Darla felt tears sting at her eyes as the phone rang and rang. Why wasn't anyone picking up?! She began to cry; what if they had died?! What if a rogue tree branch had been knocked from a tree and battered all of their heads?! What if they had gone outside and been swept away by a torrent of floodwater and drowned?!

"Hello?!"

Darla choked on her sob and tried to speak over her thick tongue. "Mmalgnadj anga--"

"What?"

"M-mom!" Darla choked.

"Darla! Honey, where are you?!"

"I'm s-still at the s-studio; they s-said we c-can't l-l-leave!"

"Oh, honey. Don't worry; you'll be just fine there. They're sending us to a shelter, so don't you worry about a thing."

Darla took a deep breath, her chin still trembling from held-back tears. "Is B-Bix home yet?"

"Bix? Well, I don't know. Isn't he there with you?"

"No; he left just a few minutes before they told us we couldn't leave. Do you think he's..."

"I'm sure he's just fine. Now, you just do as Mr. Collins says and keep calm, okay?"

Darla nodded, even though she knew her mom couldn't see her. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie. Bye."

"Bye."

Darla hung up, sniffling, and slowly headed back to the studio.

Seaweed shook his head, trying to clear the frantic mess of thoughts in it. "Uh, I think they left about an hour ago. Inez was feeling a little sick." That was good, anyway; an hour would have been plenty of time for them to get safely home.

Penny didn't say anything, just clung to him. He knew she was afraid of thunderstorms, but he had never seen this level of terror from her before... it frightened him. Seaweed put an arm around his girlfriend protectively. "It'll be okay," he whispered.

Penny smiled shakily. "Thanks," she whispered. "I should probably go call my mother."

"Good idea." Seaweed kissed her forehead. "I'll be here, okay?"

"Okay." Penny walked away in search of a phone without a worried teenager attached to it.

Corny heard Seaweed relay the time to Penny as he ran by on his way back to the newsroom. He flipped Seaweed a thumbs up. If Maybelle and Inez left an hour ago, they should be safely back to the neighborhood and onto a shelter. That was two people he didn't need to worry about.

He ran back into the newsroom. The weather map had three large half circles showing the Greater Baltimore area. The first was basically where it would hit full force, but all three were under evacuations. The small hurricane symbol sat off shore but not that far. His thoughts turned to the kids. Time to start getting things together and down to safety.

Fender was quaking in his imitation leather shoes. He couldn't be stuck here all night. He would then have to admit to everyone that, thanks to several sessions throughout his life locked in dark closets with disturbing things, he had an immense fear of the dark. Not so much of the dark, as the things that lurked in said dark. However, it wasn't exactly sophisticated to have a fear of purple hairy monsters.

Fender picked up a nearby payphone and dialed with trembling fingers.

"Mommy!" he squealed. He blushed scarlet when he spotted Shelley nearby, giving him a pitying look, and let out a more manly "Hey Mom. S'up."

"WHO THE SAM HECK IS THIS, CALLING AT THIS TIME 'O NIGHT?!" an angry, scratchy old voice bellowed from down the phone.

"Oh, hi Granny. It's Fender."

"WHO THE DEVIL IS FENDER?"

"Franklin," he said, wincing slightly at both his name, and his almost deaf grandmother's not-so-dulcet tones.

"WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU WANT?"

"Granny, there's been an emergency. The hurricane's forcing the whole council to stay inside, probably for a long while. Could you tell my mother?"

"FRANKLIN THAT IS POPPYCOCK. IT'S ONLY DRIZZLING WITH A LIGHT BREEZE AT BEST. STOP BEING SUCH A PANTYWAIST LIKE YOUR FATHER!" she screeched amid the howling winds, with the occasional crack of a falling tree.

"But Gran-"

"THIS IS SOME GODFORSAKEN EXCUSE TO STAY OUT LATE AND BUMP UGLIES WITH SOME FLOOZY."

Fender rolled his eyes and hung up the phone. Brilliant. Now his mother would be worried sick. Not wanting to seem weak or afraid, he leant against the door in what seemed a suave way. But his mysterious aura was broken when somebody swung the door open, causing him to fly into a crumpled heap on the floor, in a puppet like sort of way.

Darla frowned as she felt some resistance from behind the door; upon closer inspection, she saw that the "resistance" had been none other than Fender. He was now lying sprawled on the floor, looking like a dropped puppet. She gasped and knelt beside him.

"Fender? Oh my gosh, Fender, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there! Are you okay? Do you think you have a concussion? How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked frantically, holding up two shaking fingers.

Tracy thought she spotted one that was not being used. She started towards it. She could see Penny searching for one too. She knew that the look on Penny's face probably mirrored her own. Tracy turned back and noticed that Link still stood in the same spot.

"Shouldn't you call your dad too?" she asked him.

Link looked at her. "Yeah, I probably should." Noticing the worried look on her face he smiled a genuine smile (not his camera smile) at her and offered her his hand. "Come on, doll, let's go see if we can find a phone."

Tracy grinned as she took his hand. "There's one over that looks like its not being used," she said motioning to the phone.

"Well let's go then before someone else grabs it. I bet your mom is worrying something awful."

"I bet she is too," she said as they headed towards the phone. She picked up the receiver and dialed her home number. Edna picked up.

"TRACY IS THAT YOU??? Where are you? Are you safe?" she immediately asked.

Tracy was glad to hear her mom's voice but she could over worry at times. "It's me, Ma, I'm still at the studio. Link, Penny, Corny and some of the others are still here. We are safe but they told us that we can't leave tonight."

"I don't know about you being alone all night with Link, hun. Remember everything I've told you about dating and boys."

"Ma, don't worry, I remember but we are hardly alone here," Tracy answered, rolling her eyes slightly.

"All right, but remember the word 'No' is always an option," Edna told her.

"All right Ma, is Daddy ok?"

"Yes, he's right here. He closed up the shop early," Edna answered.

Tracy sighed, knowing both her parents were safe. After a few more minutes she hung up. "It's your turn to call your father," Tracy said, handing Link the phone.