Gray Skies

by Justin Bell

  Ducking and half-jogging, she eyed a passage to the right and went down that way just as she saw three men round a corner and walk into the food court, again dressed in black, and again with what looked to be automatic rifles. Her heart slammed as she moved to the right passage, but she heard no indication that anyone was charging her way. Winnie flattened to the wall as she heard footsteps out in the food court, then some rustling as they went through one of the small restaurants, likely looking for food. She could hear muffled voices but couldn’t tell what they were saying. In her head she was keeping count of who she’d run into, and so far there had been five of them—all men, all with shaven heads, and all carrying automatic rifles.

  That didn’t bode well for her tiny little rescue team.

  After the footsteps fell away, growing fainter as they walked back out towards the food court, she continued down the passage, checking for locked or unlocked doors as she went. The first unlocked door she came across she eased open and peeked through, looking right through a clothing store and out into the wide aisle that carved the mall in two. She saw a couple more men out in the aisle, neither of which was dressed in black. One of them had blue jeans, the other some kind of cargo pants, and one of them wore a t-shirt, the other a turtleneck sweater. They had shoulder holsters, not rifles, but still added two to her overall count.

  Slowly shutting the door, she moved farther down the hall and checked out a few more vacant stores. One of them was a video game store, with empty shelves and displays, but the broken skeleton of a standup arcade station guarded the front window. There was a metal gate half closed by the front door, and the carpeted floor was filthy with dirt, broken chunks of shelving and what looked like spilled soda. She saw one more man walking the aisle through the shop. That was eight. So far. And she knew she hadn’t seen everyone yet.

  She followed the same pattern for an hour, cracking open doors, counting any wanderers she saw, trying to memorize the outline of the stores in her head. Finally, she neared the end of the hallway and came to one final door on her right. Breathing in, she eased it open, trying not to think about how she’d make it to the other side of the mall to check things out there.

  As she started to push the door open, she caught a whiff of old chocolate—a wonderful, warm smell, a comfortable and familiar embrace, and she smiled as she slipped into the shop, which looked like it had at one point been a candy store. A large counter stood in front of her with a cash register on it, and most of the rest of the small shop was empty shelves and displays. Her nose getting the best of her, Winnie made her way around the corner, looking out into the mall to verify that nobody was within sight.

  Her foot struck something with a dull thud, and she stumbled forward, losing her balance. She went down, catching herself with her hands on the tile floor, gasping, but holding in a verbal shout. As she turned, she came eye to eye with Brandon Liu.

  “Brandon!” she said in a hushed whisper.

  “Winnie?” he whispered back, his voice quiet and pained. “What are you doing here?”

  “We’re just outside. Trying to figure out how to get you out.”

  Liu shook his hand gently, revealing the clanking handcuffs. “I’m not going far. Not yet.”

  “You okay? Looks like they beat on you pretty hard.”

  Liu nodded. “These are nasty people, Winnie. You shouldn’t be here. If they catch you, they’ll kill you; they don’t care if you’re a kid.”

  “No. We’re not leaving you all. We’re going to get you out.”

  “Just the three of you?” Liu asked. “Keep dreaming.”

  “We’ve got five. I bet we can do it.”

  “Five?”

  “Angel, Greer, me, Brad, and Max. We’ll get you guys out.”

  Liu’s eyes went wide. “What? Brad? Max? They’re alive?”

  Winnie turned and looked out into the mall, making sure nobody was out there, then turned back, nodding her head.

  “Yes. They’re alive! They busted through the back window and swam to the surface.”

  Liu closed his eyes and rested his head back on the counter. “Thank goodness,” he whispered. “Oh, thank goodness.” He straightened up and looked at her again. “You need to tell your parents. They need to know.”

  “Do you know where they are?”

  “I think they’re across from here, over in a clothing store over there. I have no idea how you can get there from here without being seen, but…”

  “Let me figure that out,” Winnie said. “Stay here, okay? Keep the faith. We’ll get you out, I promise.”

  “Please don’t get killed trying,” Liu said. “I wouldn’t be able to deal with that.”

  Winnie held a finger to her lips in a “shhh” motion, then moved away, crouch walking through the shop and out towards the door. Turned out there hadn’t been any candy, anyway.

  Leaning out of the shop and looking down the wide, tiled aisle, she could see darkened figures milling around, but they were far down the center section, and not immediately within view of her. A tall, broad, digital directory sat in the middle of the floor ahead and to her right, with a double-sided vending machine ahead and to the left. She drew in a breath, and took three swift steps, sliding between the two obstacles, holding herself there, willing herself to be invisible.

  She stood there for a few heartbeats, letting her breath settle and her pained leg ease up, and heard no approaching footsteps and no squeak of shoes on the floor—nothing to indicate someone would be approaching. Slowly, she eked her way out from behind the vending machine and looked down the center aisle, verifying that nobody was watching. Then she drew a breath and darted again, limping across the floor and into the clothing store, dropping low as she entered.

  There they were, directly in front of her. Rhonda was slumped left, her hands bound behind her back, attached to a metal clothes rack behind her. Unlike Liu, she wasn’t in handcuffs, but just in duct tape from the looks of it. Phil was several feet away, his own head looking down as if asleep, his hands bound similarly.

  “Dad?” Winnie said in a harsh whisper. “Dad! Wake up!” She made her way across the floor and her father moved slightly, then looked up at her, his eyes peeling back wide.

  “Win?” he said. “What are you doing here?”

  “We’re going to try to get you out,” she whispered.

  Phil shook his head, his eyes glistening with tears. “Oh, Winnie, please no,” he said softly. “We lost Max, we might have lost Lydia, we can’t lose you, too. Please, just go.”

  “You didn’t lose Max!” Winnie replied. “He’s alive. He’s with us. I just left him outside!”

  “What?”

  “He’s alive! So is Brad! All five of us are outside ready to come bail you out.”

  “Winnie?”

  Winnie turned, seeing her mother starting to lift her head. “Is that you, honey?”

  “Hold on, dad,” she whispered and moved towards Rhonda, her eyes darting out the door to make sure nobody was watching. “Mom, I’m here. I was just telling dad that Max and Brad are alive. They’re okay.”

  Tears broke free of Rhonda’s eyes and spilled down her red caked cheeks. “Oh, honey. Thank you. Thank you, thank you.”

  “I need you and dad to be strong. We’re going to get you out. Just hold tight.”

  Rhonda looked towards the door. “Winnie, be careful. These people, they’re evil. So evil. They will shoot and kill you all; I don’t want you risking your lives…”

  “Too late, mom, our minds are made up, though I wish you were able to help.” Winnie reached behind her mother, feeling for what was binding her.

  “What’s this?”

  Winnie spun as a man came to the entrance of the store. He wore a gray, stained tank top and black military cargo pants.

  “Who are you?” he barked, pulling a pistol from his holster. “What are you doing?”

  “Winnie, run! Get away!” Rhonda shouted as her daughter pushed off standing. At the same time,
she swept her Beretta out from where it had been tucked in her belt. The man at the opening to the store fired his pistol once, and the shot went wide right, shattering a display case near the rear of the store. Winnie brought a support hand up, drew down on the gunman and fired twice, double tap to the chest, and he lurched, then sprawled backwards, tumbling to the tile floor. Out in the main aisle of the mall, Winnie could hear shouting and the sudden thunder of footfalls.

  “Get out, now!” Phil shouted. “Right now! Don’t come back!”

  Out in the mall lobby another man appeared, running towards the store with an assault rifle in hand. Winnie shifted aim and fired four times through the wall-sized pane window and it exploded, then collapsed in on itself, spraying the floor with busted glass. The man running stumbled and toppled forward, the gun spilling out and scattering among the falling pieces of window.

  “We’ll be back for you!” Winnie shouted as pops echoed in the lobby and another display case exploded on the left side of the wall. She pulled back and turned, heading out through the back door, out into another access hallway. She heard the chattering of gunfire behind her but she was halfway down the hall, limp-running at full speed, her eyes pressed tight, trying to focus on the run and not the leg pain. She angled right and burst through another door, which opened up on the outside of the shopping mall, on the opposite side that she’d entered from. Banking left, she picked up her pace and ran towards the loading dock, hoping that the chaos inside had drawn the gunmen from there to the lobby.

  She approached the dock, holding her pistol in two hands, then swept around, lifting it to a firing stance. The dock was empty. Angling around the van, she charged across the parking lot, was swallowed by the strip mall buildings, and disappeared from view.

  Chapter 9

  Dusk had settled over the area north of Peoria, the Lakeview Mall drawing itself deeper into shadow.

  “Where is she?” asked Max, peeking out from around the corner of the coffee shop the four of them huddled behind.

  “Did you hear that noise?” Brad asked. “I thought I heard something.”

  “What did you hear?” Max replied.

  Brad was hesitant to answer, not wanting to believe that he’d heard gunshots, but they had seemed pretty clear to him.

  “I heard them, too, Brad,” Greer said, putting a calming hand on Max’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’s fine, just hold tight. She can take care of herself just like you, tough guy.”

  Max pulled away and walked out into the back parking lot, glancing back over his shoulder. The soft slap of footfalls rebounded from the street, and he turned over his right shoulder and saw her jogging over towards them, moving fast and keeping her head low. Max started to make his way to her, but Winnie waved him off.

  “Stay there!” she yelled, then moments later joined them behind the abandoned coffee shop. She bent over, putting her palms on her thighs and worked to catch her breath.

  “What happened?” Max asked.

  “Were those gunshots?” Brad followed up.

  Winnie nodded while still working to catch her breath. “Yeah. Yes. They were. They saw me.”

  “They shot at you?” asked Max. Winnie nodded.

  “Did you get a count?” Greer asked, coming over and putting a hand on Winnie’s back.

  “I counted…at least…eight. But then three more came in at the end. Total of eleven that I saw, but I didn’t see anyone that looked like they were in charge, so there are at least some others. Several of them had automatic rifles.”

  Greer stood and ran a hand through his short hair.

  “All of them are there. Brandon. Mom. Dad.”

  “Where are they?”

  “Mom and dad are in an empty clothes store, just inside the front entrance to the right. Liu is in an old candy store on the left.”

  “So what are we waiting for?” Max asked.

  “We need to take this carefully,” Greer said.

  “They’re right near the front entrance all looking for me, last I saw of them,” Winnie said, standing up. “If we rush the entrance and move quick, we can probably get them all out!”

  “Magic word is ‘probably,’ kid. A very dangerous magic word,” Greer said. “If we all get killed trying to pull them out, we’re not helping anyone.”

  “We can’t leave them here,” Winnie said. “We can’t. I was just in there. Mom is in rough shape.”

  “What do you mean?” Max asked, his voice getting frantic.

  “I think they beat her,” she said. “Her face and hair were kind of bloody. She was barely awake. Liu looked like…well, like he had been in a car accident.”

  Max clenched both fists and Brad exchanged a glare with him. The glare said it all…if Cavendish was in there, they were going to find him.

  “So what’s our play?” Angel asked, stepping over to the group. “What do we do about this?”

  “We have the car,” Winnie said, gesturing towards the sedan. “We could charge the front door with the car, move in, and grab them.” She seemed to consider this for a moment, then her face twisted. “Shoot. I almost forgot…Liu’s in handcuffs. Mom and dad just have duct tape around their wrists, but Brandon has full blown cuffs.”

  “Eh,” shrugged Angel. “Not a big deal, chica. We can figure that out.”

  “But can we do it quick enough to avoid getting some holes punched in us?” Greer asked.

  Brad just stood there watching the exchange, his eyes darting back and forth between the people speaking. He didn’t interject, didn’t make his opinion known, he just followed along, absorbing all that was being said.

  Greer turned and peeked around the corner towards the shopping mall and saw some scattered figures milling around the parking lot. “Yeah, you stirred up the hornet’s nest, girl,” he said quietly.

  “Should we move now?” Winnie asked. “Before they can get back together?”

  “I’m still not crazy about that idea,” Greer replied.

  “Look,” said Winnie. “They’re in there for the long haul. They have food, they have shelter, and they have security. They have no reason to move on. I’ve looked them in the eye, and I’ve talked to mom, dad, and Brandon. These people will not hesitate to kill them. We can’t just sit here and hope for a miracle.”

  Greer looked at her, his foot subconsciously tapping on the pavement. “We have the sedan,” he said quietly.

  Angel leaned and looked in the darkened window of the coffee shop. “You know, I think we could make something work.”

  Greer looked at him, questioningly.

  “Hey, you let Winnie have her idea. Now I think you should listen to mine.”

  “All right, smart guy,” Greer replied. “Lay it on me.”

  “Well,” Angel replied, “at first I thought maybe creating a distraction at the entrance while a second group moved in to rescue the others made the most sense. Divide and conquer, right, boss?”

  Greer nodded. “Makes sense.”

  “Only problem is, according to Winnie, everyone is being held captive right near the entrance, right?”

  “Right.”

  “So even if we draw their attention to the front while others try and sneak in behind, they’re all going to be too close to divide, and they’ll be able to respond too quickly. And honestly, we’re the only two adults, and I’m not real comfortable leaning so heavily on the kids.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Max interjected.

  Angel glanced over towards him. “You know what I mean, hermano. I don’t want to put you guys at risk.”

  “No matter what we do, there’s going to be risk,” Brad replied.

  Angel nodded. “Agreed. So we might as well go all in, right?”

  Greer pinned Angel with a glare. “All right. So what’s the plan?”

  Angel smiled and began his pitch.

  ***

  “Bring the van around! Over here!” shouted Bruce Cavendish as he walked backwards in front of the main entrance to the mal
l. “Park it here!” The black panel van navigated towards the front entrance, parking parallel to the front of the mall, half on the sidewalk.

  The driver leaned out of the window. “Right here?”

  “Yeah, right there,” said Bruce. Karl Green approached from behind, venturing outside the mall for the first time in several days.

  “So, what are we doing here, Bruce?”

  Cavendish turned towards him. “We had an intruder. I’m thinking it was the Fraser girl.”

  “So you’re barricading the front entrance? Stacking guards and patrols…to protect us from a teenage girl?”

  “I’m more worried about the company she keeps.”

  “I thought her mother was the most dangerous one. And the CBP agent. We have them both here already. I think you’re a little too concerned about this.”

  “You haven’t gone head to head with this family, Karl,” he replied, turning to walk towards the opposite corner of the mall. “They’re a nasty group from the top down.” He gestured over towards a car and waved it over. “Drop that one here!” he said, pointing to a spot on the pavement. The car backed out of its spot and eased its way to an area half on the sidewalk like the van.

  “So we throw a few cars out here and we’re protected?” Green asked.

  “Step in the right direction.”

  “What’s our long-term plan for the prisoners, Bruce? We wanted the mother and father dead. You wanted them taken. Can you explain why?”

  Bruce crossed his arms. “This is why. We capture them and lure the others out. Then we can wipe them all out at once.”

  Karl shook his head. “Such petty vengeance. There are so many more important things to be focusing on than revenge for your dirt bag brother, Bruce. He was killed before he could see our grand scheme come together. It’s a shame, but life isn’t fair, right?”

  Cavendish looked at him. “So I’ve heard.”