The First Storm

Third in the First series. I figured if you were from a planet with a destroyed ecosystem, weather would be a crazy thing to witness. I mean, think about it. Water, falling from the sky? For us, normal, but for Martians? That would be like humans seeing gold falling out of the bright blue sky. A happy thing, but still weird.

Disclaimer: They aren't mine, how terribly sad....

The First: Storm
by cho-dan

Vinnie's head lolled against the back of the couch, arms stretched out in relaxation. "Charley-girl, you're a real sweetheart, you know that?"

"I'll bet you say that to all the girls," she teased from the kitchen.

"Just the ones that bring him food," Throttle said with a smirk from his place on the recliner. His eyes closed as he breathed out slowly, unwinding from their second run-in with Limburger to date. A long shower had done wonders to relax them already, but Charley had promised a hot meal and some more of her favorite movies. None of them had been able to resist that offer.

Normally, a girl offering a night of her fave movies would have them in the hospital for an overdose of 'chick flick', but this girl had good taste. Most of her stuff was action, with some seriously funny comedies in the mix. She only had three tearjerkers on her shelf, to their surprise. When Modo had asked why, she gave him an odd look. "I like a good cry every now and then, not all the time, honey," she'd said in confusion at his confusion. "Not every girl is in love with Leonardo DiCaprio." They hadn't known who that 'DiCaprio' was, but they got the gist of it.

Modo used his tail to tap Vinnie's shoulder as he walked in from the kitchen carrying most of the food, making the younger mouse spring up to help set it all out. Throttle immediately pitched in, clearing the small coffe table of stuff and placing it all off to the side of the couch so it wouldn't get lost. After the ripping the grey mouse had given them about their manners in front of Charley, they had been scrambling to behave ever since. The girl walked slowly in, her arms loaded with root beer for them and a few cream sodas for her. Throttle took the majority of them from her arms with a smile as everything was finally ready for dinner.

Vinnie flipped the tv on as he dug into his first dog of the night, barely paying attention to the screen as he savored the first bite. The other boys didn't see it either, but Charley noticed the white scrolling letters across the bottom of the screen. She frowned as it went on and then sighed, getting up from the couch.

"We forget somethin', Miss Charley?" Modo asked as he saw her go.

"Nah, just need to get something from my room," she replied. She came back a few minutes later with some flashlights, a small radio, and some extra blankets. Throttle frowned at the sight, "Charley, you don't have to camp out on the floor, there's plenty of room on the couch."

"Oh, its not for that," she said. "I just want to be ready in case"--

KRA-KA-BOOOOOOM!!!

She screamed as arms suddenly tackled her and pulled her to the ground. The lights of the garage flickered and died, the tv blanking out. There was nothing but the sound of harsh breathing for a moment, all three mice tensed in the dark. Charley trembled from her place underneath a very heavy mouse, recovering from the shock of the trip to the ground. She drew in a shaky breath, ('Never seen anyone move that fast before,' she thought), "Um, who's got me?"

"Me," Modo said quietly. "You hurt, Miss Charley?"

"No," she replied shakily. "You just startled me." She swallowed hard in embarrassment over their position. "Modo, honey? You can let me up now."

"Not a good idea," Throttle whispered from somewhere to her left. "We don't know if that was the one bomb or first in a wave."

"I don't fully recognize the sound pattern, but it doesn't sound like scutters or hill types," Vinnie said, a serious tone she had never heard before in his voice. "Could be an EMP-based"--

White brilliant light suddenly flashed from outside the windows. It lit the room enough for the human girl to see the faces of her three friends staring out the window with shocked looks of mingled horror and fright. Modo's arms contracted around her, and he pressed his face into her shoulder as the light ended. The garage shook with the force of the sonic wave that followed two seconds later.

When it finally died away, there was total stillness for a full minute before anyone spoke. "Everyone still alive?" Throttle asked, his voice shaking.

"Yeah," Vinnie said, not much better off than his bro. "Modo, how're you and Charley?"

"I'm fine," he said softly, pushing up from her slightly. "Miss Charley?"

"Alright, enough's enough," her voice rang out suprisingly loud in the dark. "Let me up, right now."

"Charley, its not safe"--

"Do you trust me?" she asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" she said.

A hesitant yes came from the mice.

"Then trust me to know what to do," she said. "Throttle, can you find those flashlights I had?"

"I've got one by me," Vinnie said.

"Turn it on and hand it over," she said firmly. The bright beam of light was startling, but a welcome sight as the white mouse searched and found his human friend in the darkness. He gave over the flashlight as Modo moved to let her up. "Okay guys, I'll be right back"--

"Where are you going?"

"To the fuse box," she said. "I'll try and get the power turned back on, but I'm betting the hit took out the power lines down the street. I've got a backup generator, but i'd rather not use it unless we absolutely have too. I won't be gone five minutes, okay?" She sent the light across the room looking for the other devices, spotting the rest by the edge of the coffe table. She handed them out before she left, promising to be careful as she went.

None of them turned the lights on, not wanting to give their positions away to anyone that might be outside the garage doors. Nothing but silence filled the garage as the mice strained to hear her footsteps. An odd thrumming noise suddenly sounded against the roof of the building, all three tensing as it drowned out her footfalls. It sounded like something constantly hitting the ceiling, and lots of it, and it was driving Modo crazy. "Has it been five minutes yet?" he said anxiously.

"No, just three," Throttle replied.

"You think she's okay by herself?" Vinnie asked softly.

"She said for us to trust her," the leader said. "So we trust her to be okay."

"I really hate when you say things like that," the young mouse huffed under his breath.

Quiet seconds ticked by. Suddenly a small bright light cut through the dark and she was back with them. "Sorry, but its the lines down the way that are out. We should be fine for now, but i'd rather we moved this upstairs."

"Upstairs? Are you nuts?!" Vinnie said in open-mouthed shock.

"Trust me," she stressed, "I promise you, this will be okay. Follow me, alright? You all need to see this to believe it." She turned and headed for the stairs to the bedrooms, hearing very nervous mice follow after her. Their reactions earlier had triggered a memory for Charley, of her beloved uncle Ryan who had been a Vietnam veteran. Sometimes loud noises and bright lights brought on memories of his time in the war. The human girl figured the Martian mice were no different in this reguard, so she needed to show them proof that they were afraid of nothing more than memories.

She brought them to her room, pushing open the door and motioning them inside. All three hesitantly walked in behind her, crowding around her bed in the smaller room. She moved to the wall and pulled back a curtain that covered the door to her small balcony that faced the city, revealing--

"A glass door?!" Throttle said in horror. "Charley, are you crazy?! You can't stay here in the middle of"--

The sight of brilliant white lighting arching across the midnight sky lit the room. The Martian mice froze in place, staring outside. "By my grey furred momma," Modo breathed softly. "Its raining." Rain was pouring down, splashing against the roof and flooding the gutters, spilling off to the ground. Smaller bolts of lightning were shooting down around the city, making the clouds visable as black and purple smudges in the sky. Thunder was echoing everywhere, never fading as the storm raged on.

"I--I've never seen it rain before," Vinnie said in wonder. "I think I was three the last time it happened on Mars."

"I was five," Throttle breathed, sitting down on her bed to watch the storm and take it all in. "I don't remember anything like this."

"That's Chicago weather for you," Charley said quietly. "Sometimes it just lets loose on you like this. I love storm watching, so I put in the door so I could watch all I wanted and not get wet." She smiled at them, "I'll go get the rest of dinner and bring it up here, okay? Might as well enjoy the show."

"Thank you, Miss Charley, ma'am," Modo said as he sat down on the carpeted floor, eye glued to the storm outside. The mice watched in dazed awe as streaks of light lit the sky like fireworks, the thunder strong enough to shake the large doors downstairs. The wind picked up and started to howl outside, tossing the clouds across the eastern half of the city and sending them down to the southeast. They could see huge thunderheads, the lightning inside the massive formations letting them be seen like it was still daylight.

Charley brought up the dogs and sodas, Vinnie quickly heading down to get the blankets and radio she had taken to them earlier. Everyone settled in for the night, a comfortable silence only broken by the sound of the thunder.