Broken Escalator by Christopher Munroe

On October 5^th of last year, the escalators at West Edmonton Mall shut down simultaneously due to what was believed to be a series of mechanical failures, stranding thousands on the second floor. By the time a rescue operation could be organized and mounted, nearly everyone on the mall’s upper level had been killed, and to this day few people, if any, understand what really happened during the period when that area of the mall was cut off from the rest of the world.

My name is Christopher Munroe, and this is the story of what happened to me. This isn't the whole story of what happened at West Edmonton Mall that horrible day, but it is my story. This is the story of the people I met, the things I had to endure, and the lengths I went to, to survive... a broken escalator.

Broken Escalator is a surrealist horror novel by Christopher Munroe, where mechanical failure spirals quickly out of control and human nature is discovered to be by turns nobler and more brutal than anyone could imagine. Or at least, than anyone would like to admit…

CHAPTER ONE

“I would never,” the Occulist announced to his gathered people, “ask any one of you to do anything I wasn’t willing to do myself. Those of you who’ve been here since the beginning have known that from the start. Those who’ve joined us later have learned it. When we canvassed the hallways for survivors and supplies, I was there searching beside you. When the refugees came in, I was there with you to greet them. I will not, could never, allow you to take this risk were I not willing to take it myself. And so, since you have seen something in me that you feel is worth following, I will behave as a leader should. I will lead.”

“This is a dangerous task we’re undertaking, and we have no idea if one can even walk down an escalator when its stairs won’t move, but it’s the only chance of survival we have. I know some of you, in your hearts, are more afraid than you would ever say out loud, and your willingness to pursue my designs here today does you credit. It’s natural, it’s human to be afraid, but the part of humanity that makes us divine is our ability to overcome our fears and do what we must. We are doing that, friends, we are doing that. I have faith that we’ll overcome our fear, and I have faith that we’ll survive this. Rejoice, brothers and sisters, because today we go home, together, and when people ask in the future what we did when the escalators broke down, we will tell them, proud and free, that we JUST WALKED DOWN!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd, and I saw that some of the people around me were crying. I was crying myself, and cheering, because in that moment I finally believed.

The Occulist turned from his ecstatic followers, steeling his courage in what for him must have been a deeply private moment, and stared down the escalator at the first floor, so long thought unreachable.

“The time has come.” He said, quieter this time, “Let’s go home.”

Then he put one foot out and took his first step down, onto the broken escalator.