"How are we going to get out of this town?" Sleep filled Maple's voice. Her head lay in Staton's lap; slowly his fingers laced every red strand cascading down his thigh. A shallow sigh and a couple breaths later she sat up sitting on his lap leaning...
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I felt Staton's hands wrap around me. His hands pulling me close to his body. My heart quickens in my chest. A small bead of sweat starts to build on the back of my neck. My thoughts clouding my judgment and before I could even process anything I was on the ground.
Loud bangs were sounding through the store.
People were screaming.
My ears echoing as my body jolts with every sudden burst of sound.
What was going on?
I could feel the weight of Staton on top of me. At least I hoped it was him. He pushed me against the side of the checkout, hovering under the belt the best we could. His hand covering my mouth as the tears start rolling.
Seriously what was going on?
The loud noises began to slow, almost coming to a stop. People were crying, others were shushing their kids, but everyone had the same feeling rising in their chest.
This was never supposed to happen to us.
I felt a hand wrap around my foot, a quick yelp exits my lips as I turn to see who it was. Julia was crawling across the floor, trying to be as quiet as possible. I reached for her, trying my best to twist from under Staton, he shook his head, pressing me back into the ground before reaching back and dragging Julia towards us. The three of us now using each other for whatever comfort we could find.
My brain felt numb.
It felt like my chest was going to explode.
It was so quiet now.
Not a single breath could be heard.
When the lights clicked back on there was a loud buzzing, the refrigerators whirring in the background as they tried to fire back up. Was this the backup generator? Were things finally going to be okay?
How were we supposed to make it through something like this?
"Everyone off the floor now!" Voices started shouting.
Staton looked at me, not sure if he was supposed to get up or not. Was it the bad guy? Was it the police, where they finally here?
With all the lights on I couldn't see any flashing ones.
"I love you," I heard a whisper. I caught Staton's eyes one more time, before he leaned forward, trying to stand up to check if it was safe.
"Everybody please get up! This is the police, we have detained the shooter, but just in case there is another please head toward the main doors!" The shouting happened again. Staton slowly stands up to peak over the top of the check stands. A few others started to stand up with him, everyone was cautious though.
He must have noticed it was the police.
Before I could even breath he was grabbing me, pulling me to my feet and reaching for Julia. Once both of us were up he started pulling us towards the door, his head on a swivel.
