DEGREES OF DEATH
Daniel only wanted an ordinary day. Classes, a bit of hanging out, then home before the rain grew heavier. But that humid afternoon became the beginning of the apocalypse. Humans began attacking humans, and the transformation happened right before his eyes.
“Monsters don’t need a screen to be real.” Daniel said quietly. “And now they’re here. Everything Xavier talked about has come true.”
This was not an ordinary outbreak. The colder the air, the faster they evolved. An air conditioner left running could become a death sentence. Rain was no longer a relief, but a trigger for slaughter.
Trapped on the upper floors of the campus building, Daniel survives with Chania, Bianca, Xavier, and Kimberly. Five people with different fears, ways of thinking, and moral limits. Outside, the monsters grow faster. Inside, human decisions become even more dangerous.
Chania said, “He almost bit us.”
Daniel replied, “Not almost. He stopped being human a while ago.”
This is not a story about heroes trying to save the world. This is a story about survival as the temperature continues to drop. And about one rule that cannot be negotiated. In Degrees of Death, the ones who die first are not the weak, but the hesitant.
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Chapter: 19. THE JUMPER CABLE OF LIFEInside the shattered glass walls of the security control room, Chania was still pressing a gauze pad against Daniel's abdomen where the arrow had been. The boy's breathing was shallow and shaky. His face was as pale as wax.Outside, the puddle on the concrete parking floor was slowly spreading. One of the slow-moving mutants, which had been wandering aimlessly, accidentally stepped into it.The dirty water soaked into its torn canvas shoes, seeping up to touch its dead ankle. In a matter of seconds, the magic of the Degrees of Death went to work. The muscle fibers that had been contracted by the cold air of the central AC suddenly expanded. The black veins on the creature's neck pulsed wildly.The creature stopped dragging its feet. It looked up, its back straightening, and its jaw opened to let out a sharp hiss. Its slow phase was gone. It had returned to being a Listener."Ca," Kimberly whispered in horror, pointing through the glass. "That one, it's moving differently."Bianca tigh
Last Updated: 2026-03-28
Chapter: 18. THE FREEZING TEMPERATURES OF THE BASEMENT"Daniel! Wake up, Niel! DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES!"Chania's hysterical scream echoed like a distant sound in the darkness. Daniel tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt as heavy as concrete. The pain in his stomach and shoulder had morphed into a creeping cold that spread through his entire body, numbing him. He could feel the cold rain on his face, and Chania's trembling hands pressing on his wound, trying to stop the bleeding."We have to get him somewhere safe! He's losing too much blood!" Bianca shouted in a panic. She tore a strip from her shirt and gave it to Chania. "Press harder, Chan!""Where?! We're on a roof, Ca!" Kimberly cried back, hugging Xavier, who could only stare blankly at Daniel's helpless, prone body.The storm raged, growing stronger. The tin roof of the Student Center building groaned under the force of the wind. Down below, on the campus grounds, dozens of mutants, drawn by the screams and the fresh scent of blood, were beginning to gather, looking up at th
Last Updated: 2026-03-28
Chapter: 17. THE LEADER'S BURDEN OF EMPATHYThe large window at the end of the third-floor library corridor overlooked a scene straight from hell. Down below, in the main lobby, dozens of Listener-phase mutants crawled and shuffled about. The heavy rain pouring in through the shattered glass doors made the marble floor wet and slick, reflecting the grotesque shadows of the creatures."Are you serious, Niel? We're crossing on those cables?" Xavier repeated, his voice an octave higher. He pointed to three thick black cables stretching from the library wall to a utility pole on the roof of the Student Center building across the way. The distance was about fifty feet. Below them was a three-story drop to the wet asphalt.The storm winds howled outside, making the cables sway like giant black snakes."You've got two choices, Vier," Daniel replied without turning around. His sharp eyes were still calculating the risks. "You can crawl across that cable, or you can go downstairs and be their lunch. Pick one."Xavier swallowed hard. He
Last Updated: 2026-03-27
Chapter: 16. SACRIFICE IN THE DARK AISLE"Welcome to my library."The words hung in the damp library air, colder than the wind from the storm outside. The thin man with the human-skin book grinned, his insane eyes dancing in the trembling beam of Xavier's flashlight.Daniel had no time to process this new brand of insanity. Dozens of student "dolls" with stitched-shut mouths stepped out from the dark aisles, forming a slowly tightening circle. They didn't growl like the mutants outside. They were silent, moving in unison with empty stares, which was somehow far more terrifying."That's… the kids from the literature club," Kimberly whispered in horror, recognizing a few faces among the puppet-like crowd. "What did you do to them, you monster?!"The mad librarian chuckled softly. "I merely gave them peace. In a world full of screams, silence is a gift. They are my newest collection.""Niel, what do we do?" Xavier hissed, panicked. He swept his flashlight around. There was no way out. The emergency door behind them was barricad
Last Updated: 2026-03-27
Chapter: 15. PLUNGE INTO THE LABYRINTH OF BOOKSThe concrete canopy had become a stage for death. Three Listener-phase mutants surrounded Daniel and Alex from three sides. The heavy rain washed over their pale skin, making their dead muscles pulse aggressively. Their white eyes stared hungrily, their jaws twitching with a wet, clicking sound."Niel… what do we do, Niel?" Alex whispered, his voice trembling violently. He gripped his baseball bat so tightly his knuckles turned white. "There's no way we can fight three at once."Daniel didn't answer. His mind was racing, scanning every corner, every crack, searching for even the most impossible escape route. His eyes darted downward, to the campus grounds now filling with dozens of mutants drawn by the sounds of their fight. Jumping down was suicide.Above, on the third-floor balcony, Chania, Bianca, and Kimberly could only watch in horror. The jacket-rope they had made was too short to reach Daniel and Alex."What do we do?!" Kimberly shrieked, tugging on Bianca's sleeve. "They're go
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
Chapter: 14. CROSSING THE BRIDGE OF DEATHThe main lobby's concrete canopy felt like a gladiatorial arena in the middle of the apocalypse. It was only ten feet wide, surrounded by a fifteen-foot drop to the wet asphalt below. The heavy rain poured down relentlessly, limiting visibility and making every surface lethally slick.One mutant stood before Daniel, growling with its torn jaw. Two more were crawling down the fire escape behind him. Beside Daniel, Xavier tried to stand while clutching his sprained ankle, his face pale with pain. Chania, Bianca, and Kimberly huddled at the far corner of the canopy, helpless."We're finished, Niel," Xavier whispered hoarsely. His baseball bat lay beside him, just out of reach.Daniel ignored him. His cold, focused eyes were locked on the mutant in front of him. He gripped the teakwood beam in his left hand. The scratch on the back of his hand stung as the rainwater washed over it, but adrenaline masked the pain.One on one, I can still win. The problem is the two behind me, Daniel though
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
