Robin had answered with a truth she hated: "It's the mall's heart. All that concrete, all that electricity, all those people feeding it every day... something woke up when the Flayer died. It left a seed."

"Tell me again," Steve whispered, clutching a splintered oar from the food court’s nautical theme. "Why didn’t we just run?"

Robin found the walkie. "Dustin! Dustin, do you copy?!"

Robin smiled. "Hey. Mall rats die free."

Steve stared at her. "You're gonna suggest I hit it with the oar, aren't you?"

"What is it?" Steve had asked, his voice cracking.

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