The Mesmerized

The mob funneled along the main floor corridor in a multi-cultural sea of men, women, and children. Some stumbled into pillars, walls, storefronts, benches, and other obstacles, but the advancing multitude was unyielding. It was terrible to watch people crushed and trampled to death without uttering a cry. Even those with apparent injuries staggered along with their comrades in the unrelenting wave of human flesh. There weren’t any cries of pain or fear, just the constant stamp of feet and the thud of bodies striking the floor.

Minji closed her eyes, nestled Bailey, and waited for the dreadful parade to pass on its trek toward the casino. The lobby of The Palazzo was located off the casino, so was the horde heading toward the outside? How long would it take for all those inside the building to reach their destination? Where were they even going?

Bailey continued to sniffle, but her tears were gradually drying. Minji leaned against the pedestal of the obelisk located toward the rear of the fountain. Her boots and socks were soaked through, but she didn’t dare try to balance on the lip of the pool to get out of the water. Though she was in an area flush against the balcony, she couldn’t afford to sli

p and fall into the pool and hurt the baby or herself. Plus, the sheer height of the location was making her woozy and unsure of her balance.

The strange procession with its eerie staccato beat of footsteps wore on her nerves, but it was the lack of human voices that was even more unsettling. It made her feel completely alone in the world.

Closing her eyes, she snuggled into Bailey’s warmth. “It’s going to be okay,” she vowed. “I’ll find a way, Bailey. I swear it.”

Though it was most likely a fruitless action, Minji fished her cellphone out of the messenger bag looped over her torso and dialed her mother’s number. It took several seconds to realize she had no bars. With an exhalation of surrender, she tucked the phone away.

The wave of people progressively diminished until the only ones remaining in the atrium were injured stragglers. Minji confirmed the balcony was clear before carefully setting Bailey on the other side of the banister. The little girl immediately started to cry, but Minji didn’t want to risk climbing over the rail while holding the baby. Boots weighed down by the water, she hoisted herself onto the balcony, landed with a squishy splat, and swept Bailey off the floor.

“See, sweetie, I’m here.”

Bailey grabbed a handful of Minji’s dreads with a small whimper.

Advancing through the archway, Minji let out a gasp. Purses, shopping bags, cellphones, shoes, and other personal items were strewn across the floor already stained with blood, vomit, and other bodily fluids. The blood splattered bodies from the earlier attack remained where they’d fallen and Minji was now certain that they were dead. The reek of excrement, vomit, and urine made her eyes burn. Gagging, she maneuvered around the cadavers and puddles of blood toward the store where she had left Ava. With a mixture of relief and despair, she spotted Bailey’s diaper bag among the discarded items. Jake must have dropped it during the earlier attack. Hoisting it over one shoulder, she continued on.

A few steps revealed her worst fear.

Ava was gone.

Chapter 5

“Ava!” she automatically shouted, startling Bailey, who instantly burst into tears. “Ava!”

Of course there wasn’t an answer.

The distant stomping of the crowd sent slivers of ice through her blood.

What if Ava was with the others? She was so small she’d be easily trampled.

Hopscotching over bodies, Minji reached the planter where she had left Ava. Both the leash and the little girl were gone. Ava was mesmerized like all the rest, so when the crowd had started their trek, she must have strained on the leash until the knot had worked itself free. Minji had to find her.

Shifting Bailey onto her hip, the young mother traced her steps back to the atrium. She assumed Ava had followed the horde, which would direct her either down the escalators or along the second floor railing. Minji didn’t even want to think about Ava pressed up against the wrought iron, being crushed to death. Minji was already doing her best to avoid looking at the children among the dead and trampled. It was the only way to keep from losing her wits.

Rushing to the top of the escalators, the distraught mother searched for red curls among those lying at the bottom of the stairs. There was no sign of her little girl in her pink and black outfit. A quick look toward Jake revealed he was partially hidden beneath a cluster of bodies.

Torn between checking on her husband and searching for her daughter, Minji once again fought against a flood of tears born out of feelings of helplessness. With a firm shake of her head, she refused to give in to dismay. She wasn’t helpless. She just had to focus and prioritize.

First she’d find Ava, then check on Jake.

Whirling away from the escalator, she hurried alongside the railing on the second floor. Minji’s thick leather boots squeaked and left a trail of moisture in her wake as she skirted around the atrium. Everywhere she turned her gaze, she was met with the gruesome remains of the first victims. The smell was so rank, it made it difficult to take a breath without gagging. Almost as terrible were the wounded. Despite grievous injuries, they dragged themselves along the floor after the horde.

What was driving them? What had possessed their minds and bodies?

She struggled to focus despite all the frightening, paranoid thoughts cluttering her brain, the dial on her panic gauge edging ever closer to the red zone. She had to find Ava.

Ahead was the Double Helix Wine and Whiskey Bar, a circular cafe where she and Jake had enjoyed a few drinks earlier in the week. It was a luminous space under a fake domed skylight latticed with metal grillwork beneath a painted sky. Highly polished wood and granite tables were surrounded by chairs with buttery soft leather upholstery. The area was enclosed with a barrier of waist-high frosted glass panels adorned with gold lettering that read Double Helix. The congregation of the mesmerized would have been forced around the bar like a stream around a boulder.

As she drew closer, Minji saw some of the transfixed people wandering about inside the bar. Upturned tables and chairs were obstacles they had difficulty maneuvering around. Broken glass sparkled in a lake of wine and whiskey slowly spreading on the floor. It was very evident by the behavior of those trapped inside the bar that whatever had captured their minds stole their ability to reason as they crashed into each other and the furniture seeking a way to join the rest of the horde.

It was then Minji saw a small redhead stumbling through the wreckage.

“Ava!”