Read Online Going Gray by Brian Spangler - Free Book Online

this…” Peter raised his hands up, motioning to everything around them. “He said the clouds fell. And then, before dying, he said, forever.”
    “Forever?”
    “But I didn’t tell anyone about that part,” Peter hesitated, his voice sounded anxious, maybe even nervous. “He might have said something else—I dunno—the guy was losing it, and then he died.”
    “I wonder who he is?” But Emily did have an idea. Her father had said something about the clouds, too. She wondered if this stranger worked at the machine. Maybe he even knew what caused the accident. She moved to the man and began pulling away the layer of bubble wrap. The man’s hair was fire red like hers, and his skin was still fair as though he’d only been sleeping. He didn’t look dead, and she thought that a poke to his cheek might even pink it up. His eyes were somewhat alive too, staring back at her, but not quite seeing her. They were green and hadn’t grayed over or sunken into his head like the others had. Emily readied her fingers to pinch his eyelids close, but then hesitated.
    “Look at this!”
    “What?” Peter gave a reluctant look, lasting only a second. “Yeah, so… he’s dead.”
    “No, no—not that, what’s missing?” Peter stretched his neck, giving more time. “Do you see it?”
    “Do I see what?”
    “No burns!”
    Peter slid back onto his haunches. He blinked, refocusing his attention on what she’d said. “We’ve all got burns.” Emily pulled her hair back, showing off the splotchy red around her neck and cheeks.
    “But I’m not burned,” he told her.
    “You were already in the mall. Right?” Emily gave him an encouraging nod, motioning until Peter agreed. “Did anyone else come in without burns?”
    Peter shook his head. “Nope. Everyone had burns. But what if this guy was just covered better than you were?”
    “Or maybe… maybe he wasn’t outside at all,” she answered. Her mind raced, and she wondered if what she proposed was even possible.
    “But I found him in the entrance.”
    Emily considered this, and then asked, “Did you see him come in from the outside?” Peter said nothing. Instead, he stood up, and then waited for her. “Well, did you?”
    “Do his clothes smell?” he asked, motioning to the body. Emily didn’t understand the question.  
    “Huh?”
    “His clothes,” Peter repeated. “Do they feel like Mr. Rainer’s or any of the others?”
    Emily understood what he was asking. She patted the stranger’s chest and arms, half expecting the dead man to reel up, laughing as though she’d been tickling him. He stayed dead. The man’s clothes were dry and didn’t carry the same thick smell. And if none of the poison had touched him, then he hadn’t died from being outside. She shook her head.
    “We have to tell someone,” Peter said. “Cover him back up, the assembly is later this morning.”
    “What’s an assembly?” she asked. Before applying the bubble wrap, Emily closed the stranger’s eyes. His skin was cold like the concrete floor, dead for sure. But he just didn’t feel the same as the others. “I’m almost done.” Emily quickly rummaged through the stranger’s pockets, looking for anything that might lend a clue.
    “Nothing there,” Peter said, catching what she was doing. “We already searched him. If there were anything to find, Ms. Parks would have found it.” Emily gave up her search and left the stranger alone.
    “Assembly?”
    “We’re gathering in the main court, where the Starbucks and escalators are.” The thought of coffee or even a frap, reminded her that she’d been hungry earlier.

VII
     
    CUBBY
     

    Staying Close to Peter, Emily followed him through the maze of what she’d started to call the mall’s guts. When they were back to something familiar, she couldn’t help but drink in the sights of stores lining the two levels. On the top level, she immediately recognized two girls her age. Twins from her high school, and the