Shot to the Heart

Chapter 3- Bang Bang All Over You

The vendor stumbled backwards. A red circle was spreading out from the gunshot wound squarely in his chest. He fell. The man turned around, spraying a circle of bullets. Instantaneously, Alex pulled Jayla away and behind him, then turned and shoved her, hard in the opposite direction. Screams and chaos filled the mall. People stampeded in all directions. Rising above it all was the metallic sound of gunshots, firing at a constant rate. People fell, blood ran everywhere. Jayla and Alex ran into the bottom level of Sears.

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh." Jayla was panicking. Words spilled out in incoherent streams of babble.

"Shh, shh, it's okay. Come on, we gotta get to the exit." Alex held her hand, forcing her in front of him again. They ran through the store, following the other panicked citizens. Halfway through, Jayla tripped over a rack tipped over in the frenzy. Alex stopped to help her up. Once she had untangled herself from the clothes, they took off again. They saw people disappearing through the door ahead and ran even faster. They were three feet away when suddenly the lights turned off, the automatic doors shut closed and there was an audible clicking noise. Locked.

"Oh my gosh. The doors. They locked...they locked us...we're trapped. Oh my gosh, we're trapped in here with a man with a gun."

"No. they can't be locked. They can't just lock us out like that. They can't-"

His voice trailed off as they heard a recorded voice come over the speaker.

"Please remain calm. The mall is on lockdown. No one will be allowed in or out. The mall is on lockdown. Please remain calm. Please get to an area of shelter. Please remain calm."

"How can they tell us to remain calm? They just locked us in here with a murderer!" Jayla felt panic like never before.

"Maybe there's a way to force the door open." Alex was inspecting the doorframe, looking for chinks. Seeing none, he heaved a deep sigh and then returned to the more imminent problem. His girlfriend, it seemed, was about to pass out.

"You're experiencing shock. You need to calm down. Now."

"I can't. I can't. I can't- Ow!"

Alex had slapped her. Hard.

"You need to focus. We need to stay quiet, and find somewhere to hide. Okay?"

Jayla nodded. Mutely, she allowed him to lead her. They passed the kids clothes and the older women's section, at last settling in the kitchen appliances area near the storefront entrance.

"Be quieter!" hissed someone.

Startled, the pair looked around. Then they noticed a woman hiding near them, too. They scuttled over by her.

"You need to be quiet in case he hears you! He's coming this way, judging by the bullet noises."

Jayla whimpered quietly, and Alex turned to her.

"Come here." He pulled her close to him, and hugged her tightly. "Just try to relax. Focus on the sound of your breath. You're going to be okay."

Suddenly, they were aware of footsteps. It was coming closer to them. The woman in front of them gasped, and tried to make herself smaller. Alex pulled Jayla backwards, shoving her into a small hole in the appliance rack. He crawled in behind her, and shifted a box to mostly cover them.

"You there. Come out." A harsh voice echoed through the store. Alex and Jayla stayed motionless, terrified.

"You. In the purple scarf. Come out!" They heard a muted sobbing sound from their hidey-hole, and realized that the shooter had seen the woman.

"Please....please.." she begged.

"Stand up. Stand up!!" And with that, he fired - BANG BANG- and they heard her body fall to the floor.

Jayla stopped breathing. She waited in complete silence, waiting for his voice to command them to come out next. She was going to die here, in an appliance shelf at Sears.

Instead, they heard footsteps that got distant. Then the ding of the elevator. The doors  opening and closing. Alex waited a few seconds, the poked his head out.

"It's safe." He whispered. "But we've got to get out of here."

Jayla and Alex crawled out of their hiding place. Lying facedown next to them was the body of the woman they had known only briefly.

"Is she....is she.." Jayla couldn't bring herself to say it. Alex knelt down next to her and turned her over. He felt for a pulse.

"She's gone." As he stood up, Jayla looked dazedly at his shirt.

"It's..it's all over you." She pointed at the blood that covered him.

"I'll find a new shirt. It's gonna be okay. Now come on, we have to get out of here." And with that, they fled, heading away from the shooter and his victim as fast as they possibly could.