The Day an Idiot Robbed Wal-Mart

-Chapter 7-

Chapter 7

For a moment, I stopped breathing. Then, as I was beginning to feel faint, I reminded myself to take a breath.

How were we going to get out of this? And who was the unlucky person who was just shot at? My mind ran through the names - Lamar, Beth, Louis, Joseph - and fervently prayed that one of them wasn't just shot.

The one good thing about hearing that noise was the distraction it offered. The guard, Seth, supposedly, was just as alarmed by the gunshot as we were. I mean, I had been there too when the leader commanded them not to harm anyone. Seth probably didn't come in here with the intention of being an assistant murderer.

He glanced back at us, then stepped away towards the noise. "Logan?" He called out after one of his teammates. It didn't seem right to refer to them as teammates, but I just wasn't sure what else they were supposed to be. Robber buddies? Partners in crime, I suppose.

As soon as he was a good distance away, I felt Cameron squirming behind me. I wasn't so sure I wanted to repeat that whole human worm catastrophe, but maybe he had something better in mind.

But then, as it turned out, it wasn't solely up to us. At that moment, Louis, the cashier, crawled out of a hiding place in the clothes. How long was he sitting there? He glanced right, towards Seth, and then crawled out to us on all fours. It looked interesting, but at least Seth wouldn't see him if he looked back, since Louis was too low to see over the clothes.

Louis scrambled to Cameron, reaching up quickly and ripping off some duct tape. Ouch. Poor guy. I knew my turn would come, but it had to be more painful for the hairier Cat Boy. As he was being freed, I spotted another head joining Seth's in the distance. I started to bob up and down, trying to warn Louis and Cameron. Once Cameron's arms were free, he reached back and yanked off my duct tape gag. I winced in pain and discomfort, trying to ignore the sting.

"We have to hurry," I whispered hoarsely, "I think they're coming back." Another head joined the two robbers.

So we knew now that Louis hadn't been shot, which left Lamar, Beth, and Joseph. I seriously couldn't imagine any of those poor souls being shot, but I tried to get my mind off of it. Louis and Cameron were working on getting me out of the chair now, and I knew better than to take the chair with me this time.

Finally, they worked the duct tape off of the chair. It was still stuck to my arms, but that was the least of my concerns. As long as my legs were free, I could get out of here.

"Go, go, go," Cameron urged, shoving me along. I nearly stumbled, but I caught myself before I did. Louis weaved his way through the aisles, leading us to the toilet paper section.

Cameron started to say something, but I interrupted. "Now is not the time for 'I told you so.'" Okay, so maybe his hiding place suggestion would have been better. Who knows, though, with my luck it could have all happened despite whatever hiding place we'd chosen.

We found Beth crouched by a pack of Charmin Ultra, hugging her legs to her chest and watching us with wide eyes. She leaped up and threw herself on Louis with a hug.

"Thank god you're back. Being alone here is miserable. I kept hearing things."

At least she hadn't passed out yet! That was a positive. It wouldn't be fun to drag her body around Wal-Mart while we hid from the robbers.

Then we heard a shout, and an accusation which sounded a lot like someone screaming 'Seth.' He was about to get it big time.

I glanced around; the other three were listening intently. Now just Lamar and Joseph were left out there in the unknown, possibly lying on the floor with a bullet wound. They could be dying right now - or dead. I decided it was best to keep these horrid thoughts to myself, mostly for Beth's sake, but also because I didn't want anybody to get as depressed as I was starting to feel.

This wasn't right. Everything about tonight was so horribly wrong; I didn't understand how this could happen. How could five men break into Wal-Mart with ease, and why would they be spending so much time hanging around instead of stealing their stuff and running? By this time, they could have made off with a lot, but they were instead wasting time and giving the cops more time to be alerted.

Once I focused, I could still hear the rain faintly on the roof. It hadn't stopped yet. I shivered a little, feeling chilly now that I had time to think about it.

Cameron noticed, stepping towards me. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"No..." I shook my head lightly. Only my pride was hurt after that embarrassing escape attempt, but I would recover. I was surprised when he put his arm around me, rubbing my arm gently to warm me up some. It actually helped a little.

The chill returned when he stepped away, walking down to the end of the aisle and peering out. He shook his head and returned. It must have been hard to see with all the lights still out.

"Hey, guys," Cameron spoke up, "We have to get back there somehow and see if someone was shot. They may need our help."

Louis didn't seem so sure. He shook his head a couple times. "How are we supposed to be any help if we get shot too? There are several men over there with guns, apparently, and that's not something we should risk."

"Hey, you risked it to get us out of there. Now we have to do that for someone else."

He still argued, "I could see you the whole time. I even saw her-" he waved in my direction "-try to wiggle her way out. I didn't help her then because I saw it was a hopeless case. I watched and waited for a good opportunity. We can't go blindly walking over there and expect everything to work out fine. I mean, I saw how your last rescue attempt went."

"He's right," Beth intervened. "We should just wait for the robbers to leave and then approach the area. If we go over now and they see us, we may delay their leaving even longer."

Cameron's head was in his hands now, and he was pacing up and down the toilet paper aisle. Then he stopped, and looked my direction. "Lacie?" His eyebrows were raised in an almost pleading expression, his hands folded together and extended out towards me.

I knew what he was asking. He was asking me to take his side, to go with him, or at least support him. Beth and Louis made good points, though, and I was starting to get comfortable amid the toilet paper.

As I stared into Cameron's pleading eyes, though, I began to feel the same thing he was trying to express. Maybe I was comfortable where I was, and maybe we could go help later, but right now there was the possibility that somebody needed us. Even if that possibility was small, we had to at least try our best.

So I nodded. "Okay." My voice was timid, but it was an agreement nevertheless. I stepped closer to him, and I could see the relief physically wash over his body. He stood up straighter, and turned his gaze back to Louis.

"Are you going to come?" he asked the cashier, pursing his lips after.

Louis hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm not leaving Beth again." He stepped back towards the female, obviously trying to make the excuse enough of a reason.

I didn't agree with his choice, but I was okay with it. It wasn't my place to force this guy to do anything, and there was nothing wrong with not wanting to throw your life away. Besides, I couldn't help but be grateful that he got us out of the chairs.

"Well just be careful," Cameron warned them. "We just escaped, so they'll be looking for us. I don't know what they would do, but just make sure they don't find you here." Then he smiled half-heartedly. "We wouldn't have to rescue you too."

"Good luck!" Beth piped up, then slunk back to her toilet paper fortress.

Cameron turned back to me now, and I tried to supress the nerves that were building. Deep inside, all I wanted was to run back and hide behind the toilet paper with Beth. I knew, though, that I couldn't do that and be okay with sending Cameron off alone.

So I forced a smile. "Ready, Cat Boy?"

He returned the smile. "Ready, Llama."