I’d seen the goddamned storm touch down twice behind me, as I’d recklessly torn up the asphalt racing it back. I’d prayed to reach the church before it did, and I had… but only by seconds. Dean had gotten everyone downstairs. Everyone but Maggie… and I hadn’t stopped until I’d found her.

“Lift.” I heaved one end of a shattered beam and Dean took the other. Together we dragged it out of the way and climbed the stairs. The winds weren’t as loud now, and the storm had shifted. It was moving… but it could always shift back…

“Here,” Dean coughed and pointed. We ran for the end of a long hall, and I looked up to see patches of sky through the rooftop. “Bathrooms are here.”

“Emily?” I pushed the door and it fell away from its last remaining hinge. “Emily…!”

The stall walls had collapsed in on themselves and water was pouring from a broken pipe. I could see tiny legs.

“Mama…,” the little girl wailed. My heart broke at the sound, but her voice was strong and she was very much alive.

“Hold still, Emily,” I said, as soothingly as I could. Dean reached to support the metal walls, as I dragged the door aside. “Your mama is just fine, sweetie.” I swallowed a thick lump of gratitude as I caught sight of her. She was wet and she was dirty, but in spite of the chaos, there wasn’t a scratch on her.

“I want Mama,” she said, reaching her arms out for me as I gathered her up. Dean and I shared a look over her shoulder, a split second of mutual heart-stopping relief, and he smiled.

“Then I guess we’d better go find her.”

Emily’s mother met us on the stairs. Ryan and Henry had done their best to hold her back, but she’d become almost hysterical once the initial shock had worn off. She flew towards us and smothered the little girl with kisses. Emily wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and smiled back at me.

“Are you okay, baby?” I asked. Maggie’s face was pale. She threw herself into my arms and buried her face in my chest.

“Fine, now,” she said, as I wrapped my arms around her. ‘But I don’t think I’m ready to let you out of my sight again.” I felt her chest rising and falling unevenly with her breath. “Where you go, I go…”

I chuckled and kissed her forehead, leaving my lips on her as I scanned the room, listened for the storm. It wasn’t gone, but it was distant now. I could hear the crackle of the radio. For the moment at least, the warning was over.

“How is everyone, Jackie?”

She came over and smiled at us. Nothing, it appeared, could shake her calm exterior.

“Good,” she answered. “A few scrapes and bruises.” She brushed her hair back with both hands. “That fucker hit fast.”

Dean came over with a bottle of water and handed it to her. She looked up at him gratefully and drank. “You forget to take of yourself, Jackie,” he chided. “You were the last damned one down here.”

“Only second to you,” she shot back. Their glance held a moment longer.

“Where are the Walkers?” I asked, looking for them in the wavering light. Everyone’s here except for them…”

“Oh my God,” Maggie pulled back from me sharply. “How the hell could I have forgotten?” She grabbed at me arm. “They left for the farmhouse… hours ago. What if they got caught on the road?”

Emergency services had arrived and were busy clearing the remaining debris from the staircase. A paramedic was checking each person before they were taken back up and into the mottled, fading daylight. The four of us stayed together. And we were the last ones up to see the devastation.

“It could have been a hell of a lot worse,” I said aloud, keeping Maggie at my side. “F-1… 2, maybe… Mother Nature might have blown off enough steam… for now…” I glanced around, getting my bearings. “The Walkers are most likely fine, but I have to make sure, Maggie. I want you to stay here with Ryan and Dean. I’ll use the two-way to keep in touch as long as I can… I’ll only be gone…”

“No!” she spat out. “Not without me, not again. I’m not letting you leave me again.”

Dean took her arm gently, but she pulled away sharply. “I’m not leaving him,” she said, her eyes strong, her voice firm. “You may not like it, Dean… you may not understand the way that I feel… the way that I’ve always felt.” She looked from his face to mine. “I love you, Joe,” she said simply. She turned to face her brother. “I love him.”

“And I love her, too,” I said gently to Dean, facing him.

“I don’t want this to come between us… not between any of us. But Maggie’s no child anymore. She’s the strongest woman I’ve ever known and she knows her own mind. I love her, and I’ll never hurt her. I’ll also never give her up.”

Dean drew in a breath to speak. Then I saw Jackie reach over and take his hand. It was a tiny movement, but it was there. He exhaled and stayed silent, but I could see in his eyes that he hadn’t accepted it.

“We have to go find them,” Maggie said determinedly. “If they didn’t make it to the farmhouse, and there’s another storm…”

I looked at Dean and his face was grim. “She isn’t going with you,” he said to me. He turned to face her. “You’re staying here with me, where it’s safe. Hell, I’ll go with Joe, but I want you here… It’s too damned dangerous…”

“He’s right, Maggie,” I added. “I’m going alone. I want you here… Stay with Jackie and the others. I’ll be back in a few hours…” I touched her face and felt Dean bristle. “I need you to wait…”

“The Walkers are my responsibility,” she said stiffly. I could tell by the set of her mouth how angry she was. “And to hell with you both, if you think you can discuss me as if I’m not even here.” She planted her feet and stared us both down.

“Don’t do this, Maggie,” Dean said, his eyes dark and his tone a warning…

“It’s already done,” she replied coldly.