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“Reckon there’d be more out the back—” a man said.

“How?” a woman cut in. “Lockdown would have cleaned them out.”

I backed deeper into the aisle and pulled the trolley with me, rounding the corner and staying out of sight. The wheel squeaked again, and my breath caught.

Kirby crouched behind a sock carousel, keeping her eyes on the other end of the aisle.

When a shadow passed across the floor, I reached for the axe handle, ready to yank it from the trolley.

Through the gaps in the shelving, a lanky man appeared at the far end, wearing a black hoodie that hid half his features. He stopped and skimmed the racks.

Behind him, another set of footsteps followed.

“Find anything?” a deeper, rougher voice called from far away.

“Not unless you want a g-string,” hoodie guy replied.

Coarse laughter followed.

The man nearby turned away, ready to continue to wherever he’d been headed.

Kirby backed up from her cover and kicked a stray coat hanger. She flinched and rushed over to join me, her footsteps silent on the vinyl floor.

The man’s head snapped around, and silence thickened the air.

I kept a firm grip on my weapon.

He surveyed the row of underwear and tried to locate the sound. I shifted my weight, shoulder brushing Kirby’s, mentally pleading for Luke to stay wherever the hell he was until they were gone.

The man took a step forward and paused, staring hard at nothing and everything. Close enough to hear him breathing. Close enough to hear him thinking.

“Oi,” the other man called out, farther away now. “Come check this out.”

A moment passed. The man stayed right there, and my body wound tight, teeth grinding.

Go. Get out of here.

“Yeah, hang on,” he called back.

He lingered a few seconds longer, then walked away, footsteps fading until they were absorbed by the noise the others were making.

I didn’t move at first. Couldn’t even let myself breathe properly until Kirby whispered, “That was close.”

“We need to keep moving.” I steered the trolley away from the scene, heading for the toiletries section a couple of aisles over. We rushed through the process of collecting everything we needed. Shower gel. Toothbrushes and paste. Tampons, pads. I threw in shampoo and pain relief. A first-aid kit. I didn’t want to be greedy, but I couldn’t be too concerned with how much we left behind either.

When we were done, I pulled my shoulders back and let out a sigh, desperate to get out of here. “Let’s go find Luke.”

Kirby hurried to the end of the row and smacked straight into him, clapping a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. She swatted him with her free hand, and he gave me a confused smile, his arms laden with clothes and supplies.

The second I set eyes on him, the muscles between my shoulders loosened.

Luke added his haul to ours and took the trolley from me, retracing our steps, moving faster now as we headed for the daylight breaking through the gap in the fire door.

He pushed it open and waited while Kirby and I passed through.

Fresh air hit my face, cool and crisp after the stale interior of the store, and I kept moving until I’d reached the car.

We worked in silence together, loading the boot quickly, then Luke pushed the trolley so it drifted across the concrete.