Before he went into total hiding, he needed a few more things. It was a calculated risk but one he needed to take if he were going to avoid human contact until things sorted out. Whatever that meant.
He waited until there were no cars coming or going on the road and then ran across. He came to a small hill that ran along the front of the parking lot and looked over the hedge that topped it. He counted fourteen cars in the parking lot. Usually there was some kind of rent-a-cop driving a car around. Mitchell spotted him at the far end of the mall parked near the other entrance.
If Mitchell walked normally past the car, he could get inside without too much trouble. Just as long as the window wasn’t down.
Before he went shopping, he needed to take care of something while he was in the parking lot. Mitchell found an opening in the hedge and walked over to one of the cars. Making sure that nobody was looking, he knelt down by the license plate and pulled out a fishing knife he found on the boat.
Using the flat edge, he unfastened the screws holding the license plate onto the car. Mitchell tucked the plate under his jacket into his back waistband. He walked over to another car and did the same thing. He wanted to get as many license plates as he could but settled for one more.
He had no plans to use them. He just wanted to give his pursuers a strong reason to believe he’d stolen a car. The multiple missing plates would frustrate their search for him.
He tucked the third plate behind the others and stood up. The security vehicle was still in the same spot. Mitchell looked to make sure that there was no one else in the parking lot and walked toward the nearer entrance. If he saw anyone coming through the doors toward him, he readied himself to run around the side of the building.
Through the glass doors he could see an old man in a red vest working as the Super Center’s door greeter, their polite term for shoplifting deterrent. Mitchell knew there was no way around the man. He was counting on the fact that once the man noticed him he’d abandon his post.
Mitchell tried to remember the layout of the store so he could get everything he needed as quickly as possible. Mitchell took a deep breath, smoothed back his hair and then walked through the main entrance. Mitch entered the store.
He tried to pass as far away from the old man as he could, but it didn’t matter. Two seconds after Mitch walked through the door, the man’s teeth were bared and his eyes narrowed on Mitch.
Mitch kept walking. “Take it easy, old-timer. I don’t want you to have a heart attack.”
The old man lunged toward him. Mitch walked faster, easily outpacing the old man as he tried to move toward him as fast as his arthritic legs could take him. Mitch kept going straight down the aisle and then darted to the right in the hardware section. He searched the shelves for what he needed. The old man rounded the corner as Mitch found it.
Mitch jogged around the shelves and headed back down the aisle toward the back. He ripped open the container and pulled out what he needed.
When the footsteps grew fast behind Mitch, he broke into a light run. He didn’t want to attract attention from anybody else in the store. From behind him he could hear the old man let out a low-pitched groan. Mitch increased his speed and headed for the men’s bathroom at the back of the store.
Down an aisle he caught sight of a young couple with a shopping basket looking at DVDs. Mitch didn’t know how far whatever made people attack him worked, but he was sure he was going to have to deal with them after the old man.
The footsteps were getting closer. Mitch reached the bathroom and pushed the door open. He quickly ran around the back of the door and waited. The old man ran in after him a few seconds later and charged into the center of the bathroom.
Mitch slipped around the door and pulled it shut behind him. The old man started to pound on the door. Mitch couldn’t hold it shut forever. Somebody was going to come sooner or later when they heard the noise the man was making.
Mitch pushed the door open slightly and a clawed hand came at his face. He slid a zip tie around the hand and then attached it to the one he’d fastened to the door handle. He cinched them both tight, fastening the old man to the door. It might hurt the man’s wrist if he fought it, but it would keep him at a safe distance.
Mitch walked back toward the sporting goods section and grabbed a few things: a wooden baseball bat, a paintball gun and extra ammo. He found a large duffle bag and shoved them inside. He ran over to the camping section and started shoving freeze-dried food packages into the duffle bag. He grabbed a few other camping tools and then went to another aisle.
From behind he could hear the sound of two pairs of footsteps running toward him. Mitch looked over his shoulder and saw the girl and her boyfriend going full speed.
Mitch ran away from them and turned down an aisle that led to the toy department. He turned into what he thought was the right aisle but realized he’d made a mistake. He ran down the aisle and turned around the next end.
Mitch scanned the shelves for what he needed. He knew it was a borderline stupid idea. He just wanted to try it before he used the baseball bat. He’d hurt enough people that day.
The rage-filled couple came around the corner and closed in on him. Mitch ripped open the bag of marbles and threw them on the floor. The man and the woman tripped and skidded across the smooth tile. The man’s head smacked into a metal shelf. The girl fell face first. Mitch ripped open two more bags and scattered them around the couple as they tried to get up.
He shoved some more bags of marbles into his bag and ran back to the gun section of the store. Mitch found a shelf filled with pepper spray canisters and began shoving them into his bag. He popped the safety off one and held on to it.
Mitch ran back to the hardware section and grabbed a few more things. At the other end of the store, he could hear the sound of merchandise being dropped and footsteps hurrying in his direction.
It was time to go. Mitch headed back to the center aisle and ran toward the exit the old man had abandoned. A heavy-set woman in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops was running at him, rolls of body fat shaking like a hula skirt. Behind her was her pig-tailed 7-year-old daughter in hot pursuit. Both pairs of eyes were bloodshot.
He ran to the right into the clothing section and started weaving through the racks. Another man in a red vest came running at Mitch from behind a row of shelves.
Mitch sprayed the man in the eyes with the pepper spray. The man let out a roar but didn’t stop coming after him. He was blinded but kept swinging his arms around. Mitch knocked over two clothing racks to trip the man up.
He looked to his left and saw the mother getting close. Mitch aimed a cloud of pepper spray at her and then tipped over a rack in her path. She went sprawling across the ground.
Mitch looked around. He couldn’t see the little girl because she was shorter than the racks. There was the sound of little footsteps coming from somewhere, but he couldn’t see where.
Mitch moved away from the man and the little girl’s mother and headed toward the exit. Suddenly he felt a searing pain in the back of his thigh as the little girl bit him.
“Fuck!” Mitch jerked around and tried to kick the girl away without being too harsh. She just attacked his leg. Mitch looked at the can of pepper spray. He couldn’t do it.
From the moment he entered, he knew there were surveillance cameras watching. At some point authorities would see everything he did in the store.
He couldn’t bring himself to hurt the little girl any more than was necessary. Mitch kept pushing her away with his leg. He pulled a zip tie from his pocket and grabbed one of the girl’s wrists.
He yanked her into a clothes rack before she could bite into his arm. He wrapped the zip tie around her tiny wrist and strapped her to the metal curtain bar on the clothes rack. Once he was confident she wouldn’t chase after him as he left the store, Mitch ran toward the exit. The little girl snarled and spit.