel...what's that?"
Stella: "oh shit! Go! run...em!"
Jay: "em? Emily what's happening?"
Emily: "Brett go! Move it!"
Jay: "em?!"
Emily: "stel...run...I can't..."

They moved the little party into Kelly's living room where the news channel came back on, Emily was still on the line but at the moment her call was silent and he couldn't hear anything.
News presenter: "this is it folks! Prepare to take cover, the tornado has officially touched down on anglewood. Stay safe!"

Kelly's face went pale, "that's the cabins district..." he summed up quietly. They all stood there in silence with their stomachs in a knot. They were about the think of their next plans when jays phone created a ghastly noise, only afterwards did they realise what it was.
Emily: *strong wind blows, crash, screams*
Jay: "Emily talk to me..."
Emily: *smash, wind, screams*

"Is that..." jay started but Kelly cut him off, "a uh, a tornado? sounds like it..." he stuttered out. They all stood still as the phone made even more ghastly noises, jay couldn't even steady his hand so it was shaking, his legs felt weak and his mind was racing. The wind noises eventually stopped from Emily's side of the call but it was silent other then a clattering of wood and metal, a bit of light rainfall could be heard too. "Oh god..." Matt pointed to the TV as it showed aerial footage, it showed the tornado funnel disappearing into the sky, that was it, it's over. The storm is over...
News presenter: "the city is devastated by the impact of the tornado, here you can see only a minor proportion of the damage. Anglewood seems to be the only district to have taken impact but our emergency hotline is open for any updates you may have, thank you for staying calm and resilient!"

"The cabin...the girls..." Kelly sighed since they couldn't see the cabin on any of the wreckage pictures, they just knew it wasn't good since no one was talking on Emily's side of the call and the rest of the damage from the more rural areas were brutal...

*okay okay, so I know this would most likely not happen but it's something different to a typical story line lol :)*