They are still trapped in the mall and I continued reading.
Seven days and they are still quarantined inside the mall. The Senator is still in charge or so she thinks she is, while the gangs are running wild throughout the mall setting up their quarters wherever they find a great spot. The mystery virus has people on edge and communication with the outside world is limited. They are still trying to come up with a vaccination to stop the spread of the disease. Marco is literally holding one of the keys to the mall as he was holding one of the few security swipe keys that unlock most of the secured doors in the mall. Juggling both the Senator and some unruly teens, Marco is running himself ragged in the mall as he is trying to make everyone happy. Boredom is settling in for the people trapped inside, so a school is set up for the younger children and jobs are assigned for others. At night, some individuals not ready for sleep create their own entertainment which causes problems for the Senator. Trying to combat all the overnight mayhem, the Senator provides for alcoholic parties which start to get out of hand. It becomes like a scene from The Lord of the Flies but what do you expect from trapped individuals with nothing to do. With so many bodies piling up, it’s hard to keep a positive attitude. Each character has their set of issues and they all seem to overlap, if only they could get out of the mall and move forward with their lives.
Every day the issues inside the mall get more desperate as individuals get more hopeless and more bored. It’s like a record caught on a scratch, over and over again; chaos, promises, confusion, fighting, repeat… The Senator has her command center set up and she relies on her teenage daughter for some electronic help as it seems her security help is incapable of providing what the Senator wants. I don’t know who is more corrupt or more dangerous in the whole scheme of things so I am not routing for anyone specifically now, it’s sad but true. I know they are desperate but no one has captured my heart and I should have closed this series after the first book but I had hope. Hope that someone would sway me, make me believe that it was all worth it but I have to say now, I am closing the book on this series. I gave it a good effort but it just is not me.
