text: Wally tucked and rolled into the aisle of Halloween costumes, then army crawled his way to the other side. He was nearly spotted, but his military training put him at an advantage to keep a low profile and out of sight. Reaching the end of the aisle he sits up, back against the aisle, and holds his knees to his chest. Sweat pours down his face and his heart races, thinking back to how he was nearly taken captive. He never thought working as a cashier in retail could be so dangerous. Some of his co-workers were already taken against their will, and Wally refused to go out like that. He was hired to do a job, and that’s what he was going to do. So now to plot his next move. “I think I saw him go this way”, Wally hears what sounds like a big burly man say. The voice is too close for comfort and Wally knows he must go now. He remembers seeing 2 men holding guns, but the 2 women seemed empty handed. With no time for hesitation, Wally jumps to his feet, and keeping his back against the wall of costumes, quickly looks around the corner into the main aisle. Looking to the left, then the right, he sees it is clear. Darting straight across the main aisle, he dives behind a table filled with half folded onesies. Wally notices that the employees in the infant section did not properly fold the onesies, nor group the sizes together. He takes a mental note to make the Department Manager, Prudence, aware of the situation once he makes it to safety. After resisting the urge to fix the onesie table, Wally crawls on all fours deeper into the infant section, towards the dressing room; Maybe he will see Prudence on his way. Wally knows there is a phone at the dressing room, and he can call for help. “Did you clock out already?”, he hears a familiar voice say. It is one of his co-workers, Shelly. She is walking down the main aisle that Wally just leapt across. “Oh my goodness, I forgot!”, another voice says. It is Prudence. Wally is baffled how calm she is, given the danger she is in by still being on the clock. Still on all fours, Wally turns around and crawls back towards the edge of the infant section by the onesie table. If he could reach Prudence before she goes back to clock out, she would have to fix the onesie table. “Pssst”, Wally hisses at the girls, leaning into the main aisle, with only his head visible. Neither girl seems to hear. “PSSSST”, Wally hisses slightly louder. Shelly spots him. “I’m off the clock”, she quickly responds. With no hesitation, she turns around and follows Prudence back to the timeclock. Wally rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to getting himself out of danger. He couldn’t waste anymore time. “There he is!”, one of the ladies with the burly man screeches. “Young man...YOUNG MAN”, one of the ladies, also burly, shouts out. In tow was a younger looking lady, and the 2 burly men holding BB guns. Wally curses under his breath. He knew he could only blame himself. His compulsive need to tell Prudence to fix that onesie table caused him to be spotted. He quickly flips his badge over so his name can’t be seen. “Do you know if you have any more bullets in the back for these BB guns?”, the first burly men bellows. His black and red checkered shirt reminds Wally of a lumberjack. Wally quickly searches his brain for a way to get out of this. Being a cashier, it is not his job to check the back for stock. “Sorry sir I am just a cashier this is not my department let me see if I can find someone that works in that section to help you I’ll be right back”, Wally responds all in one breath. Before any of them can respond, Wally was making his way back towards the dressing room to call for her help. He will call someone to fix the onesie table as well. He keeps his head down, as to not make eye contact with anyone. The Holiday season hadn’t even started and people were already flooding the store. He thinks about how the Pre-Holiday season has never been this bad. “I told them not to put the Halloween Costumes, Thanksgiving decorations AND Christmas decorations out this early.” he thinks to himself, recounting the conversation he had with the Manager in charge of the Seasonal aisle. “Hey Wally! Why are you covered in sweat?” a friendly voice says as he reaches the Dressing Room. It’s Kathy, the store Operator. “I was nearly taken hostage.” he says while bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath from power walking to the Dressing Room. “I need you to page someone to check the back for BB gun bullets.” “Sure thing.” “By the way can you fix the onesie table at the edge of the infant section? Prudence is on lunch.” “Sorry, no I have 5 minutes before I get off” Kathy responds. Wally rolls his eyes and curses the overnight stockers for not cleaning their area. “Shoot. Well I need to get back on the register before they page me.” Wally wishes Kathy well and makes his way back to the front: The opposite direction of the BB gun family. Wally reaches the front and settles behind his cash register and turns on his light. This is exactly where he’s supposed to be...he is only a Cashier. Wally spots his Manager walking towards him and gives him his best customer service smile. “Hey Wally, can you do me a favor?” his Manager asks while flipping off the switch to Wally’s register. “Of course I can.” Wally responds cheerfully. “Can you please go to the back and see if we have any bullets for a BB gun?”