Just a day at the Mall
It all started on a clear Saturday morning when my brother Randal and I stumbled down the stairs to find our parents fighting again. Our parents fought often over every little disagreement they could have. It was usually about money and how mom doesn’t have a job yet even though she got fired 5 years ago from McDonalds and just sits on the couch and sleeps all day. But this morning they were fighting because dad has a big business meeting today and mom didn't washing his suit and tie so he had nothing to wear. Dad would yell “you’re irresponsible and selfish,” and then mom would yell “ then you do you’re own laundry!”
Randal and I sat in the living room annoyed with all the yelling. And then Randal got up to get some breakfast and after searching for any scrap of food that was left behind from a long week he turned to me. “Want to run out and get breakfast?” I immediately sprung up from the couch and said “yes!”
We drove to the next town over to the nearest mall. Then we sat down to eat at our favorite restaurant. As we ate I noticed two strange men that kept walking past the restaurant door in long black coats, black hats, black pants, and black shoes one was tall and skinny the other was short and chubby. A couple minutes after I noticed the men I asked Randal if he knew them because they both stared at the two of us as the paced back and forth by the door.
I could tell that Randal felt uneasy about these men because he acted like they were normal guys just walking, and I knew he was just trying to calm me down.
All of a sudden the fire alarm went off and all I heard was Randal yell “RUN JESSICA!” As we ran out of the restaurant we saw a mass of people crowned by the exit doors struggling to get out, but doors were locked. The alarm finally silenced and we all turned around to fifteen or more men in all black clothes like the two that were walking outside the restaurant.
A tall, muscular man with a deep mean voice spoke first saying “Hi, I am Marcus and I am the leader of all these great men and now I am the leader of you. No one will get hurt, unless you trouble us, harm us, or distract us in anyway if you do decide to do so we will take action.” As he spoke the men spread throughout the crowd one grabbed my arm and pulled me into the closest store and he told me to sit down and shut up. I watched the people get separated and and spread out amongst a couple of the shops. A little boy in tears got thrown to the ground beside me.
“Hello.” I said to the poor frightened boy.
“Hi.” He said.
“What's your name?” I asked.
“Brady.” He answered.
I said. “How old are you Brady?”
“5.” He responded.
“Brady, I’m Jessica, I’m 15 years old.” I told him, and he didn’t respond he only wept quietly and shook a little. I decided to keep talking to the boy because I wanted to comfort him and not watch him have an anxiety attack or something. As we talked he told me he was afraid that himself or his mother who was somewhere else in the mall were going to be hurt by the scary men in the black uniforms. I was telling him that everything was going to be okay and that I’d make sure he was safe, and that my brother was in the mall with me but…
“Shhhhhh…” A man said to me.
I waited till he left the room before I continued to say he was in the mall with me but… we got split up like Brady and his mom did and I was worried about my brother too.
Another man walked into the room and told us to silently stand and move into the other shop and if he hears a peep out of us there will be consequences as he said this he flashed us his a gun he was hiding under his long black coat. Brady shocked at the sight of this held tightly onto the side of my hip and began to cry again. I slowly started to pat his back as a sign that he needed to be quiet because this time there would be consequences.
We now entered a new shop and I was startled at the sight of my brother he looked at me and Brady with joy on his face with the knowledge that I was unharmed.
I sat next to Randal and he whispered to me “how are we getting out, what’s the plan.” I answered to Randal “I don't know you figure it out.” He said “ok first, you see the two guys guarding the door well I’ll take the big one and you knock out the small one with the baseball bat on the counter. Then, we’ll break through the locked door and all the crowd in this shop should be able to beat the rest of the men.” I analyzed his plan for a minute and then I said , “let’s go!”
As Randal and I got to our feet the guard turned he yelled at us “ SIT BACK DOWN!” Randal ran at the man grabbing the large baseball bat that was left on the counter and bashed him in the head, he was out cold. The other smaller guard approached me and tightly grabbed my arm and shoved me to the floor. I screeched loudly on the way down because I twisted my ankle and I could feel the pain shooting up my leg as I hit the ground like I was being stabbed a thousand times in the leg. All I could hear after that was a gunshot.
Randal had now taken out the two guards in the shop and was holding one of the guards gun, but all the chaos and the yelling attracted the attention of the other men holding up the mall. A middle aged tall muscular man approached the shop holding his weapon.
“ Everyone put your hands up,” he yelled into the shop.
No one said a word just sat there in silence and Randal sank to the shop floor again sitting on the guards weapon. The man entered the shop and I remembered he was the leader of the men, Marcus. From the look on his face you could tell Marcus was baffled by the sight of one of his men shot and one knocked out. He slowly paced side to side thinking and then he left closing the door behind him.
Three men now entered the room beside Marcus looking strong and powerful. Marcus was observing us wondering who did this to his men and who would have to “suffer the consequences.” One of the men leaned toward him and whispered something but I couldn't hear anything he was saying all I could tell was they were staring at me! Marcus walked over toward the back corner of the shop where I was sitting and grabbed my arm and told me to get up. I struggled to my feet because I felt another spread of pain throughout my leg. He tugged on my arm and escorted me out of the shop.
He interrogated me about the two guards that Randal had taken out but I stayed silent. He asked me questions like did you see who did that to them? What happened to your ankle looks swollen? And bribed me saying he’ll let me free and call in a doctor to look at my ankle if I told him who did it. I stayed silent. After we walked around the mall he sent me to a dark room with a creepy, skinny, raggedy man who looked as if he hasn’t slept his whole life. Marcus whispered something to the man and then left. I sat against the wall for what felt like hours and then finally decided to make my move i got to my feet and hobbled toward the man only to notice he was asleep, so I crept out of the room. I hid and ran to the shop where Randal and Brady were and opened the door only to see Randal had shot a couple more men. I motioned them to come out and we moved throughout the mall to find the other men remaining. As we quietly walked through the mall I heard banging, slamming on the mall door. Randal ran over to where the banging was coming from. he tried to open the door but the men had wrapped things around the door knobs so that we were unable to open them. Randal, Brady and I pulled and pulled in the door until finally we heard from the outside “ Hello? i am a police officer and I am warning you to step away from the door because we are breaking the door down. We have gotten word that their is a hostage situation in this mall and we have come to put an end to this and save the innocent citizens!” I pulled Brady out of the way of the door right before they broke it down. As the door came crashing down several policemen and women can running into the mall. Brady started to cry again and got the attention of one police officer, she walked over to us. She told Brady that everything was fine and his mother was safe. Brady finally calmed down enough that she left to go find the men while we waited in the parking lot for further instructions. We watched police handcuff and arrest all the men in the mall, then we went home and we were just happy to be alive.
A couple months have passed since the mall hostage situation and I was sent a letter in the mail today and it wrote “We’re coming back for you Jessica. How’s your ankle?” I guess one must have gotten away.