it was the biggest shopping day of the year, and heidi had her eyes set on a christmas present for tyler. it wasn't near what the line was for toy zone, but the line for nordstrom was quite intense. but the advertisement was worth it. some of his favorite sweaters were marked down, and there was a set on sale of his favorite cologne. it was one of those fancy ones with the big and little bottles and a lotion that smelled just like it. would he use the lotion? maybe, maybe not, but she could steal a little bit of it just to capture the scent she loved.
so, bright and early at six am, heidi was in the nordstrom line and ted was in the toy zone line for one of those weird fucking wiggly dolls for jane. it wasn't long after opening that she heard some ruckus from down the way, in the direction of toy zone. she frowned and watched as people started to run, to scream and yell. she felt her chest tighten as she picked up her phone to text her dad.
[ TEXT : POPSICLE ] : what's going on down there? lol
the ruckus continued so much so that people were starting to become concerned in her own line, starting to step out of it to either give up on their spot for what seemed to be their own safety. she swallowed hard and glanced down at her phone, the anxiety causing her heart to start racing.
[ TEXT : POPSICLE ] : dad?
she watched as the 'delivered' confirmation popped up under the message. how it stayed put rather than read. something was wrong. she felt it in under gut. with a step, she forfeit her place in line and paced towards toy zone, only to be intercepted by one man tackling another as she rounded the corner. the two barreled into her, the larger frame knocking into her chest and onto her ass on the ground with them. she coughed around the breath that was knocked from her and scrambled to get away from their swinging, eyes wide with horror. she staggered and quickly found her footing to run for toy zone, where she saw the chaos that had unfolded.
" dad?! " she shouted, eyes wide and burning with tears as she whipped around to try to find @timebastard. it was pure and total chaos on this wing of the mall, and it only seemed to be spreading.
she jumped when she felt a tight grip grab her by arm. when she turned, a man in a hoodie and a ball cap looked at her with a sickeningly crazed look in his eyes, " do you have the doll?! "
" wh - what?! let go of me! " she pleaded before she noticed a couple of other shoppers start to circle her like hungry sharks in bloody water. she tried to pull out of the man's grip as the others started to close in on her, shrieking for the one man who she hoped would be somewhere in the fold to help, " DAD?! "