The Mass Shooting

It was a warm sunny day in New York City. I was going to the mall with some friends in an hour. My mom was at work and my dad had to go out of town for his security job for the mall. They left yesterday. I'll have the house to myself and I'm excited. My phone starts ringing. It was Ashley. "Hey Ash." "Hey, Harper. I'm outside." "Okay, be down in a minute." We hung up the phone. I ran to my closet and put on my black combat boots and ran downstairs. I grabbed my house keys and locked the door on my way out. I walked to Ashely's car and got in. "Hey, where is Grace and Luna?" I looked in the back seat and no one was there. "They'll meet us there. They're picking up Eli, Carson and Jace." We pulled out of the driveway and drove to the Manhattan Mall. When we got there, Grace, Luna, Eli, Carson and Jace were standing by Luna's car. We got out of the car and greeted them. "Hey, guys!" We headed to the front door. "What should we do first?" Luna asked. "Anyone hungry?" Jace asked. We decided to eat lunch, so we headed to the food court. Me, Luna and Eli walked to Subway while the others decided to go to McDonalds. We sat at a table after we got our food. We chatted for a while until we heard screams. "Run! They have guns!" Some woman yelled. After she said that, everyone stopped what they were doing and ran to find the exits. They were all screaming. We got up and stood around for a second. That's when we heard it. Gunfire. We ran in the direction everyone was running to, but then everyone ran from this direction and to another. "There's more!" I grabbed the closest person beside me and it was Luna. We ran towards Subway and hid behind the Subway counter. "We left everyone!" Luna yelled.  "It's okay. They'll find a place to hide. We need to call the police." Luna didn't take her phone out because she was panicking. I took out my phone and dialed. "9-1-1. What's your emergency?" "Hello? You need to send police, S.W.A.T, anybody to the Manhattan Mall. People are shooting!" "Okay, how many shooters?" "I don't know. They're everywhere. You need to hurry! s**t!" I whispered the last part when the shootings stopped. "Miss, are you there?" "Yes, the shootings stopped, but someone is coming." I muted the phone so only she can hear and not talk.  "I put you on mute." I whispered and put the phone on a shelf behind the counter. "I know there's people in here. I seen you." A man said. I looked at Luna and put a finger on my lips. Then the man shot his gun. We laid on our stomachs so we wouldn't get hit. Part of the counter landed on us, along with cups and napkins. The shooting stopped and we stayed quiet. We heard the man walking away. We blew out a sigh of relief. "He's gone." I whispered. "Text them and see where they're at." She got out her phone with shaky hands. I lightly grabbed her phone and sent out a mass text to Grace, Ashley, Carson, Eli and Jace. Five minutes has passed, but there was no reply. "Stay here. I'm going to check." I whispered. I slowly and quietly got up and crouched towards the end of the counter. I made my way to the entrance and slowly peered out. There were people laying on the ground not moving. A tear ran down my face when I spotted someone I knew. Leon. He worked at the diner my mom owns. He had a bullet hole in his chest and head. His eyes were still open. I didn't see the shooters anywhere. I was about to walk out in the open to see Leon, but I felt something cold on my right side of my head. I froze and my heart dropped. "I knew there was someone in here. Where's your friend?" I didn't say anything. I was scared. He then grabbed my throat and threw me against the wall. I yelped. He grabbed my throat again and squeezed. My eyes widened. "I'm going to ask you again. Where is your friend?" I shook my head. "I-I don't k-know. She took off after you shot at us." I choked out. He was silent. I couldn't see his face, he had a black ski mask on. "You found one." Another man comes from a different direction. My heart pounds fast and hard. A tear ran down my face. "Please don't kill me." I weakly said. The man let go of my throat. "Don't worry. We're not going to kill you...yet." I can see a smile under the mask. They both grabbed my arms and dragged me to where ever they're taking me. "Where are you taking me?"  When I didn't get an answer, I started struggling. Their grips tightened. When we rounded a corner, there were other people sitting on the floors with their hands tied behind their backs. We stopped and the men pinned my arms behind my back and someone else tied my hands with a zip tie. Then they shoved me on the floor. As the men walked away, I looked for anyone I might know. I spotted Grace, Eli, Carson, Ashley and Jace with a few people between us. "Is that everyone?" One of the men said. "No, the girl we just brought had a friend and she said she took off. I don't believe her." They were whispering, but I heard them. I spotted ten men in black attire with black ski masks. They all had machine guns, plus small hand guns in gun holsters on their legs. A few of the men saw me staring and I averted my gaze and stared somewhere else. I looked at Eli. He was sporting a black eye and a busted lip. I frowned. I felt hands pick me up and I panic. I turned to the group of men and they were all staring at me. The men that grabbed my arms dragged me to a store. "Harper!" Both Grace and Ashley yelled at the same time. The men kept dragging me towards Subway. My heart sped up faster. "You are going to show us where your friend is before she calls the cops." "She's not going to call the cops." "How do you know?" "Because I already did." They stopped in their tracks. "You did what?" One of the men said and turned to stare at me. "I have already called the police." I whispered. They shoved me against the wall. Then two other men walked up to us. "What's going on?" "She already called the police." The man that spoke grabbed my throat and squeezed. "Take her to the security office and keep her there with Maxim and Riaz. Tie her to the chair and gag her." They took me towards the security office. When we got to the doors, it opened and a man walks out with the same clothing as the others. "Who's this?" "She will be staying with you and Maxim. She called the police so you need to make sure she doesn't escape. Tie her to the chair and gag her. Maybe rough her up a bit. She deserves it."  They shoved me into the man named Riaz. He gripped my shoulders tightly. "Got it." He opened the door and shoved me in a chair with wheels. I ended up rolling across the room. "Who's this?" Another man said. "A girl that called the police. We have to keep an eye on her." He said as he cut the zip tie around my wrists and tied them to the chair's arm rests.  "They said we need to rough her up a bit also." The other guy gets up from where he was sitting and walks up to me. I started struggling and tears ran down my face. "Why'd you call the police?" The man that got up asks. I didn't say anything. They looked at each other. The man that asked me the question slaps me across the face. I gasped in shock. My face started stinging. "Why did you call the police?" The other man said. More tears ran down my face. "I-I did what o-other people w-would do in this s-situation." One of the men bent down to my eye level. I wasn't looking at them both. He grabbed my face and turned my head towards him. "Do you know why we are here?" I started shaking. "N-no." "Are you sure?" I didn't say anything. The other man punched me. I screamed in pain. I felt my left cheek throbbing. "Are you sure?" He repeated. I nodded my head. "Y-yes." Then the door opened. The men that hit me stood straight up. The man that walked in walks up to me and held out my phone. My heart dropped. "You left the phone on while all this was happening. After we are done here, you are coming with us. You and your friends." All of a sudden my phone rings. The man looks at my phone and smiles. "Well, this is interesting. Your dad is calling."