BooksBarbecue
Back Run, Hide, Fight Back Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. Newspaper Extract
  6. Survive
  7. One Hundred Miles
  8. So Many and So Fast
  9. Start to Die
  10. Fish in a Barrel
  11. Because of the Blood
  12. Can’t be Real
  13. Waiting to Die
  14. Panic
  15. None of Them
  16. Trapped
  17. Video Game
  18. Like Her Life Depends on It
  19. Before He Sees Us
  20. It’s Your Lucky Day
  21. Just a Shell
  22. The World’s Best Reality Show
  23. How Long
  24. No Matter What Happens
  25. The One Who Decides
  26. What You Need to Do
  27. One Last Time
  28. The Biggest Secret Ever
  29. What They Want Me to Believe
  30. Who He Really Is
  31. People Like You
  32. I Believe She Is Saying
  33. Wake Up
  34. We Told You What Would Happen
  35. Slowly, Slowly
  36. Everything Is Under Control
  37. Come with Me
  38. The Last Thing They’d Expect
  39. They Can’t Shoot All of Us
  40. Go Down Swinging
  41. Not Running Away
  42. If You’re Going to Lie
  43. Every Rattle and Click
  44. Infinitesimal
  45. No Safe Place
  46. I Didn’t Know
  47. Straight to the Source
  48. Nothing but the Breathing
  49. Anything Other Than Killing
  50. You Honestly Believed
  51. Three Inches Away
  52. Not Anymore
  53. Refusing to Crack
  54. On the Trigger
  55. Over
  56. All Too Much
  57. Together, We Can Make a Difference
  58. A Note From the Author
  59. Other Mysteries by April Henry
  60. Honors for April Henry
  61. About the Author
  62. Newsletter Sign-up

She spots Parker underneath one of the escalators. He’s screaming his little sister’s name as he frantically scans the area.

The busboy Parker was taunting is dragging the rich girl whose mother was shot across the open space. They are almost clear when there’s another POP, POP, POP. He grabs his thigh and keeps lurching forward.

A whistle carries even over the fire alarm. Miranda looks for its source. A tall, thin guy standing just inside Culpeppers pulls his fingers from between his lips. On the other side of the entrance is that dark-skinned clerk, the one who wears a headscarf. She beckons Miranda with an urgent hand. With the other, she’s pulling down the roll-down metal security shutter.

Miranda runs toward the closing shutter like her life depends on it.

Knowing that it does.

4:00 p.m.

DISPATCH: Police, fire, or medical?

RON SKINNER: Police! We’ve got people being shot here!

DISPATCH: Okay. Tell me who you are and your address.

SKINNER: Ron Skinner. I work security at Fairgate Mall. And there’s people being shot here!

DISPATCH: Okay, Ron, take a deep breath. Is there still active shooting?

SKINNER: I don’t know! Hurry. Please hurry. They shot Gabriel and Zach. They work here too. I’m not sure where Timmy is. All we’re issued is pepper spray and zip ties. And they’ve got assault rifles!

DISPATCH: I’m dispatching cars now. How many shooters are there? What’s their location? Another caller stated that they were in the food court.

SKINNER: There’s a lot of them. I’m trying to check all the cams. They started in the food court, but now they’re all over. If they figure out I’m up here in the security office, they’ll kill me, too. You’ve got to get your people here now! Please, please. I don’t want to die!

Before He Sees Us

BEFORE HE SEES US

4:00 P.M.

Miranda’s not the only one desperately making for Culpeppers. Ahead of her, the rich girl and the injured busboy are also heading for the store and the slowly lowering metal security shutter. The top of one of his pant legs is already dark and shiny with blood. His arm is looped over the girl’s shoulders. As thin as she is, she is somehow half carrying him.

How close are the men with guns? Miranda looks back over her shoulder. Parker’s in the same spot underneath the escalator, spinning in frantic circles with his hands outstretched. He’s stopped yelling “Moxie!” but it’s clear he’s still looking for his little sister. If Miranda didn’t already know it was Parker, if she hadn’t seen him just fifteen minutes ago, she would not recognize him now. His mouth is wide and turned down at the corners, his face streaked with tears.