DEGREES OF DEATH

19. THE JUMPER CABLE OF LIFE

Inside 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 tightened her grip on her broom handle, her face hardening. "That damn pipe is leaking. The air over there is getting humid."

Suddenly, Daniel's trembling hand grabbed Chania's wrist. His grip was weak, but it was enough to make her turn. Daniel's eyes were half-open, fighting through a pain so intense it was about to short-circuit his brain.

"Niel! You're awake?!" Chania exclaimed, her voice choked, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"C… car," Daniel rasped. Fresh blood trickled from the corner of his lips as he forced himself to speak. "We can't… survive in this glass box. Find a car."

"Are you crazy, Niel? You almost just died! You can't walk!" Xavier argued, who was sitting and clutching his swollen ankle.

"I said, find a car, Vier!" Daniel snapped with what little voice he had left, forcing himself to sit up. His body swayed, but Chania quickly supported his left shoulder. "There's a creature out there that got wet. If that puddle gets any bigger, they'll all start running again. We have to move, now."

Xavier cursed under his breath, but he knew Daniel was right. Using Alex's baseball bat as a crutch, he hobbled to the edge of the broken glass door. His eyes scanned the rows of dust-covered vehicles.

"There!" Xavier pointed. "The black campus security SUV. It's big, and it's got a bull bar on the front. Perfect for ramming."

"Get me to it," Daniel hissed.

Chania and Bianca supported Daniel on either side. Kimberly walked behind them, holding a giant wrench she had found in a drawer. Their formation was a mess, their movements slow. The smell of fresh blood from Daniel's wound hung in the cold basement air.

The mutant that had stepped in the water suddenly turned its head toward them. Its white eyes locked onto Daniel's wound.

SKREEE!

The creature broke into a sprint, leaving its slow-moving companions behind like snails.

"It's running! It's coming this way!" Kimberly shrieked.

"I'll handle it!" Bianca let go of Daniel, letting Chania support him alone.

Bianca took two steps forward, gripping her wooden broom handle with both hands like a professional baseball player. She stared down the charging mutant without blinking. The moment the creature leaped with its mouth open, Bianca lowered her stance and swung the broomstick with all her might, straight at the mutant's jaw.

THWACK!

The blow was a direct hit. The creature was thrown sideways, slamming into the hood of a sedan and setting off its blaring car alarm.

"Turn off the alarm, Ca!" Xavier yelled in a panic.

"How the hell do I do that?!" Bianca yelled back, smashing the mutant's head one more time until it went still.

The alarm echoed throughout the basement. The other slow mutants began to turn and shuffle toward them. But what was more terrifying was the sound of mass pounding coming from the steel emergency door that connected the basement to the upper floors.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The fast-moving mutants from upstairs, who had lost their trail, had now heard the alarm. They were trying to break down the steel door.

"Get in the SUV, now!" Daniel commanded, gritting his teeth against a groan of pain as Chania helped him into the front passenger seat.

Xavier got into the driver's seat. He checked under the steering column. "The key's still in it! Yes!"

With a trembling hand, Xavier turned the key.

Click. Click. Click.

There was no roar of an engine. The dashboard lights didn't even turn on. The car remained dark and dead.

"Vier, don't tell me…" Chania leaned forward from the back seat.

"The battery's dead," Xavier swallowed, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "This car hasn't been started in a long time. The battery is completely drained."

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The steel emergency door at the far end of the parking garage was beginning to buckle inward. The screech of its hinges being forced open was horrifying.

"Vier, you're an electrical engineering dropout, right?" Daniel turned, his face pale, his breath heavy. "Start this car."

"I need jumper cables and a power source, Niel! I'm not a magician!" Xavier shot back hysterically. He slammed his fist on the steering wheel in frustration. His eyes darted around, then landed on the backpack sitting on the middle seat, on Kimberly's lap.

His backpack. The bag that contained his life.

Xavier stared at the bag. His face became a dramatic mask of deep sorrow and momentary insanity.

"Vier? What are you thinking?" Bianca asked, horrified by his expression.

"Give me my bag, Kim," Xavier said, his voice trembling.

Kimberly handed him the backpack. Xavier opened it and pulled out a gaming laptop as thick as a brick, its black shell adorned with a now-dark, glowing dragon logo. It was the most expensive thing Xavier had ever bought, the result of a full year of part-time work and a loan he had only been paying off for three months.

"Forgive your father, my child," Xavier whispered, stroking the laptop's shell. "Our memories of playing Elden Ring until dawn must end here. I haven't even paid you off, but my life is more important."

"What are you going to do with that laptop, you idiot?!" Bianca yelled from the back.

"This laptop uses a massive-capacity Lithium-Polymer battery. If I rip out the cells and connect them directly to the starter motor and the battery… the voltage might be enough to give it one spark to start the engine," Xavier explained quickly. He snatched the wrench from Kimberly and a pair of pliers from the dashboard.

"How long?" Daniel asked coldly, gripping his teakwood beam with his good left hand.

"Two minutes! Give me two minutes!"

Xavier opened the car door and hopped out on one foot. He popped the SUV's hood. At the same time, he slammed his beloved laptop onto the concrete floor and stomped on it until the casing shattered.

CRACK!

"Goodbye, my RTX 4090," he sobbed quietly as he tore out the battery cable and dismantled the cells with the pliers.

BAM! CRAAACK!

The steel emergency door at the end of the basement finally gave way. The door was thrown from its hinges, slamming against the wall. From the dark opening, the rainwater that had pooled on the floor above poured down into the basement like a small waterfall.

And with the water, came dozens of fast-moving mutants.

"They're in!" Kimberly screamed, covering her ears.

The spilled rainwater spread quickly across the sloping basement floor. The slow mutants below instantly evolved as the water touched their feet. The number of sprinting monsters had now multiplied. A sea of pale flesh ran ferociously toward their black SUV.

"Get out of the car! Protect Xavier!" Daniel commanded hoarsely.

Chania and Bianca immediately jumped out. Bianca held her broom handle, Chania her mop. They stood on either side of the hood, forming a defensive semi-circle. Kimberly, trembling, stood with her back to the trunk, holding a tire iron.

Daniel forced himself out of the passenger seat. Every inch of his abdominal muscles screamed. Blood began to seep through his bandage again. He leaned against the side of the hood, using the car's body to keep himself from collapsing. His left hand gripped the teakwood beam.

"Don't let them touch this car," Daniel hissed. "Hit their knees. Make them fall."

The first wave charged.

Two mutants leaped at Bianca. She didn't flinch. She swung her broom handle at the first mutant's legs, sending it sprawling to the concrete, then jammed the end of the handle into the second mutant's eye.

On the other side, Chania screamed, venting her fear as she slammed her aluminum mop handle into a female mutant's chest, denting it. But there were too many. One mutant managed to crawl under the car, trying to grab Xavier's leg as he frantically stripped a wire with his teeth.

"Look out, Vier!"

Daniel, leaning against the car, lifted his left leg and stomped on the crawling mutant's head, cracking its skull against the concrete floor. He coughed, spitting blood onto the asphalt.

"Niel! Don't move so much!" Chania yelled in a panic.

"How much longer, Vier?!" Daniel roared.

"It's hard, dammit! The wires are so thin!" Xavier cried in frustration, his hands bloody from the sharp edges of the broken laptop casing. He connected the red and black wires from the lithium battery directly to the car battery and starter terminals.

Suddenly, three mutants leaped onto the hood at once, denting it inward. They crawled rapidly toward Xavier.

Bianca and Chania couldn't help. They were both overwhelmed, holding back five mutants on each side.

"Vier! Above you!" Kimberly shrieked.

Xavier looked up. Three foul-smelling mouths were wide open, inches from his face.

"I'M NOT A FORD MECHANIC, YOU BASTAAAAARDS!"

With absolute desperation, Xavier touched the exposed end of the copper wire to the battery's positive terminal.

BZZZT! CRACKLE!

A bright blue spark erupted, jolting Xavier's hand and sending him flying backward. The high-voltage current from the laptop battery surged through the dead car's electrical system.

VRROOOMMMM!!!!

The SUV's V8 engine roared to life. The headlights flashed on, blinding the dozens of mutants running toward them. The three mutants on the hood recoiled in shock.

"GET IN! EVERYONE, GET IN!" Xavier roared. He threw the remains of his laptop aside, hopped on one foot into the driver's seat, and slammed the door.

Chania and Bianca quickly fought back their opponents, then pulled Kimberly into the back seat. Daniel, his face a mask of excruciating pain, pulled the front passenger door shut just as a pair of mutant hands slammed against the window next to him.

"Vier, run them all over!" Daniel commanded, slumping weakly in his seat.

"Hold on!"

Xavier floored the gas pedal. The SUV's tires screeched on the wet basement concrete, spewing rubber smoke. The two-ton giant shot forward like a raging rhino.

CRASH! CRUNCH!

The steel bull bar slammed into the dozens of mutants blocking their path. Pale bodies were thrown into the air, crushed under the massive wheels with the horrifying sound of cracking bone. Black and red blood splattered across the windshield.

Xavier cranked the wheel, sending the car speeding up the basement exit ramp, leaving the sea of undead scrambling to chase them from behind.

The engine was running. They had steel protection. Now, it was time to leave this campus hell and drive out into a world that was no less broken.