One Night In A Supermarket

Help On The Way

Chapter Thirteen... Help On The Way

Lily's POV

Nathan and I had been hiding in this coolroom for way too long. I could feel myself slowly slipping into unconsciousness every now and then, and at one stage I closed my eyes and hoped to wake up, away from this hell.

But this was real.

Something startled me as I laid beside Nathan, and at first I thought he'd given me a hug. Not that I minded... but I sat up and noticed that Nathan wasn't looking so good...

He wasn't breathing.

"Nath?" I whispered, shaking him. "Nath?!"

Tears welled in my eyes. I placed my fingers on his neck. He still had a pulse, but he wasn't breathing. And if he didn't breathe soon, he'd die.

I started CPR, having recently gotten my certificate at school. His heart was still beating, but he couldn't breathe. So I gave him mouth-to-mouth for what would have been about a minute, before he coughed and spluttered and was suddenly breathing again.

"Nath!" I cried, tears streaming from my eyes.

"Need... out..." Nathan gasped, still coughing.

"I know," I sobbed. "We need to get out of here. Soon."

"I think I nearly died then," he breathed.

"You stopped breathing and I had to revive you," I cried. "I was scared. I was scared that I'd lost you forever and we'd never get the chance to be together."

"We will, Lil," he promised. "Have faith."

All I wanted was to get out of here. Nathan and I could only last for so long in the coolroom. I don't care what they say about people being trapped in the snow for days. They were dressed to be in the snow in the first place. I was dressed to be a supermarket worker!

I guess the stress of being here for so long was starting to get to me. But I still wasn't game enough to leave this room. I knew that if we left and that man was still out there, we would both be dead. He didn't know I was here for starters, and he probably thought Nathan was already dead. It was a little hard to think about what could still happen...

Brought fresh tears to my eyes.

"Do you think he's still here?" I asked, breaking the cold silence.

"Most likely," Nathan coughed. "Ow. In any sense, I don't wanna go out there and find out. If I'm gonna die, it's from hyperthermia, not stabbed to death."

"Agreed," I whispered, taking his hand.

I knew in my heart that Nathan's chances of survival at the moment were pretty slim. And I avoided thinking about it, not wanting to lose him.

It would have to be close to day, I thought. It seemed like I'd been hiding in here forever, and it was pretty cold. The more time you spent in here, the more you felt it until you stopped feeling it because your body had gone numb.

Essentially, I was scared. Scared I'd die in here, and nobody would know where I was.

Lisa's POV

As I was laying on the floor of the cafe, I watched everyone around me. I glanced at a clock on the wall. 3.17am. Time had gone fast since I started work, and hell unfolded.

But I couldn't fight the smile as I heard a siren.

"The ambulance is here," the lady next to me informed me.

"Are they going up the road to help?" I asked.

"I don't know, but the police are here, too," the lady smiled. "So they might go up the road and help up there."

"People are dead," I sobbed. "Friends of mine. Dead. Or missing... a couple more are hurt."

"Is this the stabbing victim?" a voice asked.

"Yes, this is Lisa," the lady told the paramedic. "I'm Gina."

"Ma'am, who hurt you?" the paramedic questioned.

"Some psycho... up at the supermarket," I coughed.

"Did you know the man?" another voice called. This time, it was a police officer. "Did you get a good look at him, all that?"

"Tall... big... dark hair... green eyes," I whispered as the paramedics worked on me. "He was wearing all black. Including a beanie."

"So was his face covered?" the officer asked.

"No," I whispered.

"How many people were injured?" the officer questioned. "How many of you were there all up?"

"Shouldn't you be up there helping them instead of here asking me questions?" I snapped as the paramedics placed me onto a gurney. "They're in danger. Not me. I got out. You have to go help them! Lily, Sarah, Nathan, Brian, Cameron, James, Ella... Vincent died. But you can help the others."

"Okay, we're gonna go help them," the officer informed me. "Take her to the hospital, and we'll send an officer over to collect evidence. Just make sure she's alright."

"No worries, Bruce," the paramedic smiled at the cop.

I whispered a thankyou to officer Bruce as I was wheeled out to the ambulance. As we were driving away, I couldn't help but hope that everyone else was alright. Or at least made it to the hospital before they died, so they had a chance of survival.

Then my little boy came into my mind. It felt like forever since I'd seen him. I never thought that this night would end in police officers and paramedics. I thought it would end in me going home, cuddling my little man and then crawling into bed before I'd get up and get ready to play santa.

It could have ended a lot worse on my part. I could have died. But for now... I was safe. I was getting help. And help was on the way for the others. I wasn't sure how many of them were still alive. Hopefully they all were.

Tears welled in my eyes as I thought of Vincent. He'd been telling me just hours ago all about his rebellious thirteen year old daughter who kept getting herself into trouble with the law, with her parents and with her school. And he only wanted to help her. But now... now he'd never get the chance because someone took away his life. It was cruel.

I watched the sight of the small town's exit as we headed over to the next town which was where the hospital was out the back of the ambulance window.

Then I closed my eyes.