"Woah! Look at that Air Hog!"
"Really? What about that electric scooter? It can hit twenty no problem!"
"Look at all the stuffed animals!"
Adam's siblings peeled their eyes from the Black Friday ads to look at him.
"You already have almost every one, Adam." Bree told him.
"Nuh uh! I'm missing the squirrel!" he gestured to the magazine he was holding. "See? It's limited edition and they only have fifteen in stock."
Leo stifled a laugh. "Believe me, if there's only fifteen a doll isn't worth getting a black eye over."
"But how can an toy give you a black eye?" Chase asked, confused. "It's an inanimate object."
"Not the toy. People go nuts trying to get stuff when it's cheap." Leo flipped through another catalog.
"Oh. But then I could use my strength-"
"Uh, no." Bree cut him off. "Forget the squirrel. Let's just pick two things and split up to get them."
The others agreed before forming groups - Bree and Leo, who were going to try for the electric scooter, and Chase and Adam were going to try for a tablet.
Of course, the teams kept their object secret. It would do no good to wait in lines for something they would see right off the bat.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
It was 6:00 Thanksgiving night. Despite Davenport telling them it might not be a great idea, the kids had gone ahead and taken his self-driving car to Walmart.
The parking lot was overloaded with parked cars and people all rushing inside to claim their goods. So crowded that the four had to park at Taco Bell, which was just outside Walmart's parking lot.
After the hike down to the store, Leo turned around and confronted his stepsiblings.
"You have faced many things before: an high-speed train, high school," he glanced at Chase "Spike. But nothing can prepare you for this,"
Leo jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the glass doors behind him before continuing. "People on a rampage for earthly goods."
His siblings gave him a look of disbelief before bursting into laughter. Leo just crossed his arms and put on a sour look.
"Oh, Leo!" Chase sputtered between bursts of laughter. "How bad can it be?"
Inside
"This is bad." Bree glanced around at people struggling to get in lines.
Leo smirked triumphantly. "And you didn't believe me."
Merchandise was wrapped in plastic and set on pallets throughout the isles. For the smaller items, people waited in lines. But for the larger items, like toy kitchens, people stood around them with their hands pressed to individual boxes.
"Squirrel!" Adam pointed excitedly to a stand with said plush animals in boxes. Only a few people stood in line for those.
He would have hopped in line, should Chase not have grabbed the back of his shirt.
"Don't even think about it." Chase told him "We're going to get the you-know-what instead."
Adam nodded sadly.
"Oh, speaking of which, our item is that way. We'll meet at Taco Bell when we're done. Okay? Oh, and there are blankets in the car to hide what you're getting. Alright?" Leo asked them.
"Yes and yes! Can we go already?" Bree asked, annoyed.
So the teams parted and went their separate ways, melting into the crowd.
Chase and Adam
The two brothers wove between people and objects, all trying to make it to the electronics department. A few smarter shoppers had shopping carts, which they used to their advantage in slamming into anyone in their way.
And the pair just so happened to be some of the victims.
They were just approaching their saught after department when a lady rammed a cart into their heels.
Chase didn't look behind him, thinking it was an accident. Well, that and he didn't want to lose Adam in this mess.
But then it happened again, and again.
So he looked behind him to see an middle aged woman with an empty cart. Chase's first thought was idiotic: Well, at least it's not full. That would hurt a lot more.
But then she pursed her bright red lips and gave it her all.
Crash!
The brothers fell to the ground, mere feet from the beginning of the line for the tablet. Adam groaned and looked up just in time to see Lipstick Lady jumping into their spot in line.
She smirked at them proudly before pulling out a mirror compact.
Adam pulled himself to his feet and helped his brother up. He shot the lady a glare and then got in line right behind her.
"I REALLY want to just tap her on the shoulder and let loose a piece of my mind!" Chase growled.
"Uh, don't get too angry. 'Cause, well, you know."
His brother nodded and just leaned back against an ceiling support, waiting for the tablet.
Bree and Leo
When the duo reached the electric scooter stand, they were slightly surprised to see a small crowd of people around it. A few had their hand on a box and the remainder was sporting carts for said product.
"I think that one's free." Bree whispered to Leo.
He nodded and they ducked under outstretched arms and carts to get right in front of it.
"I can't believe how easy this was!" Leo smiled. "For the larger stuff it's almost always taken."
Bree nodded happily.
A rather large man to their right who looked as if he might have had a drink too many chuckled at them. "Heh heh! You kids ain't gonna get any'ing!"
Bree looked as if she were about to say a few things but Leo clamped a hand over her mouth, shaking his head. It wasn't great to make enemies when you're dead in front of their cart.
Leo glanced at his watch. 7:54. The sale didn't start up 'till eight. Just a few more minutes in this cramped situation and they'd be home free - with a scooter to boot.
Suddenly, a wail rose up from an store employee down their isle.
"STOP!"
But it was too late. The madness had begun. Plastic wrap went flying into the air and greedy shouts of 'Hey, that's mine!' filled the air.
The stack of sixteen scooters disapeared like ice in an oven. The one box that the two had been touching was out in the open.
Leo gave a whoop of joy and wrapped his arms around it.
But he wasn't the only one. A lady simply grabbed the box out of his arms, placed in her cart, and melted in to the crowd.
Bree and Leo just sat there in disbelief. They had been so close! And then that lady . . .
"AHHHH!" Bree gave a war cry and hurled herself into the crowd. "GIVE IT BACK! WE WAITED FOR IT!"
Leo leaped into action and grabbed her arm. "Bree! It's not worth it! We probably would'a gotten ambushed on the way to the check out anyway!"
Leo's weight knocked her off balance and they both fell to the ground, people not even giving them a glance as they plowed over them.
Eventually, they were able to get up. But Bree was still livid.
"If I see that lady, I'm gonna snap her like a wishbone!"
"Chillax! I thought Chase was the one with an Commando App!"
She seemed to calm down a bit after that, but she still seemed on edge.
The two somehow made it out alive, and sat at Taco Bell's outdoor seating area since it was closed for Thanksgiving.
Chase and Adam
"Sorry folks, but you're outta luck. I just sold the last tablet to that kind lady over there." the salesman at the counter told them, pointing to Lipstick Lady.
Adam wanted to bang his head on the counter. Chase could feel Spike coming on, but he swallowed the anger, thanked the salesman, and headed out of the line.
"We were SO close!" Chase mumbled angrily.
Adam nodded. He was too angry to even reply to his brother. He was so angry -
A man pushed past them while grabbing something out of another man's cart. The owner of the cart started yelling, and soon there was an all out brawl going. Security guards came running trying to separate the two, but they were no match.
In the chaos, the two were separated. Chase tried to peer over the sea of people, but he couldn't catch sight of his brother. Leo had said to meet at Taco Bell. Adam would to meet him there.
Hopefully.
Meanwhile, the item the men had been fighting over was discarded at Adam's feet. And of course, as luck would have it, it was a limited edition plush squirrel.
Adam, being Adam, quickly scooped it up and took off toward the checkout.
What a great night!
Over twenty minutes later
Bree and Leo sat at an empty table. Her hair was twisted and knotted and her boots scuffed. Leo's white T-shirt was covered in foot prints and whatever else was on Walmart's floors. He tried not to think about the 'whatever else."
Chase came running up to them. "Have you guys seen Adam?"
"No."
As if on cue, the teen ran up, squirrel in hand.
"You guys will never believe what happened to us!"
"Right back at you."
At the mansion
"Is that all?" Davenport asked them after the teens finished their story.
Bree nodded. "Pretty much."
He laughed. "You guys never listen! You know how to escape the crowds?"
"How?" Chase asked tiredly.
"Cyber Monday!"
So? What do you think? This was based off of my experience last year. I was twelve and my brother nine when we went off to find a play kitchen for my little sister. Now that I look back, our Walmart isn't the greatest. It's in the 'bad' side of town. The guy, getting slammed by carts, and the scooter thing only replaced with a kitchen ACTUALLY happened. We haven't gone Black Friday shopping again. And I don't think we will.
What's your Black Friday story? That's mine! I have a VERY odd life. :)
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! And have a not so hectic Black Friday if you head out shopping! :D