When I started to write this fic I didn't know exactly where it was headed but as I'm writing it things get clearer and clearer. So, since things are changing as they go, I decided to shift the story category from Angst/Romance to Angst/Hurt and Comfort. Of course there will still be romance but I don't feel like it's a main theme.

Also: this long chapter so I hope it makes up for the last short one. ;)

CHAPTER 4: The Mall

It took most of the late afternoon and evening for them to finally find the mall Quinn mentioned. They had walked silently on the city roads, paying attention to every noise or sound that might announce someone else's presence but there was none.

- That's it! – Said Quinn when she finally recognized the mall.

- Ow, I can see why it set you off.

The left part of the building was collapsed and the big sin at the entrance was dangerously dangling down in front of the main door. There were a lot of abandoned car in the parking lot, most of them covered with the dust from the falling.

The lights are obviously off and it doesn't look like a place to explore when you can't see where you put your feet – said Anya taking charges of things – so I motion for us to settle here tonight and go tomorrow, early in the morning. Anyone in favor?

Mal grunted something taking his backpack of his shoulders. Quinn tried to object but closed her mouth instead. Anya was right; going in without light was suicidal.

- Majority wins. I'll take the first guard round, then Mal and then you.

- Looks like a plane – Answered Quinn, taking the sleep bag Anya was handing her and still looking worriedly around.

They choose a corner in the parking lot, between a couple of cars but close enough to the street to be able to see someone approaching. Anya took something from her back and ate, while Mal quickly unrolled his sleep bag and tuck himself into it and Quinn followed soon after that. But the instant she placed her hands under her head to try to sleep, she knew that wouldn't have been an easy night. It was because the hard ground wasn't very comfortable, of course, and because the fast turning of events had made her trust Anya and Mel even if she didn't know them at all (and that, Fabray, is breaking the very first rule of surviving 101), but most of all she couldn't sleep because of the thought of being again in their place, feeling their hand on her body. She turned around. Mal was appeared to be sleeping. His chest moved up and down very slowly and he looked peaceful. Relaxed.

How the hell does he do that? How can he just turn off everything and just fall asleep?

There was no moon in the sky which, given their situation, was good news: if those men were to come around, the lack of light would have made it difficult to spot the three of them. Quinn tried to reassure herself with that thought but her mind was racing between memories of what happened to her in that same city just a few weeks back. She tried to remove that though focusing on something else and she looked to where Anya was standing. She was motionless and for a second Quinn though she might be dead but, no, of course, that was a silly thing, there she was, moving her arm to tuck some loose hair behind her ear.

There had been really no chance to talk to that girl and Quinn had a lot of questions for her, first of all why in the world would they save her! That was breaking rule number 2 on the survival 101 mentioned before, any newbie should have known that! Quinn couldn't understand: pity was overrated well before Apocalypse and after that… it was a luxury no one can afford.

Shit. I should leave them and stop this nonsense.

But as Survival 101 third rule thought her: stick around as long as you have something to gain, then flew away fast. So, yes, she was going to be around for a while, maybe enough to understand where Mal took the apples, enough to find a bike for her and some other supplies and then she would have left.

Ok, it's a plane. You work fine with plans, Fabray, just follow them to the letter and there won't be any problems.

When Mal turn came up Quinn got up from her sleep bag.

- do it, I can't sleep anyway.

Anya looked at her trying to judge her physical condition. Was she showing off strength and endurance or was she really able to pull it through her shift?

- Fine, but when you're tired wake Mal up.

Quinn nodded and took her place sitting on the ground.

- Anya?

Quinn called her name softly. Anya opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Quinn's hair beautifully dangling on the sides of her face. Then she saw the light sky.

- It's morning – She stated.

- Yes.

- And you didn't sleep.

- How can you tell?

Anya showed her for the first time of many her "do-you-think-I'm-such-an-idiot" face.

- Ok, I was up, mom, I missed my curfew, we can talk about you grounding me later on, now we have to go.

Quinn woke Mal up while Anya smiled at her back. Tired!Quinn let her barriers down a little bit and if Anya stayed on her tiptoes she could peek into Quinn's soul. She liked what she saw.

In a matter of minutes the three of them were ready to go in. They entered the mall form the main door. There was rubble on the floor and the plants that were supposed to welcome the visitors with their bright colors and smells were brown-ishly dead on their vases; on their left poster of a travel agency showed heavenly places that, maybe, didn't exist anymore.

- Let's see what we have here. – Anya approached the big map that listed the shops. – On the left collapsed side we had…. pizzas, electronic and stuff, clothes and, ow, too, bad… music store. Sorry Mal. – The boy looked at her quizzingly - I've always pictured you on a beach, by the fire, with a guitar… no? No! Ok, my bad. Anyway it doesn't matter, we're not going there. On the bright side, and on the still standing side of the mall, we have… drum roll please… - Anya looked at Mal that shook his head and then complained mimicking hitting on an invisible drum – See? Music guy, I've told you! And here we go! Clothes, drug store, sport stuff, and a lot of other things we don't need to look at. I'd say it sounds promising.

- Don't keep your hopes high: it might have been all robbed. – Said Quinn, arms crossed in front of her chest, eyes darting around looking for possible threats.

- Don't keep you hopes too low – Anya answered – we might still find something.

Quinn could have taken this response badly if it wasn't for the smile Anya gave her while saying it. She wasn't being arrogant or imposing, she was just being optimistic. Quinn had forgotten how to be like that.

- I say we stick together. If we part we may be faster but I don't feel like taking the risk in here. – She turned to Quinn asking her opinion.

- Sure.

They headed down the mall passing past a bar, and a couple of stores with glasses and phones. They stopped briefly at a clothing store but there were mainly high class clothes that didn't seem right for live or die situation, then they finally reached the sporting good store that was one of their main goals.

They started going up and down the aisles looking through shelves and leftovers.

- Told you. Plenty of people have already been there – Said Quinn pointing at the empty shelves.

- There are still tennis rackets…

- Here! – A male voice startled Quinn who instinctively clung to Anya's arm. Anya put a reassuring hand on the blonde's one.

- It's ok, it's just Mal

Quinn released her grip feeling stupid. She took a deep breath and started to apologize but Anya stopped her before she could do it.

- Let's go see what he found.

Mal was standing in front of a wall waiting for them. A couple of fishing rods were still in a rack.

- Nice! We had one of those before – She explained Quinn – But we broke it on our first fishing attempt. We were never the fishing types, right Mal?

- I can fish. – Said Quinn – Or at least I could. My father used to bring me with him when I was a child.

- Perfect, our guild just acquired a fisherman or… fisherwoman, whatever. Anyway, good for us. So, what do we need to take?

Quinn looked at the equipment and choose the shortest rod that seemed easier to handle, then went to look for some spare fishing line, fishhooks and baits that all ended up in Mal's bag. They move then towards the camping area of the shop but that was absolutely empty. There was some swimming equipment that they didn't' even take into consideration, as well as soccer and football shoes and a lot of different sport's balls.

- Feels weird, right? – Asked Anya moving a hand on all that dusty stuff – Before apocalypse we thought we needed all this stuff, we wanted it and some of us had to put away money to buy them, and now they're here, free to take, but nobody needs them.

A lot of things had changed, and this wasn't even one of the most relevant ones.

- Let's go, we still have a lot to do.

They walked further in the mall turning right on the central crossroad. There was a drug store and, although Anya insisted to check it, it was obvious that everything was already been taken. They do stop at a library, though, and both Mal and Anya took a couple of books.

- Seriously? World fell apart and you fill your survival bag with books? – Asked Quinn.

- I do not fill my bag and, besides, if I want to survive I have to take care of my mind, soul and mental sanity as well as my body so, yes, I'm going to take books with me.

Quinn shrugged and left them to choose their reading. She considered books as something shallow and futile in their situation but, deep down, she knew Anya was right. There were days when she had been stuck in a hunting lodge or a cave because of the weather, and she was left with nothing but her own thoughts. Books could have been really useful to her back then. Still, she was playing tough and she wasn't going to stop it just because Anya might be right, so she kept her steady and serious face and waited for them to catch up and continue on their exploration.

Next they went shopping for clothes. There wasn't much of a choice left but they did find something. Anya spent most of the time helping Quinn finding something for her since she didn't have any spare clothes.

- I take you don't want to talk about how someone who survived so long doesn't have any change clothes in her bag? – Tried Anya while handing her a white tee a little too big.

- I had to leave in a hurry – The blonde simply answered, moving toward the dressing room to try on some pants.

She was in her underwear when Anya bursted in the room placing a hand on her mouth and gesturing to be silent. She sat on the chair in the corner lifting her legs up, pressing her foot on the wall, and then gestured to Quinn to join her so that their feet wouldn't be visible from outside. Quinn sat on Anya's lap hugging her knees. She could hear, now, some footsteps but couldn't understand if or how close they were. She asked Anya for the boy saying his name without voicing it, but Anya shook her head. She didn't know where it was.

- Clear.

The male voice was just outside the dressing room. Quinn yelped but Anya quickly muffed the sound covering her mouth with a hand. Quinn's eyes were wide in terror, she was trembling and one step away from completely freak out. Anya looked alternatively at the door and at Quinn. The blonde was on the verge of doing something incredibly stupid like throw open the door and try to run for her life in her underwear. She moved her hand on Quinn's lower back hoping – God, praying – that the contact would not send Quinn over the edge. Anya tried to be gentle but firm. She felt the body stiffen under her touch and for a moment she thought to have made a huge mistake. But, instead of freaking Quinn out, that touch seemed to bring her back to reality. She acknowledged Anya's presence and nodded slightly.

The man outside the dressing room was still lingering. They could hear sound of clothes being moved on their hagers and Quinn clearly pictured a big hand moving over them, touching them with filthy fingers. Again she found herself slipping down to unpleasant memories and just Anya's hand, moving in small circles on her back, kept her on earth.

- No one in my section. What are you doing? – Another male voice arrived

- My brother gave me one of this when I was fourteen. – Said the first man – I thought it was the coolest thing ever until I found out it was fake. That asshole bought his little brother his first sport t-shirt and he went on a shitty Chinese store, can you believe it?

The other men laughed.

- Take one now, it will make up for that old one.

- Nah, I'm not into sports anymore. Let's go get the others. We still have to check other places for those three

- Fine.

For a brief moment Quinn heard the footsteps going away, and then nothing. They stayed still for a while longer then Anya gently pushed her down and, without saying a word, motioned for her to get dressed. Quinn put on the pants and the white t-shirt, then grabbed her old clothes and stuffed them into her bag.

In the mean time Anya opened the dressing room's door to peek outside. The place looked desert. Anya stopped briefly to gaze back at Quinn: she looked still scared but in control. They went outside and started to look for Mal. He had heard the two men approaching and hid but, as soon as they were gone, he got up and went for the two girls.

- We need to go. – Anya whispered when she saw him

- No. They're leaving the mall, right now this is the best place to be. – Said Mal and Quinn realized that was the first complete sentence he said since the two of them met. – We should trace back their steps, continue our search and then exit from the back.

Anya turned to look at Quinn who nodded.

- He's right. They won't come back; we just need to be careful.

They spent the rest of the day looking through stores but, as Quinn predicted, there wasn't much left. Except for two pair of sunglasses they didn't find anything else: food and hardware store were empty and the one thing Anya hoped to find, a bike for Quinn, was nowhere on sight.

When they left the mall it was getting dark again but given the close encounter they had previously, they decide to go as far as they could leaving the city. They walked on secondary roads, trying to hide and be quiet, and when they finally left the city behind them it was past midnight and they were hungry and tired.

Mal offered to take the first shift and neither Quinn nor Anya protested. They both laid down and fell asleep almost instantly.