Chapter 10: Escape, Maybe...

They arrived at the school faster than the EF5, thankfully. Alvin, Eric, Stoick and Valka entered the school and headed to the shelter while Tommy and Astrid stayed in the Titus with Hiccup since he couldn't exactly walk right now.

"Everybody out!" Alvin yelled, startling many people.

"Get up to the busses!" Stoick called as well.

Gobber walked up to them. "Are you mad, Stoick?!" he asked.

"There's another Tornado headed this way!" Stoick warned, pointing in the direction the tornado was supposedly coming from.

Gobber glared at him. "And you want us to go outside?" he asked.

"You don't understand." Eric said.

"You have to, Gobber." Alvin added. Some of the students in the room chuckled at their principles nickname.

Gobber ignored them. "This is the storm shelter for Thor's sake!"

"Not for this." Alvin said, shaking his head.

"We've been out there!" Stoick protested. "We know what this can do!"

Gobber shook his head and crossed his arms. "I'm not risking it." he said, sternly. "I've got hundreds of scared people down her-"

"You will have hundreds of dead people if you stay here!" Stoick yelled, pointing a finger right at Gobber.

When Gobber didn't respond, Valka spoke up. "Gobber," she started calmly. "You know me. I've studied storms all my life. This is bigger than any storm that has ever been. Can you hear that?" she asked. "It will flatten this building in seconds."

Alvin nodded, impressed with her point. "Exactly."

Stoick looked back at Gobber. "With or without you, we're getting these people onto those buses." he said pointing to the stairs.

...

"Come on, everybody!" Stoick yelled, jogging ahead of the large mass of people.

Gobber was at the back of the group, making sure no one was left behind. "Get on the buses! Move!" he instructed.

Stoick and Alvin went to the Titus while Eric and Valka went to find a bus. Stoick opened the back door here the three teens were seated. "Come on. we're going now." he instructed. He helped Astrid out, then lifted one of Hiccup's arms over his shoulders, Tommy did the same on the other side, and they helped him out as well.

"Over here!" Valka called from an early bus not far from them.

Stoick turned around, making sure they had everyone, and saw Alvin sitting in the Titus. "Aren't you coming?" he asked.

Alvin shook his head. "I'm taking the Titus." he responded. "I'll be right behind you." Eh then turned to Eirc. "Go with that group." he instructed. Eric nodded and ran to the group on the last bus that was left.

Stoick nodded. "Okay." he breathed and him and Tommy took Hiccup to the bus.

Valka was sitting just behind the driver's seat and Astrid was right across from them. Stoick and Tommy set Hiccup down next to her before taking their seats. Tommy sat just behind his mother and Stoick took the driver's seat.

Soon, all the busses were leaving the parking lot. Some cars drove solo next to the busses as they tried to escape the tornado. From where they were, the EF5 was closing in on the school. In seconds, it would be gone. Stoick pulled the bus out of the parking lot and they began their escape.

Tommy looked behind them to see the school being taken down by a wall of black cloud. "Oh shit!" he said as a few bricks and debris landed close to them.

"How we looking?" Stoick asked, trying to see the twister behind them.

Val looked behind them, her eyes widening. "It's still picking up speed!"

"Great." Stoick muttered, putting his foot on the gas.

Just behind them, the F5 and run into some large power lines, ripping some up and making others sway. They were large metal structures, but the wind and harsh conditions made one of them tipp too far.

Hiccup looked out in front of them to see one of the large metal towers begin to tilt heavily towards the road. "Dad! Dad, the tower's coming down!" he warned, pointing up ahead at the falling tower.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Look out!" Tommy yelled as the tower came down just in front of them, landing on the windshield of a car.

Stoick's eyes widened as he saw they were running out of road, so was the car just to their right and Alvin behind them. "Hang on!" he instructed, turning sharply to the side and putting on the brakes, stopping meters from the downed tower.

"We can't get through. There's no way around." Eric said, looking at their blocked path and the crop fields on either side of them. "We don't have any time!"

Valka looked to their right to see the lone car stuck in the ditch, with no way out. She opened the door and jumped out, much to the protest of the others. "Hey!" she called to the passengers of the car. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" was their reply.

"Come on the bus. Come on the bus with us." she said hurriedly. Gesturing for them to come.

She recognised the people who were in the car. It was some of Hiccup's old friends. Fisher, Trey, Renée and her nephew Scott. She watched them get on the bus hurriedly before she walked to the back of the bus to talk to Alvin.

"We gotta back up!" she told him. "We gotta go back and find a road!"

Alvin gave her a thumbs up and backed the Titus up and began driving the other way. Val climbed back on the bus and they turned around as well. They didn't have much time as the EF5 was fast approaching.

"Stoick, we need cover. We can't stay in the open." Valka told her husband, looking at the twister worriedly.

Stoick shook his head, following the Titus down a sideroad. "It's moving too fast. We're not gonna outrun it."

They kept driving until they reached a dead end. The road was blocked with concrete dividers. They could never move them in time.

"The road's blocked! We gotta turn around." Stoick said, getting ready to back up and try another road. If there was one.

Hiccup stopped him. "No, Dad, pull over up here." he instructed, pointing up ahead.

Stoick stared at him. "What?" he asked. There was no where for them to go, what was he-

"Dad, trust me, okay? I filmed here. There's a storm drain. Right over there." Hiccup interrupted his thoughts, pointing just ahead of them, past the dividers.

Stoick nodded. "Okay, everybody get off!" he yelled, opening the door and climbing off the bus.

Astrid and Tommy helped Hiccup off the bus and they followed the others down the hill to the entrance. Alvin soon joined them, only to find that both sides of the storm drain were closed in by grates.

"We can't get in this way!" Scott said, trying to yank the grate open.

"Go in through the manhole!" Stoick instructed, leading the group back up the hill and onto the road.

One by one they climbed over the dividers, while Hiccup Astrid and Tommy were stuck on the other side. They needed somebody to help lift Hiccup over the dividers or they would be stuck out there. Thankfully somebody came to help.

"Pass him over!" Scott said, arms waiting. Astrid and Tommy both looked at him in shock before doing so. Tommy lifted his brother's legs up so him and Astrid were carrying Hiccup bridal style.

They lifted him over the barrier carefully, Hiccup avoiding eye contact with his cousin the entire time. It had been years since Scott had done as much as giving him a look that wasn't filled with disgust and hate. But now, he was looking at him with worry and concern. It was... weird.

Scott put Hiccup down on his right foot, Hiccup's arm around his shoulders for support, and waited for Astrid and Tommy to climb over the dividers. "You okay, cuz?" Scott asked in concern.

Hiccup nodded, still not making eye contact with his cousin. "Yeah, I-I'm fine."

Scott chuckled. "If you were fine you could walk." He pointed out.

Astrid walked over to Hiccup and he placed his other arm over her shoulder. After having his weight supported, the three, Tommy just ahead of them, made their way to the man hole.

"We're lowering him down!" Astrid called down to the others. Stoick and Valka were waiting at the bottom to help their son into the storm drain since he couldn't do it himself.

Astrid and Scott put their hands under Hiccup's arms and gently began to lower him down. Hiccup hated the entire thing. He'd never felt so... so... useless. In all his life, in all the years of being called 'Hiccup the Useless', he'd never felt it like this.

Valka kept her hand on her son's legs, especially the left, gently supporting it. She didn't want it to hit the ladder or the ground with too much force, in fear of the pain it would cause her son.

Stoick grabbed his son's small waist, lowering him down once he was out of reach of the two teens above. He held his son close to his chest while Tommy, Astrid and Scott climbed down and placed the manhole cover back over the hole.

The EF5 was fast approaching and the wind was picking up just as fast. Alvin looked to the grate from his position from behind the wide lip in the wall of the storm drain. The grate was loose. It needed to be sealed. If someone lost their footing they would be sucked right out.

He reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out his flashdrive with all the information and footage he had gathered over the years. His life's work. And he handed it to Stoick.

"This footage and data could save lives one day!" he said, placing the flash drives in Stoick's hand and climbing up the ladder and opening the cover.

Valka looked at Alvin in utter shock, working her way to the ladder. "Al what are you doing?!" she called over the wind. Alvin simply closed the cover and left, giving Val a small smile as he did so. "Alvin please come back!"

Stoick held Valka down with one hand, the other still wrapped tightly around Hiccup's small frame. "Valka get back!" he instructed as a strong gust blew through the storm drain.

...

Alvin walked carefully towards the Titus, nearly avoiding the countless pieces of debris being flung straight at him. He managed to dodge a few but a fairly large piece of lumber gave him a good smack on the shoulder blades, causing him to collapse to his knees in pain. Luckily he was only steps from the Titus doors.

...

In the storm drain, the wind had picked up significantly making it difficult to hold on. Looking out the grate, Valka could see the base of the large funnel fast approaching. It would be here in moments. The creaking of metal pulled her from her thoughts.

"Oh gods the grate's loose!" Tommy shouted.

And indeed it was. the whole upper section of the grate was being pulled from its sockets in the concrete wall and was now blowing in the wind. If they didn't find a way to block it, the whole grate would eventually be pulled off and they could easily be sucked out.

"We're going to get sucked out!" Fisher panicked.

Stoick had forgotten the other's were here, since he was worrying over his own family's safety. "Calm down and hold on tight!" he instructed, causing the teens to shut up and press against the wall tightly.

Hiccup was gripping the ladder tightly, his knuckles white. Not because he was scared of being sucked out into the open air, but because of the never ending pain in his leg. It throbbed, ached and stabbed violently. A single tear escaped his eye as he squeezed them shut them tightly.

Astrid was on the other side of the ladder, gripping it tightly as the teens pressed against the wall behind her. Looking up from the ladder she spotted Hiccup. His face pale and filled with pain, eyes squeezed shut and a tear running down his face. She knew why too.

Sh reached her hand across and placed it on his trying to comfort him. She flinched slightly, feeling how cold it was but did not stop her from running her thumb over his white knuckles..

He opened his eyes, face still filled with pain and looked up. Astrid was staring back at him with the ocean blue eyes he'd always loved so much, her face filled with concern. He felt something warm on his hand, rubbing circles over it and realized it was her hand. He was still a little new to the whole 'affection' thing.

Behind her, he saw the teens. Fisher had his eyes shut and his hands flat against the wall. Renée had a strong grip on Trey's arm, which he returned. He had never seen the twins like this. And then there was Scott. He had his head in his hands and was mumbling stuff like 'find a happy place' over and over.

He wanted to comfort them. Even though after what they put him through they didn't deserve it. but Hiccup was always willing to forgive people. He believed in second chances. H just hoped he'd be able to have one with them. And his father.

There was another loud creak as another part of the grate was pulled from the wall. Hiccup knew it would be gone any time now as he could see how close the tornado was. But his vision was soon blocked by the blinding white of headlights. There was a bang and th grate was pushed back towards the wall by the Titus.

Sitting in the front seat, was none other than Alvin.