Into the store room.

Jen was closer to the store room than she was to the trash bags. She clamped her arms over her naked body and darted into the storage room, eyes wildly darting about as she did.

The room was empty. Shelves lined the walls to Jen’s right, and a stand-alone shelving unit stood to her immediate left. Straight ahead was a stack of boxes, the store’s inventory already brought in, and beyond that a doorway that entered into the main store, covered by a curtain that hung down to Jen’s knees. A similar doorway was on the far right side of the room, presumably also leading into the store.

Jen dashed behind the inventory boxes. She hid there, surprised at how brazenly she’d rushed into the room without knowing what was inside. Now she had to think of a way out.

From this position Jen could now see behind the stand-alone shelf and saw several bags of garbage and folded boxes stuffed against a corner, presumably to be taken out by the last employees leaving. She had hoped she would be able to see into the store from here, but the boxes she hid behind were pushed flat against the wall. Jen tried to pull them away an inch with her fingertips, but they were heavier than she could move easily and she was afraid their sliding along the ground would make too much noise. Without being able to see into the store she had no way of knowing if the mall was closed yet or not. She knew she’d been in the mall long enough that if it wasn’t closed now it would be shortly, but her best options going forward could depend on that knowledge.

Her nerves had only just started to ease when she heard footsteps enter the store room. Jen held her breath and readied herself to run back into the service corridor if she was caught here. The only reason she could see for someone to possibly see her was if they took another bag of trash to the pile not far away from her.

“Yeah, I’m working on it now,” she heard a female voice on the other side of the boxes. “Hurry up and help me out, we have a lot of inventory tonight!”

Before Jen had the chance to think about what this meant, a box from the top of the stack slid away from her and disappeared from her view.

Oh shit, she thought. Where the hell am I going to go?

She heard the lady walk back out of the store room and Jen figured she needed to take a chance in seeing how many people were around. She moved around the end of the stack of boxes and looked out, staying low so she could see underneath the curtain. She saw one person facing away from her, but no cardboard box in sight. She Jen believed this wasn’t the lady who was just in the store room. That meant there was at least one other person moving about. She from this point Jen was almost certain the mall was likely closed- she could see part of the store’s main entrance with large floor-to-ceiling glass doors and she didn’t see anyone moving around out there.

After watching for a moment Jen believed there were only two people in the store. A few clothing racks were spaced around the floor, and Jen was certain the walls here covered in shelves and hanger racks as well. One such rack was a short distance ahead on the left, a pole set into a recess in the wall with a variety of shirts dangling from plastic hangers.

Hearing footsteps again, Jen slinked back and cowered behind the boxes again. She tensed again as the steady sound approached, ever fearful of discovery, and watched as another box disappeared from the heap.

Four more boxes, she thought. I have to move, and the sooner the better.

Looking back towards the door, she heard noises emanating from that direction, what she thought was likely more cardboard boxes shuffling, the occasional person speaking briefly. Going back out the door was out of the question for the time. But while staring at the door, the pile of trash bags behind her caught her eye. She momentarily thought that she could hide behind them, but then dismissed this idea. If the store employees were going to take the trash to the hallway before they left then she’d eventually be discovered there as well. It occurred to her that it could work temporarily, at the very least she’d be out of sight and have a few more minutes to think.

Another box disappeared from the pile and Jen almost yelped in surprise. She’d been so wrapped up in thoughts of escape that she hadn’t paid attention to any approaching footsteps. She was lucky that she was already kneeling so low to the ground or the clerk might have noticed the top of her head.

Struggling to come up with a better option, her mind turned to the hanger rack just outside the door. If she could sneak in there without being seen then she could hide behind the clothes. The employees might add some clothes to the rack or sort things a little but there was no reason for them to empty the rack. Getting there would be risky, but it could be a safe place to hide for a while. She could even wait there until the remaining employees left, if she had to. The mound of trash bags were likely to be taken out before then.

Jen heard footsteps approaching again and **** herself lower to the ground. After the next box was taken she was going to have to make a decision.