Wonderful, Calm
an excerpt

Author's Note: WARNING! May Cause Retinal Hemmorage!
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We tucked ourselves in and waited. Adam and a couple of his friends came in after awhile. From what we could make of their conversation, the news had cut out mostly. Media black out or something. Security had managed to get their most wounded out of the entrance and back to their offices. The stores all were locked up tight and a mob had formed. People were trying to break out the glass. Some folks were trying to get some of the stores opened up. Is looting part of that gathering instinct? It’s really weird how horrible things happen and some people’s first thoughts seem to be, “I need a new TV.” But then, maybe that’s not the first thought. Maybe it’s more like, “What can I do?” And the answer is an overwhelming nothing. Maybe the human brain just isn’t cut out for feeling helpless and it overloads like a cell tower. Or something. Whatever. Security started calling for order on the PA. Loudly. Which only worked if their goal was to piss even a greater number of people off. In that case, it was a spectacular success. The problem with New Mexico weather, especially the high desert isn’t so much that buildings have to withstand tornados or anything. It’s more like their built to stay put in super high heat with occasional snows and torrential downpours. The biggest danger we had was sandstorms. The mall was built with that in mind and used some sort of composite glass. Resin or something. I don’t know, but it was guaranteed to be stronger than the glass used on the Pope-mobile. I do believe that nothing provokes an angry mob more than unbreakable glass. We were stuck until someone with keys opened the damn door, or some power tools were used or something. At that point, Adam had the brilliant idea of ducking down (I am reminded to this day that at no point was the word “hiding” put to use) behind some of the planters. Josh popped up and Adam nearly crapped his pants. Another priceless moment in an otherwise hideous day.