Grateful

It took him a minute to figure out why it was so dark when he woke up the following morning even after glancing at his watch which told him the sun had to be up already.

"Oh. No shit, Sherlock," he said out loud to himself as he remembered the plywood shutters and the sandbags.

No matter how often he worked out, doing something like filling sandbags used different muscles. Kane enjoyed the feeling of being pleasantly sore as he moved around the house, stretching his arms, back, and legs to loosen them up.

In the kitchen he remembered the supply run, and when he realized the electricity was still on, he felt momentarily grateful. Not being a man of faith, Kane wasn't one to pray or ask for help or give thanks. He was a believer, not so much in the divine, as in the stark realities of life, and that included a belief that people either did things for themselves and other people, or they didn't get done. At this point, he'd done all he reasonably could, so now the 'hunkering down' phase began.

He grabbed a cup of fresh coffee and plopped back down into the recliner. For once he was actually very interested in getting an update on Harvey and turned on the Weather Channel. What he saw caused him no small amount of concern.

Houston was bearing the brunt of the storm as the system had kind of stalled out and was dumping massive amounts of rain on the city and the surrounding area. Flooding was already widespread and expected to get much worse.

He switched to the local news, and the 'local yokel' reporting on the storm showed a map of how much rain had already fallen in Beaumont and how much more was expected. There was already a fair amount of standing water in low-lying areas, and it was now looking like some amount of flooding was at least likely.

The one thing had hadn't taken into account when buying his home, but for which he was well, grateful, was that it stood about ten feet higher than all but two of the other houses around him, and those two were the ones on either side of him. Those two houses, along with his, were at the top of a small 'hill' on a cul-de-sac, so unless there was a Noah-like flood, his house should be fine with 'should' being the key word.

It was now raining steadily and growing harder by the hour. From what he could tell, this would likely go on for another day or so and then slowly peter out. But as hard as it was coming down, that could mean a lot more additional water to what was already building up at the bottom of the hill.

He was well aware that could also mean flash flooding, and that meant people could, and likely would be killed if they were unknowingly in the path of some torrent of water caused by a local dam breaking or a city water main giving out.

Kane Archer wasn't used to feeling helpless, and yet that's exactly the way he was feeling. Sitting around doing nothing wasn't in his DNA, but he couldn't see the value of sitting outside in the Explorer waiting for someone to call for help. He wouldn't hear it over the rain anyway, and driving around with the potential to be swept away would be insanely foolish. Yes, if there was flooding, he could use the boat, but what was he going to do? Patrol the area in his bass boat looking for people in need? He actually gave that quite a bit of thought before jettisoning the idea and doing his best to relax and find something to watch to kill the time while he sat and waited this thing out.

He'd heard a lot worse, but by around noon, the wind was really howling, and it was raining 'to beat the band'. He went over to the front door and opened it just a bit and took a look down the hill where he saw the street was now completely covered with water, something that gave him his first real concern about how bad this might get. There were still a couple more feet before the water would cover anyone's front porch, even at the bottom of the hill, and another 3-4 feet before it would reach their windows. So unless they had something like a breach, he assumed they would be fine. Even with a breach, it was hard to imagine the water rising high enough to flood him out. Still, he knew he'd done the right thing by preparing.

He shut the door then decided to make himself something to eat. He'd just finished making it and was watching the latest update on the local news when the power went out.

"For fuck's sake," he said as he grabbed one of the two lanterns he'd staged in each room where he spent any amount of time.

It would now not only be even darker inside, the air conditioning was out, and it wouldn't take the humidity long to creep inside and make his new home a sticky, nasty, hothouse. The good news was the cloud cover was keeping the temperature in the mid-70s, and after spending a summer in Iraq where it routinely hit 120 degrees with high humidity, this was nothing but a temporary inconvenience.

Well, for him, at least. Kane couldn't help but think about the elderly and those who were ill and how this would affect them, and again, his first thoughts were, "What can I do?"

Knowing it was too big for any one man, he forced himself to stop worrying and got out the portable emergency radio he'd fully charged and turned it on. At this point, it was more just having a human voice to keep him company than getting information, but it was nice knowing other people were out there as he settled in for a long day and an even longer night.

Wide awake at 'zero five' the next morning, Kane went to the 'head' or bathroom as most people called it, and took a leak. He then fired up the camp stove and used an old, silver canteen cup to heat water before adding three heaping spoonfuls of instant coffee, stirred it, then went over to the door.

He opened it slightly to take another peek just as it was getting light enough to see. Having rained all night he knew the water level would be higher, but what he saw sent a shiver through him. There was a 'sea of black' covering the road and the water was now well above window level at the houses at the bottom of the hill. He couldn't really make out any details, and the sound of the rain was well—drowning—-everything else out.

He closed the door then stood there sipping his coffee. By the time he finished it was light enough to see, so he opened the door again and looked a second time.

"Holy shit," he said as he shut the door then went to get dressed as quickly as he could.

He wasn't sure what was going on, but the water level had risen another foot or more in just those couple of minutes, and that meant the worst case had to have happened.

He pulled on his rain gear then grabbed everything he thought he'd need, to include his keys. He stuck those in his pocket then threw most everything else in a waterproof bag he'd had for years. He went to the back door then opened it and pushed over enough layers of sandbags so he could pull himself over what was left, grabbed the bag, then reached back and pulled the door shut behind him.

As he walked over to the Explorer, he could now see much more clearly, and he could tell the water had risen even higher. As much as that concerned him, what put him in high gear was something he hadn't seen even a few minutes before. There were three people on top of one of those roofs huddled together. It was still raining too hard to make out any details, but it appeared that two of them were children. Trees obscured his view to the house next to it, but no matter what was going on there, he needed to get moving.

What Kane didn't know but suspected, was that on top of all the rain, a water main had broken and was adding thousands of gallons an hour to the mix. His home was still unaffected, but now the possibility of getting flooded was very real. But that concern took a distant second to the need of people he could see were already in dire straights.

The rain beat hard against his face as he tossed his gear into the boat before getting into the cab of the SUV and starting it up. Within two minutes, he'd backed it down the hill far enough that the boat was in the rising water deep enough to unhook it from the trailer. He stopped the vehicle, set the emergency brake then shut it off and got out.

From there it was a lot like being at a lake where all he had to do was release the boat and let it float. The difference was it was raining like a Banshee and he needed to pull the Explorer back up the hill a ways due to the rapidly-rising water. He tied the boat to the back of the vehicle then drove the Explorer a few feet uphill until he got close to where the boat would be grounded if he went any farther.

He shut off the engine, jumped back out, then untied the boat and got in. As the boat bobbed in the water, Kane pulled twice on the engine's starter cord and it fired up.

Kane spun the boat around then headed 'down the road' where he saw two other people on top of a roof right next door to the one he'd been able to see from his place.

He maneuvered the boat as close as he could and saw that these two people looked to be in their 70s.

"Hold on! I'll be right there!" he hollered as he approached the house.

"No!" the man called back. "There are small children on the house to our right!"

Kane saw him pointing to the other house and understood. In his mind, because of their age, these people were just as vulnerable. And yet he knew the man was right. The children had to be his first priority.

"Let me get you down then we'll all go get them!" he hollered back just the same.

"No. Get those kids first!" the man yelled. His wife was huddled close to him and she was nodding.

Their selflessness moved him, and he didn't have time to argue.

"All right! I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" he called out.

"Just get those kids!" the man yelled back.

Kane hit the gas and moved about 75 feet closer to where the main road would be then pulled up the the edge of the roof of the house next door. He could now clearly see a boy, a girl, a woman, and a dog, all sitting on or straddling the apex of the roof shivering and holding on to one another.

"Hold on!" he said again only to this family.

He found a flag hook, of all things, sticking out of the fascia board and tied his rope to it keeping the boat as close to the roof as he could. Once it was securely tied off, he stood up and carefully made his way to the edge then walked on all fours to the top of the roof.

"Are you okay? Is anybody hurt?" he yelled over the wind and rain.

"No," the woman said as she shook her head. "We're okay."

"All right. Let me take the girl first," he told her.

"No! Get Cocoa Puff!" the little girl pleaded as she pointed to the dog. It looked exhausted and although people came first, Kane was sure even the kids could hold out a few more minutes.

He glanced at the mother who nodded in agreement. Kane made his way to the dog which looked like a chocolate lab, thus explaining the name and could see it was a female as he grabbed it.

"Good girl," he said as he cradled Cocoa Puff in his arms.

He turned around and sat on his bum and gently slid back down the roof, and when he was close enough, stuck one leg out to hold the boat steady before pushing the dog into it.

He nearly laughed when the dog 'shook off' as though it would somehow help her dry off. He then turned around and went back up.

"Okay. Ladies first!" he said to the girl who was the older of the two.

As she clung to him, he asked, "What's your name?"

"Cassie!" she called out.

"Okay. I'm gonna put you in the boat with Miss Cocoa Puff. You sit on the floor and be still, okay?"

"I will!" she said.

He went back for the boy who looked to be maybe two years older.

Kane learned his name was Joey, and told him his name before saying the same thing.

"I'm gonna go get your mom, okay?" he yelled once they were huddled together with their dog.

The woman was shaking like a leaf and kept saying, "Thank you and God bless you!" as she also sat in his lap the way the two kids had.

Once he got in, the woman started pointing to the elderly couple.

"It's Mr. and Mrs. Taylor! They need help, too!"

Kane didn't bother explaining he knew, he just untied the boat and headed back 'up the hill'.

They'd both already slowly slid down to the edge of the roof after watching Kane with their neighbors and all he had to do was help them in. They, too, after hugging the other family, said, "Thank you and God bless you, sir!"

Even in the chaos of the moment, Kane thought about the old saying, "Don't call me 'sir'. I work for a living," but didn't use it.

"Look! Over there!" Mrs. Taylor yelled after tapping Kane on the shoulder.

Cowering by a thick, brick chimney was a cat. As much as he didn't want to stop for another animal, Kane knew how much his late mother loved her cat, and the kids would never understand if he left it there. He also knew it would never survive if he did so he turned the boat and headed across the street. Or what would have been the street were it not covered with water.

The water was above the windows but not quite to the roof.

"Do you know who lives here?" Kane asked.

"No one. It's been vacant for a month now," Mr. Taylor called back.

Kane got as close as he could then pulled himself up onto the roof then crawled to the top and heard the tiny 'meows' coming from the drenched cat. He grabbed it by the scruff and dropped it inside his raincoat then headed back down the roof. Mr. Taylor tried to steady the boat while his wife offered a hand as Kane slid back into it, the cat safely in tow.

When they got as close to his vehicle as he dared, he helped each of them get out then told them to walk to his house at the top of the hill while Mr. Taylor held the boat steady using the engine. It took some time to get the boat back on the trailer, but Kane got it done then jumped in the cab.

Again, the word 'grateful' came to mind as he saw the leather upholstery. Had he chosen a vehicle with cloth, the seats be as wet as the cat that was still safely tucked inside of his rain gear. He got in and fired it up, and as he pulled into the driveway, he could see the neighbors he'd never met huddled up against the wall of the shed offering the most protection from the wind and rain.

"Everyone still okay?" he asked. Heads nodded so he asked Mr. Taylor to come with him first and everyone else to follow him.

"I'm gonna help you get inside then pass the kids to you over the sandbags, okay?"

"Got it!" the older man said cheerfully.

Kane raised the thin, frail man over the barricade then did the same with his wife.

He went to grab Joey but he insisted his mom and sister go first.

"You're a good man, Joey!" Kane yelled with a smile.

He picked Cassie up like she was a feather and slid her over the sandbags.

"Ma'am," he said to the woman whose name he still didn't know as he extended a hand.

She thanked him then let him scoop her up and lay her legs over the barrier then let gravity (and her) do the rest.

"Okay. The women and children are safe," he hollered at Joey. "You reckon the men folk can go inside now?"

The boy laughed in spite of the pouring rain and yelled back, "Yes, sir, but not until Cocoa Puff is inside, too!"

The family dog was standing there waiting patiently and wagging her tail.

"Okay. Up we go!" Kane said as he grabbed her under the belly and handed her off to Mr. Taylor who wasn't strong enough to hold her up, but he did keep her from falling until she got on all four legs.

"Now?" Kane asked.

The boy nodded so he grabbed him under the armpits and slid him over the sandbags then pulled himself up and over.

Kane looked around and saw a fairly large puddle of water in the kitchen which was tiled so no harm, no foul.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked again.

The two kids were clinging to their mother and the Taylors were standing arm in arm. All of them said they were fine so Kane continued.

"Okay, folks. First of all, my name is Kane. Archer. Second, I don't have anything but men's clothes and towels to offer you, but the water in the tank should be hot enough to let everyone take a quick shower. Once it's gone it's gone so please use as little as possible. I'll give you all towels and you can rummage through my closet and dresser to find something dry to wear."

He finally smiled then said, "Don't worry. There's nothing personal in there except for a 9mm handgun which I'll go move right now. I'm a retired Marine, and well, we don't leave home without 'em."

He got some smiles then looked at everyone before asking, "Okay. Who's first?"

"Should be the kids," Mr. and Mrs. Taylor said almost in unison.

"Are you sure?" their mother asked. "Maybe you two should go ahead."

"No, we're inside now and we'll be fine," Mr. Taylor said. "Oh, and before I forget."

He stuck his hand out and when Kane shook it, the man said, "I...we...can't thank you enough."

"You'd have done the same, I'm sure," Kane said, not comfortable with the praise.

"Maybe 20 years ago," the man said very humbly. "But that was right neighborly of you, and well, we're all grateful."

There was that word again. The two women agreed and also thanked him sincerely.

"Okay. Let's get these kiddos to the bathroom then we'll let Mom take over from there."

As they walked, the woman said, "I can't thank you enough, Mr. Archer."

"Kane is fine," he told her. "May I ask your name?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry. I'm Nelson."

"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Nelson," he said with a smile.

"No. Nelson is my first name," she explained. "My last name is Montgomery."

"Nelson. I don't believe I've ever heard that before."

He saw her shivering then said, "Sorry. I'm sure you get that a lot. I'll be quiet and go away."

Joey was insisting his sister go first when Nelson turned to Kane and looked at him. He could tell she was on the verge of crying but didn't want her children to see so he moved a feet away from them with her when the first tear fell.

"I've never been so afraid in all my life," she said as she tried not to cry.

"Well, you're safe now," he told her quietly.

He saw her eyes darting back and forth with his so when she threw her arms around him, he wasn't completely surprised.

"I honestly thought we were going to die," she whispered as her body shook. "There was nowhere to go and no one was anywhere around. And then...you just showed up and...saved our lives."

Kane slowly put his arms around her and held her as she breathed deeply trying to calm herself.

"I can never thank you enough, Kane," she managed to say as she squeezed his huge upper body.

Kane was even six-feet tall and 190 pounds of 'twisted steel and sex appeal' while Nelson was maybe all of 5' 6" and if she was 120 pounds, so was he.

"Just get the kids warmed up, and I'll go heat up some water for coffee," he told her.

She pulled back, forced a smile, revealing a very pretty face even in the dark room, and Kane smiled back.

"Thank you. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart," she said so sincerely it even touched his heart of stone.

"You're welcome," he told her, not sure what else to say.

"I'm sorry. I'm not normally like that," she said within seconds. "I'm not a weak woman. It...it was just so much so fast, and all I could think of was my children and how they might..."

"I understand," he said as gently as he could, aware she was on the ragged edge having worried her children might not live through what had just happened.

With that, he closed the bedroom door behind him then went back to the kitchen where the dog was wagging its tail as Mr. Taylor petted her.

He stood up, then extended his hand.

"Mr. Archer. I'm Wilbur Taylor, by the way, and this is my wife, Emma."

They shook hands then Kane knelt down and the dog came up and sniffed him then licked his face.