Disclaimer: School of Rock and its characters do not belong to me. Neither do any pop culture references I may chose to include.

Author's notes: Thanks for the reviews. I'm sorry the chapter took so long, but I was hit with really bad writer's block. I'll get the next one out faster, I promise. For those of you who were wondering what happened the explanation is not in this chapter. And, you're not going to see much of Zack, Summer and Dani, this chapter. That's reserved for next chapter. The Fox Run Mall is real place in New Hampshire, but for all purposes of this chapter, it's not.

Ch4

Katie leaned up against her boyfriend, Freddy, on the couch in her living room as the opening to some random soap opera that was playing on the channel the TV had been left on. They might end up watching five minutes of the show before turning activities they found more interesting. "I'm so glad Dani had to get new sneakers."

"That's a new topic." Freddy remarked half amused.

"Like you're not happy. You know what she'd be doing if she was here."

"Talking at a really fast pace for a long period of time?"

"And running around, and asking a lot of questions, and then spying on us while we tried to have our date."

Freddy looked at her. "She's still your sister."

"And I respect that. But you don't have to live with her. You don't know what it's like, to have her bouncing off the walls around you, day after day, night after night."

"I don't know. I am over here quite a bit."

Katie playfully shoved him. "You know what I mean you Dorkwad."

"Well, from what I remember, you were just like her when you were her age."

"I was not!"

"Oh that's right. You always preferred the quiet, brooding and sullen character type."

"That's not what I'm like at all. Take that back Frederick Jones."

"Don't be such a baby. You know I mean that in the nicest way possible."

"Take it back."

"I don't want to."

"Tell me what I'm really like or you will be stuck watching whatever crap this is, with no kisses, or physical contact whatsoever."

"You can not be serious."

Katie pulled away from him, sliding easily to the other end of the couch. "Do I look serious?"

"Fine." Freddy sighed in defeat. "You are not sullen and brooding. You are beautiful, happy, well-spoken, and...at times very very cruel and obnoxious."

Katie grabbed the throw pillow and whacked him lightly on the head. "While you may think you're cute, you've yet to feel the full wrath, my dear Frederick."

"You know, I hate it when Mrs. Thorngood calls me that, but somehow when it comes out of your mouth it sounds so much sexier."

"Quit sucking up."

"Oh trust me, I mean it."

The banter was stopped when the argument of the two estranged lovers was suddenly interrupted and it cut to a news desk. The woman behind it spoke. "We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news. Reports of numerous injuries have been reported coming from the Fox Run Mall. We've been informed that the power there is out, and parts of the ceiling have collapsed. The cause of these problems is still unknown. While emergency workers do their best to service the injured, the police are doing their best to stop the uninjured from looting the stores. Updates will be made as more information becomes available."

The pillow fell from Katie's hand. "That's where Dani is."

"And Zack and Summer." Freddy nodded quietly. "What do you think happened?"

Katie didn't answer, but stood, grabbing her denim jacket. "That's what I'm going to find out."

"How? The mall is 25 miles away. And last time I checked, you didn't have money for a cab."

Katie hesitated, biting her lip and looking around the room for a moment. Her eyes finally settled on a small dish full of change and a set of car keys. She grabbed the keys. "We'll take my dad's car."

"You don't know how to drive."

"You're right I don't. But you do."

"I know how, yes. But I don't even have a learners permit."

"I have to get down to that mall." She tossed Freddy his own jean jacket.

"If we get caught, do you know what can happen?"

"I have to get down to that mall." Katie repeated in a very serious voice.

Freddy sighed and took the keys. "I'll go. But no yelling at me when I obey all traffic laws."

§ § §

It was in the car that Freddy made a semi calm suggestion. "Doesn't Summer have her cell-phone with her? Why don't we try calling that?"

"On what? The car phone that has suddenly and very magically appeared?" Katie looked out the window, irritably.

"It was just a suggestion."

"Not a very good one."

"What are you so mad at me for? You don't even know that they're in any sort of trouble."

"We also don't know that they aren't. Something just doesn't feel right."

"Did you really have to say that? You know I don't believe in the whole gut feeling thing. I don't need to hear that your gut feeling is the reason we're breaking several laws."

"I'm sorry if I'm worried about my sister and my best friends."

"You don't think I'm not?! I'm just saying we should have thought this through better and called her cell phone before we even left. Now no matter what's going on, we're in very deep with our parents."

"Not if the injuries are so serious that they're distracted." Katie mumbled.

"What? Hey. Don't talk like that."

"Why not?"

"Because you know its not true."

"So what if it's not true? I'm a very pessimistic person, you said so yourself! We can all but assume that they're injured or dead."

"Katie, I know them. They are two very strong people. Nothing's going to happen."

"What about Dani? What if they can't help her and she's on her own?"

"Dani's a very smart girl."

"She's eight years old! She probably panicked and now doesn't know what to do!"

"Katie, stop yelling."

"I'm not yelling!" Katie paused. "Well, maybe I am. But that's not the point. The point is my sister could be scared and hurt, and we currently have no way of knowing if she's all right."

Freddy sighed heavily. "Everything's going to be fine. All you're doing is assuming, and that's just making you more worried than you need to be."

"I have a right to be worried she's my sister!"

"In case you didn't notice Zack is basically my brother! And Summer is like a sister! You don't think I'm worried?!" He took a deep breath as he exited the highway. "We don't even know what happened is what I was saying, and we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. For all we know they are sitting outside perfectly safe, and they've tried calling and no one's there."

Katie took a couple breaths and turned back. "You're right. Let's just find out what happened."

§ § §

"What do you mean you can't tell us?" Katie looked at the police officer that stood in front of herself and Freddy.

"We're not completely positive over what happened yet ma'am, we only have a strong suspicion."

"And why can't you tell me us that strong suspicion?" Freddy asked much more calmly then Katie.

"We don't want to give anyone any information that might be wrong." The officer informed.

Freddy put a hand on Katie's arm, who appeared to be ready to explode. "Officer, I understand you have a job to do, but its really important that we know what is going on inside of that mall."

"I simply can't tell you."

Katie blew. "Listen. My eight year old sister was in that mall when whatever happened, happened. I need to know what is going on, and find out where she is." As she said this, she shook off Freddy's hand.

"The best I can do, is take you to the triage we have set up and you can see if you can find her."

Before Katie could say anything Freddy spoke. "That sounds good."

§ § §

Summer was on the floor next to Zack. One foot was pinned underneath the metal rack that had collapsed. Her head was facing Zack, and she could see his eyes were closed, and he had more of the rack on top of him. "Zack? Zack, please answer me." When Zack didn't answer she realized for the first time that the room was completely black except for a few dim emergency lights. "Zack I'd really appreciate it if you would wake up."

She sat up, foot still pinned, as feelings began rushing back to her, Her breathing became more labored. "Zack please answer me. I need you to wake up. You're scaring me, and that's not good, because I'm already freaking out..."

Zack didn't stir as she inhaled deeply and yanked her foot quickly, albeit very painfully from beneath the metal rack. She looked frantically around. "Zack, seriously. Please wake up. I can't do this

right now. Its just not gonna work, the whole emergency situation in the dark. And I don't know how to take care of someone who needs help. OK, well maybe I do, I've treated myself plenty of times, but that was when I wasn't freaking out."

Zack didn't respond. Summer pulled her knees to her chest and began rocking slightly, her face buried in her arms. "It's going to be OK. Everything's fine. Any minute now, someone's going to walk through that...semi blocked doorway and find you, and then you'll be safe. Zack will wake up, and he'll be fine, and then Dani will show up, and start going on and on and –oh no. Where's Dani?"

I thought that would be a good place to stop.

Wyverna- Glad you like it. And I'm not gonna tell you if it's an earthquake or not. But I promise that the explanation is going to be in the next chapter. I promise on the honor of all that rocks.

ProjectPink-Dani is currently taking a slight break, due to the whole disaster thing. Tends to put a damper on the situation. But don't worry, she'll be back.

Silverkid- Well, you kinda know what happened now. More information will be presented as it becomes available.

mellowyellow36-Exactly what part was funny? Just kidding. I know you meant Dani. At least I hope so...because the whole metal rack collapsing on them wasn't funny. At least I didn't think so, but I'm rambling.

Sandy-Pandy-Thanks!J

SarahLou-I had a lot of fun with that paragraph. Dani probably will end up in other stories. She's gotten such great response. Which is kinda surprising, considering I'm using her for filler for the most part.

crazyknarf-That does cover it. Thanks a bunch!J

Chinsky-Yeah, I saw Joey's hair. No offense to him or anything...but someone needs to help him with that. It's scary. Kinda where I was going with that remark...somehow, I think a haircut is in my fictional Zack's future.

augur-cursed-I hate reading cliffs to, but they are just so easy to write. After I post the explanation, let me know if you were right...I must know.

Stepoff-I love Top Gun myself, which is why I included it. My favorite scene is at the bar of course where we are informed, "She's lost that lovin feelin." What's yours?

Swimmerkitti-The woman doesn't mean anything. She was really there to show that people knew about the problem, and just a tad bit of filler.

If anyone is interested in a site that's strictly School of Rock fanfiction and things of the like (all related to School of Rock), visit my website, Lyrical Fusion. The link is in my profile, and I'm not gonna post it here, because it's a lot more complicated with the whole having to put spaces.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! The next chapter will be up much sooner than this one was!!!