Miggy stared up at Alonzo and started to shake, just the way Alonzo was shaking. They both peered down at the three eyeballs glaring up at them from the small screen. “Mig, turn off the music and gather everyone close. Like right now.”

One minute later, all eighteen members of the Scorpions were hunkered in a tight circle under the half-dead trees. The thunder continued to boom while the lightning continued to dance across the night sky. And then it started to rain, fat drops of water that splashed down, making loud splat sounds as they hit the upturned faces of the Scorpions. All they knew was that they weren’t hunkering together to talk about the rain finally falling from the sky. And then Alonzo held up his phone and waved it around so all the members could see the image staring back at them.

A voice from the outer circle grumbled. “You said this would never happen. You swore it wouldn’t happen. Now what happens to all of us?”

“We need to relocate, and we need to do it right now. We talked about this two days ago. We put a plan in motion, so now we’re going to carry out that plan. Pack up. Don’t leave anything behind.” The rain started to fall harder, forcing Alonzo to talk louder. “This is no time to panic. We always knew this was a possibility. We talked about that, too. At least we have a plan.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” someone shouted.

“If it happens, we’ll deal with it when it happens. If you all do your part, we should be safe and sound before daylight. Move!”

“Where are we going?” someone else shouted.

“You’ll see where we’re going when we get there. Now move, and don’t ever question me again,” Alonzo bellowed to be heard over the rain, thunder, and the cracks of lightning. Heat lightning.

Miggy got to his feet and stared down at his friend. “I’ll get the cycles ready. This is not good, Al.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know. The one thing we have going for us is we’ve done this drill already. If no one screws up, we should be okay.”

“How long do you think we have before the stuff hits the fan?” Miggy asked, fear ringing in his voice.

“An hour. Maybe an hour and a half. We need to move now.”

Ten minutes later, all ten Harleys were ready to hit the road. The sound equaled that of a 747 directly overhead. One by one, rider and machine peeled away and headed for the highway, the saddlebags loaded with everything the members could gather up.