I suppose this doesn't fit well with the last chapter, but it's what I came up with as the next step. Incidentally, the italicized lyrics are from Sara Groves' "In the Girl There's a Room". I decided the present verse fit best with a rewrite that hasn't appeared here, but I didn't want to use any more without posting this somewhere.

in the girl there is faith
and the faith there's a prayer
in the prayer there's a promise

in the boy is a dream
in the dream he is standing
and he stands without falling
and he won't back down

The scale of Fashion Show mall was cause for many surprises. Perhaps the biggest was that the Neiman Marcus anchor store was, for all practical purposes, a free-standing structure. It was from Neiman Marcus that a bridge stretched to Treasure Island. In front, the store opened not onto the mall interior but the courtyard beneath the Cloud.

By necessity, Treasure Island had set up a colony in Neiman Marcus, of forty fighting men (and women) and a similar number of support staff, mainly their families. It was a harsh life, of daily bloodshed, rigid rules, constant vigilance and negligible privacy, but they were proud to be the colony's bulwark against the infected. Lately, they had extended themselves, posting another ten men in Macy's next door.

Tal, Columbus, Wichita, and Little Rock made a triumphal entry from the Wynn, driving a golf cart made up as a Hummer across the Wynn footbridge. Columbus rode shotgun, but reached back to hold his wife's hand. Tal had to brake and carefully maneuver for the final approach, which brought them to a stop in an upper dining/pedestrian area.

"So, why aren't we going straight to the tower?" Little Rock asked Columbus.

"The point is to plan an offensive on multiple fronts," Columbus answered. "To do that, we have to start with the area that's already secure."

Bruce came out to meet them. "Nice entrance," he said, in a tone that made it hard to tell whether (or how much) he was being sarcastic. "Now hurry up, it's almost time for the afternoon sweep." Wichita and Columbus managed to leave the car without letting go of each other, while Little Rock rolled her eyes.

Tal had to back the mini-Hummer down the stairs, while the others went inside. White sheets covered the windows, softening the sunlight. The lights of the store were off, except for a few select areas, including a cafe in the center. All conversation was muted, and many if not most were asleep. The resting guardians lay together in well-defined sections of the floor, as tight and neat as sardines in a can- and as chaste, apart from the steady traffic of pairs going to and from an adjacent set of changing rooms.

Bruce sat down at one of the cafe tables, and pointedly cleared his throat. "Here is the floor plan of the mall," he said, spreading out a map. "Now, this east wing used to be the whole mall. Then the west wing was built as an extension. When they expanded the mall, they left a big open space in the middle. We call it the 38, as in parallel... Well, we do now. It used to be the `Maginot line', but the Lieutenant didn't like it... So, anyway, this is our front line. Every day, we sweep our side, and take out the new arrivals before they can group together. Every night, we fight off packs that come from the other side. And the next day, we start all over again. We're looking for a way to break the cycle."

He began pointing to parts of the mall. "The other anchor stores on this side are Robinson's May and Forever 21, in zone D. We still don't have that under control. Section C, in the middle, they turn up, but we take care of them. In the west, it's Sach's an' Bloomingdale's on this side, Nordstrom's across the way, and Dillard's on the end. It's Nordstrom's that gives us the worst troubles. Somebody drove an SUV through the ground floor until he smashed through the crowd barricade. That leaves the whole west side wide open."

Columbus nodded. "...But if you take the tower, you can cover the outside entrance."

"I don't get it," Little Rock said. "Why not lock up all the stores you can, and wait for the zombies to starve or go away?" Bruce looked warily at her, and sidelong at her sister.

"C'mon, kid," he said with a sigh, "you're too old not to know the answer to that." She showed neither surprise nor satisfaction. Columbus looked again toward the tight sleeping groups. He had wondered why they were so vigilant in their own stronghold, and he was the one who had been naïve: They were not just soldiers, but keepers of a treasure trove, and their responsibilities included watching each other.

He stood up, still holding Wichita's hand. "I want to be on your defensive line tonight, and explore the mall in the morning. That will be all, for now."

The children's department was right nest to the cafe, and that was where the little colony's score of children played and slept. None of them were less than eight years old, and the store's expensive toys were obviously intended for younger children. Yet, they did play with them. He watched especially a girl and a boy taking turns diving onto a huge bear big enough to double as a beanbag chair. Intermittently, he squeezed his wife's hand.

The changing room was dark except for one light at the entrance. Even in the darkness, it was far from anyone's idea of privacy, but the blend of whispers and cries gave a kind of anonymity. Columbus set a light of his own on the shelf, then finally let go of Krista's hand so he could work on her blouse. When she was bare to the waist, he stepped back, and reached out. Tears welled in his eyes as he felt the still-slight bulge in her midriff.