We came out on the side of the school and we kept running. I found myself following the crowd to the parking lot which was almost empty, but there was no where else to go.

I ran faster as I heard gunshots and screaming behind me. The loud sirens of police cars and fire trucks and ambulances were in the distance. I turned around and the sight I saw turned my stomach. A boy who I vaguely recognized was running out the same door we had and was coming toward us. Luckily I didn't see anyone lying on the pavement. People ran past me screaming, looks of absolute terror on their faces. My friends, my classmates, people and kids I didn't even know or recognize. At that moment a thought struck me- what about Mike? I turned back around and ran looking at all the faces I passed trying to see if my brother was out here and in danger.

More shots echoed and screams filled the parking lot. I don't know if it was because of all the adrenaline pumping through me or pure terror or worry but things started to move in slow motion. I felt my heart beat pound in my ears, my legs felt like they were turning to jelly, the screams and gunshots became muffled, and I felt myself barely moving. But the thing was, I was moving, I was running as fast as I could.

Next to me a boy who I didn't know dove behind a car and kept running low to the ground. When I turned back to see where I was going I heard a gunshot pierce the air as all my senses came back at the same time. All of a sudden a pain like I have never felt before stabbed into my lower back. I screamed and fell to the ground- hard. The pain was so intense I couldn't even put my hands out to brace myself. My face hit the pavement and I saw black spots blinked in and out of my vision making me dizzy. I reached up and touched my face and felt blood running down from my head, nose, and cheek.

I lay on the ground unable to move as I see feet run past me. My ears were ringing but I could tell that the police were here. There was yelling and finally everything was relatively quiet. The screams and the gunshots stopped. My vision was blurry, I couldn't see anything other than the cars and pavement.

Someone though came up beside me and knelt down. I recognized the uniform of someone that works in an ambulance. They reached out and touched their cold fingers to a spot on my neck.

All of a sudden they perked up and yelled something to another ambulance person and they ran over. They opened a bag and pulled out a bunch of stuff that I had only seen in those hospital shows on TV. They pulled out a syringe and took the cap off to reveal a needle. The pain in my back hurt so much I didn't even cringe as they poked it into my arm and I felt a small pinch. Luckily though shortly after the pain dulled down to a throb in my back. They did a bunch of other stuff that I didn't even feel the whole time muttering to each other things I couldn't understand.

"We need to get her in the ambulance. She needs to be the first to the hospital, have a team waiting. Get everyone you can right now though because we have to be super careful moving her so she doesn't get anymore hurt."

"Alright." The second man ran off and a minute or two later he came back with a bunch of other people some of which were wheeling a gurnie. Then something caught their attention and some police officers went to block someone off. And that's when my senses kicked back in.

"THAT'S MY SISTER! YOU HAVE TO LET ME THROUGH!" It was Mike. He was okay. Frantic but okay.

"I'm sorry sir we can't let you through."

"I CAN HELP!"

"I'm sorry sir."

"WELL AT LEAST LET ME RIDE IN THE AMBULANCE WITH HER! PLEASE!"

"Sir we legally can't let you ride along unless you are her legal guardian and her mother and father have already been contacted. They'll pick you and your brother up then meet us at the hospital."

"PLEASE! I'LL CALL MY MOM! IT WILL TAKE HER TWICE AS LONG TO COME AND GET ME THEN GO TO THE HOSPITAL! SHE WON'T CARE I PROMISE! SHE'D WANT ME TO GO!"

The officer that had been talking to my brother looked behind her to the ambulance worker that gave me the shot and he nodded. Mike rushed over and gently touched my face,

"Mike..." I croaked. My voice was really hoarse

"It's okay Finn. Everything is going to be okay alright? I'm going to be with you."

The ambulance worker then started shouting orders to the people surrounding me. All of a sudden I felt about 15 pairs of hands go underneath my body. The ambulance worker went to the gurnie and took a red board out and set it directly next to me. Mike gabbed my hand as the ambulance worker gave directions,

"Alright be very gentle. On my count, 1...2...3." When he said 3 all the hands lifted me up and I screamed out in pain. Mike squeezed my hand and my vision turned black. I could hear Mike saying things like,

"It's okay Finn. C'mon stay with me Finn." It sounded like he was talking himself into it more than me because tears were welling up in his eyes when my vision came back into view. The people set me down on the board, still on my stomach, and then lifted the board onto the gurnie very gently.

Once I was on the gurnie I could see the crowd forming around where we are filled with teachers and students and staff. I saw police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances all around the parking lot. The police were trying to get the people around us to back up and give us some room.

Mike was still holding my hand when we went into the ambulance. He only momentarily let go to let the ambulance workers lift the gurnie in and then he himself to get in and sit down.

We started driving and the jerkiness of the ride hurt a lot, my eyes started to get really heavy. I was surprised that I'm still conscious. The ambulance worker who first found me now started asking me questions.

"Hi Aubrey, how you feeling?"

"Finn, call her Finn." Mike said

"Okay Finn, my name is Carl. Is Finn your middle name?" I nodded yes and he wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"Finn? Finn honey, how are u feeling? Is the pain really bad?" I nodded yes again

"Did the shot we gave you help?" I nodded again

"On a scale of one to ten how bad does it hurt Finn?"

"Ten." I croaked

"Ten? Okay sweetheart. Is this your brother?" He nodded toward Mike who was sitting next to him and I nodded.

"Yes? Okay what's his name?"

"Mike." I said

"Mike? Do you have any other siblings?" I nodded again

"Okay what's there names?"

"Charlie."

"Charlie? Is he your younger brother?" I nodded again

"Okay good." While he was asking me these questions another ambulance worker was connecting a bunch of stuff to me that I couldn't see.

"Alright Finn-" He was cut off by a loud noise. The ambulance must have hit a pothole or something. The gurnie jerked and a sharp pain shot through my back. My whole body went numb and my vision went black. My eye lids felt heavy and I heard Mike shouting,

"What's going on?!"

"She's going into shock!" Carl exclaimed, "Finn? Hey Finn stay with me okay? Stay with me Finn we're almost there. C'mon Finn stay with me..." But his voice drowned out and the last thing I heard before I blacked out was a continuous long beep from the heart monitor.