With her free hand, Chris propelled herself forward on the marble pillars as she ran past them. Her limp became all the more evident by the time she reached the source of the shouting. Already she felt the skin on her back crawling with the idea of undead in their vicinity. Cat sped well ahead of her on longer, more powerful legs and slithered into the store. She stopped in the doorway and opened the police baton at her side.

She couldn't see Cat any more, but she knew his behaviour well enough to know he'd be hiding, prepared to pounce at the first chance. Chris pressed her back against the open door and crouched as low as she could, listening to Cat's twin make nice with whoever lurked beyond the aisles. Just ahead of her, Chris could make out the bright blue PVC of Kaylah's ridiculous costume.

The stripper's dog brushed past Chris on her way through the door, sniffing. Despite the low rumble of a growl the dog gave off, Chris kept wishing everyone would just [i]shut up[/i]. She crept inside, the baton hugging her thigh, and all but crawled around a stack of shelves, where she balanced unsteadily on her good leg and found Dog and a girl with a rifle in the same line of sight. 

Across the atrium, Tony shuffled just a fraction closer to Mercy and flexed his fingers around the crowbar. He clenched his fist harder when she stood up and turned around, trembling in anxiety that barely seized with her return. He leaned closer to hear her whisper, but as soon as he heard Christina had followed the noise, he stood quickly. 

He stepped where Mercy stepped, mimicked every motion so that they moved as fluidly as possible. He picked up the pace crossing the food court, only managing to avoid the scattered glass by an inch or two. They reached the store, and he waited for Mercy to peer inside before he did the same. He couldn't see Christina. He turned to Mercy and as he uttered the first syllable of his question, a piercing gunshot rang through the atrium and glass sprayed out in front of them. Tony felt someone hit his side before rolling off, and he followed suit in a tumble, but daren't open his eyes as the glass rained over him. 

Chris leapt across the aisle as soon as the gun went off. She saw an unfamiliar dog launch itself from behind the counter and ducked, before tacklng the gunwoman. She dropped the baton in the struggle and reached for the rifle instead. Her palm brushed red hot metal and beneath her the girl thrashed. The gun went off again. 

Chris' world went silent but for a high pitched, endless ringing. She felt the vibrations of her own pained outcry. She wrenched the rifle from the girl and stood up, but the room spun around her and a second woman came hurtling out from behind the counter and dragged the first up from the floor. Chris braced herself on the nearest wall and tried to turn, but found herself tripping over her own feet.