No Ordinary Day
Further Chaos
I was brought out of my fear-stricken paralysis when I was grabbed by the front of my shirt and tugged to the back of the store. Both of us kneeled down in a corner hidden behind racks of clothing.
“You scared me to death.” The other girl whispered to me. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack and die right there.”
I couldn’t get my mouth to move or even my vocal chords to work. I was scared mute. Barely escaping an impending death, and then running into someone without expecting it while trying to escape will do that to someone. I must have looked ridiculous to the other girl since all I could do was stare at her and try to get my heart beat back to normal.
“Hey, are you alright?” She looked at me concerned. Her hand had dropped from my shirt a long time ago and now rested on top of my right hand which rested on my right thigh.
“You’re bleeding.” She had turned her attention away from my face and toward my right arm. I looked down at my arm only to see red slowly streaming down it. The adrenaline must have blocked the pain. Once the adrenaline dies down I’m sure I’ll be feeling it in a lot of other places.
The other girl was still examining my arm when I finally got my voice back and decided to speak. “I’ll be fine.” The other girl’s russet orbs looked into my blue ones. “Let’s just get out of here.” The other girl nodded and looked out to the empty store.
“If we can get to the door we’ll be able to go into the back storage rooms and into the back halls of the mall. If it’s clear there, then we’ll be able to get out.” The other girl peered around the corner to see if it was clear.
“I’m assuming you DO know the way,” I looked down at the name tag on her shirt, “Ashli.”
She looked back at me and confidently stated, “Yes.” And turned her head around again. Suddenly she grabbed my arm. “Let’s go.” She pulled me across and over messy piles of debris left from the chaos that ensued not too long ago.
We made our way to the door and pushed our way out. The hall on the other side was quiet. It seemed too quiet. We walked quietly down the hall and peered cautiously around every corner. Ashli still hadn’t let go of my arm. Her grip was still firm around my wrist.
We were coming right up to another corner when we heard a door slam behind us. We stopped in our tracks and looked back to where the sound had come from. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of my beating heart. No one else could be seen or heard other than us. When both of us finally did turn back around we almost died of fright right there.
A young man had made his way around the corner and stood directly in front of us. He was hunched over holding his abdomen. The thick, red droplets could be seen trailing behind him. “David!” Ashli grabbed him just in time as he collapsed. He coughed and sputtered blood out of his mouth.
“You need to get out of here.” He could barely get the words out before he had another coughing spell. “Go, go, they’re coming.” He let out a few more strangled breaths before he took his last breath.
We didn’t have any time to do anything before someone had burst through the doors and had spotted us. I don’t know how I was still alive because my heart must have stopped at least a million times. He fired at us, but we had moved just in time. I stayed right behind Ashli as we sprinted down the white corridor. The man’s heavy steps could be heard behind us. I could also hear him talking, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying. He must have been speaking into a walkie talkie or something.
Without a warning, a door swung open and hit me dead on. I flew back and hit the concrete floor painfully hard. I held my head to stop the throbbing. People really needed to stop popping up out of nowhere.
From what I could see through my blurry vision, Ashli had stopped and turned around. Her mouth was open in fear and panic showed in her eyes. Whoever had come through the door was definitely no one good. Both men let out a hearty laugh as I looked up at them. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion before I lost touch with reality and slipped into the darkness. Whether I would wake up again or not was unknown.
“You scared me to death.” The other girl whispered to me. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack and die right there.”
I couldn’t get my mouth to move or even my vocal chords to work. I was scared mute. Barely escaping an impending death, and then running into someone without expecting it while trying to escape will do that to someone. I must have looked ridiculous to the other girl since all I could do was stare at her and try to get my heart beat back to normal.
“Hey, are you alright?” She looked at me concerned. Her hand had dropped from my shirt a long time ago and now rested on top of my right hand which rested on my right thigh.
“You’re bleeding.” She had turned her attention away from my face and toward my right arm. I looked down at my arm only to see red slowly streaming down it. The adrenaline must have blocked the pain. Once the adrenaline dies down I’m sure I’ll be feeling it in a lot of other places.
The other girl was still examining my arm when I finally got my voice back and decided to speak. “I’ll be fine.” The other girl’s russet orbs looked into my blue ones. “Let’s just get out of here.” The other girl nodded and looked out to the empty store.
“If we can get to the door we’ll be able to go into the back storage rooms and into the back halls of the mall. If it’s clear there, then we’ll be able to get out.” The other girl peered around the corner to see if it was clear.
“I’m assuming you DO know the way,” I looked down at the name tag on her shirt, “Ashli.”
She looked back at me and confidently stated, “Yes.” And turned her head around again. Suddenly she grabbed my arm. “Let’s go.” She pulled me across and over messy piles of debris left from the chaos that ensued not too long ago.
We made our way to the door and pushed our way out. The hall on the other side was quiet. It seemed too quiet. We walked quietly down the hall and peered cautiously around every corner. Ashli still hadn’t let go of my arm. Her grip was still firm around my wrist.
We were coming right up to another corner when we heard a door slam behind us. We stopped in our tracks and looked back to where the sound had come from. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of my beating heart. No one else could be seen or heard other than us. When both of us finally did turn back around we almost died of fright right there.
A young man had made his way around the corner and stood directly in front of us. He was hunched over holding his abdomen. The thick, red droplets could be seen trailing behind him. “David!” Ashli grabbed him just in time as he collapsed. He coughed and sputtered blood out of his mouth.
“You need to get out of here.” He could barely get the words out before he had another coughing spell. “Go, go, they’re coming.” He let out a few more strangled breaths before he took his last breath.
We didn’t have any time to do anything before someone had burst through the doors and had spotted us. I don’t know how I was still alive because my heart must have stopped at least a million times. He fired at us, but we had moved just in time. I stayed right behind Ashli as we sprinted down the white corridor. The man’s heavy steps could be heard behind us. I could also hear him talking, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying. He must have been speaking into a walkie talkie or something.
Without a warning, a door swung open and hit me dead on. I flew back and hit the concrete floor painfully hard. I held my head to stop the throbbing. People really needed to stop popping up out of nowhere.
From what I could see through my blurry vision, Ashli had stopped and turned around. Her mouth was open in fear and panic showed in her eyes. Whoever had come through the door was definitely no one good. Both men let out a hearty laugh as I looked up at them. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion before I lost touch with reality and slipped into the darkness. Whether I would wake up again or not was unknown.