Author's Note: Usually, there are a few faithful reviewers that I like to publicly acknowledge for their support and comments but to my delight and surprise, there are so many of you that I really can't name everyone. I am shocked at the response but I love itand it's nice to see you share the same passion reading that I do writing this one.

To answer one question though, that seems to be on lots of minds, is how do I update so fast? The answer or should I say answers...a) when you're excited and in a "writing mood", the words and ideas just seem to flow. b) I'm a super fast typist so it doesn't take that long to write 3 and a half to 5 pages which is the average length per submitted chapter and finally c) a comfy government desk job where I get to run reports and do computer stuff all day. Idle hands are the Devil's work, so I write fan fic, lol! Gotta love Uncle Sam and I hope you all are comforted that the Nation's security is in the hands of someone who'd rather write about Naley and Brucas as opposed to doing some real work. God save us all!

But anyway, as always, the feedback is greatly appreciated. I never give spoilers, however if you have individual questions about other stuff, just submit them or shoot me an e-mail and I will try to answer everyone. Thanks again...

Mal

aka

gooseles

aka the Puppet Master

Peyton awoke with a start. In the dead of a brutal North Carolina summer, her entire body was paralyzed with cold and night sweats. She'd had a bad dream. In it she had taken Jenny to the beach. They had been playing in the water when all of a sudden a huge wave came out of nowhere. Peyton had reached out for her daughter but she couldn't get to her. All of a sudden, Haley appeared. She was safe and all she had to do was reach out for Jenny, just extend her hand. But she didn't. She just stared at the crying little girl struggling to keep her head above the surface. Why wasn't Haley helping her?

"Haley! Haley, get her! Grab Jenny's hand!" Peyton screamed.

Haley didn't move. Instead she began to laugh. She laughed evilly and hysterically and after a while, Peyton could not decipher whether the sounds were actually laughter or sobs. Just as Jenny went under, Peyton sat straight up. She looked over. It was almost five in the morning. The room was dark and quiet except for Jake's familiar soft snore. Slipping out of bed, she walked down the hall to where Jenny's door was slightly ajar. She carefully approached the bed and breathed a huge sigh of relief when she found her daughter peacefully tucked in and still sleeping. Rubbing her head and placing a kiss on her cheek, she left the room but was unable to return to her own. The nightmare had rendered her wide awake and even though it was evident the girl was safe and sound, Peyton could not rid herself of the disturbing feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Already up, she crept downstairs to put on a pot of coffee. As the machine warmed up, she used the remote control to turn on the living room television, making sure the volume wasn't too high. At the ungodly hour, the only choices were cartoons, infomercials and the news so Peyton chose the latter. She was fumbling for a mug when she heard the devastating information that caught her attention.

"…And back to the breaking story unfolding in the Dominican Republic, which was ravished earlier this evening with an earthquake and tsunami. Santa Domingo was the hardest area hit and tourists and residents alike were immediately evacuated to higher ground. Still no word on the number of missing and those feared dead. We go to a live shot of the damage…"

Peyton's heart pounded. The TV broadcast images of land flooded for miles with cars and houses floating in the water as well as people desperately clinging to trees as their only source of survival. It was unreal and she couldn't imagine the situation. Then she remembered. Nathan and Haley were still in the Dominican Republic getting their divorce finalized. Damn, what city did she say? Peyton closed her eyes and tried to hard to remember what Haley had said. After a few seconds, she could hear the words "Santa Domingo" as plain as day.

"Oh God", she whispered, the coffee mug dropping and shattering on the floor.

"Pey", Jake sleepily called out as he headed down the steps.

"Jake…"

He looked at the panic on his girlfriend's face and the pieces of the ceramic cup surrounding her bare feet.

"Peyton, what happened? What's wrong? Baby, you're gonna cut your foot."

Ignoring him and the broken pieces, she lunged for the phone.

"Keep an eye out on the news", she instructed.

"What…"

"It was a tsunami. Thousands of people are hurt and stranded and some are even dead."

"Oh my God."

"Nathan and Haley are there, Jake."

Jake's eyes widened as he immediately turned up the volume while Peyton made her phone call. She dialed the numbers and paced the floor anxiously waiting for an answer. Five rings later, it came in a thick mumble.

"Hello?"

"Lucas? It's Peyton."

"Peyton? Dude, you know what time it is? Is everything alright?"

"No. Turn on your TV."

"What?"

"Just do it, Luke."

"Fine", he grumbled, searching the tussled covers for the remote. "This better be good. What channel?"

"Any news channel."

Lucas rolled his eyes but did what he was told. It took less than a minute for it all to register why Peyton had called so upset. Immediately Lucas was wide awake. His heart skipped when he saw images from the grand Ritz Carlton. There were people everywhere but as far as he could see, no sign of Nathan or Haley.

"Luke, what do we do?" she asked in a concerned voice.

"Hold on a sec", he said, putting his cell aside as he picked up the main phone at the beach house.

His calloused hands shook as his fingers punched in the number.

"Please God", he prayed out loud.

"What's up? You've reached Nate. I can't get to the phone right now but leave a message and I'll hit you back."

"Damn", Lucas muttered as he tried the other number.

"This is Haley and obviously I am unavailable at the moment. You know what to do at the sound of the beep so do it and if you're lucky, I'll call you back."

"Shit!"

"What?" Peyton nervously asked.

"I just tried their cells. Straight to voicemail."

"Oh God…"

"Let's not panic. Look, you keep a lookout for the news and I'm going to try calling the hotel and shelters or whatever. They said they evacuated a bunch of people, right? Nate and Hales are probably safe and secure in some shelter driving the other people there nuts with their arguing."

"Okay", she said, sounding more than unconvinced.

"It's okay, Peyton. We'll find them. They're fine."

His voice sounded calmer and surer than he felt inside as he dialed the hotline broadcast for families of people in the Santa Domingo area. After an hour of being shuffled around and put on hold, finally he was connected to a Red Cross volunteer who regretfully stated that no Nathan Scott or Haley James had been reported on the survivor manifests.

Lucas took a deep breath. It was too soon to panic just yet. It was still early. Thousands of people had been rescued. Maybe the processing of names was just taking a little longer than planned. In his pounding heart, there was still hope. They were alive. They were okay. They just had to be. Nevertheless he knew what he had to do. He couldn't let Dan and Deb wake up to such news on a television. He called them immediately and was relieved when his father answered. Somehow he pictured him to be more in control emotionally than Deb would be.

"You okay, son?" Dan grumbled. "Last time I got an early morning phone call from you, you and your brother had managed to land yourselves in jail. What kind of trouble have you gotten into now?"

There was no way to sugarcoat the situation.

"Dad, there was an earthquake and tsunami in the Dominican Republic. Santa Domingo was hit pretty hard. The entire area has been evacuated but there are people missing and stranded everywhere."

"Nathan…"

"The first few floors of the Ritz were flooded. A huge wave hit it pretty hard. Some of the people are stranded or missing or…"

"Nathan is fine", Dan cut him off. "Your brother is a survivor, Lucas."

"I know but uh…he and Hales haven't checked in yet. I'm still calling around but I wanted you and Deb to know."

"Thank you. Get dressed and get yourself together and come over. We'll convene here until we hear from him."

"Okay."

"Someone should call…"

"I know. Listen, I'll take care of it, alright? You just make sure Deb is okay."

Dan hung up and Lucas sighed. There was one more phone call to make yet and Lucas knew that one would be hardest of all. He dialed and she answered groggily almost right away.

"Meg? It's me, Luke. I…I have something to tell you…"