The girl sitting a few theater seats over let out a blood curling scream. Nayeli cringed. It wasn’t even the scariest part of the movie. She glanced over and froze. The girl who had been talking the entire movie was frantically tugging at the boy next to her, in hysterics. Even in the dark, Nayeli could tell the boy was limp in his seat, unresponsive.

Crack! This time the noise didn’t match the movie scene. Crack! People shouted. People dropped to the floor between rows. People tried to run, stumbling over each other. Crack! Nayeli crouched down behind the seat in front of her. Where was it coming from?

As the movie continued to flash across the screen, she saw a silhouette, briefly, along the bottom. There. A sudden blinding light flooded the room. Nayeli could hear a yell of frustration come from the direction where she had seen the silhouette and then a string of profanities.

The shooter had stopped, at least for the moment. Nayeli crawled through the blinding light over to the girl who had initially screamed. She was curled up in a fetal position, near the boy slumped over in his chair, sobbing. Nayeli squeezed her shoulder and reached up to check the boy’s pulse. It was faint, but still there.

Nayeli crawled to the end of the row and pulled out her phone. She sat against the back of a seat and dialed 911. As the phone rang, she heard the shooter reload. Despite the continued presence of the blinding light. Her eyes widened. This could get worse, much worse.

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