The mall stopped feeling like a place and started feeling like a trap.
The corridor outside the jewelry store dissolved into a moving mass of bodies. People pushed past one another without direction or coordination, slipping on polished tile, grabbing at walls, columns, and strangers just to stay upright. The noise did not rise all at once. It came in waves, swelling and breaking, then swelling again, pressing against the storefront glass until it felt as though the sound itself might shatter it.
Someone screamed a child's name over and over, the sound growing rough and hoarse until it barely resembled language. Another voice shouted for people to get down, but the words were lost immediately, swallowed by the stampede.
