A side-folding glass shutter is not designed for rubbing your bare cheeks on, but Magic tried anyway.

  "Sorry to butt in!"

  "Haha, with his ass!" Spud said behind him.

  Magic's crew were all sitting inside the tobacconist's new safe zone, vaping and throwing things around. The Martins siblings leered at us from the back.

  Magic kept rubbing it in. "That's what happens when you mess with Magic! Why don't you—"

  The shutter shook as Val's foot slammed into it with bull-enhanced strength. It struck a faint green force field and did nothing, but Magic squealed and jumped away on reflex anyway.

  He recovered quickly, at least. "Safe zone, dipshits! You can only bust in here if I let ya! Maybe if you beg, I'll let the girls in..."

  Yuzumaki appeared besides Chaz. "Painapple! I know you're in there, you herbaceous coward! Show yourself!"

  Painapple appeared beside Tad. "Now you know how it feels, huh? Vengeance is mine, you big overripe fuck!"

  "Excuse me," Magic practically shrieked. "This is my moment!"

  I rolled my eyes and turned to the others. We didn't have time for this.

  "What do we do now?"

  Kara looked worried. "We could barricade Gateway again. Maybe that'll protect everyone inside..."

  "Zeddie wouldn't make us spend two grand on a beacon if it could," Chaz pointed out.

  "Maybe you babies can get a refund if you cry about it," Magic said. "Hey, are you pretending to ignore me?"

  "We could gather everyone up and fight our way out," Lex suggested.

  Cosmo put his two cents in. "That'll be tough. New enemies, everyone still testing their bots..."

  Magic kicked the shutter. "Hey!"

  As the others debated, I stepped away and looked around the plaza. Fighting would probably work, but we'd definitely lose people in the process. There had to be another way.

  There was nowhere we could use the beacon though—

  Wait.

  "I got an idea."

  The others stopped bickering.

  "Whatcha thinkin'?" Val asked.

  I checked my status window. Seven minutes left. If I'd understood Zeddie correctly though... that was plenty.

  I allowed myself a moment to breathe, then turned to the others.

  "We can use the beacon."

  "Not in this area, is what I assume you're hoping we'd say," Chaz said.

  "Thanks." I pointed towards the central plaza. "We can use it in the food court and make a shortcut with the sledgehammer. Should be easy to leave that way, yeah?"

  The others looked at each other. Some were nervous, but I didn't see disapproval...

  "It's worth a shot," Kara said. "Let's go!"

  Step one: Run to the bottom food court where we met Manaia. Six minutes.

  That part didn't take too long. With no barriers or shoplins in the way, I was peeling into the central plaza within ten seconds.

  I ran north into the Level One food court. Zeddie had suggested the top-level food court could become a safe house, and I really hoped size wasn't a factor...

  I ran to the middle of the court, held out the cube, and tried to activate it like Dandy told me to.

  [ You are about to deploy a Safe Zone beacon in this location. Proceed? ]

  The safe zone's coverage area was tinted cyan in my vision. The court and the food outlets were covered, but not the bus terminal entrance, the central concourse, or the escalator hole. Good enough. First hurdle cleared.

  I accepted. The cube leapt out of my hands and spun in the air before expanding into a huge screen and dropping vertically onto the floor. It looked like a giant's smartphone. Confetti appeared on the screen, along with the text:

  [ Welcome to SAFE ZONE 6 sponsored by Soylent Spectrum!

  Soylent Spectrum: Not Your Species, Not Your Problem!

  Owner: WillT ]

  A faint blue force field enveloped the food court's edges, and a new menu appeared in my interface.

  Thankfully, it was a simple one. There was an option to keep survivors I'd met before out; I added "MagicDaLegend" and the names on the last Lair's leaderboard to the blocklist as I headed northeast to the escalators. Five minutes.

  When we'd first come down here, Kara had taken cover from the shoplins in a corner alcove. At the back was a set of Zettamall-sealed double doors that used to be a fire exit. If I remembered Gateway's evacuation plan correctly, which I did because Jerry had created a Borat-themed "very nice evacuation diagram" for display in the break room...

  I pointed the sledgehammer at the fire doors, and a wireframe hole lit up. Knocking the whole thing down was a valid play, thankfully. I didn't want to waste time searching the nearby food outlets for clear walls.

  I swung. The sealed door burst and vanished, revealing a staff corridor with more sealed doors, some side-corridors, and shoplin graffiti everywhere. I turned right and kept going until I found another fire exit, then blew the hammer's final charge on smashing that too.

  The hammer broke into cubes and vanished with a moan as I stepped out into a Gateway's northwest corner, at the end of the frozen food aisle.

  Nailed it.

  [ Our Little Secret

  Create your own secret path.

  Reward: +1 ZETTAMALL? Gold Starter Crate ]

  I ran towards the front. The others had closed the shutters and fanned out across the store to grab as much stuff as they could. Lex was grabbing the unbloodied toilet paper near the customer service desk.

  "Did it work?" she asked.

  "Yeah! One sec!"

  I let myself in and grabbed the microphone. "Hey! It worked! The bottom food court's a safe zone! You can get there from the fire exit in the back corner!"

  Shouts from the aisles confirmed that everyone understood me. Phew.

  Four minutes. I took a moment to breathe, drink some water, and check Zettachat.

  burger haven wifi 12:56 PM

  Upper food court is safe now. Anyone still hunting, get your butts in here.

  VKlerk87 12:56 PM

  Protected Bullseye and Huge W. Got someone waiting in Huge W to transfer ownership of the safe zone when they come back. Who should I give it to?

  WillT 12:57 PM

  Probably Harmony?

  VKlerk87 12:57 PM

  Got it. Thanks.

  covid spreader 12:57 PM

  Stolen story; please report.

  Some masked shitheads blocked the item shop over here and they won't let anyone in unless they hand over some loot. They want to be the ones who place the beacon too.

  We told them to fuck off. We might be screwed now.

  maxbasedvapegod 12:58 PM

  ANY HOTTIES NEED A SAFE ROOM

  The rest of my party gathered. Kara had made a replacement for her stolen spear by taping a knife to a broom handle, and I started to worry that we hadn't prepared enough for this.

  "Do we need anything else?" Lex asked. "We got water, food, tools..."

  "Can't think of anything urgent," Chaz said. "I even got the cigarettes."

  "I didn't know you smoke," I said.

  "I don't," Chaz said, "but we can sell them for a few extra Funbucks. We emptied the tobacconist's earlier, so we won't have to worry about competition."

  I looked at him. "This feels a little dodgy."

  "What if I sell them for cheap? I mostly just want pillage crates. I'm doing a thing."

  "...I guess I'm not your dad," I said with a shrug.

  "Thirty seconds," Kara warned. "Get ready!"

  The final seconds passed in tense silence. I was suddenly acutely aware that the staff door and leftmost shutter were right behind me.

  This plan was rock solid.

  Everything would be fine.

  Zero.

  VWORP! VWORP! VWORP!

  People started to fill the store again. Some had holograms or robot creatures beside them, some had new items, some just looked normal.

  Troy appeared right next to me and jumped back in surprise. "Shit! What are you doing here?"

  Max the bottle shop owner must have been talking to Troy, because he appeared at the counter. He wore a drinking-helmet-shaped OddBot with Slurp Nurse cans strapped to it.

  "Oh, hello," he said. The helmet's eyes blinked.

  Before I could answer either of them, a window opened in my interface.

  [ Welcome to the second stage! ]

  [ MALL MODIFIERS:

  Droppin' Shoplins: Shoplins will increase in number until their bosses are defeated or the mall is overrun. ]

  I'd seen this before, when I first poked around the app. There were two blank modifier spaces, and now the mall was filling them.

  Icons blurred like a slot machine before finally settling on:

  [ Ikana's Vengeance: Beings from Ikana will attempt to claim this mall for themselves. Defeating shoplins will make them stronger.

  Schlock Rotation: The Re-Couponator has arrived. All un-destroyed Expired have revived. Until his defeat, customers who perish will become Expired. ]

  Outside, something rumbled.

  I hit the mic again. No time to waste. "Attention, shoppers! It's no longer safe in this store! Please proceed to the fire exit in the back as quickly as possible! Now! Go!"

  Most people scattered. Some just stood there, looking confused. One of them was Troy.

  "Will, what the fuck are you talking about?"

  I shoved the desk's access door open and grabbed his arm. "I'll explain later! Let's go!"

  Bzzt! "Come on, show us that customer smile!" the staff door chirped. Something was standing outside.

  I froze. "Ah, fuck."

  Then the door yelled something I'm sure it wasn't programmed to.

  "OH, SHIT—"

  CRASH!

  The door ripped free of its hinges and crashed to the floor, sending glass everywhere. The culprit let himself in.

  Like the shoplins, he was human-like and green. That's where the similarities ended. This guy was tall and broad enough that he had to squeeze himself through the door frame. He was dressed like a security guard, with a white shirt, a tie, and slacks. His hairy, boar-like head had a moustache.

  He began rolling up his sleeves.

  [ BREAKER FORCE BRAZ

  MINIBOSS (SUPERVISOR) ]

  We ran.

  I tore down the nearest aisle towards the fire exit. Footsteps pounded around the supermarket as everyone else with sense fled too.

  Not everyone was fast enough.

  Max gasped for air as he began to fall behind us. "Sorry, my knees aren't—"

  He never got to finish. A hefty spear slammed into Max's back, felling him instantly.

  I turned briefly in shock. The culprit was Braz, who had stepped through a checkout lane and was strolling towards us. Behind him, more green boar-men in slacks, dark shirts, and hi-vis vests were squeezing through the staff door and spreading through the store.

  [ PORC, Lvl. 3 ]

  I came to my senses and ran, ignoring my notifications as a new Death Daddy Well That Just Happened Crate slid into my inventory.

  Val's Pals had stayed to wave people through the fire exit (Baz had a metal leg, and it wasn't the time to ask about it.) Survivors were already streaming out, but not everyone was here yet. A scream rang out from somewhere in the produce area as the porcs caught one of the slower ones.

  A group of stragglers running desperately towards us were cut off by a porc leaping out of an aisle. He roared, raised a sword, and—

  Kara pointed her phone screen at the zorc and deployed her Doomscroll Case. "Eldritch Brand!"

  A symbol on her screen glowed, Darksynth engulfed the phone, and a burst of dark purple energy blasted the porc in the back. It roared, but didn't fall. These things were tougher than the shoplins.

  But the survivors were tougher too. They just rushed the porc, weapons raised. One raised a finger-gun. Blades, bats, and finger-lasers took the porc down as they beelined for the exit.

  Kara waved them through. "Nice! Let's go!"

  The last stragglers bolted past us, porcs charging in from every direction. Joe stayed behind to hit them with Channel X just in case, buying us a few extra seconds.

  Braz stepped out of an aisle and into view just as we disappeared through the door. Lex threw up a Smak Rak behind us as we rounded the corner—and another spear thudded into the wall behind us, tearing the shield like paper.

  Lex jumped. "Crap!"

  "Not there yet!" I called. "Come on!"

  We piled through the hole I'd made, into food court.

  The porcs stopped at the fire doors, at the edge of the safe zone. One tapped on the force field and made an obscene gesture before they left.

  I slumped against the wall and tried to calm down. The face Max made when he was hit flashed through my mind.

  I felt sick.

  "Holy shit..."

  The others stopped to catch their breath too. We lingered in silence for a few moments.

  Chaz spoke first. "Oh, damn!"

  I looked up. "What? What happened?"

  "I forgot the pfeffernüsse!"

  I blinked. "...The what?"

  "They're these spicy gingerbread cookie things," Chaz explained. "They're amazing."

  Lex rummaged in Snakpak. "I think I got a pack, actually... yep, here they are."

  "Oh, thank God." Chaz sat down, relieved. "And we survived too, I guess. That's good."

  All I could do was laugh.

  [ STATUS

  TIME: Day 2, 12:04 PM

  CUSTOMERS: 581/1167

  ODDBOTZ: 478/581 ]

  We'd been whittled down to about thirty survivors.

  They sat around the food court, doing understandable things: freaking out, talking to their new OddBotz, trying to get the ice cream place working again. With any luck, most would be up for fighting with us.

  We'd pushed a few tables together for a strategy meeting. I sat with my party, currently the strongest as far as we knew; Val, representing the second strongest; Cosmo, whose group had became our base's de facto protectors; and Troy, who was also there.

  "Well, we're safe for now," Cosmo said, as he poured us some juice. "What's the next step?"

  "Maybe we should deal with that?" Val asked, jabbing her thumb at the central concourse.

  The concourse was thick with undead. Schlock Rotation had reanimated every single corpse, including the massacred shoppers in the car park. Those Expired were pouring in from the central plaza's smashed exit, seeking out the light.

  "That is way too many zombies," Troy complained. "We've lost a ton of people already. How many did the porcs get?"

  "Could be as few as six," Cosmo said. "A lot of people went elsewhere before OddBotz selection. Even Bullseye, for some reason. Here's your apple juice."

  "And the undead haven't changed, but we've gotten stronger," Chaz said hopefully.

  "That's true," Troy said, flexing his fingers. "My new OddBot's pretty great..."

  Troy had actually used my silver Wizard's Treats card. Now his left hand was cybernetic like mine, though his only went up just past the elbow. When he allowed his OddBot to come out, his hand took the form of a snake's head with a metallic hood.

  [ < CHANCELLOR MILKSNAKE >

  Rare Dark Aug-Bot — Wizard's Treats

  This suspicious advisor's masterful schemes protect the food court's interests while advancing his own. Now the king's left hand is yours! ]

  Khan took his own form to greet him. "And with my trusted advisor around, the situation is sure to turn in our favour!"

  I looked at the others. "Uh... am I missing something, or is this guy obviously evil?"

  "My actionsss are all for the greater good," Milksnake hissed happily.

  "Your description literally calls you suspicious."

  "Yesss," Milksnake nodded. "I am very sssussspiciousss... of potential threatsss to the Food Court."

  "Okay then," I said. "Why don't you share his powers with us too, Troy?"

  "That's private," Troy said.

  "What I am capable of isss of no concern," Milksnake hissed.

  Khan nodded. "That checks out."

  "He's Dark type!"

  "So is Deadphones," Kara said, grinning.

  "Don't encourage them!"

  Val looked between us. "By the way... those don't feel weird, right? You're not freakin' out about the new arms?"

  "Well..." I looked at my hand.

  It was a little weird, to be honest, but with everything else going on I'd pushed it to the back of my mind. It hadn't really hit me in the way that watching people die had. I could make it look exactly like my old arm anyway.

  "Not really? It feels the same as the old one."

  Khan spoke up. "Aug-bots are rarely presented unless the customer's brain meets certain adaptability benchmarks, and as you may have observed, young William is quite capable in the adaptation department. An aug-bot's owner rejecting them is rather abnormal."

  Val sighed in relief. "Phew. I was worried about Baz."

  "Why?" Lex asked. "What happened to them?"

  "They got a new leg," Val said. "And it's got a quest for us. Wanna see?"