Take the hallway

After thinking through her options for a few minutes, Jen decided to head down the corridor ahead of her. It would lead her in the wrong direction, but at least she would be moving. Otherwise she was a sitting duck.

She knew her timing would be crucial. Once she stepped around the boxes she was hiding behind she would have a fairly straight shot to the beginning of the corridor. She estimated that she would be exposed for about five seconds- she could move pretty quickly while staying quiet, but a flat out run was bound to create some noise that would draw attention.

A few minutes passed while Jen watched the women bringing their inventory in. She didn’t want to trust any sense of rhythm she might get, knowing that a surprisingly heavy box would throw that off. Soon she felt she had a good time to move pinned down.

When the lady standing in the hall started to turn to get a box, Jen made her move. Quickly standing up she stepped around the inventory she was hiding behind and moved forward. She stepped lightly but kept a strong pace with long steps. The lady grabbed a box and started lifting it. Jen started moving a little faster. Just as the clerk started to turn towards the store’s doorway, Jen covered last few feet and slipped into the corridor, out of sight.

The corridor was empty. Not just vacant of people, but there were no boxes or trash bags she could hide behind. Jen didn’t pause in her movement. Once she saw there was no one to see her she continued moving forward.

As she got further away from the hallway the clerks were working in, she allowed herself to speed up, making more noise but still taking care to not be obviously loud. Sound echoed through these halls, and she didn’t want to get careless now.

She reached the end of the corridor without incident. Slowing down, Jen looked around the corner and saw no one. This service hallway was a mirror image of the one she had started in, with the doors leading to the stock rooms on their left and a blank wall on the right. This hall curved slightly left, leaving Jen to imagine a slightly oval shape to the two service hallways running around the outside of the stores. Inventory boxes and trash bags were piled at random intervals here as well, though a bit more sporadically as far as Jen could see. She would have to be more careful.

Stepping into the hall, Jen started moving again, a steady, brisk pace but one that wouldn’t make much noise. The first door she approached was gaping open and she slowed as she approached. Looking ahead she noticed a large gray cart parked against the right wall. She could tell from here that it held several trash bags and cardboard boxes.

She stood next to the open door and peeked inside, surprised to see what looked like the back room of a kitchen, with a garbage compactor, cleaning supplies and beyond that she could barely make out a room with several stainless steel tables,

I must be outside of the food court, she finally realized.

There was no one inside the room though she could hear people moving about further into the restaurant. She took the opportunity to move past the doorway and headed towards the trash bin.

Ducking down next to the bin Jen peered further down the hallway. From here she could see some additional shop doors, all closed, and another corridor yards away on the right. The sight of the corridor confused her, and she wasn’t certain where it might lead but felt she might not have to worry about that. Moving ahead, and at some point back to the left side of the mall, was her only priority.

She stood back up and started moving again, but froze in her tracks when she heard a voice up ahead. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but the voice started to slowly grow louder and Jen realized someone was approaching. The slight echo in the hall didn’t let her pinpoint where the noise was coming from- either the corridor branching off to the right or further down the hallway ahead. But she knew she had to hide.

Looking behind her she only saw the garbage cart and the open door leading to the kitchen. Knowing there were people in the kitchen, she felt hiding behind the garbage cart might be her best option, but then it occurred to her that the janitor taking out this trash was bound to come back at some point, and she couldn’t rule out that the person towards her direction now wasn’t the janitor. She considered dipping into the kitchen but realized that she hadn’t noticed any hiding spots that would be easy to get to. She hadn’t looked deeply into the room so there could be something mere feet to the side of the door, but the last thing she wanted was to be stuck in the open when an employee came back into that room.

She heard the person speaking behind her, closer still. She turned and look but still couldn’t see anyone, but she was certain she was running out of time.