Frank coughed. His body hurt, but nothing seemed broken. He could feel something lying on top of him. He slowly opened his eyes. He could see a few balloons still floating on the ceiling. He realized he was lying on the floor with a table on top of him. The room was silent.

He pushed the table and realized it wasn’t going to move. He slowly crawled out from underneath it. He stood up slowly and looked around. There were people, unmoving on the floor of the ballroom.

Frank looked down to his right and saw Nancy and Ned. Both of them were motionless. He knelt down beside them. Now that he was closer, he noticed both their faces were pale, but they were breathing. He reached for Nancy’s shoulder. He shook her and said, “Nancy. Open your eyes. Wake up.”

Nancy’s eyes began to flutter. Frank watched as she slowly moved her head. Frank asked, “Nancy, can you hear me?”

“Oh,” Nancy moaned as she put her left hand to her forehead. “What happened?”

Frank smiled. He knew Nancy was going to be all right if she was already asking questions. “I think we lived through the explosion.”

Frank watched Nancy move her harms and legs checking to see if anything was broken. She glanced at him and asked, “Where’s everyone else?”

“Uh,” Frank stammered, but didn’t get any farther because a groan came from Ned.

Frank looked at Ned and saw his eyes were open. Ned appeared dazed. “Ned, how are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a truck, but I’m all right.” Ned slowly sat up. He looked at Frank. “What about you?”

“I’ll live.”

Nancy sat up with some help from Frank and she gave Ned a hug. Frank got to his feet and scanned the ballroom. People were starting to get off the floor. He could see some of them were injured. He looked toward the entrance and saw there was a large hole where they doors had been.

He couldn’t believe the damage. Tables and chairs were overturned. The lights were out. The glass had been blown out of every window.

He felt a grab of his right hand. He turned and saw Ned was helping Nancy to her feet. Nancy had grabbed his hand to get her balance. Once Nancy was on her feet, she asked, “Where are the others?”

“I don’t know,” Frank said.

“We need to find them.”

The three of them moved around the table toward the center of the room. They had only taken a few steps when they saw the others lying on the floor. Nancy and Ned knelt beside Bess and George and started to bring them around.

Frank knelt between Joe and Callie and tried to wake them as Vanessa sat up. Vanessa was gently shaking Joe to rouse him. Frank shook Callie on her shoulder. There was dirt covering her face. He said, “Callie, open your eyes.”

“Ohh,” Callie moaned as her eyes opened slightly. “Frank, is that you?”

“I’m right here,” Frank said taking her hand and squeezing it. “Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so,” Callie said. She looked at him. “What about you? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“What about everyone else?”

Frank glanced at Nancy. He could see she and Ned had been able to bring Bess and George around. He looked back at Callie. “Everyone is coming around.”

Callie turned her head to the right and saw Joe, unmoving. She looked at Frank as she struggled to sit up.

Vanessa moved over to Callie as Frank tried to rouse his brother. As he focused on Joe, he noticed a bruise forming on his brother’s forehead. Joe’s face was pale. Frank shook Joe’s shoulders hoping he would open his eyes, but he didn’t get a response from his brother.

He could see Joe was breathing. His chest was rising and falling. Frank put his hand to Joe’s neck to check his brother’s pulse. Once he found the pulse, he glanced back at Joe’s face.

“Frank?” He turned his head and saw Nancy was looking at him. “Is Joe all right?”

“He’s out cold,” Frank said. He looked back at Joe. “He may have a head injury.”

“Maybe help has arrived,” Ned said.

At that moment, Joe’s eyelids began to flutter. He slowly opened his eyes and asked, “Who was the driver of that truck?”

“Joe, are you all right?” Vanessa asked moving over beside Frank.

“Could someone please stop the room from spinning?”

“Joe, are you hurt anywhere besides your head?” Frank asked.

Frank watched as Joe slowly moved his legs, then his arms. Frank could tell Joe didn’t have any broken bones. Joe said, “I think I’m okay.”

At that moment, paramedics and police officers came into the ballroom. There were several firefighters with them. The officers suggested they head outside to get checked over by paramedics.

Frank and Vanessa got Joe to his feet and supported him. Frank could tell by Joe’s face that he was dizzy. Joe’s sense of balance was missing. He had problems staying upright without collapsing. They slowly made their way outside.

As Nancy watched Frank help Joe out of the ballroom, she was relieved they were all right except for some cuts and bruises. She turned back toward the center of the ballroom. She noticed Marcus laying facedown on the floor. His arms were outstretched over his head with the rifle inches from his hands. She could see a pool of blood beneath his body.

As an officer moved past her, she got his attention and pointed to Marcus. She said, “Officer, that was the man who threatened everyone this evening.”

“We’ll take care of it,” the officer said.

Nancy felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and saw Ned standing there. Ned said, “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Nancy nodded. She felt Ned take her hand and start to lead her out of the ballroom. Nancy was grateful they all survived. All her friends had survived. Her fiance’ was all right. So was her father. Nancy stopped. She turned around. She hadn’t seen her father since before the explosion.

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.