❝I remember throwing myself to the ground. 

It felt right to try and hide from harm's way. The contents of my basket splayed across the polished linoleum floor, and the bag of frozen peas tore, spilling all of the little vegetables everywhere. The cake that was protected by a firm plastic lid was now crushed, and the loaf of bread was squashed beneath my elbow.
I silently cursed myself for making so much noise. 

My earphones had fallen to the floor, but I could still hear the music playing as I left myself pressed to the tile. I knew I had to move, I couldn't just stay in the middle of an aisle. 

I wasn't going to risk being caught, or worse. 

I didn't want to know if the gunshots I heard were warnings, or whether they found targets. I winced at the thought and peeled myself off the floor. I grabbed my earphones, making sure they weren't rattling at my side, or worse, being pulled out of my phone. If they disconnected, my music would play aloud, and I knew that wouldn't end well for me. 

I frantically looked around for a place nearby to hide. My eyes stopped on the wine aisles, the furthest corner from the entrance with mini racks of bottles striped across it. I knew it would probably be my best bet of hiding, because I wasn't about to hide in the freezers. 

I inhaled deeply and took a step, my breath hitching as the sole slapped against the tile, making a noise that I had subconsciously wished against. Running and making sounds wasn't an option, I decided. I desperately kicked off my flip flops, picking them up and beginning to sneak my way to the wine corner. I was almost at the end of the frozen foods aisle, knowing fully well that when I reached the end of it, I would have to make a dash to the wine corner, and try to minimise my time out in the open. It was a bold move, but I figured running was a better idea than letting the hunter come to me. 

I shook my head, starting to run, my bare and sweaty feet audibly tapping on the cold floor. 

When I made it to the wine aisles, I idiotically let my guard down in relief. I slipped over, the sweat on the bottom of my feet getting the best of me. I fell back, hearing my phone crunch beneath me from my back shorts pocket. I winced, as I scrambled into an out of sight corner and pulled the device out of my pocket, grimacing at the screen that now had cracks attacking almost every inch of the screen. 

My ears perked, hearing the faint beat of my music over the deafening silence. Everything had gone quiet since the gunshots. Perhaps people were being forced into an unagreed pact of silence. Maybe there were more gunshots than what I heard, and everyone was dead. I had no idea, and I wasn't going to go check.

I pushed an earphone into my ear, trying to drown out the fear that was now setting in. I found it strange that my phone was still functioning, even after it was badly damaged from my fall. 

There was an armed gunman in the store. I had no idea where he was, if anyone had died, or what was going to happen to me. Intermission by Blur was playing, a song that represented  things slipping into chaos. 

Just like that moment. 

Everything was fine at first, and then bullets were fired. And if movies taught me anything, it was that things were about to get a lot worse. ❞