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buttoned her blazer. “I’d better make the announcement.”
    “What announcement?” Shay shouted, struggling in the policeman’s grasp. “Can we go home?”
    The senator straightened her collar. “We’re not going home for a while.”
    “But my grandmother needs her medicine!” Shay couldnot believe how calm this woman was. “You have to take care of her!”
    The senator looked at the policeman. “Put her in with the other kid until I get back.” The tubby man followed the senator into the shadows.
    “I have to get back to my grandmother!” Shay shouted as the cop dragged her to the car.
    The policeman shoved her into the cruiser without another word and slammed the door.
    The boy looked at Shay. “What’d they get you for?” he asked, smiling like this was all some big joke.
    “I have to get out of this car,” Shay said, jimmying the door handle.
    “You’re not getting out that way,” he said.
    “What did you do to lock down the mall? Call in a bomb threat?”
    “No threat,” he said calmly. “I found a bomb. They’re not sure yet whether to believe me when I said I didn’t put it there. I’ve been stuck here since this morning.”
    Shay stopped jiggling the door handle. “Are you serious?”
    The speakers squealed to life. The senator’s voice boomed around the garage. “Excuse me, I have an announcement. The security situation is ongoing, and as such you are asked to remain in your stores for the time being. You have been extremely patient, and in appreciation for your patience, you will each be given a twenty-five-dollar gift certificate for use anywhere in the mall. We’ll be coming around to take your names and make sure you get your certificate. In addition, pizza will be served in all the stores.
    “We are aware that some people are in need of services. We ask that each store identify a spokesperson, and that that person create a list of all the individuals in their store as well as any urgent needs such as medical or hygienic requirements that must be addressed. Supplies will be delivered to each store according to the lists of individuals created by the spokesperson.
    “A security guard will be visiting each store to bring its residents to the bathroom facilities. If the store you are in has facilities available to it, please use those and not the general ones in the corridors.
    “We continue to assess the security situation and hope to have further updates in the near future. I thank you, again, for your patience.”
    The speaker squealed and went dead.
    “Guess we’ll be here for a while,” the guy said. “Best we get acquainted. I’m Marco.” He held out a hand.
    Shay glanced at him, ignored his hand. “Shay.” She returned her attention to the door.
    “Don’t worry about the bomb,” he said, a sarcastic lilt to his voice. “The cops sent in a robot to test it for radioactivity. Early reports show it’s not a nuke.”
    “How comforting,” Shay managed.
    The woman returned. On her signal, the policeman let both Shay and Marco out of the cruiser. “Go back to your grandmother,” she said to Shay. “And Marco, you go back up to the Grill’n’Shake. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”
    “What about my grandmother’s medicine?” Shay asked. “She needs insulin.”
    The woman walked past them to her phone on the car’strunk. “I’ll add it to the list.” She dialed the phone and disappeared into a conversation.
    The policeman patted Shay on the shoulder. “I’ll walk you to your grandmother,” he said. He pushed her forward, toward the elevators. It wasn’t a request.
    On the first floor, as they passed the main entrance, Shay noticed that the windowed doors were now blocked by concrete barriers and that sandbags were being laid against the glass.
    The cop caught her staring. “Welcome to your new home, kid.”

DAY

TWO
SUNDAY



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    L exi lay motionless under the table. If she didn’t move, maybe it wouldn’t be morning. It would still