A familiar nasally voice from the door, "Lovebirds! You left me all alone in the dark for far too long." He walked in, leaving the door wide open behind him. Brian was always careless and lacked, seeming, the ability for true emotional intimacy that Kali seemed to have with ease.

And yet, intimacy was not the only reason for a closed door; instead, a shattering thought occurred to Kali, and he snapped, "Shut that door, Brian."

Brian did as he was told with a dramatic amount of attitude, whining, "Why? What's your problem?"

"The lights are out," he said, cold and rather panicked, "The electricity is out."

Neko's eyes widened as she tracked, "And the heaters, too." The classroom was eerily silent. No hum of a heater, no whirr from lights, no buzz of a mini fridge or smartboard or laptops. It was totally, scarily silent. And cold. The cold had begun to creep in from windows, from beneath the door, from cold stone walls. At first, it would just be chilly, but sub freezing temperatures outside would quickly take over the small school.

"How will we stay warm?" Neko asked, eyeing them. All of their eyes were wide with the familiar grasp of fear at death's door. Suddenly, the situation felt much more severe and much more real.

Brian slowly suggested, "We gather things. Objects, clothes, food, anything in the school we can find..."

"Everything is behind locked doors," Kali pointed out.

Neko, "We break the windows, then." They both turned to look at her, and she shrugged, "The doors all have windows on them. We can break them."

Kali shook his head, blinking a few times as a thought formed, "Why are we staying here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," he said, "We can get out of the school. If we can break windows here, we can break windows elsewhere. The boulevard is lined with stores, grocery markets, supplies stops... We could easily survive with those resources."

"We'd have to go outside in the cold," Brian whined.

Kali snapped, "It's going to get much colder here if we don't get up and protect ourselves!" He was heaving, anger igniting in his eyes, fueled by pure fear. His shoulders rose and fell quickly with the struggle to control his dissent. "How long do you think we will survive without water? Without food? Two, three days? We can't expect this to be over by then. The ice is still accumulating and it will take days to melt at the minimum. We cannot survive in this school!"

Neko sighed, "I hate to admit this, but Kali's pessimism might be the only thing that saves us tonight. When night falls, this open, windowed, concrete school is going to turn into a freezer. We need someplace compact and easier to keep warm. We need food, water, and layers of blankets. We can't get any of that here."

Brian seemed unsettled, shaking slightly, "Where would we go? Are you saying we're going to die in here? We're going to freeze to death? What if we get out but can't get back in? Don't the doors only open from the inside? What if we try this and we can't get in anywhere else and can't get back in the school and we just get stuck outside?"

"Good point," Kali said. "One of us can stay here. If we find a suitable place, we can come back to get you."

The boys turned to Neko.

"What? You want me to stay?"

Kali said, "You're the odd one out. Brian and I get along better. We will be more decisive when the moment comes. We can predict each other. We can't predict you."

Brian turned to glance at Kali, then, "Actually, Kali... We can't predict Neko. We can't even trust her. This is her fault to begin with. What if she leaves and we get locked out?"

"I don't want to take her with me," Kali said, "And I don't want to go alone!"

Neko growled, "I'm right here! You twats. How in the world is this my fault, anyways, Brian?" Her eyes were narrowed and sharp as a cat's as she glared at him, "You were the ones that broke my phone."

"An eye for an eye," Brian scoffed, "You broke ours first." She took several menacing steps near him, and Kali could feel the air thicken and tense around them. The situation would escalate quickly if no intervention was made.

"It doesn't matter who's fault this is," Kali said. They both turned to him despite their conflict. "It only matters what we do next." They both wilted, eyes on the floor now, as if they were children being scolded by a teacher. "So what are we doing next?" He still needed affirmation.

Neko was the most decisive of the group, and rather stubborn about it, "I think we should all just leave. Even if we can't break into a place, being in the school would be no better than being anywhere else."

Brian argued, "It would be better than being OUTSIDE!" He stormed over to the window and gestured to it dramatically. "HMPF!"

Kali sighed, nearing a smile at how ridiculous it all was, "I agree. The school is a shelter we can go to if we can't find anywhere else. Brian, I think you should stay behind. It is your idea, and you never wanted to leave the school to begin with. Neko being with me instead of here will guarantee things go as planned, and you know I will come back for you."

Brian grumbled, "Well, I did this to myself, didn't I?" He sighed, "Sure. I can stay."

"So it's settled. Brian, you stay by the main entrance. If we come back, that is where it will be. Neko, you get to come with me. We should bring something we can use to break windows. What would you suggest?"

She grumbled, too, "A chair?"

"Good. Good idea. Let's bring some of those jackets from our pile downstairs, too."

"Okay." Neko leading, the group made their way downstairs, gathered a few extra layers to wear, and then headed down the dark hall towards the light of the main entrance. Most of the school's chairs were connected to tables, but they found a plastic black one with metal legs by the choir room and took it with them. The wind made the windows and walls creak from outside. Kali comforted Brian as he said goodbye, and Neko left with no words, only a look of distaste and her familiar glare. Neko carried the chair out; she refused any help.

They stepped out from the school and into the open. It was a sudden change. The wind was suddenly gusting in their faces, whipping their hair every which way and drying their eyes. The wind was bitter cold, feeling like shark teeth impaling into their skin; and with it, freezing rain showered them and the ground, soaking their clothes and creating thin layers of ice on every surface it touched, including their hair, eyelashes, and the chair. The cement beneath their feet was more ice than cement, completely clear but light to the eye from dotted snow. They immediately realised that the simple task of walking, especially with the chair, would prove to be near impossible. They were two dogs skidding on the smooth finished surface of a tile floor, struggling to stay upright and to move at all, the bitter, biting cold aching their joints and numbing their limbs. They were cold and clumsy as they shuffled across the slick ground to the road on the other side of the lot. They walked a bit crouched, low to the ground with their arms out for balance, dragging the chair behind them. They walked across the street, eyeing the still, dead powerlines that had ripped from their posts and found a resting place beneath the ice on the road, and being careful to widely avoid them.

Clinging to each other for physical support, Kali and Neko managed to slowly make their way from the road and into the parking lot of a small dollar general across from the school. The doors were glass sliders, and Neko was the one who lifted the chair above her head and chucked it into the window with the force of an army, quite impressing Kali. It crashed through the door, and the glass shattered all over the tile floor inside of the store. Kali glanced at Neko for confirmation on walking inside, but she was already moving in, stepping over the broken glass at the bottom of the doorframe and into the building. Kali mindlessly followed.

It was like heaven. Rows of non-perishable items, of food, of bottled water. They both began to rummage through the place; Kali grabbed a shopping cart and walked through the canned goods aisle, packing several cans of soup, beef, chicken, and noodles. He then packed some packets of rice, dumplings, and mashed potatoes. He took a case of bottled water, and emptied the small shelf that held HotHands, getting one out and activating it for himself. He put them in his shoes to keep his feet warm. Unfortunately, he was well aware that the brand was shit and they would not last more than a few hours. Still, they were useful in emergencies. With a wide grin, he jumped on the front of the cart and pushed it with one foot, riding on it as it wheeled down the aisle. He turned, the wheels screeching against the floor, and found Neko.

She gasped at his arrival, then the surprise quickly shifted to hate as she hissed, "You scared me! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry," the smile faded and he stepped off of the cart.

"Let's just get our stuff and go."

"You decided not to stay?"

"Stay? We just busted out the window. It's cold in here.

"This might sound silly, but, isn't there like, an employees only backroom?"

"Yeah, a small one, I saw it. They store things in there, mostly cleaning supplies. More like a janitor's closet than anything."

"Lets clean it out, put our stuff in it and fill it with pillows and blankets. I bet it would stay warm with the three of us." He took a few steps towards her, using his hands as he talked.

She sighed, turning towards him and crossing her arms, "Fine. But we have to go back for your friend first anyways."

"Well, that was a given." She snapped suddenly, shoving him into the shelf of goods, pinning him by his shoulders. The shelf rattled against the force and several items fell to the floor with a clatter; her hair was unkept and seemed to splay out at her shoulders in a way that enhanced the anger burning behind her.

Neko spat, nose-to-nose, "Don't you even think about getting cocky with me. We may be getting along swimmingly, but don't think for a second that I will ever feel anything but hate for you."

"I never said otherwise," Kali whispered. He was shaking ever so slightly, and his voice shown it.

"No, I see what you're doing," she hissed again, "You expect us to be friends just because of this situation..."

Her head slowly turned to look out the main, busted window. Kali craned his neck as his eyes followed an aching, deep sound; the growl of a slow-moving vehicle's engine. Both of them forgot their woes and softened with something called hope. Neko released her grip on him, and he followed her to the window. Wind billowed from outside and into the store upon them, uplifting their hair and clothes. Neko eyed the vehicle. It was a small red car, and clearly worn, with scratches on the side and a back window held in by duct tape.

"Is this... a rescue team?"

And Neko's eyes widened.

Kali registered something, and asked, "Neko, why didn't your parents come pick you up after school the first day? Why weren't they worried?"

"Same as yours. Couldn't drive in the weather.

"No, before that. How come you hesitated to call them? It took Brian and I a long time to find you. You had plenty of time."

"I know what you're getting at."

"I've seen this before. Brian is in a similar situation."

"I can guarantee you his situation is not as bad as mine," she turned to him wide-eyed and trembling, pale as can be, "We need to hide."

"Woah, what's your situation," Kali asked, suddenly just as panicked as she. Neko led him by the hand to the back closet that they had spoken about, opening-

The door was locked.

Neko hopelessly rattled the handle, "C'mon. C'mon."

"What's going on? Calm down."

"You don't tell me to calm down!" She spat, standing tall and close to his face, her fear bringing out her anger. She pointed, "That car belongs to my uncle. My mom probably, worried, sent him after me. His car is small but all wheel drive. Hers is front wheel drive. She can't drive in this weather, but he might have been able to, so she sent him!"

"Okay...? I don't understand the problem. Shouldn't we go over there and let him take us home?"

She crouched to the floor, dragging Kali down with her and onto his knees, "No, are you insane? You're insane! Kali, you don't understand. That is a terrible man." Her trembling stopped. Her body went completely still as they heard the gentle crunching of glass underfoot at the entrance of the store. Kali thought harsh for a moment, then, staying low, crawled across the floor to the other aisle. Neko, terrified, followed him. Kali crawled to a kitchen section; it had utensils, dishes, cups, tupperware, and most importantly: scissors. He grabbed two pairs, handed one to Neko and then kept one for himself. He ignored the tags on them; taking the tags off would cause too much noise.

Kali couldn't speak to Neko and share his thoughts. He didn't dare make a noise as the man slowly searched the aisles. But, Kali knew that he needed to do something. He knew that the man would recognise Neko, but not him. He had to be visible. Kali turned to Neko, crouched, and gestured for her to stay. She gave him a look of worry and desperate pleading, clinging to him with her hands, to which he painfully ignored. Then, he stood tall, placed the scissors concealed in his pocket, and strutted out of the aisle. He saw the man and feigned a look of surprise. The man was heavy-weight, with a large gut and even larger arms, a round, harsh face with stubble. His coat was red.

"Oh, hello there," he said.

"Hi. Who are you?" Kali asked, slow and trying to hide his fear.

"Do you know Neko? I'm her uncle."

"Neko? That name doesn't sound familiar."

"She goes to the school across the street."

"Well, have you looked there?"

He thought, "No. I saw the smashed window and thought she might be here."

"Sorry, man. I'm the one who smashed the window... Are you gonna call the police? I just needed supplies."

"You look awfully young. You go to that school?"

"I do."

"Were you there when this storm hit?"

Kali faltered. He had no answer. Should he lie? Should he be honest?

The man stepped closer, "Say, Neko was there when the ice hit, too. You sure you haven't seen her?"

"I'm. I'm sure, sir. It was just me as far as I could tell. The school is big, though. I was by myself."

"Uh-huh..." The man stepped closer again. Kali felt his breathe on his cheek; it smelled heavy of alcohol. Kali tried to remain stable as the man eyed him with a peculiar, sharp expression. Eyes glowering and then widening as he scanned the boy in front of him. "Say..." His voice was low and threatening, "How old are you?"

"Uh, teenager, sir."

"Uh-huh. You're pretty shy, huh?"

Kali focused on the man's narrowing, scanning eyes as he brought his hand to the scissors in his pocket. He gripped them tight, entertaining him (distracting him) with, "I suppose I am."

"I like shy people. Innocent people. You have so much left to learn. You know, you're nicer than Neko is."

"Oh." His arm raised slightly.

"Yeah. She's a b-"

One second.

Kali's fist, the scissors closed inside, found itself in the soft flesh of the lower hip of the man, where suddenly hot dark blood came flooding over his hand. He immediately let go his grip, shocked by his actions, pulling away as he struggled to breathe. The man shouted something incomprehensible, putting a painful grip on Kali's shoulder. Now, Neko popped out from where she was hiding behind the shelves, racing forward and putting her arms around Kali's waist, pulling him away from the quickly weakening man. He grunted, shouting at them and grabbing with slowing, stumbling hands. The floor grew slick and reflective.

Neko successfully pulled Kali back, and they both stumbled and fell to the ground on top of one another several feet away from the man, who had slowly fallen to the floor. Neko's arms only tightened around Kali, and she held him close enough to hear his panicked, beating heart through his back. They sat, watching as the man cursed them, bleeding out. Bleeding to death.

And then it was silent, and he was on the floor.