Hide here

Worried that she may not have enough time to get into the store’s back room before the approaching man rounded the curve, Jen quickly grabbed one of the trash bags and lifted in front of herself. Using her heels to push herself tight against the wall, she made sure the bag was covering the top of her head. She could see that her feet and ankles were exposed below the bottom of the bag but she would just have to pull them tight to her body and chance that the man wouldn’t be very observant after a long day at work.

As she held the bag as steadily as she could, Jen did her best to breathe slowly and easily. She angled her head downwards so the air escaping her nose wouldn’t rustle the bag. She focused on the sound of the approaching footsteps, doing her best to track how close the approaching man was.

He has to be around the bend now, she thought.

The footsteps still approaching, Jen mentally pictured the man striding towards her position, looking forward with half-dead eyes. She focused on holding the bag absolutely still, thankful that it wasn’t heavy. The steps got closer, directly ahead and to her right, then ahead of her.

Her nerves spiked with the two steps that were right in front of her, suddenly certain that she was about to be caught, that the man would notice her bare feet and pull the bag away. Then the next footstep fell, slightly to her left, then another one slightly further away.

He didn’t see me, she thought incredulously, he’s still just walking right past me.

The steps continued to move away from her. Eventually Jen was able to look to her left, her completely exposed side, and see the man casually walking down the hall.

She considered moving the bag between herself and the man, in case he looked behind him for any reason but it was bound to rustle if she moved it. Instead, Jen held as still as possible until the man reached the corridor branching left and turned.

She eventually heard a heavy door open and swing back shut. She was alone again.

Quickly discarding the bag, Jen got to her feet and began moving down the hallway again. She took wide steps, setting her foot down hard enough to make a slight noise but not enough to draw attention from anyone at a distance.

Turning the curve of the hallway she came in sight of an exit door, large, gray and made of steel, complete with a crash bar in front to work the latch. Two more doors leading to store’s stock rooms were ahead on her left, both firmly closed. Just beyond those doors, before the exit, a hallway split off to the left.

That corridor should get me to the exit Eve’s expecting me at, Jen thought, her pace picking up.

She hurried past the shop doors and approached the hallway. At the corner she froze and listened. No footsteps coming or going. No voices in the distance. Jen leaned forward and looked in the corridor, finding it empty. She rounded the corner and got back to moving at a quick pace.

She was able to move down the hallway fast, her pace slightly slower than a jog so she could still hear over the sound of her own footsteps. As she approached the end of the corridor began slowing again so she could make sure she wasn’t going to accidentally step right into view of someone who might be in the hallway silently waiting for a ride.

Pausing at the edge of the hallway, she could see the exit to her right, identical to the one behind her. She held her breath for a moment and listened.

Distantly she heard footsteps. Despite how she’d learned sound echoed through these halls, she felt whoever was moving must be a ways away. A faint voice reached her ears, female, young sounding. Then another voice, what sounded like a slightly older woman.

Jen glanced at the exit again, about to chance running when she heard the younger voice again.

“I’m just going to go home and crash,” the lady said, “I’m beat.”

The people were getting closer, and now Jen wasn’t certain they were as far away as they had first seemed. She chanced a quick look into the hallway. It was empty, aside from a few trash bags stowed against the walls. But she couldn’t estimate how long it would stay vacant.

Looking to her right once more, she thought either out the door, or back down this hallway. I can try again after they leave if I don’t chance it now…