“There it is!” Dante could feel the grin on his lips. His eyes finally caught sight of the famous green case. No doubt the other’s already have these stocked up, but a little extra never hurt. He thought as he picked up the cases of beer. Now with this detour task of gathering extra beer had been completed. Dante headed to the store’s check out. From there, his miniature solo road trip to the main event for the next couple of days would continue. At least that was the plan.

“Hm?” as he approached the front a loud beep echoed throughout the store. While it stopped not too long after it sounded out. Another noise took its place.

“What!? Screw you! This is my property and I’m a customer!” the voice shouted, as Dante came out from the aisle. A rather slender man, wearing shades and a grey cap was yelling at the cashier.

“Sir please, your bag triggered the alarm. I just want to check if you have anything that would cause it to go off,” the cashier responded in a calm tone. No doubt he had seen his fair share of unruly customers, but this one was far from willing to see reason.

“What’s that!” he shouted again “you saying I’m a thief now!”

“No sir. Please just calm down, it’s simple policy.”

While such a commotion went on before him, Dante quietly observed a little ways away.

Just my luck, all I wanted was some beer. He thought, but it wasn’t long before the situation became more physical.

“Wha?!” the cashier cried out as the man reached out to his collar and pulled him across the front desk.

“Listen here, you better shut your mouth and let me leave or you-”

“Hey! That’s enough,” a sudden voice shouted from behind. He turned his head as he wondered who was the wannabe hero who said that. It wasn’t hard to tell though, as only a single man stood before him. Dressed in light khaki shorts, a camo t-shirt, and two six-packs of Keinerhein beer beside him.

“How about you mind your own business, bud,” he said as he tossed the cashier back from the desk.

“Well, bud, your kind of making this my business.”

“That so,” the man replied. His legs took step after step toward Dante. Even with shades and a cap, the man’s rough tone was enough to tell anyone he was itching for a fight.

“Then tough guy, what you gonna do about it,” his face inched up to Dante’s. However, he retained his composure. Not even blinking as the man’s cigarette tainted breath invaded his eyes and nostrils.

Instead of replying back, Dante’s golden-brown eyes simply shifted to his right hand. The boisterous man followed his gaze. He traced it all the way down to his arm. Gripped within Dante’s hand was one of his most reliable partner. The black object that pointed out at the man was all he needed to see to return some personal space to Dante.

“Well, you were saying?” with a smirk on his face the words left Dante’s mouth, but the once boisterous man couldn’t even unfix his gaze from the gun, let alone reply.

“Thanks so much for help back there,” the cashier said as he scanned his goods, “all that just to sneak off with a bag of trail mix and some beer.” he sighed as Dante handed him the money for his items.

“It was nothing, no need to thank me.”

“Well, I know it’s not much but here,” the cashier handed the trail mix to him, “It’s a special limited edition, so it’s pretty pricey for trail mix and that guy’s not having it anymore so…”

“You sure, I mean I was jus-”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on me,” with a slight smile on his face he continued, “really, thanks a lot man.”

To think he originally came here just to get a quick refill of gas for his jeep. Then it turned to a beer grab and now this detour became something he never expected. Dante at least got something out of it and no one got hurt too, so to him, all’s well that ends well. Now with all that action behind him. It’s time for him to continue on his trip and reunite with those who he’s been to hell and back with.

“Country roads, take me home! To the place, I belong!” Dante’s voice sang out as the music sounded throughout his grey wrangler from the radio. With the sun still rising overhead, and clear skies, no doubt it was the perfect day to head to the great outdoors.

It’s been a long while, but we finally get to meet up. He thought as the beat of the music continued to play, his eyes stared at the silver dog tags which hung from his rear-view mirror. Both him and those tags had been through so much together with those guys. The nostalgia began to enter his mind when a familiar tone competed with his radio.

“Hey Arthur, what’s up?” Dante asked as he answered his phone.

“The rest of the guys are already here, where are you dude?”

A slight laugh left his mouth as he replied, “Ah sorry, got caught up in a little something, but-” before Dante could finish, a girlish giggle entered his ears, and a figure of a girl flashed on his rear-view mirror. His head immediately turned to search, but only his camping gear met his gaze.

“Hey! Dante, you there?” the voice questioned from his phone.

“Ah, yeah. I’m almost there, just another fifteen to twenty minutes.”

“As long as you’re not lost or anyt-” the voice cut out mid-way.

“You’re breaking up,” after he said that only a few stutters came out of the other line in response. Not only that, but the radio followed suit and stuttered as well. While he was trying to make sense of the situation.

“What in the…” Dante trailed off as he leaned forward and saw the numerous dark clouds that suddenly appeared and consumed the sun. “It was just sunny a second ago.”

The blackened clouds swirled high above. However, Dante’s eyes were soon caught off guard by the sudden flash of light. The thundering burst that sounded after sent vibrations through his vehicle.

“Man, why’d it have to get like this now,” Dante complained as he continued to drive on. Hoping perhaps, that the sudden bad weather wouldn’t last long, for his trip’s sake.

Unfortunately for him, though things were about to go from bad to worse. The winds soon grew violent as the leaves on the trees along the road were blasted off into the air. Even the branches broke off and battered his jeep as the leaves littered his windshield.

“Ah, for fuck sake!” Dante yelled as he turned on the wipers. As he struggled to navigate this unexpected and violent weather mother nature decided to drop on him. His radio suddenly began to play once again. However, this time instead of music, girlish laughter left the speakers. It was so random and freaky it even creeped him out a bit.

“What’s going on with this thing,’ he tried adjusting the channels but only the laughter played out with breaks of static in between, “come on! I swear it’s just one thing after the next.” While Dante fiddled with the creepy radio, the winds began to pick up speed. Their force even caused the jeep some trouble. This, however, was just the beginning. The storm clouds continued to swirl as the winds grew in strength. They twirled downwards, forming a funnel, which sought to bridge the land and sky.

Leaves, sticks, stones, and even trees, were soon pulled in by the raging winds of the funnel as it grew closer to the ground.

“No…way!” Dante’s jaw grew slack as the mother of all tornadoes touched down before his eyes.

All manner of debris was picked up by its powerful winds and were shot out into the distance. Dante immediately mashed his breaks as he turned the steering wheel around. The jeep screeched as it slid around and faced the opposite direction of the raging whirlwind. Despite it only being recently formed it was already nearing him, so with no hesitation he floored the accelerator and raced off away from it.

“I really have the worst luck I swear!” Dante cursed his predicament as he tried to escape the disaster behind him. A large piece of branch crashed beside him nearly causing him to crash, though that wasn’t the only one. Debris rained down as the dark grey funnel behind him launched them with its strong winds.

The creepy little girl giggles cut in and out of the radio, but Dante had more pressing matters to focus on right now. Honestly, Dante was lucky that the road was clear as he raced down it, however that was as lucky as he would get in this situation. Despite how fast he pushed his jeep to go, the tornado still kept pace with him. In fact, it was closing on to him.

“Come on!” he yelled at the jeep as he glanced at the giant tornado in the mirror,” Argh!” Dante shouted out as a large rock landed near the jeep causing him to swerve and nearly drive off the road. Though in order to not crash he had to bring the vehicle to a screeching halt. The tornado however was still in pursuit as it took advantage of his parked state to get closer. Dante immediately tried to speed off again, this time though his car began to screech loud as it moved backwards.

“What?!” Dante continued to floor the accelerator, pushing the engine to the max, but it struggled to move forward. The tornado had finally got its grip onto the jeep and its winds drew it in. “Shit, don’t do this!” the back of his jeep slowly raised up as the giant wind funnel approached. Dante raged with the vehicle when a large tree trunk slammed right into it. The force sent the car into the tornado’s grasp even more.

Its winds carried off the jeep with Dante inside, far above the ground. The jeep swirled around the air while Dante grabbed hold onto the staring wheel, as he was at the mercy of the storm. Strikes of lightning flashed before him as the thunder rattled his jeep even more. Endless debris flew alongside him as they traveled further up.

How did things end up like this…? Dante thought. Part of him didn’t want to see this as reality, however a youthful voice suddenly spoke out of the radio, drawing him out of his thoughts.

“Hello there human, this might be a bit sudden,” Dante eyes rounded as he heard the voice from the radio, “but thou might want to brace thyself.” Dante made a puzzled expression at their words. Though the meaning behind it soon became known to him.

“Oh… shit!” those were the last words he uttered out as a large log rammed into the front of the jeep. The shock of the impacted knocked Dante out, as shards of glass pierced him and his own blood stained his face. In the end, the violent winds carried him and his vehicle up into the cloudy skies above, while the jeep’s horn continued to echo out.

A young female figure appeared on the passenger’s seat. Her glowing eyes looked down upon Dante’s body, as her pale, smooth hands reached out and stroked his face. A giggle escaped her lips, accompanied by a mischievous smile.