DEGREES OF DEATH

8. Logistics and a Migration of Death

The grey light of dawn crept through the gaps in the grimy curtains of Room 2-B. The morning brought no warmth, only highlighting the grim scene inside the room, which now smelled of sweat, dust, and fear.

Outside, the overnight storm had subsided into a light drizzle, leaving a damp fog clinging to the campus grounds. The humidity was still suffocating.

A low rumbling sound broke the silence. It was Xavier's stomach. He was curled up on the floor hugging his knees, his face pale and his lips dry and cracked. In another corner, Alex was asleep sitting up, while Bianca and Kimberly leaned weakly against the wall, their eyes hollow from lack of sleep.

Daniel had been awake for two hours. More accurately, he hadn't been able to sleep at all. The throbbing pain from his heavily bandaged right shoulder felt like a thousand needles stabbing him every time he took a deep breath.

He looked up at Chania, who was asleep near the professor's desk. She must have been exhausted from tending to his arm all night. Guilt gnawed at him again. He hated feeling useless. He hated being a burden.

With great difficulty, Daniel pushed himself to his feet, stifling a groan as gravity pulled on his right shoulder. He walked quietly over to Xavier and gently kicked the toe of his shoe.

"Vier. Wake up," Daniel whispered hoarsely.

Xavier jolted awake, his eyes darting around frantically for a threat. Seeing Daniel, he rubbed his face roughly. "Jeez, Niel. I thought I was in the afterlife."

"We're going out now," Daniel said quietly, adjusting the black backpack containing the specimen on his back. He then pointed to Xavier’s aluminum baseball bat. "Bring your weapon. We're finding food."

Hearing the words 'going out,' Chania, a light sleeper, immediately woke up. Her eyes widened as she stared at Daniel. "Where are you going, Niel?! Your arm is messed up!"

"It's because my arm is messed up that I have to make sure you guys don't starve to death in here," Daniel replied flatly. He picked up his teak club from the floor, this time gripping it with his left hand. It felt awkward and wrong, but he had no choice. "Xavier and I are going down to the convenience store near the front gate. It's only about five hundred yards from the faculty lobby."

"No! You're crazy, Niel. Let me and Alex go!" Chania protested, stepping in front of the door to block him.

"Alex is still in deep shock over Noah. He won't be able to think straight if he runs into a monster out there," Daniel looked at Chania intently, his tone softening but remaining absolute. "I may be crippled right now, Chan. But my brain still works. We need calories, or by tomorrow morning, we won't have the energy to run. Give me one hour."

Chania bit her lower lip, fresh tears welling in her eyes. But seeing the resolve in Daniel's gaze, she finally took a step back. "One hour, Niel. If you're not back, I'm coming after you."

"Don't be stupid. If I'm not back, you lock this door and find a way out through the roof," Daniel commanded. He turned to Xavier. "Let's go, Vier. Leave your laptop bag here. We'll take two empty bags from the back lockers."

Xavier swallowed hard, looking at his beloved laptop bag with a heavy heart before nodding in resignation. He grabbed two empty backpacks and his bat. "Fine. For once, I'll be the logistics hero."

Daniel and Xavier slowly slid the barricading desk aside, slipped out, and Chania immediately locked the door again from the inside.

The second-floor corridor was still silent. Last night's bloodstains were beginning to dry. Daniel led the way, every step carefully calculated. He held the teak club in his left hand, trying to get used to his new center of balance.

They went down the emergency staircase, avoiding the main lobby where the mutants had crashed against the door. As they stepped out of the faculty building, a light drizzle greeted them. The morning air was bone-chilling.

"Stick to the edge of the field. Don't step in any deep puddles," Daniel whispered.

They crept behind wet bushes, hugging the outer wall of the campus. A few times, they saw pale figures standing motionless in the middle of the soccer field, their faces tilted up toward the cloudy sky as if enjoying the raindrops. The creatures were in a passive phase, but their ears twitched at the slightest rustle of leaves.

Xavier walked with bated breath, his feet carefully following Daniel's exact footsteps.

After ten minutes that felt like ten hours, they finally managed to climb a low side fence and jump down onto the sidewalk of the main road. The scene outside was far more horrific. Cars were crashed into each other, some of them burned-out husks. The bodies of humans who hadn't turned were scattered on the asphalt, their guts spilled out.

Across the street was a two-story convenience store. Its glass door was shattered to pieces.

"There it is," Xavier whispered, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the stocked food aisles in the distance. "You think it's safe?"

"Only one way to find out," Daniel replied. "Stay low. We'll use the cashier's counter as a blind spot."

They crossed the street quickly and slipped into the store. The crunch of broken glass under their shoes made Xavier’s heart nearly leap out of his chest.

The smell inside was nauseating. A mixture of spilled floor cleaner, sour milk, and the metallic stench of blood from the cashier's body, which lay behind the counter with a torn-out throat.

"Split up. You handle the bread, crackers, and bottled water. No soda, it'll just make us thirstier," Daniel ordered, his voice barely a breath. "I'll get the canned food, corned beef, and medicine from the front aisle."

Xavier nodded quickly and headed for aisle three. His hands worked like a machine, grabbing dozens of bread rolls, energy bars, and bottles of water, stuffing them into his backpack until it was bulging. His stomach growled at the sight of the food, but he restrained himself.

Daniel was in the first aisle. Using his left hand, he grabbed cans of sardines and corned beef. His movements were clumsy and slow. Every so often, his right shoulder would throb with pain when he unconsciously tried to move his bound arm.

Focus, Niel. Stop being a baby, he cursed himself internally.

They had almost finished packing when a small disaster struck.

In the back aisle, Xavier tried to reach a large bottle of water on the top shelf. But his overstuffed backpack threw him off balance. His right elbow knocked over a row of energy drink cans on the adjacent shelf.

Clang! Clatter! Crash!

Three aluminum cans hit the tiled floor, the sound echoing loudly in the silent store.

Xavier froze, his eyes wide with horror. "I'm so dead," he whispered.

Daniel, in the front aisle, immediately stopped moving. He gripped his teak club tightly.

From the back storeroom door, which had been half-closed, came a deep, wet growl. The door was shoved open violently. A creature emerged. It was a store employee, his red uniform blackened with dried blood. The left side of his face was nearly gone, exposing his cheekbone and gaping teeth.

The creature sniffed the air, its breathing ragged, then its head swiveled jerkily toward the aisle where Xavier stood.

"Grrrrr…"

Its milky white eyes locked onto Xavier. Without warning, the creature took off at a run, crashing through snack displays and sending bags of chips flying.

"Shit!" Xavier screamed. He panicked. Instead of running toward Daniel, he backed away until his back hit an ice cream freezer. He raised his bat with trembling hands and swung blindly at the charging mutant.

Swing!

Xavier's swing missed by a mile. Fear had ruined his accuracy. The creature ducked under the swing and tackled him at the waist, slamming him to the tile floor.

"Niel! Help! NIEL!" Xavier shrieked hysterically, using both hands to hold back the creature's jaws as it tried to bite his neck. Black slime from the monster's mouth dripped onto his face. The thing was incredibly strong.

Daniel sprinted from the front aisle. He couldn't use his right arm to balance, so his run was slightly lopsided. But his eyes held a cold, murderous glint.

"Hold its head, Vier!" Daniel roared.

He charged forward. Swinging the heavy teak club with just his left hand was a crazy feat of balance. Daniel twisted his waist to the left, gathering momentum, and brought the club straight down like a blacksmith swinging a sledgehammer.

THWACK!

The blunt impact landed squarely on the temple of the mutant pinning Xavier.

The creature was knocked sideways. But the momentum of the one-handed swing twisted Daniel's right shoulder. An explosion of agony erupted from the joint, as if his collarbone had just been re-broken. His vision swam with black spots, and he fell to his knees with a loud groan.

"Argh! Son of a bitch!" Daniel cursed, fighting the pain that brought tears to his eyes.

The monster wasn't dead. It crawled back up, its forehead caved in, and prepared to attack the now-helpless Daniel.

"Die, you bastard!"

Xavier, back on his feet and fueled by adrenaline, swung his baseball bat with full force from behind.

CRACK! SNAP!

The aluminum bat connected with the back of the monster's neck with the loud snap of breaking bone. The creature collapsed to the floor and went still forever.

Xavier was gasping for air, his chest heaving. He stared at the corpse below him, then at his dented bat. He had just gotten his first direct kill.

"Are… are you okay, Niel?" Xavier asked, still breathless. He quickly knelt to help Daniel to his feet.

Daniel nodded slowly, his face pale as he fought against the throbbing pain in his arm. "Good job, Vier. You didn't hesitate."

"I almost pissed my pants, Niel," Xavier chuckled grimly, though his hands were still shaking violently. He hoisted the full backpack onto his shoulders. "Let's get out of here before its buddies show up for the morning shift."

"Wait," Daniel stopped him with his left hand. He glanced out the store's glass front. The drizzle outside was starting to feel strange. The distant growls, which were usually random, now sounded odd. Too synchronized. Too rhythmic.

"We're going up to the second floor for a minute. Through the inside stairs. I want to check the street," Daniel ordered, picking up his club.

"Check what now, Niel? We got the food!" Xavier protested.

"Just get up there, quit whining!" Daniel snapped.

They climbed the narrow stairs behind the cashier's desk that led to the second-floor office area. The upstairs storage room was empty, with a large, dirty glass window that looked directly out onto the main road and the campus gate across from it.

Daniel walked to the window, wiping away the grime with the sleeve of his shirt. He squinted, trying to see through the morning fog.

A second passed. Then two. Daniel's breathing slowly stopped.

"Vier," Daniel called out hoarsely. His voice was small, as if his vocal cords had just been squeezed by absolute terror. "Get over here. Now."

Xavier dropped his backpack and walked to the window. "What's the big deal—"

Xavier's knees went weak. He had to grab the window frame to keep from falling. All the color drained from his face.

Down below, the main road, which had been dotted with a few dozen randomly wandering corpses, was now a completely different scene.

As far as the eye could see, from the north end of the street to the campus gate, thousands… no, maybe tens of thousands of the undead were walking. They were no longer moving randomly or standing still. Under the light drizzle that kept the air damp, tens of thousands of them were walking at a constant, steady pace, packed together in one giant column that covered the entire road.

And what made Daniel’s blood truly freeze in his veins was their direction. The thousands of creatures weren't heading toward the convenience store. They were all marching through the main campus gate, migrating in a single, deadly, straight line.

"They're not just wandering, Niel," Xavier whispered, his voice trembling as he stared in horror at the sea of flesh below. "They're… they're all heading for our faculty building."

Daniel clenched his left fist so tightly his nails dug into his palm. His face hardened, the veins in his neck standing out. Thousands of monsters were walking directly toward Room 2-B. The place where Chania, Bianca, Kim, and Alex were hiding.

"They smell the blood from inside," Daniel hissed coldly. He spun around, grabbing his backpack roughly. "We have to get back to campus now. Or they're all going to be mincemeat before noon."