Every room and open area on campus heard Dr. Young’s voice. “This is a lockdown situation. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is a lockdown situation.”
Adam broke their embrace, quickly locked the door, pulled the shade down and grabbed Shay’s hand. “Back there! By the eyewash station. Let’s go!” He pulled her to the back of the room, opened the tiny closet door and pushed her inside then stepped in next to her. There was barely room for the two of them, but they did fit. Shay went to turn on the light when Adam said, “No! If anyone comes in it needs to be dark—and silent in here.”
Shay was shaking as she asked, “What’s going on? What’s happening?” Just then, they both heard more popping sounds. These were farther away but still very distinct.
In guidance, Erin also locked her door and told Cameron to move to the back corner of the office which couldn’t be seen from the window in her door. She tried to put him in the corner and stand guard, but he wasn’t having any of it. “There’s no way I’m letting you do that.” She began to protest but Cameron simply picked her up and physically stood her in the corner. He then backed up so that his body was in front of hers and she instinctively put her arms around him.
“Oh, my God. I’m so scared!” she said. That’s when they heard the next set of pops. Unlike the first ones, these were very loud and very close. Guidance was just three doors down from administration where Dr. Young, the assistant principal, and the school secretary had their offices.
Erin and Cameron heard the pops followed by a brief silence followed by the words, “I told you there’d be hell to pay you fucking piece of shit! Get on your fucking knees, n*****!”
Erin couldn’t stop herself from letting out a squeal. Cameron turned and put his hands on her shoulders and said, “Shhhh! Erin, it’s okay. I’m gonna protect you. Please don’t be afraid, okay?”
Her eyes were wide open with fear and she was shaking. Cameron took off his coat and threw it around her and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s gonna be okay, Erin. I promise.” He waited for her to look into his eyes before saying, “Do you believe me?”
She was more afraid than she’d even been in her life. All she could do was nod her head. Her teeth were chattering so hard she could hardly talk. She fought off the urge to cry hysterically as her body shook. She clenched her teeth and said, “I don’t want to die. Please don’t let me die, Cam!”
He put his hands on her face and said, “I won’t. I promise I’ll protect you, Erin. I’ll die before I let anything happen to you. I swear.”
In the tiny closet, Shay was also shaking uncontrollably. “Someone has a gun,” she said. “Someone’s shooting in the school!” She turned toward Adam and said, “I’m so scared, Adam. I’m so afraid.”
He held her close and told her, “So am I, Shay. So am I. But we’re going to get through this—together. Okay?”
Through her tears she nodded rapidly and told him, “Please just hold me, Adam. Please?”
In guidance, Erin and Cameron both heard a calm, firm voice say, “You can kill me, but you still won’t have you what you want, Terry and that’s because it isn’t the diploma eating at you like a cancer. You need help, son. And you’ll spend the rest of your life in prison. Be smart and hand me the gun. You don’t wanna do…”