DEGREES OF DEATH

6. The Night of Evolution & A Shattered Arm

 

The wild shrieks didn't come from one direction, but from every corner of the campus under the night sky. They were no longer the hoarse groans of shambling corpses, but the wet, piercing screams of predators that had caught the scent of fresh blood in the rain.

"RUN! DON'T ANYONE STOP!" Daniel roared, his voice nearly drowned out by the storm.

They burst through the curtain of torrential rain. Visibility was shot, maybe fifteen feet ahead at most. The open field leading to the faculty building felt like a deadly expanse. The rainwater soaking their sneakers was ice-cold, but hot sweat poured down their backs.

Behind them, a rapid succession of splashes grew closer. Fast. Too fast.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Xavier glanced back for a second and his face went white. "Niel! Holy crap, Niel! They can sprint! They're chasing us!" he screamed hysterically, his legs pumping madly against the asphalt.

The principle of the Degrees of Death was working its cruel magic. The damp air and rainwater seeping into the dead pores of the creatures' skin were forcibly expanding their muscle fibers. They were no longer slow-moving corpses; they were water-powered killing machines.

"Focus forward, Vier! Keep running!" Daniel barked, shoving Alex's back as he started to slow down, still in shock from Noah's death. "Lex, move! You wanna die like Noah?!"

The verbal slap snapped Alex out of it. He began running blindly.

Up ahead, Bianca and Chania reached the steps of the law faculty's lobby. They crashed through the main glass door, which was already cracked, and into the dark lobby, followed by Xavier, Alex, and finally, Daniel.

The moment he was inside, Daniel spun around and slammed his hands against the double glass doors.

"Vier! Alex! Help me push this trophy case!" Daniel ordered, pointing to a heavy glass display case filled with university awards near the wall.

The three of them summoned their remaining strength, sliding the heavy cabinet to block the main entrance. A second after it was in place, three soaking-wet figures leaped against the glass from outside.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The glass shuddered violently. The three mutants shrieked in anger, beating against the glass with flayed, ruined hands, leaving streaks of blood and blackish slime on the surface. Their white eyes stared wildly at Daniel, who stood only inches away on the other side.

"Niel, they're different," Chania whispered, her breath ragged as she backed away from the door. "Their movements… they're like they're possessed."

"Up to the second floor," Daniel cut in, not taking his eyes off the creatures behind the glass. "This cabinet won't hold for long. That glass could shatter any second. We find a secure classroom."

They ran up the main staircase, their shoes leaving dirty water tracks on the tile floor. The air inside the building was stuffy, a mix of dust, wet paper, and the lingering stench of blood from the afternoon's massacre.

"Room 2-B," Xavier pointed, his breathing labored. "The door is steel-reinforced and the wood is thick. I saw it from the outside earlier."

Daniel nodded. He took the lead, gripping his teak club tightly. They approached the door to Room 2-B cautiously. Daniel tried the handle. Locked.

"Stand back," Xavier whispered. He took two steps back and kicked the center of the door with all his might. BAM!

The door flew inward, the lock breaking. But as they scrambled inside, a shadow shot out from the corner of the room, swinging a student desk at Xavier's head.

"Die, you crazy monster!" a girl's voice screamed from within.

Daniel reflexively blocked the desk with his teak club. Thwack! The desk was knocked aside. He lunged forward, grabbed the figure's shoulders, and slammed them against the classroom wall before flicking on his phone's flashlight.

"Let go! Let me go!" the girl shrieked, struggling, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Be still! We're human!" Daniel snapped, pinning her shoulders.

The flashlight beam illuminated her face. She was wearing a soaked, oversized denim jacket, her shoulder-length hair a mess, her face wet with tears. Chania and Bianca recognized her instantly.

"Kimberly?!" Bianca exclaimed in shock. She lowered her bow and moved closer. "Kim, it's us! Bianca and Chania!"

Hearing her name, Kimberly slowly opened her eyes. She looked from one familiar face to another, and then she broke down completely, her body slumping to the floor as she hugged her knees.

"I thought … I thought you were all dead," Kim sobbed, her body trembling violently. "I've been hiding in here since this afternoon. The sounds outside were horrible, so much screaming."

Daniel let her go, turning to Alex and Xavier. "Move the professor's desk and those three bookshelves. Block the door. We're holding out here for the night."

They worked in silence, the only sound the scraping of heavy furniture. Once the door was thoroughly barricaded, the room fell quiet again. A chill from outside seeped in through the cracks of the heavily curtained windows. They were all soaked to the bone, shivering, and utterly exhausted, both mentally and physically.

Xavier collapsed to the floor, took off his shoes, and wrung out his wet socks. "Great. Tonight I get to sleep in wet clothes, on an empty stomach, with monsters providing the lullaby. Five stars for campus amenities."

"Can you shut up, Vier?" Alex hissed from a corner where he was hugging his knees. His gaze was vacant. "Noah's dead. He died right in front of me. And you're still complaining about your socks?"

Xavier fell silent, his head bowed. He cursed himself. His dark humor was failing him when his friend was broken.

Suddenly, the crackle of static broke the silence.

Krrsskk… krrsssk…

Every head snapped toward the teacher's desk. A portable pocket radio, likely left behind by a campus security guard, was lying there, its volume turned down low. Daniel immediately walked over and turned the knob up.

"To all citizens… this is an emergency broadcast… krrsskk… The government has declared martial law." A man's deep voice crackled through the static. "…an unknown virus is triggering brutal aggression… avoid all damp and open areas… krsssk… The military is establishing a perimeter… do not leave… krrssk… violators of the Sector 9 quarantine zone will be shot on sight."

The signal then died completely, leaving a painful, empty hum.

"Evacuation? They're sending the army to save us?" Bianca asked, a fragile glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Didn't you hear what he said?" Daniel cut in coldly, turning the radio off. "He said 'isolation,' not 'evacuation.' They're not coming to save us. They're walling off the city to keep the monsters from spreading."

The hope died instantly. The room was once again cloaked in despair.

The night wore on. Exhaustion finally won out over fear. One by one, they fell asleep on the cold tile floor of the classroom. Chania slept with her head on Bianca’s shoulder, Alex was curled up in a corner, and Xavier snored softly, clutching his backpack.

Only Daniel remained wide awake.

He sat leaning against the wall near the window, listening to the rain still raging outside. The droplets drummed against the glass. Inside his head, his pragmatic brain was spinning endlessly.

The forum was right. The rain accelerates their transmission. The humidity turns them into sprinting monsters, Daniel thought. How does it work? If I don't know how fast they are out there, we could all die a stupid death looking for food tomorrow morning.

A sharp curiosity, combined with his ego and survival instinct, began to burn away his logic. As their leader, he felt he couldn't be blind to his enemy's capabilities. He had to see "Phase 2" with his own eyes. He had to scout the corridor.

Daniel stood up silently. He glanced at his sleeping friends. If he brought his heavy teak club, his movements would be slow and might make noise. Besides, he just wanted a peek down the hall, not a fight.

He decided to leave his club leaning against the professor's desk. He just reached into his pocket and pulled out a medium-sized tactical folding knife. He felt it was enough for an emergency. It was an act of arrogance, an act of hubris that would carry a heavy price.

With painstaking slowness, Daniel slid one of the bookshelves aside, creating a gap just wide enough for his body. He slipped out into the second-floor corridor, then pushed the barricade back into place.

The air in the hallway felt different. It was intensely damp and cold, like being in an underground cave. The corridor lights were completely out, leaving only the occasional flash of lightning from the window at the far end.

Daniel crept forward, his shoes silent. The folding knife was open in his right hand. His eyes scanned the length of the hall. Empty. No bodies, no walking shadows.

Maybe they all went down to the courtyard, he thought.

He was just about to turn back when he heard it. Not from in front, not from behind. But from above.

Tap… tap… tap… tap…

A soft, rapid tapping sound, like long fingernails against a concrete surface.

Daniel slowly tilted his head up toward the dim ceiling of the corridor. His blood seemed to freeze in his veins. The breath caught in his throat.

Directly above him, clinging to the concrete ceiling like a giant spider, was a creature. It had been a female student. But her body was horribly transformed. Her skin was severely blistered and red from reacting to the humidity. Her spine was arched backward at an angle that defied all logic, the muscles in her arms and legs bulging and pulsating.

The creature didn't groan. It stared down at Daniel with its wild, white eyes, its torn lower jaw hanging wide open.

Then, the creature let out a sharp hiss. SKREEEEEE!

Before Daniel could even raise his knife to defend himself, the mutant released its grip on the ceiling and dropped like a 150-pound stone, hurtling straight for his chest with the speed of a feral predator.

"Shit!"

THWACK!

Daniel’s body was slammed with incredible force. He was thrown backward through the air, flying nearly six feet before his right shoulder collided squarely with a concrete pillar.

CRACK!

A sickening crack of bone echoed in the silent hallway. Daniel’s vision went white. A dynamite blast of pain exploded from his right shoulder down to his fingertips. His right arm immediately went limp, completely numb. His tactical knife was flung from his grasp, clattering somewhere far down the hall.

Daniel let out a choked groan, collapsing to the tile floor. He tried to crawl backward with his left arm, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he fought off the pain that threatened to make him pass out. He was helpless. He cursed his own stupidity and arrogance for coming out without his primary weapon.

In front of him, the blistered creature scrambled closer with twitchy, unnaturally fast movements. Its torn jaw opened wide, revealing a mess of crooked teeth. The distance between them was now only a matter of inches.

The creature hissed, drooling a thick, black saliva that dripped down onto the cheek of the now-helpless Daniel.