rshort1202

I am at work with Laynie, though this place looks completely different. It is two stories and mostly an atrium space. It seems that the mezzanine floor branches off into the shopping spaces. There are sets of double doors to the outside right below the mezzanine floor. We are interrupted by me noticing a known shoplifter coming in the doors. He is carrying a bag and dragging another rolling one, and I recognize him as one of the two guys that gets a few pairs of Levi’s every few days. I think we just wait to see what he does and then lose him for a bit (it’s fairly busy in here). When he reappears, he is on the ground floor, bag a little fuller, heading for the doors. I start sliding down some wide, green pole type thing. He starts to double back so I hesitate and then finish sliding down when he starts back for the doors. I guess I don’t feel like stopping him but just getting a plate. He glances around before going out right behind a small group, going off at the doors. I think he notices me going out right behind him, but probably thinks I’m just a customer. I take out my phone and call Laynie but it is Dad who answers. I only pay a little bit of attention to the conversation as I’m watching the guy meet up with the other outside of a white van. I think it has Arizona plates, and I can’t memorize it without drawing too much attention to myself. I keep walking past it to blend in and notice two vans to my right. They both have Grateful Dead stickers and are parked close together; I think they must be together. The cars have thinned out by this point and I stop walking. I stand for a little and then head back. The white van starts pulling out and I think I’ll get a great look at the plate, until it turns and starts coming this way, the wrong way (with no front plate). The man driving it has tan skin and scruff and is either bald or has very short hair. He glances at me as he passes and I wonder if he’s seen me before and recognizes me. I now see the other guy walking away from a maroon car. He has a backpack on and is going back into the mall. I just about step in front of a taxi in the road, but he sees me, stops, and waves me forward. I wave back, slightly self conscious of being on the phone and not paying attention. I hang up and meet up with Laynie inside. We, and quite a few other people, are on the second floor, sitting. We are sitting in what almost feels like bus seats arranged in a circle or half circle around the mezzanine/atrium. Two younger, Hispanic guys in grey/darker hoodies and beanies arrive, and one starts shooting off a handgun. There are windows next to our seats, which he shoots out. I think he is shooting above heads to scare, but I don’t rule out the possibility of him shooting to injure or kill. I listen to the shots ring out, more than there should be in a pistol’s magazine. He makes his way back this way and I brace for the possibility of getting shot. He announces that this is because the two men thought they noticed someone following them. I genuinely think that must’ve been someone other than me. He says something about a Hyundai and then trails off, probably realizing it wasn’t smart to give away the make of car. He seems like he is being made to do this. I think the world, and now even this town, is becoming a scary place.