My Ex's Stepsister

6

“When mother nature roars, all you can do is hide, because she won’t stop until her anger subsides. As they say, mother nature knows how to take revenge, so we must be careful before hurting nature.” Bo recollected someone had said this to her once.

It was true that the sudden change in the weather was a little unexpected, yet they were forewarned. If only people would have listened to the warnings, then probably things would have been a little different.The weather forecast had warned them of an undeterred storm coming towards them, but it went unheard. People were requested to stay at home or take shelter, that.. accidents were taking place due to minimal visibility. But nobody took that information seriously.

Bo kept thinking about the- ‘if only’s.’ As she drowned deeper into the water, she recalled of every possible way, this situation could have been avoided. If only.. those cars wouldn’t have blocked the roads, causing the flash flood in the area of the store, the rescuers would have arrived on time.

If only.. Carl wouldn’t have allowed people to take shelter inside the store, causing the store to overpopulate. They wouldn’t have to take responsibility of so many deaths.

If only.. they had sent all the customers back to their houses, or even better closed the store as soon as the heavy rainfall showed up or when the storm had hit, everyone would have been within the walls of the safety of their house.

They all were in this situation, with or without their own fault. Everybody was equally responsible for how this day ended and there was nothing they could do about it.

The last thing that Bo could remember was, trying to hold on to the fence, as the humungous wave hit them. She had watched Echo swimming towards a hand that was sticking out, asking for help and waiting to be saved.

Before she realized, Bo’ grip over the fence loosened for a split second and she sunk deep down. She fought her way out of the water, slamming her legs and arms onto something. The dressing of the wounds on her thighs came off. Instead, she further scrapped the skin on her arms and legs as it rubbed against something.

Drops of blood were flowing freely down her body, and the wounds were stinging, but as soon as Bo managed to stick her head out, she frantically looked for any signs of Carl or Boston, or Echo. After all, she was the one to direct Echo towards the hand waiting to be saved. Also, she had yelled at Echo without thinking about the fact that even Echo was stuck in this situation along with her and the others. She must also be scared for her life behind the facade of lies and silly jokes.

Bo screamed tirelessly, calling out their names, “Carl.. Boston. Where are- where are you?” she stuttered with anxiousness. “Carl. Boston—Please.. oh, God, please. Please reply.. Boston.” She cried out, feeling alone and helpless.

Bo swam from one corner to the other, like she was pacing back and forth. But could find no one around, as if suddenly everyone had vanished and only she was left all alone. Bo kept swimming, while calling out their names and then stopped as her eyes landed on the bodies that were floating over the water. Her heart leaped out of her chest. Well! Almost.

‘The live wires,’ She remembered Echo warning her about it. Bo realized the wires must be somewhere nearby. When the wave hit them, these people may have fallen over those deadly weapons, which is why these people ended up losing their lives. She quickly turned around and managed to make her way out of that area.

Bo had this odd feeling, that can’t be described. It was more than just desperation. She felt like the water was drowning her into the depth of despair, making her feel miserable. She was slowly getting convinced she won’t make it out alive anymore.

She remembered making a promise to Ricky that she would take care of herself and was determined to keep it. But how was she supposed to get out of this situation?

Bo took a break from her constant thoughts running through her head and looked around, carefully analysing her situation. She was on her own now and would have to look out for herself until somebody finds her or she finds somebody. Fear tingled her skin, apart from cold that was settling in.

As Bo observed everything around her, while cautiously floating in the water to avoid colliding with something and hurting herself again, it dawned on her that she probably has reached somewhere out of the store.

The place where the store stood couldn’t be seen anywhere. It was highly possible that everything was submerged beneath the water and now she had to look for a place where she can take shelter and keep herself safe. She would have to wait, alone until the rescue arrives. And if she is not wrong, it was only possible to happen tomorrow morning.

Bo found herself wondering how long was she inside the dept of the water, that before she could manage to stick out her head everything else around her had already drown under the water. The time lapse was driving her crazy. It won't be too long that she would be the only one remaining, waiting either to be rescued by people or for the sould reaper.

After about thirty prolonged minutes, she found a place where she can sit and rest for a while. It was still raining heavily and the storm was making it difficult to keep floating. Numerous times, Bo lost her balance and was pulled down into the water.

As she swam towards the place, she decided she could take shelter in, it looked like a huge rooftop or something of similar kind. Bo managed to course through the deep water, the unforgiving storm and reached the place, where she sat down on a small deck of the rooftop haven and curled herself into a ball.

The rain was pelting like a stone on the glass, and the floor, followed by the lightening that was striking dangerously, like it was warning everyone before the thunder boomed. Bo sat on the roof, watching the wrath of mother nature and shivering, both in fear and cold.

Darkness fell over as the night came visiting. Bo felt like she had heard footsteps and then a sneezing sound. The sound must have repeated twice or thrice, after which Bo decided to go check in the direction the sound was coming from. Perhaps someone might need help.

As Bo carefully walked towards the slippery floor, fighting the enormous wind, she felt she might have seen somebody move. As Bo approached closer towards that direction which was opposite to the place, she was seated a few moments ago, she found a familiar face looking at her. It was Echo. She felt an instant relief in her body and she heave a sigh of relief.

Echo stood there in the rain, her clothes were drenched and she was soaked to her skin, just like Bo. By that time, night had already visited and the downpour refused to cease. The walls had already caved in and help was nowhere nearby. Nevertheless, as Bo looked at the familiar person, she couldn’t contain her happiness. Her restless heart was filled with warmth and relief, knowing that somebody.. somebody had made it out – alive, from that place.

“Are you gonna hit me or push me down the water? Slap me again?” She heard Echo ask her. There was no humour displaying on Echo face, that told Bo that she wasn’t being silly or passing witty remarks. Guilt pierced her chest as she rememebered how she had behaved with Echo.

“What? No. Why would you say that?” Bo looked at Echo, as if she felt puzzled with the sudden odd question. Echo scoffed, “The last time I was trying to save you from getting into the water, where the live wires were, I got slapped. You accused me of lying to you and god knows what else.” Echo pointed out and subtly rolled her eyes.

Bo averted her eyes and sincerely apologized, “Wait! Sorry about that. I was.. not in the right state of mind.” She confessed. “Hmm!! Figured that much.” Echo replied, still a grave expression pasted on her face. “If I may ask, what happened. Will that be me intruding your privacy?” Echo asked her.

Bo rushed forward and hugged Echo, “Oh my god! Oh my god! You can ask anything. I’m just glad you are alive. I thought it’ll be only me against this gruelling weather. I will be left alone once again.” Bo squeezed Echo in her tight embrace.

“What does that mean?” Echo sounded concerned. But when she heard Bo silently sobbing and her body vibrated, Echo pulled back to check on Bo. “What’s wrong? Why is your face so red?” Bo just shook her head, but she continued to shed tears.

“Just so you know, I found Boston as well as Carl. Actually, there are few more people out there, but I don’t remember their names. They must be soon coming this way.” The moment she heard Echo say that, Bo cried out a little louder only to be pulled into a tight embrace by Echo. “Will you stop crying? You making me worry.” Echo said while soothing her back.

Once her cries subsided, Echo made her sit at one corner as she sat beside her. Bo apologized once again. “I’m sorry for slapping you, Echo. I was.. Umm!! Not that it can be an excuse for my stupid behaviour. But, to tell you the truth, I was scared back there. I was.. afraid I would be left alone. I am scared of abandonment.”

Echo’s eyes traced Bo’ face. She could hear the sadness in her voice, and see the pain showing on her face. “I don’t understand what you mean by that, Bo?” Echo cautiously answered.

Bo chuckled, “And I don’t understand why am I telling this to you? We barely even know each other.” Echo chuckled as well and wisely replied, “Maybe that is what makes it easier for you to open up to me. Because we do not know each other and after we escape this disaster, we might not even see each other.” She smiled and Bo nodded in agreement.

“Besides,” Echo further added, “…when we are already stuck with each other in this situation, until—who knows for how many hours. We might as well get along and talk about something we usually won’t say to people whom we know.”

“Fair point.” Bo smiled cheerfully. She was truly relieved to see Echo and was glad to know that Boston and Carl were also alive. “Actually. To tell you the truth, I was worried about my friend. I am not sure, but I think he drowned. They were at the beach and my boy-”

Bo was cut in mid-sentence when Echo gasped. “Bo. Where is the dressing? You’re bleeding damnit!” Echo yelled in exasperation. “No doubt you are shivering so much. And you look so pale, like all your blood has been drained out of you..” Echo pulled her leg and placed it over hers. She bellowed again, “Oh God! Bo, you have hurt yourself. Look at your arms and legs. What the hell have you done?”

Echo sounded worried as she carefully checked out Bo for any further injury. Next moment, Echo got on her feet and yelled, “Boston! Boston!” Somebody, who sounded like Boston did reply, but it was very faint. Bo couldn’t be sure if it was actually Boston.

Bo’ pants were torn, so Echo tore the lower half of it and tied it around the injury around Bo’ arms. Echo was wearing a shirt, which she removed and tied it around Bo’ thighs. These were deep cut wounds and bleeding needed to be stopped. Moreover, the flesh was jutting out, so the cloth needed to be tightly wrapped around, to keep it together.

“I don’t mean to pry. But, is that actually a suicide attempt? And was abandonment the reason you did this to yourself?” Echo bluntly asked. Bo remained silent and Echo did not force her. She just sighed and remained quietly seated beside Bo.

They heard Boston’s voice and Bo was more than happy to see that the storm had passed, the downpour had reduced, but the more important reason for her happiness was to see Boston along with Carl and few of her workmates and customers swimming towards them.

“Boston! Carl!” Bo shrieked happily and jumped on her feet, not caring about anything else and hugged Boston, as soon as he climbed up the roof. “Hey!” Carl said. “How are you, Bo?” Then Bo went on to hug her boss as well. “Thank you for being safe.”

Bo hugged everyone who was alive and standing in front of her at that moment, as she couldn’t believe, that about an hour ago, she almost gave on finding anyone alive. Bo thought she would be the only one to be rescued- but it also depended if the rescue was happening soon or if she made it until tomorrow morning. But Bo was happy that she was wrong and was able to see them once again.

“You looked so happy?” Echo teased her. Bo grinned cheerfully, “I am.” She gladly confessed. “I had lost all my hope to see them again, but guess what? You all are here with me. We are in this together and I am confident we would make it out alive.”

Echo smirked and nodded her head playfully. “Umm-hmm!!” Boston was standing right behind Bo. He looked at Echo and arched his eyebrow, while Echo, slightly shrugged her shoulder.

“I’m glad that I am not leaving my workmates behind..” Bo continued. “..and also because I will be able to keep my promise that I made to my boyfriend.” Bo closed her eyes and let a tear escape her eye and roll down her cheek.

Bo realized she couldn’t express in any better way, how happy she was.

Whereas, the smile on both Echo as well as Boston vanished at that moment. Echo was too stunned to react, she just looked at Boston who raised his hands in the air and kept shaking his head, telling her that he had no idea about the boyfriend.