A/N: This scenario depicts what's called an "active shooting" situation. There have been many like it in the past: Westwood Shopping Center in Omaha, Virginia Tech, and perhaps one of the most infamous of them all, Columbine. I put my OC, Robert Castellanos, in this as the one that leads the group to safety using SEAL team tactics to move under fire and help them escape the battle zone withoug getting killed.
Disclaimer, I don't own anything but the storyline.
W.I.T.C.H. Under Fire
Heatherfield Mall
May 18, 2013, 10:01 AM
It was a typical shopping day at the Heatherfield Mall.
Robert, a former 4-year Navy SEAL, his girlfriend Irma Lair, their friends Will Vandom, Cornelia Hale, her husband Caleb, Taranee Cook, her fiancee Nigel, and Hay Lin were among the hundreds of people that visit the mall.
"Another typical day in paradise." Cornelia said. "Yep, nothing like hanging with the gang." Will replied.
"Yeah, and for Corny, nothing like spending a whole day at the mall." Irma added. Robert laughed as Cornelia glared at Irma.
What they didn't know was that this "paradise" was about to turn into hell.
Heatherfield Mall parking lot
10:04 AM
A black van pulled up to the entrance of the mall.
The back doors opened and at least 10 men wearing body armor came out, some with backpacks on and all of them carrying AK-47 assault rifles.
They placed the backpacks near the exits and sealed the doors with chains. They went in via one door and sealed it.
No one knew it, but they were terrorists about to launch an attack. The men concealed their rifles and went towards the central courtyard.
They blended in with the crowd and got into position. After a minute, they put on ski masks and one of them placed a grenade into a trash bin.
Robert and the others were walking towards the central courtyard as Cornelia led them towards a department store on the other end.
"Sheesh, Cornelia, slow down!" Irma said as Cornelia sped up in excitement.
Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out as the grenade detonated. All at once, all of the terrorists readied their AK-47s and opened fire!
Some people started to panic, while others ran for cover. Several people were killed within the first few seconds.
Robert and the others took cover behind a kiosk as bullets whizzed by.
Holy shit! What the hell is going on here? Will thought in shock. "GET DOWN! GET DOWN!" Robert commanded as Irma and her friends took cover near him.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Irma asked. "IT'S AN ACTIVE SHOOTING SITUATION! THESE GUYS ARE HERE FOR ONE REASON ONLY, TO KILL EVERYONE IN THIS MALL!" Robert replied.
Several more people were gunned down as the terrorists unloaded their weapons into the crowd.
The terrorists had surrounded the perimeter of the courtyard, turning it into a "kill zone". Robert and the others were caught in the middle of the kill zone.
Robert saw his friend Alchemy laying in the middle of the courtyard, completely exposed to the gunfire.
"COME TO ME! COME TO ME!" Robert commanded. Alchemy saw Robert after hearing him and rushed towards him and the others.
Tragically, Alchemy was hit before she could reach the group, and died on the spot. "ALCHEMY!" the girls shouted as they watched their friend die.
"OK, WE'RE GONNA CLEAR THIS KILL ZONE, BUT WE'RE GONNA BOUND FROM COVER TO COVER!" Robert shouted.
Robert waited until the gunfire was not pointed at their position.
"GO! GO! GO!" Robert commanded as the group rushed to their feet and started running towards another kiosk, closer to the outside of the kill zone.
Several seconds later, another opportunity presented itself and Robert and the others took advantage of it. They ended up behind an escalator.
"OK, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO GO THROUGH A STORE, BUT THAT MEANS CROSSING A WIDE OPEN AREA, SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO WAIT FOR A LULL IN THE GUNFIRE WHILE THEY RELOAD!" Robert said.
They got ready to move when the gunfire quieted down. Eventually, the gunfire stopped while the terrorists reloaded.
"Now!" Robert commanded as the group rushed into a nearby store. One of the gunmen spotted them and fire a few potshots as they ran out of sight.
They rushed into the fire escape hallway. Robert spotted a fully-loaded pallet cart as he shut the door. "Get that pallet cart and put it in front of the door!" he ordered.
Caleb and Nigel moved the cart and placed it in front of the door. "OK, come on!" Robert instructed as they continued rushing down the hallway.
Nigel knocked over a full shelf as they rushed past it. "Irma, call 911!" Robert instructed.
Irma got out her cell phone and dialed the number. "911, what is your emergency?" the operator asked.
"There's about ten gunmen with automatic weapons, wearing body armor killing everyone in the Heatherfield Mall!" Irma replied in a terrified tone.
A minute later, the group reached a fire exit, and found it to be chained shut. Robert rushed up as they tried to push it open.
"This ain't happening, go back, up the stairs!" Robert instructed. They rushed upstairs and into the first door they found that wasn't sealed.
"Get that door...get that door!" Robert ordered silently as they passed through two doors. Taranee shut the doors and locked the last one.
They ended up in a travel accessories store on the second story. Robert slowly peeked his head out and saw some of the gunmen moving down the hall.
At this point, the gunmen were in the clearing phase of the attack, sweeping through the mall killing any survivors they found.
Meanwhile, several cruisers of the Heatherfield Police Department were rushing towards the mall.
After they arrived, the officers, one of which was Tom Lair, Irma's father, formed teams and started moving towards the mall entrance, guns drawn.
Unfortunately, one of them tripped a motion sensor that set off an improvised explosive device (IED) that was set by the door. The blast killed all but two of the officers.
One of the officers that survived was Tom, who pulled his partner away from the blast area. He then radioed for a SWAT team to respond.
"Get on the computer, go!" Robert commanded as Cornelia went to the computer that was in the checkout area.
"Get on the mall's website and find the directory maps." Robert instructed. Cornelia did so and Robert had her print out each floor's directory.
After getting the directory maps, Robert and Cornelia rushed back to the group.
"OK, this is our battleground right now, and we're right here." Robert said as he pointed to the store number for the one that they were at.
"OK...ha! We need to head for the food court, why the food court? See that? It's a freight elevator, it leads down to the loading docks, they're huge, making them impossible to lock them down. There's no way they can block them, also, it's the most realistic place where SWAT teams will make their entry. That's gonna be our best bet." Robert said as he pointed out the indicated items on the map.
"OK, time to be resourceful. See these bars? Display stands, stuff like that, get those items, stay low, stay in this area. Cornelia, there's a camera display right up here, ok? We need a video camera to use as a periscope so we can see what's out there without exposing ourselves." Robert instructed.
The others went to gather the specified items. They returned a minute later, some with metal bars, others with other items.
Suddenly, the lights went out in the store, and all over the mall.
"Hey, relax, this is a standard response. It's actually a good sign, this means that the police are regrouping outside. It's OK, don't panic." Robert said silently.
"Let me see that camcorder." Robert said as Cornelia handed him the camera she found. Robert examined it and was pleased to see that it had night-vision and zoom.
"Come on, we're gonna see what's out there." Robert said as he and Irma went towards the store entrance.
Robert and Irma each got down face-down on one side of the entrance. Irma checked the right side and saw that it was clear.
She then handed the camera to Robert so he could check the left side. His eyes widened as he spotted one of the gunmen a few stores down, firing into the stores one-by-one.
Robert and Irma got back inside and joined the others. They knew that they were trapped and had to fight to survive.
"OK, there are shooters heading this way, they're going shop by shop sweeping for survivors. They're two shops down, they'll be here in a few minutes, and we're gonna take him out." Robert said.
"In order to do that, we're gonna have to set up a hasty ambush." Robert said. Robert checked the bars that the group had gathered.
"Perfect, now we need a shield, something that can stop bullets, he may get a few off before we get him dropped. Will, see that metal suitcase? Fill that thing with catalogs, anything that's gonna stop bullets." Robert instructed.
Will went to fill a nearby metal suitcase with catalogs and phonebooks.
"OK, listen up, this is our strike zone. He's gonna come in through here, and when he's about there, I'm gonna pick up the shield and I'm gonna rush him. He's probably gonna get a few rounds off, as soon as you hear those rounds go off, Irma, you're gonna swing high. Caleb, you're gonna swing low, then I'm gonna pancake him to the floor with that shield. OK, get ready." Robert instructed as he pointed out their positions.
The group got into position around the strike zone and waited.
"Cornelia, when I'm on top of him, as soon as we drop him, from over there, you're gonna rush in and hit him, right to the head, put him out, lights out." Robert instructed. Cornelia grabbed a suitcase and got in position.
The gunman entered the store and started walking in. He swept his AK-47 around as he searched for more targets.
At the last second, Robert rushed in and tackled the gunman with the suitcase shield. Irma then struck the gunman's upper back while Caleb hit him in the legs.
After Robert got the gunman to the floor, Cornelia rushed in and struck the gunman on the head with all her might, taking him out.
Robert took the AK-47 as the others dragged the body out of sight. "Strip all the magazines and weapons off him, put it all right here." Robert instructed.
The others removed the magazines and found a Beretta M9 pistol. "Also, pull that vest off." Robert added. Robert used a pair of scissors to cut the fabric strips of the vest.
"OK, tape one part to her chest, and one to his chest." Robert instructed, pointing to Irma and Caleb. Will and Taranee taped the armor to Caleb while Hay Lin and Robert taped the other armor to Irma.
"OK, on me, stay tight, single file." Robert ordered as he took point with the AK-47.
He led them to another part of the store and had them huddle together. "OK, this is going to be the fastest weapons class you will ever receive so pay attention." Robert said.
"This is an AK-47 assault rifle, when you fire this, you plant the stock into your shoulder, aim down the sights, and squeeze the trigger." Robert said as he showed the group how to properly aim and fire the weapon. "When you're not shooting this, keep your finger out of the trigger guard and high-port it, which means point the barrel at the sky, so if it goes off it won't hit any of you guys. To reload, grip the magazine at the top, squeezing the release, and pull it out. Then you take a new one, slip it in, and it clicks into place. Each magazine holds thirty rounds, that number will save your life in combat. One last thing, if it ever misfires, pull the bolt back to clear the faulty ammo and load in another round; this is called racking." Robert explained as he demonstrated each aspect of using a gun. He then gave Caleb the AK-47 and Irma took the M9.
The two took all of the ammo for each gun and Caleb got in front while Irma went to cover the rear of the group.
"OK, the best way we can get out of this is if we act as a small military unit." Robert said as the group slowly went out of the store.
"Another thing: stay at least a foot off the walls, if any rounds hit and ricochet, they will travel along the wall about six inches off." Robert said as they moved along the concourse in a single-file formation towards the freight elevator.
As the group moved, everyone scanned for any gunmen.
As they approached the main courtyard, Robert had the group stop and get to cover. He pointed out a terrorist sniper standing on the top edge of the concourse.
"We're gonna have to get past that guy." Robert whispered. At this point, they were a third of the way to the elevator.
"OK, we need to get to that level, which means we need to take out that sniper, at this point, it's either us or him, it doesn't get any simpler than that." Robert whispered.
"First, we need to make an improvised silencer so we can take him out without alerting the other gunmen." Robert whispered.
Robert spotted a bag filled with clothes lying next to a dead victim. "Irma, see that bag? When I tell you to, go and get that bag." Robert instructed.
At the opportunity, Robert gave Irma a signal and she rushed out silently to get the bag. She quickly brought it back to the group.
After searching the bag, Robert found a thick sweater that would be perfect for making a silencer.
"Perfect" Robert said as he took the AK-47, folded the sweater and put it over the tip of the barrel. Robert secured the makeshift silencer with some tape to hold it in place.
"OK, here's the drawback, it's only good for one shot, but if we do it right, that's all we'll need." Robert explained.
Robert motioned for Caleb to come to him.
"OK, Caleb, you're gonna be our shooter." Robert said. "We're gonna take the shot from over there." Robert said pointing to a nearby potted tree.
They slowly and silently moved there and got ready.
"He has Kevlar on, so we're gonna have to do a headshot." Robert explained.
"OK, take the forward hand, your left hand, and grip the pot, then take your thumb up and put the rifle in the gap in between." Robert instructed.
Caleb did so and carefully steadied the rifle in the gap. "Now we have to establish the sight picture, that is the target up front, the front sight post over the target, and the rear sight posts up with the target and forward sight post right in between them." Robert explained.
Caleb carefully established a sight picture. "You have it?" Robert asked. "Yeah." Caleb whispered.
"OK, now start controlling your breathing, slow, deep breaths. You wanna squeeze the shot off at the bottom of your exhale." Robert explained.
Caleb started controlling his breaths as he slowly placed his finger on the trigger.
"In...and out...in...and out, one more, in...and squeeze." Robert said, guiding Caleb.
On the word "squeeze", Caleb squeezed the trigger and took the shot. The bullet hit its mark and the sniper dropped to the floor, dead.
Robert then motioned for the others to follow him and Caleb.
They rushed to the escalator and hurried up it.
On the escalator, they were in what's called a "choke point", if the terrorists were to spot them now, they would only be able to move forwards or backwards, making them easy targets.
As soon as they got to the next level, they went to the dead sniper's body. Robert took the AK-47 and its ammo off the sniper while Taranee took the sniper's pistol.
Robert and Taranee also each took half of the sniper's bulletproof vest and attached each half to their chests.
Robert also took the sniper's radio and grabbed a nearby bullet casing. He got out a role of duct tape and pressed down the TALK button.
"What are you doing?" Irma asked. "I'm creating a 'hot mike', basically, I'm jamming their radios by taping the TALK button down." Robert explained.
He taped the casing to keep the button pressed down. He then tossed the radio into a nearby trash bin.
Suddenly, the gunmen spotted them and opened fire. "SHIT!" Caleb shouted as he and Robert fired a few shots at them.
"GET TO COVER!" Robert commanded as they took cover behind a nearby wall.
"OK, THEY KNOW WE'RE HERE, WE'RE GONNA SPLIT INTO TWO TEAMS, WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO!" Robert shouted as the gunfire continued.
"Ok, we're gonna do what's called a firing movement, basically, one team will move from cover to cover while the other provides covering fire." Robert instructed.
Robert, Irma, Nigel and Will formed one team while Caleb, Cornelia, Taranee and Hay Lin formed another. The gunmen ran up the escalator, hell-bent on killing Robert and the others.
Robert's team moved first while Caleb's group provided suppression fire. Robert's team took cover three stores down and started firing.
"GO! GO! GO!" Robert shouted as he fired at the terrorists.
Caleb's team moved to a pillar several feet behind Robert's team and started firing. They repeated the same pattern as they moved down the concourse towards the frieght elevator.
After three movements, Robert reloaded his rifle and continued firing. Caleb's team moved to a store just behind Robert's team.
As Robert's team moved, one of the terrorists' bullets struck Taranee's right thigh. "AAAAUGHHH!" Taranee screamed as she was hit. She went down fast and the others surrounded her.
"DRAG HER INTO THAT STORE!" Robert ordered as the others continued providing suppression fire. Will and Cornelia dragged Taranee into the store.
Nigel ended up taking the pistol that Taranee dropped when she was hit. The groups got inside as Robert and Caleb continued to provide covering fire.
Will pressed her hands on the wound to try and stop the bleeding. "IT'S STILL BLEEDING!" Will shouted over the gunfire.
"OK, DO ANY OF YOU HAVE TAMPONS?" Robert shouted. Will and Cornelia were puzzled at first, but then Cornelia caught on to what Robert was suggesting.
"I do!" Cornelia said as she got out a tampon from her purse. She opened it and pushed it into the wound as far as she could.
Taranee winced from the pain, but knew that it was going to help. It would help for now, but Taranee still needed medical attention.
"OK, we need to make a drag line to move her." Robert instructed. The others went to find rope or belts.
Luckily, the store that they were in had plenty of belts. Will grabbed three belts and went back. "WHAT DO YOU HAVE?" Robert asked. "Belts, three of them!" Will replied.
"OK, perfect, now, loop them on the last hole!" Robert instructed. Will did so and put one on each arm. "OK, I looped one around each arm!" Will said.
"Great, now take the third one and connect the two!" Will did so and she and Hay Lin got ready. "OK, we're ready!" Will said.
"OK, Irma, Caleb, cover us while we get Taranee out of here! On 3; 3...2...1...GO! GO!" Robert instructed.
Will and Hay Lin started dragging Taranee across the floor and out of harm's way. The others started moving and they eventually reached the food court.
The frieght elevator was now not too far away, but to get there, they would have to cross another wide open area, which is the food court itself.
"RIGHT THERE, PUT THOSE TABLES DOWN TO CREATE A BARRICADE!" Robert commanded as they entered the food court.
Some of the girls put some tables down to create a defensive perimeter. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than nothing.
Robert and the others who could still shoot continued to lay down covering fire.
"Will, grab that fire extinguisher and bring it over here!" Robert commanded. Will rushed to get the extinguisher and brought it back.
"Hay Lin, get that trash cart and bring it over here!" Robert commanded. Hay Lin rushed to get the cart and started wheeling it over to the group.
Robert, Irma and Caleb continued to provide suppression fire.
The plan was to use the fire extinguisher to make a smoke screen to cover their escape, and to use the trash cart to move Taranee quicker.
"I'm out of ammo!" Caleb said as he reloaded his last magazine into his gun.
"Will, Hay Lin, get Taranee into that cart!" Robert ordered. Will and Hay Lin gently lifted Taranee into the cart.
"Cornelia, get that fire extinguisher over here!" Robert ordered. Cornelia quickly brought the fire extinguisher over to Robert.
"OK, when I tell you to, I want you to aim the hose in between those two tabletops, squeeze that trigger, wrap a belt around the handle to keep it spraying. After we get that smoke screen up, we're gonna move out of here in what's called a diamond formation. Basically, we're gonna have a gun on each of the four sides of this cart and we're gonna haul ass!" Robert explained.
Cornelia put the hose in position as Robert and Irma let off some more shots. "OK...NOW!" Robert commanded.
Cornelia started spraying the fire extinguisher and wrapped the belt around the handle to keep it going. The spray created a thick cloud that concealed the group from the gunmen.
"Let's go!" Robert said as the group got up and assumed a diamond formation around the cart that held Taranee. They quickly moved across the open food court towards the elevator.
They rushed into the hallway and noticed that the lights were on. This was a good sign, meaning that the power to the elevator was not cut.
The group shooters checked each corner they ran into as they approached the freight elevator itself.
"Do we have power on that thing?" Robert asked. "Yeah!" Will replied.
Hay Lin pressed the elevator call button while Caleb and Irma pointed their guns at the elevator door in case a gunman came out.
"Is it clear?" Robert asked when the elevator doors opened. "Yeah." Irma replied.
"Get her in there!" Robert ordered as Will and Hay Lin helped Taranee into the elevator.
Once the group was in the elevator, the shooters pointed their guns out, knowing that the gunmen were likely following them.
Sure enough, just as the elevator doors were closing, a terrorist came up and fired a shot, which missed before the doors closed and the elevator started moving down.
"This is gonna sound crazy, but I need you to dump all your weapons." Robert said. "Why?"Cornelia asked.
"Because I have the feeling that SWAT's gonna be down there and if we get there and they are there, and they see us holding these weapons, we're gonna be shot." Robert replied.
The girls gulped after hearing that. "Oh, point taken." Cornelia replied. Robert and the others dropped all of their weapons, ammo and body armor onto the floor.
"OK, now listen up: hands up, backs against the wall, stay tight. Make sure they can see your hands, OK? This is a good time to keep your fingers crossed." Robert said.
Robert and the others put their hands up and back up against the wall, preparing to see SWAT officers.
Several seconds later, the doors opened and sure enough, SWAT officers armed with H&K MP5 submachine guns were on the loading docks.
"FRIENDLIES, FRIENDLIES!" Robert shouted to alert the SWAT officers to their presence and let them know that they were friendly.
"OK, keep your hands where I can see them, keep your hands where I can see them and come to me." one of the SWAT officers ordered.
Robert and the others obeyed and slowly stepped out towards the officers, keeping their hands up and in sight.
"OK, do EXACTLY what he says." Robert said to the others.
"Keep your hands where I can see them, keep your hands where I can see them, let's go. OK, right there, everybody face down on the ground." the officer ordered.
The group obeyed and slowly began to lie face-down on the floor with their arms out. "Face down on the ground." the officer ordered.
Suddenly, the remaining gunmen came and started shooting at the group. "GO! STAY LOW!" Robert ordered as he and the others quickly crawled away from the firefight.
The SWAT officers quickly returned fire as Robert and his group crawled quickly to safety.
They got up as they got farther away but stayed low as they rushed towards a SWAT van that was parked nearby.
Will and Nigel carried Taranee on their shoulders as they escaped the fight. They got inside the van and waited out the fight.
Several seconds after it began, it was over, and all of the gunmen were killed in the fight with no SWAT officers killed or wounded.
The SWAT team called in an ambulance to pick up Taranee and take her to the hospital.
She made a full recovery from her injuries, but for everyone involved, the Heatherfield Mall Shooting will always be in their minds, especially Alchemy, who was killed during the initial ambush.
Luckily, the rest of the group managed to get resourceful under pressure, worked together as a team, and formulated and executed a well thought-out escape plan, and as a result, they survived.