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Thinking back on her dream about Lydia, Jenni remembered what she had said about choices reater than herself She believed in the mysteries of the spiritual, therefore, she truly believed Lydia had come to her

Lydia had said she would soon be afraid and she was now very afraid She could feel the great clock of fate ticking doard She knew soon she would face a difficult choice She hoped she would et back to Juan and Jason

"I guess you’re right I meanI made the choice to leave horandma I made the choice to work at Pizza Hut where I hteen Was a friendless trophy wife for years And then it all went to hell I screamed Katie found methenIt’s kinda like all these choices I made just" Jenni waved her hand "They landed ed "Kinda weird seeing all that coet these people to a better life," Jenni said with a sigh

"We just got thein our way," Bill decided

"Piece of cake"

As they finished eating, they heard the sound of the helicopter returning

Its shadow filled the food court as it flew over the enorht, then it settled down somewhere beyond the mall’s walls

Jenni stood up to turn in her bowl and spoon to the cleanup crew She saw , Jenni saw the handso in with a few other people The bowl and spoon clattered to the floor when she saw Katie and Travis a them

"Katie!"

Jenni pushed past people and rushed toward her friend Katie saw her, called out her name and pulled away from Travis Like so their arht Jenni could hardly breathe Pressing kisses to her best friend’s cheek, Jenni felt her tears falling down her face, hot and fierce

Then Travis was there, hugging her tight, kissing her cheek while Bill bear hugged Katie and lifted her off the ground They fell into a sort of fourway hug, tears and laughter spilling out of all of them

"Juan, how is he?" Jenni asked

"He’s fine," Travis answered with a grin Jenni started to sob with relief as Travis kissed her forehead fir here?" she deently over Jenni’s cheek, suys hoame," Bill exclaimed "Tell us what to do!"

Jenni beca them and felt a little unco her close again

Jenni snuggled into her best friend’s ar her For the first time since she entered the mall, she felt a sense of hope

2 The Spider and the Fly

Those around him would make decisions, Lydia had said, and it could lead to their death

Travis sat solemnly beside Katie in the food court as they waited for Kevin to return with the Senator Lydia’s words echoed in his ently stroked the back of his wife’s neck Her decision to come to the mall had terrified him, but somehow he knew the moment he had read her father’s letter that she would coth He had to respect that no matter how difficult

She looked at hireen eyes and sly He smiled back at her and kissed her teers were intertwined as they sat hip to hip, watching the escalator Kevin had taken to the upper floor

Travis was relieved to see that Jenni and Bill were still alive Not that he didn’t er and Felix, but in this world it was hard to not feel relieved when those closest to you survived

Behind the of the water sounded co Kevin had briefly explained that the waterfall was constantly recycling its oater It was their reserve water supply The mall was on rationed water because a recon e to the facility There was uncertainty as to how long water would continue to flow or even if it was pure Soon after the survivors had arrived at the h fever and flu-like syiven to the people in the mall was now boiled before it was passed out<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>