A/N: I'm sorry I took so long on this chapter! I didn't think it would take me so long, but this chapter was difficult. Luckily I have chapter five written and six is started. As always review and let me know what you think!!!

Chapter Four

"I don't think you understand who I am," Dan Scott spat at the police officer, shooting him a look that was equally as cold as the one he was getting in return.

"Sir, I don't care who you are," the officer retorted with a touch of impatience. "Nobody but police officers and other emergency personnel are allowed through this barrier. I understand that you have children in the school, but you would only be getting in the way. All the students are being transported to Tree Hill Library, you will have to meet up with them there anyway. Please go, sir, you are not doing any good here."

Dan scowled, thinking he would have that officer's job when this was all over, as he turned away. Several blocks surrounding the school were being closed down to prevent any unauthorized people from getting anywhere near the school, and that included parents. Dan had been at his dealership when the radio had announced the shooting at Tree Hill High School. As close to panicked as he'd ever been, he'd managed to stay calm enough to drive down to the school, only to be stopped at the barrier by this incompetent police officer.

He drove down to the library and nearly got hit three times by other drivers in the small parking lot trying to find a spot. Normally he would have called out obscenities to them but today he did not have the heart, or the energy, to do it. Instead, he cursed them silently to himself and then swore even louder as he realized that the parking lot was full and he would have to put his car somewhere else and walk back.

While walking across the green grass, having parked his car on the street, he saw a bus pull into the lot of the library and tons of students and teachers came off, all looking shaken. Most of them, even the guys, were crying. But Dan did not see anyone he knew.

"Dan!" a hysterical voice called out to him and he turned to see his soon-to-be-ex-wife hurrying towards him, her face red and puffy and tear-streaked.

"Where's Nathan?" Dan demanded once they had met up with each other.

"I don't know, I've only been here about ten minutes. I closed the café as soon as I heard. Dan, I haven't seen him anywhere. I've asked around, no one knows where he is."

"He has to be somewhere," he rationalized.

"He could still be at the school," Deb pointed out, shuddering at the thought.

"You don't know that!" Dan barked, causing Deb to jump. "Maybe he got out quickly and went to his apartment, or somewhere else with some of his buddies. Did you try his cell phone?"

"Of course I've tried his cell phone, but he's not answering."

"Damnit," Dan muttered, looking past Deb to see his brother and ex-girlfriend desperately trying to pick through the large crowd of hysterical people; parents frantically trying to find their children, students in hysterics, a few reunions here and there. Keith saw his younger brother as well and grabbed Karen's hand, leading her to Dan and Deb.

"You haven't seen Nathan have you?" Deb blurted out, leaving no time for greetings of any sort.

"No, and we haven't seen Lucas either," Keith replied.

"We haven't seen anyone we know," Karen added, near tears. "Not Haley, or Peyton, or Brooke, or Jake. No one who knows where Lucas, or Nathan, are."

"We'll just have to keep looking," Dan told them all. "There's a bunch of kids who go to that school; this is a small town. Everyone knows each other. Someone has to know. Besides, they might get off the next bus. We just have to keep looking."

Peyton turned her car cd player off as soon she turned onto the street of the school and saw the dozens of police cars and SUVs and ambulances. The road was blocked off several blocks around the school. As she put on her brakes, a cop approached her car.

"I'm sorry, all access to the high school is blocked off. You'll have to go to the library if you want to meet up with your friends."

"What's going on?" Peyton asked, confused.

The officer gaped at her. "You don't know? Where are you coming back from exactly, Miss, Mars? There's been a shooting at the school. Half of the students are still inside. Where have you been? You look like you should be a student there."

"I am, I just… I had this hour off so I went to eat lunch off campus," Peyton lied. The truth was that she had skipped her Biology class because they were dissecting frogs.

She nearly withered under the suspicious glance that the officer gave her. "I'm not in any trouble for leaving campus am I?" she asked, her heart pounding as she began to worry about her friends. "I'd like to get over the library if that's okay."

"No, you aren't in trouble," the officer replied after a brief hesitation. "Now go on."

Peyton turned her car around but she didn't head for the library. Instead she went home, making sure to leave her cell phone on. She sat down in front of the TV, watching the news unfold of the shooting. She watched as a few cops led some terrified students out of the school, and she could not believe that what she watching was real. All of her friends were there. Lucas was there. Brooke was there.

Lucas and Nathan were near the back of the massive crowd of people frantically running out of the cafeteria and the sound of gunfire was still blaring loudly behind them. Nathan's leg was dragging on the floor, completely useless at the moment. He didn't know why but Lucas found himself looking back towards the lunchroom, just for a brief glance, and he saw one of the gunmen heading out after them.

Quickly he turned right, dragging Nathan with him, and went down the empty hallway as fast as he could, which was actually frighteningly slow. Most of the students were still running down that first hallway, trying to get to an exit that lay at the end of it, all the way across the school.

"What are you doing?" Nathan hissed, his voice laced with pain. "There isn't an exit this way!"

"Just be quiet!" Lucas whispered fiercely, hoping that the gunman wouldn't see them and turn his gunfire on them. He tried to ignore the sounds of screaming and rapid gunfire but it was all he could think about.

Finally he reached a seldom-used door, one that did not lead into a classroom. He knew it would be unlocked so he quickly turned the doorknob and opened it, pulling Nathan through the doorway and closing the door behind them.

The two slowly made their way down a narrow staircase. Lucas' shoulder ached as he practically carried Nathan down the stairs, almost dropping him a few times. They reached a landing in the middle of the stairs and Nathan wanted to stop to rest.

"We can't. If one of them saw us, they could come after us; we have to get out of sight."

The two managed their way down the remaining twelve stairs, turned a few corners and sat down on the cold cement floor, both trying to catch their breaths.

"What is this place anyway? How did you know about it?" Nathan asked between breaths.

"It's like a basement. The administration uses it to stock SATs, ACTs, paperwork, stuff like that."

"And the door wasn't locked?"

Lucas shrugged. "You never paid that door much attention before, did you?"

"No, I guess not."

Neither of them said anything to each other for a few minutes, not wanting to bring up the subject of what was happening at their school. Both were too shocked that it was happening at all.

Lucas looked down at Nathan's leg, which the younger teen was clutching painfully. His entire pant leg was covered in blood.

"We need to stop the bleeding," Lucas told him, pulling off his grey hoodie. He moved so that he was in front of Nathan and he carefully wrapped his beloved hoodie around the other's leg tightly. "Hopefully that will stop it," he said as he leaned back against the wall. Now that they were resting, and his adrenaline was slowing down, he was overcome with a strong desire to sleep. He was just about to nod off when Nathan shook him awake.

"Are you okay?" the brown-haired athlete asked in concern. "Your forehead is bleeding."

"Oh… yeah, I got grazed by a bullet. That's all. It hurts a lot but I'm fine."

"Well you could have a concussion. You need to stay awake."

"For how long? We don't even know how long we'll be down here. We have no way of knowing when this is going to be over."

"Oh, I have my cell phone, hopefully it works down here." Nathan pulled out his phone and tried to call his mom, but he couldn't get through. "There's no service down here." Nathan paused, thinking. "You know, how will we know when we can leave? If you go up to check, you might give yourself away. And it doesn't look like there are any windows down here."

"There aren't," Lucas replied, thinking. "I guess we just wait a while. I'll have to go up and check sometime. We can't stay down here forever." He looked over at Nathan, who also looked like he wanted to fall asleep. "Hey, wake up!" he exclaimed, shaking the younger Scott. Nathan jumped slightly, looking startled.

"If we're going to get out of here alive we're going to have to keep each other awake," Nathan decided. Both inwardly cringed at the idea of having to hold a conversation with the other but they knew they had to do it.

"So, uh… what's your favorite meal?"

Brooke gasped as she tried to crawl towards the main entrance of the school. She'd been walking into the cafeteria when the gunfire first rang out. The sounds of screaming followed quickly and Brooke turned around quickly as a herd of students came rushing towards the door. Before she had fully turned around a bullet struck her side, causing her to fall on Matt Bennett, a junior who lived across the street from her. They'd never really been friends but he was a nice guy. Matt caught her and carried her with him, even though it slowed him down considerably. They'd run down the hallway with the rest in sheer panic. Even though her wounded side took up most of her attention, the cheerleading captain couldn't help but notice that the number of students running along with them started dropping quickly about halfway down the hall. They were within twenty feet of the door when Matt was hit by a bullet in the back. She felt him jerk when it hit him and together they collapsed to the floor. He landed on top of her.

"Matt?" she cried when he didn't move. She started to push him off of her when she heard loud footsteps drawing near. Without thinking, she closed her eyes and held her breath, pretending to be dead underneath Matt.

When she opened her eyes she felt lightheaded and dizzy and her shirt was covered in blood. There was no one around. She could barely move and looking at her watch told her that almost an hour had gone by. She guessed she must have lost consciousness when she had closed her eyes.

She rolled Matt over slowly, gritting her teeth, and didn't even bother to check for a pulse. His eyes were open and his skin was cold. She tried in vain to choke back tears and decided she needed to get out of the building. Distantly she could still hear gunfire, and guessed that it was coming from the second floor, echoing down through the nearby stairwell.

"I have to get out of here," she whispered to herself. She couldn't stand up so instead she crawled to the door, praying she would make it. As she slowly made her way across the floor, she thought of the two people she had loved most in her lifetime. She had vowed never to forgive them for betraying her, but now she wished with all her heart that one of them was there to help her.

TBC

Sidenote: Okay, ff.net won't let me do the asteriks anymore to separate the scenes stupid!!! So I have put in the horizontal rule. Just thought I would say so. LOL.