Dauntless

by Kickin It Fool

Ever felt like you knew someone,but realized you never did until disaster struck and you had to help each other survive?What will happen when Jack who is part of the 'It' crowd and Kim who hadn't worried about a title have to help each other through a school shooting?How will they survive and how do you heal when loss like that has hit you so hard?Violence/Death T/REG UPDATES MON

3. Chapter 3 Earthquake?

Kickin It Fool here,

Sorry this took so long. I have been dealing with some things here because of a medical setback. I am not giving up or going anywhere. As you all know I am co-writing with a new friend of mine, luvkickinit01323 who is now .46. We have had a great time so far working on ideas and things for this. I just finished up this third chapter with collaboration from her because she still has a lot going on right now, too. I hope that you like this chapter, but be prepared as we go forward because there will be parts that will be hard to read. I really feel like it will move you when we are done so I hope you give it a chance.

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. We love your input and hope that you like what we have to come for you. We have planned for the story to be about 15-20 chapters. Keep reading and let us know what you think.

We are dedicating this to everyone who has been affected by school shootings. Life will never be the same, but each day that we live and go on is a tribute to all of those who have fallen. Our prayers go out to all of the families and friends that have been hurt by a tragedy like this.

Remember to check out Polyvore and look for Kickinitfool. You will see any outfits that I talk about in the chapters there.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kickin It or any of the characters in it. I do not own any of the clothing mentioned in this chapter. I do not own any of the songs used in this chapter.

Chapter 3 Earthquake?

KIM'S POV

After the party, we took everyone home and then it was just Chloe, Ethan, and I as we walked back up to our house. I had tried to have fun at the party, but couldn't stop thinking about what happened between Jack and me.

"Penny for your thoughts, sis." Ethan said leaning over and bumping me in the side with his elbow.

I half smiled at him and replied. "It's nothing."

He looked at me like he didn't believe me. "Kim, are you still thinking about that jerk?" He asked.

I looked at Chloe wondering how our brother knew anything about it and she just shrugged her shoulders. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I overheard you and Jack out by the pool. He is an idiot and I will gladly beat him up for you. You are beautiful and always have been. You deserve someone who has always known that." He said putting his arm around my shoulders.

I wrapped my little brother up in a hug. He is actually taller than me now, but he is such a sweetheart. "Thank you, but you don't need to beat him up." I replied with a smile. "I just hate the thought that I am invisible to some people."

He spun around quickly and put his hands on my shoulders staring into my eyes. "I know that you should know this, but you are not invisible. I wouldn't know what to do without both of you. You are beautiful and he is stupid." Ethan said seriously.

I smiled at him and Chloe came up beside us putting her arms around both of us. "She knows that, E. We already had a good talk about it. I did talk to Jack, too. He said that he wanted to explain and I told him to talk to you about it, Kimmy. Since I know that you will be nice and listen to him, I will say only one thing. Make him work for your forgiveness because our little bro is right, you deserve it." She said smiling at both of us.

"Alright, alright. I know that I should not be worried about it so I won't, but we better get inside before Dad comes looking for us." I said as I started to walk toward the house. "I promise that I am fine. I will see what Jack has to say if he even decides to talk to me. Now let's go get some sleep. I love you both very much." I added as I turned around and hugged them both.

We went in the house to find Dad pretending to be interested in the late show. I love how predictable life is sometimes. I knew he would be up waiting for us.

"Hi, Dad. We are going up to bed so you can too now." I said patting him on the back as I crossed the room to head up the stairs.

"I just wanted to finish this show." He said.

"Sure, Dad." Chloe said with a smirk.

"We are all home and going to bed. Night, Dad." Ethan added.

"Did you all have a good time?" He asked.

"Yes, it was fun." I said as I headed up the stairs and made it to my door. I looked back at Chloe as she started to walk to her room. "Thank you for everything." I said to her.

Chloe stepped over to me and pulled me into a hug. "You don't have to thank me because that is what sisters are for. I will always be here to help you, Kimmy. It is my job and I love it." She said to me.

"You are the best." I told her.

"Please. I don't even come close to you. Go get some sleep and I will see you in the morning." She replied as she walked to her room and closed the door.

I went to bed and actually slept alright with just a few bad dreams. When I woke up the next morning, I looked out the window and let the sunshine fill my room. It is going to be a beautiful day and I am going to make sure to enjoy it.

There was a knock at my door and I heard Chloe. "Remember…we have the big school pics today so look fabulous!" She said through the door and then I heard her head down the stairs.

I got ready and looked in the mirror. I thought I had done pretty well. I had on a purple leather mini skirt with a wrap around scoop back purple top. I had my hair down and curly which is my favorite way to wear it. I put some purple clip-in hair extensions in my hair to add some dramatic streaks for fun. With the perfect purple makeup and jewelry, I only had to slip on my Giuseppe purple suede cutout booties and I was set.

I came out my door and ran into Ethan. He was looking adorable as always. "Gees, Kim. Who are you trying to impress today?" He asked.

"I could ask you the same thing. We have the big school picture today and tons of other ones for yearbook so that is why I am looking so nice." I explained striking a pose and he laughed.

We both made our way downstairs and joined the rest of the family at the table while Mom passed around scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. We all started eating as we heard Grace coming in the front door. She joined us and we all talked about the party last night until it was time to leave.

JACK'S POV

I did not want to get up the next morning, but there was not much sleeping in either because Kelsey was up at the crack of dawn with her music blaring. I knew that she was going to be up early because of all of the pictures that would be taken today. 'Have to look your best' I could almost hear her saying to herself through the walls.

I rolled out of the bed and went to take a quick shower to wake up. I threw on a navy V neck shirt and some jeans. With a little product and a few tosses of my hair, I was ready for today. I came walking out of my room and went downstairs to find something to eat. One good thing about these parties is that the caterers always leave the fridge full of leftovers.

I looked out the window and saw a very upset Mom heading to the house. I started some coffee quickly because I knew that she would need it. She looked miserable and was stumbling the whole way to the back door. I opened the door for her and she glared at me.

"Why is it that the music has to be so loud? I really needed to sleep in this morning." She yelled while grabbing her head.

"Sorry, Mom. I think that Kels is just trying to wake up so that we can make it to school on time." I said softly. "I have the coffee on and here is some Tylenol." I added handing her the pills.

I walked over and poured her some coffee and then Lucita, our housekeeper, came in the room.

"Well, it is about time you got here. You are supposed to be here to make sure that my kids get a good breakfast before they go to school and my poor son had to do this himself." Mom yelled at her.

"Mom, it is not a big deal. I told her that she could come in late because she stayed last night and helped clean everything up." I said trying to diffuse the situation.

Kelsey walked in the room and mom glared at her. Mom took the coffee that I was holding out for her and walked past Kelsey as she left the room. "You really need to keep your music turned down some so people can sleep. You need to think about others more like your brother does." Mom said as she passed her.

I saw the instant pain in Kelsey's face and knew that I had to do something. Lucita put her arm around her shoulder as I spoke. "She is just hungover, Kels. You know that she didn't mean any of that." I said trying to get her to feel better.

She walked over to the blender and started mixing up another one of her breakfast shakes. Once she had it started, she turned back to look me in the eyes. "She meant every word. You really never do anything wrong in their eyes and I can't ever do anything right. Do you have any idea how that feels?" She said angrily and turned back to pour her shake into a glass.

"Kels, don't do this." I said touching her lightly on the back.

She turned around quickly and glared at me. She didn't say another word. She just crossed the floor and slammed the door as she left the house. I heard her jump in her car and fly down the road.

"She will be okay, Jack. She isn't mad at you just the way all of this makes her feel." Lucita said to me quietly.

I smiled at her. "Thanks. Good luck with Mom today. I will see you later." I said giving her a quick hug before grabbing my bag and heading out.

Lucita has been more like a mom to us than our mother ever has. We have been very lucky to have her in our lives for so long. I left the house and got into one of my cars and took off. Brody was right behind me as always.

We pulled up to the school which was already packed. It was weird how many people were here this morning, but I guess that they all knew it was the day of that stupid big picture.

Brody walked up to my car and tapped on the window. I turned the car off and climbed out. "Hey, Man. You look so bright and awake this morning." Brody said teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah. You are hilarious." I replied.

"Seriously, what is wrong?" He asked.

"Oh, Kels is mad at me. Mom did her usual rant this morning and Kels followed suit and got mad at me for it." I said. "It's nothing new. I just hate how she lets them get to her like this."

"Sorry, Man. Your sister has always been a bit of drama queen, but she knows that you are the only family member that she has fully on her side. She won't stay mad long." He responded patting me on the shoulder. "Let's go see where they are going to try to put us in this crazy photo shoot today." He added with a laugh.

"Oh boy. This is the highlight of my day." I replied sarcastically.

We started to walk away side by side and Brody smacked me in the chest stopping me in my tracks. "No, actually I think this might be the highlight." He said starring off to one side.

I turned to look at what he was talking about and saw Kim walking with Chloe into the school. She is so beautiful and I mean more than on the outside. I had spent most of the night not sleeping because I was thinking about all of the things that Kim had mentioned and how often I had seen her. I was such an idiot, no an Ass. There is no excuse for me not knowing that she had been the one around me all of those times except for that. I was embarrassed to have someone bring my mom home like that and I actually tried to block all of it out. Honestly, until she reminded me last night I didn't even remember that the person had turned down the money I offered them.

As I laid there trying to sleep last night, I had really searched through my memories and I saw Kim in every one of the situations perfectly. I saw her in her uniform at the country club restaurant and at her dad's detailing shop when I dropped off all of our stupid cars before my dad would come home to get mad because they weren't clean enough. I even remembered seeing her in class and I did notice her but I was scared to admit it because of my life. I even remembered when she brought my mom home over and over. I looked her in the eyes several times those nights, but I couldn't let myself focus on who was there because I just had to deal with my mom. I have to make sure that I get a chance to talk to her today and somehow find a way to make her understand.

I watched closely as they walked into the school and started walking again with Brody so that we weren't late. When we came in the doors, Kelsey saw me and glared as she flipped her hair and walked down the hall with Julie and Claire. "I guess she is still mad." Brody said with a smirk.

"Ya think so." I said hitting him in the stomach with my elbow.

We grabbed our books and headed to class. My first class was with Kim and her friend, Grace. I hurried in to get the seat right behind Kim so that maybe I could talk to her some during some of our down time. She looked up at me surprised as I walked past her and sat down behind her.

KIM'S POV

I was shocked to say the least that Jack rushed in and sat behind me, but it must have been one of the only seats left in the back row and I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of looking to check. I sat there trying to be as cool as I could about the whole thing, but honestly I was a wreck. I had always wanted Jack to pay attention to me and last night I found out that things like that just don't really happen.

I tried to pay attention during class, but I was too distracted by Jack and everything that happened last night running through my head. The teacher gave us the last 15 minutes of class to work on the assignment she gave us. She even said that we could talk about it together. She knew that the office would be calling everyone for the big picture outside in the next 10 minutes or so anyway.

I sat there and started on the assignment when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to see Jack's face only a few inches from mine. I felt my breath catch and then spoke. "Yes?" I said.

"Kim, I wanted to talk to you some more last night, but I didn't get the chance. Do you have some time after class to talk?" He asked.

I was surprised, but Chloe had said he wanted to talk to me so I nodded my head and tried to smile even though it was hard. "I can do that, but we will have to talk after the pictures." I said knowing they always give us around 10 minutes to get back to our next class after they dismiss us.

"That will be great. I do want you to know something. I really am sorry. I remember you from all of those times and more. I couldn't do anything but think about it last night." He said and then he looked back down at his homework assignment.

I turned back around slowly and felt my heart racing slightly. I'm not sure why, but Jack actually seemed like he cared. I mean why would he admit that he thought about it all night if he didn't mean it. I got back to work on my assignment and then we heard our principal over the loud speaker.

"All students line up within your classrooms and your teachers will escort you out for our whole school picture. Do this in an orderly fashion?" He said gruffly. It was very obvious that he hated this day.

We all walked out and Grace and I found the guys, Chloe, and Taylor right away. I was going to be content with sitting somewhere in the middle of the group, but Chloe pulled my arm all the way to the front of the group. She is good friends with the photographer and he was thrilled to have us front and center. Ethan joined us and we all put on our best smiles.

By the time they were done with all of the pictures they needed, they took some smaller group picks of each grade and then dismissed us to go to our next class. We were given a 15 minute grace period to get to our lockers and then head to class.

It was time for my PE class so I headed to my locker and grabbed my bag so that I could change. I started to head to the girl's locker room when I heard Jack calling my name behind me.

I turned to see him coming down the hallway. "Hey, Jack." I said.

"Hey. I know we don't have very long, but I really want to talk to you about a few things." He said.

"Alright." I said waiting for him to continue.

"Not here." He said and then he looked down the hall until he saw what he wanted. "Come on we can talk in the art room. No one is in there this period."

I followed him down the hall and saw Chloe and Taylor walking down the stairs to their next class. Chloe smiled at me and mouthed 'Make him work.' I smiled back at her and nodded my head. I motioned to Grace that I would be just a minute as she went into the second floor of the gym, which was the running track.

Jack held the door to the art room open for me and I walked into the room and sat down on one of the desks. Jack looked like he was trying to decide what to say and then he sat down beside me and just started talking.

"Kim, I know I have said I'm sorry a lot already, but I want to make sure that you know how serious I am. I do remember you from all of the things that you mentioned and even some others. It isn't a good excuse, but I kind of don't pay attention to a lot of things. I am just trying to skate by here, Kim. I hate the fact that my mom is so upset most of the time that she has to drink it away." He started explaining and I found myself entranced listening to him and starring into his chocolaty eyes.

"It's okay, Jack." I started to say and he quickly put his finger up on my lips which instantly made me freeze in place. I felt like my heart stopped.

"No, it isn't. Kim I remember you very clearly. I just had to think about it. I remember you the night that you were waiting our table at the country club and my dad was a total ass because of something on his plate not being right. He took it out on you and it wasn't your fault. I remember the night that we ate there and my mom spilt her wine all over you." He said being so serious and I still couldn't move.

I was sitting on the desk with my hands sitting on my lap. Jack reached over and put his hand on mine as he continued. "I know that you were the one that was life guarding at the club when Kelsey dropped her charm bracelet in the pool and you jumped in to go get it for her. You always have the right answers in class and you help other people if they don't understand. I remember bringing the cars into your dad's shop to have them cleaned because my dad was coming home and they had to all be perfect. I was always in a hurry and a little grouchy, but you would still smile and make me smile. And most importantly, I remember every time you brought my mom home. I really did appreciate you doing that. I want you to understand that I wasn't meaning to ignore you in any of these situations, I was honestly…embarrassed and worked really hard to block all of those things out of my mind. What I didn't realize is that by doing that I was blocking you out, too." He finished and then he looked at me waiting for me to respond.

I didn't know what to say, but I felt a tear escape my eye and Jack reached up to wipe it away. "It really okay. I am glad that you explained, but I'm sorry that you had to. I didn't mean to make you feel like you had to share your personal business with me." I said and then stood up to say something else when the whole room started shaking and I reached out to grab the desk to steady myself.

I looked at Jack in panic. "What was that?" I asked.

"I don't know maybe an earthquake. Get under the desk." He said grabbing my arm and pulling me under the desk with him.

We sat there for a few minutes while the building continued to shake. I looked out the windows and could see smoke everywhere. I looked at Jack and I could feel myself start to hyperventilate. He put his hands on my arms and rubbed up and down rhythmically trying to calm me down.

"It's going to be okay, Kim." He kept saying over and over again.

Things were starting to settle down some and then it felt like there was a huge aftershock right under us. I turned and grabbed Jack's arms laying my head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me.

JACK'S POV

I was holding Kim tightly against me when I looked up and saw flames outside the window. I knew this was not an earthquake, it was some sort of explosion. I didn't want to freak Kim out any more than she already was, but I didn't have a choice when I felt the next blast that came from directly below the art room that we were in.

As I saw the outer wall and part of the floor to the room we were in blow apart, I grabbed Kim and rolled with her across the floor toward the door of the room. I put my hand on Kim's cheek and saw the panic in her eyes as she realized this was no earthquake.

"Kim, we have to get out of here right now." I said.

She was trying to get to her feet as another explosion went off under us and blew both of us backwards against the wall. The room was full of smoke and flames. I stood up carefully and had something warm running down my cheek. I wiped it away and started looking for Kim.

"Kim! Kim, where are you?" I said as I started choking some on the smoke.

I was having a hard time seeing and then I heard her coughing a few feet away from me. I moved through the rubble and smoke to find Kim lying against the wall. She looked at me and there was some blood on her forehead. I bent down to try to help her up when I noticed that she was partially under some of the rubble.

"Kim, are you okay?" I said as I leaned down beside her.

"I'm…I'm fine. My head hurts some and I can't move my leg with this crap on it." She said holding her head, but trying to smile still.

I smiled at her. "Let's get you out of here and see what is going on." I said moving pieces of desks and even some bricks of the wall off of her carefully.

She looked up at me while she was helping to get herself free. "Jack, what do you think is going on?" She asked with that panicked look.

"I don't know. It was probably just something in the Science Lab below us. I'm sure that everything is ok." I lied trying to make her feel better.

"You are not a very good liar, Jack." She replied staring into my eyes. "I'm scared."

"I know. Me, too." I said lightly rubbing her arm. Then I looked at her more seriously. "But, Kim, I don't know what is going on out there, but we have to get out of what is left of this room. Can you walk?"

She nodded her head and I helped her to her feet. We carefully walked to the door hand in hand. I barely opened the door to look out. I saw a lot of panicked and scared students in the hall and alarms were going off everywhere. I looked back at Kim who had pulled herself together really well.

"Let's go, Jack. Before something else goes off below us and there isn't a floor to be standing on anymore." She said.

I nodded and opened the door enough for both of us to get out. That is when I heard Kelsey scream. I looked up to see her running down the hall away from us and then I turned to the other end of the hall and saw someone with a gun standing there. She was pointing the gun directly toward Kelsey. I didn't know what to do, but I had to stop her. I got ready to move, but Kim beat me to it.

She stepped out in the hall and looked the girl in the eyes. They were only about 15 feet away from each other.

"Jennifer, I know you don't want to do. I don't know what is going on here, but you need to put that gun down." Kim said with only a slight shake to her voice.

I looked back down the hall at Kelsey who had stopped and was looking back at Kim and I with total shock on her face.

"Kim, you need to move. NOW!" The girl named Jennifer said back to Kim in an angry voice.

Kim didn't move. I wanted to just grab her and pull her back into what was left of the art room with me, but I couldn't leave Kelsey either. I stood there trying to decide what to do when Kim started talking again.

"I can't. My leg got hurt in the art room when something blew up and I don't want you to do something you are going to regret." She said starting to inch toward Jennifer.

"Kim, don't move any closer to me. I am not putting this gun down until all of these stuck up people realize what they do to the rest of us every day." Jennifer shouted.

"Okay, tell me. Tell me exactly why you feel like you need to do this." Kim replied.

"You know why. Every day we come here and get treated like shit by these wanna be Barbie dolls. I'm tired of it. It is time for them all to learn a lesson. And who better to teach them with than the little queen bee herself." She said glaring down at Kelsey. "Now you need to get out of my way before you get hurt worse."

"Jennifer, please don't do this. There are other ways to make them pay. You are not this person." Kim tried reasoning with her.

"No, I am this person. People like her made me this person and I am going to finally show her that she can't keep doing this." She shouted again as she started to move closer to Kim with the gun pointed right at her.

"Jen, you don't really want to do this." Kim said begging one last time.

Jennifer was only about 5 feet away from Kim now and I was going to have to act quick. "Yes, I do." She said and then she tried to aim the gun around Kim. "And I'm not the only one." She added as she pulled back on the trigger.

Everything that happened next was so fast that it was hard to really keep track of. Kim jumped forward and kicked at Jen trying to knock her over. The gun went off and I bent down and swept Jen's legs out from underneath her. As she fell to her back, I scooped Kim up in my arms and ran down the hall toward Kelsey. We didn't have a lot of choices on places to hide. So I ran into boy's locker room and waited for everyone to join me before I locked the door.

I turned to see Brody was there and shouted. "Go lock the other door, but make sure that there isn't anyone on the track that needs in here first."

He ran off to do what I said as I sat Kim down on a bench and Kelsey ran into my arms. As she pulled back from me, she had a look of horror on her face.

"Jack, you've been shot!" She shouted.

"No, I'm fine." I said looking down at myself and that is when I realized that I did have blood all over my shirt, but it wasn't mine. I looked down at Kim who was lying back on the bench looking really pale. "Oh my God, Kim!"

"I'm fine. It just nicked me." She said trying to sound convincing, but she is a bad liar too.

I bent down to see where she had been shot and saw that the bullet grazed her in the leg. She was bleeding pretty bad, but I knew that I could get it under control with a tourniquet.

"Kels, go grab the first aid kit over there." I said and she ran across the room to get it.

She brought it back and we looked through it to see what we could use for Kim. Kelsey helped me by cleaning up Kim's other wounds quickly while I worked on her leg. I put a bandage on it, but it wasn't quite big enough to stop the bleeding. I pulled my shirt off and wrapped it around her leg tightly covering her wound completely.

"Kels, go get me my other shirt out of my locker please. It is 119 right over there." I said pointing toward my locker.

She started to go over to get it and then Brody was there. "I got it. Go sit down, Kels." He said and went to my locker.

I looked back down at Kim and she was trying to smile at me. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm good. But if you wanted to see what my reaction would be from you taking your shirt off, you didn't have to go to this extreme." She said with a small laugh.

I laughed too. "Very funny." I said as Brody tossed me my other shirt and I slipped it on. "You probably need to change because this is outfit has a lot of blood on it and it wouldn't hurt to get out of those heels." I told her.

"Yeah. You are right. I am a mess." She said trying to stand up. I helped her up and she looked at me. "Give me just a minute. I can do this on my own."

Kelsey walked over to the two of us. "I can help her, Jack." She said coming over and taking Kim's bag from her. "Lean on me, Kim." She added.

Kim leaned on Kelsey and they walked over to one of the bathroom stalls to change.

KELSEY'S POV

I helped Kim into another room to change. We closed the door and I hung her bag on the hook. I helped her stay on her feel while she changed her top and then she sat down to change her shorts and shoes. I helped her back up to her feet and she smiled at me.

"You look more comfortable now. Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine. Really I am." She said to me with a smile.

Why is she so nice all of the time? I don't know how she does it. It has to be exhausting. "Kim, can I ask you something?" I said.

"Sure. What is it?" she replied.

"How did you know that girl? How did you know she wouldn't shoot you?" I asked.

Kim gulped and then looked at me so seriously. "I didn't know she wouldn't. I was just hoping I could get through to her. We have had classes together for years and I know she…she is a good person. She is just really upset about something." She answered with a few tears in her eyes.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I wanted to thank you. She was going to shoot me before you walked out in front of her." I said walking over to her to give her a quick hug. "I love your shirt." I added trying to change the subject with a smile.

She giggled lightly and then replied. "Thanks. You look pretty good yourself."

"Oh yeah. Nothing makes a girl look better than gym shorts and a tank top." I responded.

"Come on. Let's get out here and figure out what we are going to do." Kim added as we walked out of the room.

KIM'S POV

We came out and I looked around the room to see who was with us. I saw Brody and Jack talking about something and then I saw Grace bent over crying in one of the back corners of the room. I hobbled over to her quickly with Kelsey trailing behind me and pulled her up into my arms.

"Oh my God, Kim. Thank God you are okay. I was so worried when I didn't know where you were." She said. "I saw you go in the art room with Jack, but then everything went crazy and I didn't know where you were." She added as she hugged me tighter.

"Grace, I'm fine and I am so glad that you are here with me. Do you have any idea who all is involved? We couldn't see much from the art room. " I said.

"I don't know. We were stretching before we started running and then one side of the gym filled with smoke and some…of the…kids…on…the track…" Grace said through tears and sobs.

I leaned back and looked her in the eyes. Kelsey came up closer to us and wrapped her arm around Grace's shoulders with a few tears in her eyes, too. I didn't need them to finish telling me what happened. I knew. I knew that when the explosion went off part of the track fell with kids on it. I didn't know how many, but I knew that there were people out there that had fallen and were hurt or dead. My heart sunk and I started thinking about everyone that was in PE with Grace and I.

I turned around to face the rest of the people in the room. "Brody, when you went out to see if anyone needed in here, did you look to see if there were people that were hurt?" I asked.

He looked up at me with a sad look on his face and nodded. "Kim, there were some people that were injured, but they are all downstairs now. I couldn't get to them. There were others who weren't moving." He replied.

I looked at Jack and then I started to head for the door that connected to the gym. I felt someone moving up behind me quick and then his hands were on my arms. "Kim, we can't go out there. We have to make a plan." He said staring into my eyes seriously.

"Jack, listen to me. My sister and Taylor were in classes downstairs. My little brother was in the weight room below us and I knew every person that was in my PE class and there are over 15 of them not in here with us. I can't stay in here and do nothing. I have to go see if I can help them." I said and then Kelsey moved up beside me.

"She's right, Jack. We need to go see if we can help any of them. I was right there and I just ran in the opposite direction to the girl's locker room. I ran away." Kelsey said as a few tears fell down her cheeks.

"Ok, we will go check it out, but you guys need to stay in here." Jack replied to the two of us.

"Jack, I can help." I said and I leaned closer to him. "I have to find my family."

He put his hands on my arms and looked caringly into my eyes. "Kim, let us go see what things are like first. It is going to be hard to deal with. Let me do this." He said.

He was being so sincere and I nodded my head in agreement. "Kels, stay here with Kim and Grace. We will be right back." He added patting his sister on the arm. "Don't open the door unless you know it is us."

She put her arm in mine to help hold me up and nodded her head, too. We stood there together and watched as Jack, Brody, and some of the other guys went to the door that connected to the gym and slowly opened it looking out. I walked up behind them to lock the door. Jack made sure the coast was clear and then they all started going out. I grabbed his arm before he left and made him look at me one more time.

"Be careful." I said.

He just smiled at me. "Always." He said. "Lock the door."

I closed and locked the door behind him. Then leaned my back up against the door, closed my eyes, and praying that they would find people and they would all be safe while doing it.

JACK'S POV

I joined the other guys and looked around at the devastation that used to be our school gym. I was blown away by what I was seeing and felt like I couldn't even believe any of it. I had to snap out of it quickly. I started looking more closely at the wreckage. Our gym was a huge building that had an upper level running track was really destroyed.

The outside corner of the gym was completely gone and the section of the track that was above it was, too. I looked ahead of me and there was another section of the track that was missing about 25 ft from us. There was an 8 ft gap in the track and then there was still a section of the track in place before you came to the corner that was missing. I saw some students on the separated section of track. They were sitting ducks there because they had nowhere to hide.

"We have to get them off of there." I said looking back at Brody.

We both ran over and got some ropes from the storage closet that were for the rock climbing wall and raced over to the break in the track as fast as we could. Brody and I both tossed ropes over the rafters and then snapped on climbing harnesses. We clipped on to the ropes and knew what we had to do. A couple of the guys held onto the ends of the ropes and we looked at each other as we started to swing over to get some of our classmates.

We swung across and each got someone to take back with us. As my feet hit the track, I felt it shake under me. I knew that Brody felt the same thing because I saw it in his face. "We have to hurry." I said to him as we swung back across putting the two girls on the safe side of the track before going back to get more people.

Every time I hit the bad piece of track, it moved more than the last. We had made several trips, but there were still 3 students over there. As soon as I touched down this time, I looked up and saw some of the cables were giving out. We were out of time and I knew it.

"Brody, hurry up." I said to him as he got a guy to swing across with and then I looked at the last two kids left. "You both have to come now. I will get you across." I said to them.

We swung across and I have never felt so happy when my feet hit the good side of the track. They were all safe and then I looked down the track toward the locker room and saw Kim standing there with Kelsey and Grace. They were taking in the mess and then I saw Kim start running toward the stairwell with tears in her eyes.

I ran toward her full speed and grabbed her just as she was starting to open the door to the stairs. "Kim, we have to get back in the locker room. You can't go down there right now." I said.

"Jack, that is Ethan right down there." She said crying and pointing down to the lower level of the gym.

I looked where she was pointing and saw Kim's brother lying on the ground near the volleyball court. He was moving some and trying to get some of the rubble off of his lower body, but he couldn't do it on his own. I also saw a lot of other people. Some were moving and others weren't.

I looked back at Kim and didn't know what to say. "I don't know what to do, but I have to get down there to him and see if I can help anyone else, too." Kim said through her tears.

"Look at me. Kim, breathe. We will go help them. We will get your brother." I said to her.

"Jack, we have to be smart about this." Brody said coming up behind us. "We need to get all of these people in the locker room where they will be safe for a little while and make a plan."

Kim walked up to Brody and looked him in the eye. "I know we need to make a plan, but that is my brother down there and I am going to get him now. You should probably stay up here anyway because after hearing what Jennifer had to say, it sounds like they are mostly after all of you guys. I can go help the people down there." She said and then started to turn back toward the stairs.

"You are not going anywhere on your own. Brody is right that we do need to make a plan before we go down there. I promise it won't take long, but the people responsible for this could be anywhere." I said to her.

That is when someone came over the loud speakers and we all just froze to listen to what was being said.

"Hello, fellow students. Our school is no longer in the hands of the people who have let us get bullied and tortured every day for years. It is now going to be a place where the real monsters are punished for what they have done and we are going to start with some of the best. Here they are to introduce themselves…" An angry girl said.

There was a pause and then we heard some other voices. Some of them were crying and others were just angry. Then it happened. "Come on you all have never been shy before. Tell everyone your names!" The girl said loudly.

The first voice was Brett and he was pissed. "It's me, Brett. Just sitting here in the office with these three crazy people holding guns at my head."

Then there was another voice crying. "I'm Taylor and I am really scared." She said and Kim started to crumble in my arms.

"Come on the rest of you cannot be shy like this." The girl said.

"I'm Josh. I'm just a football player and I don't know why you guys are doing this." He said.

"Just to teach all of you that being a part of the 'It' crowd doesn't make you better than all of us. You don't get to give us stupid and harsh names anymore. We are running the show now." A boy said.

The next voice took Kim to her knees before I could even catch her. "I am not afraid of you and I don't know why you are doing this to us. We never did anything to you. I am just a student like all of you. Now, you have a whole school scared and that makes you feel special…strong. How is what you are doing any better than what you are claiming all of us have done? I am Chloe Crawford and I am not scared of you." That is when the gun shot went off and Kim was hysterical and I didn't know what to do.