[ WP ] In the future , stores like Walmart have grown to become as large as cities . Soon an apocalypse happens , the employees gather into tribes to defend their section and to raid others sections .

`` Hey Barge?'' 
 
 My little sister snuggled close to ward off the chill. The Freezers were close. We had set up camp at the borders of Gardening; the thick ferns provided ample protection both in the form of blankets and cover from the Seesee mercenaries. Even across the wide expanse between Gardening and FrozenGoods, we felt the icy wisps. The floors hummed and kept us vigilant. 
 
 `` We have to stay quiet,'' I said gently. `` Let the others rest.'' Persy's protest was almost drowned out by the small eruption of snores and coughs from the others. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I chuckled gently. `` Fine, as long as we speak softer than they snore.'' 
 
 She asked me for a story. At home, this would spark a lively conversation of clashing opinions and misremembered anecdotes. After all there was no one left alive that remembered the end of the world, and after the liquor set in that was the only story anybody wanted to tell. Tonight though, I wanted to give her something that would steel her for the road ahead. 
 
 It was her first raid into another Department. Seesees had brought news of FrozenGood tipping into civil war, their unbendable codes of conduct being at the crux of the conflict. Our Department had never taken serious stock of the word of a mercenary before, but times were such that an opportunity to raid the most powerful faction in the Closed World was not to be squandered. 
 
 `` I'll tell you the story of the ForeverCold, `` I began in a dramatic whisper. Persy's eyes shone. A story she had n't heard. 
 
 `` Beyond the jungles of thorns and mowers, past the great walls of knife and fire, lies a cold fortress surrounded by a great moat of ice. A hundred paces across, it has shielded the fortress from outsiders for a century. For a century ago a beautiful castle of glass stood as neighbour and friend to the fortress. The people crossed freely into each other's lands on bladed feet. Then the ForeverCold was stolen from the fortress. 
 
 `` The moat became water and the fortress became enraged. Its warriors felt no pain, no fear. They turned their neighbour into dust. Shards rained from the sky for a day and a half. The Forever Cold was found and brought back to the fortress. The moat froze, and shards of the defeated castle became its daggers. 
 
 `` So now,'' I concluded, staring into Persy's wide eyes. `` the ForeverCold sits in the centre of the Cold Fortress, bringing their food eternal life. Its people will give their lives for it and there is not a moment it is n't protected. No one has entered the fortress and lived to tell of it.'' 
 
 A rustling above the foliage. I shoved Persy down into the mulch and unbuttoned the pouch at my belt. I knew the others were ready. The snores had drawn the foolish scouts in. Simultaneously we flicked the marbles towards the source of the noise. A hiss, a choking cough and two black figures fell into the makeshift clearing. Sleek rectangular cameras were strapped to their heads, faces completely veiled in black. Seesees. 
 
 Persy stood up and came to my side, staring at the still mercenaries. `` Barge,'' she whispered. `` Are we going after the ForeverCold?'' 
 `` Absolutely not,'' Fern said. `` We're only confirming what their friend told the Chief.'' She kicked one of the unconscious spies. 
 
 Persy looked at me, afraid but excited. 
 
 `` No one has ever lived to tell of it?'' 
 
 I smiled. `` We're the Kids Department. We have toys and we know how to play.''
