With a banshee yell, Gauges launches himself at Ron from the side. He grabs the barrel of the rifle and pushes it down, then wrenches it away.

“Everybody freeze!” Wolf yells out from the other side of the gate.

“No, don’t!” Heels yells. “Don’t do anything he says. It’s time to fight back.” She reaches into an open shopping bag and lobs something the size of a grapefruit. It slips between the diamond-shaped openings of the security gate and catches Wolf square in the chin. It looks like a round bottle of yellow body lotion. He staggers back, but more in surprise than pain.

Gauges was not one of the people who claimed to have experience with rifles, and it’s obvious he has no idea what to do now that he has one. He points it at Ron. But then Ron drops to his knees, gagging and coughing, clearly no longer a threat. Gauges pivots to point the rifle at the killers at the gate. But there are panicking hostages between him and them. He swivels back and forth, undecided.

Even with Ron on his hands and knees, Parker doesn’t let up on the fire extinguisher. “I got the knife,” he yells at Heels. “It’s under my shirt in the back.”

She runs up behind him. He feels her peel up the wet cloth, and then her fingers dip under his waistband.

Clutching the knife, she dashes to one of the glass exit doors. She falls to her knees between two of the hostages and starts hammering on the lower corner of the glass with the tip of the wooden handle.

The fire extinguisher starts to sputter. Ron is now curled facedown like a turtle, but Parker doesn’t stop spraying. He chances taking another quick look around. Everyone is in motion. Some people are throwing things at Wolf and Mole. Some are running in panicked circles. Some people are trying to hide in stores, behind fixtures, even behind other people.

The fire extinguisher is still making noise, but nothing comes out of the hose. It’s empty.

Parker releases the trigger and then looks up. Something is happening on the far side of the gate. More and more hostages are staring in that direction. Wolf and Mole have turned their backs and are looking out at the food court.

Parker follows their gazes. A group of people is heading toward them, cutting around the tables and overturned chairs and the occasional body. In the lead is a guy in a baseball cap. His hands are raised. Behind him is a girl dressed in jeans and a red oversize sweater. She’s holding an automatic rifle, and every few steps she prods the guy with it.

It’s Miranda. She’s alive! A sudden blaze of joy engulfs Parker.