Earlier in the day, before the explosions that destroyed the bridge, a family of six was standing in the mall's parking lot.
"Grandma, do we have to get a haircut?" said eight-year-old George, who had a broken arm.
"We are going to a party in two days," Mrs. Barbara Dewie said. George; two fifteen-year-olds, Symone and Simon; his mother, Madonna; his father, Sammy; and Grandma Barbara walked on the wooden bridge at ten in the morning. The Haarshah family members were Chaplines. The Chaplines were refugees who sought sanctuary in Markus City seventy years ago. The Chaplines had similar features to the Markians, with brown eyes, brown hair, and tan skin. Derek and Philip were also Chaplines. Anyone with the suffix "-shah," which means flame in the Kirkian language, is a Chapline. They had Barbara and Madonna wearing dress suits. Sammy wore the official Blue City police uniform, and he waited next to the bridge for international police officer Maged and his police friends. Symone, Simon, and George dressed informally in shorts and shirts. George hated the beauty salon. He bugged his older brother, Simon, to go to the toy
store without their mother's knowledge.
At the beauty salon at 11:30 a.m., Symone and the other girls talked and chose their haircuts. Barbara was doing her nails. Madonna and the owner were conversing when a women screamed and ran into the front of the salon. "Code 11!"
A woman said, "We need to cover the glass so they cannot see
The owner covered the glass with a hurricane-proof protector. Everyone panicked, especially Madonna and Barbara, because they could not find the boys. Symone texted Simon, and she told them, "They are locked in the toy store." Madonna and Barbara were relieved when they discovered where they were.
When Eric and Pez gave speeches at 11:45 a.m., they texted the other stores. Symone stood on the chair in the middle of the salon and said, "We need to protect ourselves."
"How?" the store owner asked.
"Cosmetics are the most flammable products."
Older couples were sitting in the back of the store. The man told his wife, "I told you many times that buying those products is dangerous."
"You don't want me to spend money," his wife said.
"No." Protective mother Madonna tried to get Symone down from the chair. "Forgive her, she thinks she's brave."
"I am brave," Symone announced. "We can use hairspray as a torch. We can spill oil at the entrance so they can slip on it. We could protect ourselves."
"She's a little over the top," a woman wearing red said, "but she is right. We need to protect ourselves. We are mostly women and children. If I was a bad person, I would attack here first. A beauty salon will have more women and a few or no men." She looked at Symone. "You look familiar."
"She is a child actor who worked on the movie Brave Knight," said Joy, the owner of the salon.
"I love that movie," the woman said. "Makes sense that you are brave."
"Thanks." Symon's smile at the woman was delighted.