Going Gray by Brian Spangler

up for it. Your brother’s fine. We sent the kids off to get some ice cream. Thought it’d keep them busy. Probably gorging themselves, Ya know… before it all melts.”
    “But the lights are on,” she said, pointing to the walls. Peter followed her hand.
    “Oh those . Those are just the emergency lights,” he started to say, and then wiped a line of sweat from his forehead. Emily realized then, just how warm it was, how stuffy. There’s no fresh air. “The standby generator kicked in when we lost power. It’s running, but it only powers some of the things.”
    The air tasted old and smelled musty. It wasn’t at all like the crisp air she’d known. Maybe that is a good thing . “That might keep the poison outside,” she began to say, sounding uncertain. “How long will the generator run?” Peter shrugged his shoulders, seeming to share the same uncertainties.
    “It has a big propane tank,” he answered, but she didn’t understand. “The generator has its own propane tank connected to it, and it’s usually full. That is, until now.”
    “Is it bad outside?” he asked, his expression changing. For the first time, she saw the boy she’d crushed on throughout her high school freshman year. He was afraid. Emily turned away, preferring not to answer. Not yet. She looked to Mr. Rainer, finding an odd kinship with him. He’d been outside. He’d seen what happened.
    Emily caught herself wincing as she neared the edge of the table.
    “Are you sure you’re ready?”
    “I’d said that I can help,” she barked at him, and then immediately regretted her tone. Peter stepped back. She quickly added, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to snap. I need to help—I need to get up and move.” And she did need to move. She needed to survey where she was, and where she’d brought her little brother.
    Peter motioned to Mr. Rainer’s naked feet, and Emily stood for the first time since coming to the mall. Blood seemed to run away from her brain, flooding her legs and feet in a torrent of pins and needles. She raised her arms for balance and swallowed up a hearty breath. Hidden beneath the stale air, she could also taste the salt. Still, the air was better than anything outside. But, she wondered, for how long?

VI
     
    THE BODIES
     

    They’d rested three times carrying Mr. Rainer’s body. And by now, Emily was hungry. Should have eaten something first. She’d broken into a muggy sweat, her hands and feet tingling. Just a little more, and then eat something.
    Peter told her that the bodies had been tucked away at the back of the mall. Emily was sure she’d never seen the area he’d described, and wondered why they couldn’t put the bodies somewhere closer.
    “Almost there,” Peter said, motioning to Mr. Rainer’s legs. Emily grimaced, wishing she’d found some rubber gloves or even a few plastic Subway sandwich bags. She closed her hands around the cuff of their vice-principal’s pants and lifted.
    Dead weight , she thought. Now I know what people mean when they say that.
    “Sure you’re okay?”
    “I’m ready,” she answered, picking up Mr. Rainer’s body and following Peter’s lead.
    Peter led them to a set of doors. In all the Friday nights and Saturday afternoons, in her rush to meet up with her friends, she had to have passed by the pair of flap doors a thousand times. A drab olive color, thick resin sheets hung on loose hinges, hiding the service area from the rest of the mall. Emily stared at the large green doors as if seeing them for the first time in her life.
    “Mall Personnel,” Peter said, reading the sign on the door. “This is it.”
    Peter pushed his shoulder into the heavy door flap, moving it with ease as they struggled to carry Mr. Rainer’s body. Once they were on the other side, the plastic door sounded a pistol-shot that made her jump.
    When her eyes adjusted to the changing light, a million wires and pipes spilled over them, running along the ceiling, and climbing up the