DEGREES OF DEATH

Chapter 3: The New Rules of Death

 

The sickening snap of Becca’s neck sliced through the corridor air.

Daniel backed away slowly, his calf muscles tightening to bear the full weight of his frame. His right hand trembled. He had just witnessed the brutal mechanics of the transmission firsthand. On this campus, death was no longer the end of the line. Death was merely the prelude to something ravenous.

"Daniel! Wake up! We need to move!" Xavier shook Daniel’s shoulder violently.

"The incubation period is under thirty seconds," Daniel muttered, his eyes narrowing as he logged the data. "This pathogen completely bypasses the human immune system. Mutation is instantaneous."

"I don't give a damn about your biology theories! Let's go!"

A sharp female scream suddenly echoed from the western stairwell.

Two students were sprinting down the corridor. Chania hauled Bianca along with everything she had. Bianca wept hysterically, their hair disheveled and caked in dust. Behind them, a male student crawled at an unnatural speed, his mouth smeared with a dark crimson fluid.

"Daniel! Help us!" Chania shrieked the moment she spotted him at the turn.

Daniel did not hesitate. A single second of doubt had already cost Becca her life. He refused to let another death happen before his eyes. His fear evaporated, replaced entirely by a cold calculation for survival.

"Xavier, open classroom 3-A on your left," Daniel ordered, his voice sharp and absolute.

Daniel lunged forward, not away from the danger, but toward the fleeing girls. His movements were efficient. He grabbed Chania and Bianca by their arms at the same time, his strength surging on pure adrenaline. He shoved both girls into the empty classroom.

Xavier dived in right behind them. Daniel spun around, facing the hallway.

The crawling student lunged for the opening. Daniel slammed the heavy wooden door with the full weight of his left shoulder.

A violent impact rattled the solid teak frame. The creature's jaw struck the outer edge of the door just before it sealed shut. Daniel turned the key in the lock. The sharp metallic click saved their lives.

"Brace the door, Xavier!" Daniel commanded.

Xavier threw his back against the wood, his sneakers scraping against the tiles as he resisted the pressure from the other side. "Damn it! They're incredibly strong! It feels like trying to hold back a rabid bull!"

Bianca collapsed into the corner of the room. The air in the classroom was stifling, sweat soaking through her uniform. Her tears flowed freely as she pulled her knees to her chest and let out a deafening shriek.

"I want to go home! I don't want to be here! Mom!" she wailed.

Chania immediately threw her arms around her friend's shoulders. "Calm down, Bianca. We're safe in here. Daniel locked the door. You're safe."

"We're not safe, Chania! They're eating people right in front of us! They're monsters!" Bianca’s screams only grew louder, piercing through the classroom walls.

The thudding against the wooden door instantly turned brutal. It was no longer just one creature outside. Bianca’s hysterics were creating a domino effect.

"Daniel," Becca’s raspy voice drifted faintly through the gap beneath the door. Her growl was distorted, sounding like fouled air forced through a rusted iron pipe.

Filthy fingernails began to claw at the wood, a grating sound that set their teeth on edge. Small wooden splinters showered onto the floor.

"Damn it, Bianca, shut the hell up!" Xavier yelled, his face pale, the veins in his neck bulging as he held the door. "You're drawing them right to us!"

Bianca ignored him, her panic entirely overriding her reason. She kept shrieking for her family over and over.

Losing Becca had burned away the last remnants of Daniel’s innocence. He understood that the old world order had collapsed. New rules had to be enforced if they wanted to see tomorrow's sunrise. His fear was gone, replaced by a cold, absolute fury.

Daniel walked over to Bianca, his footsteps slow but carrying a heavy weight of intimidation.

"Daniel," Chania looked up, her face wet with tears as she tried to shield Bianca with her body. "Please don't be harsh. She's just terrified."

"Fear is a luxury we cannot afford right now." Daniel knelt before them.

He reached out with his left hand and clamped it firmly over Bianca's mouth. The movement was not meant to cause pain, but it was firm enough to lock her jaw shut.

Bianca’s eyes widened in shock, and she thrashed wildly in Chania’s embrace.

"Listen to me very carefully," Daniel said, his voice dropping to a low, merciless monotone. "Your tears will not bring your family here. Your crying only summons the monsters outside."

Bianca shook her head weakly, her tears wetting Daniel’s palm.

"Every decibel you produce is a dinner invitation to them." Daniel stared directly into her eyes. "I just watched a friend die because I hesitated. From this second on, I will not hesitate to throw you out that window if you keep screaming. Do you understand the rule?"

Chania swallowed hard, a chill running down her spine. She was seeing a completely different side of Daniel. The top student who was usually so calm now seemed far more dangerous than the threats lurking in the hallway.

Bianca stopped struggling. Her lips ceased their trembling beneath his hand, and she gave a slight, submissive nod, panting heavily through her nose for oxygen.

Daniel slowly withdrew his hand and stood up, looking at the occupants of the room. "Good. Save your strength for running."

A profound silence fell over classroom 3-A, broken only by the ragged breathing of the four living souls inside.

Daniel’s tactical assessment proved correct. With the noise inside extinguished, the assaults on the wooden door gradually weakened. The scratching stopped, and the chaotic footsteps outside began to drift away. They had lost the scent of their prey.

"They're leaving," Xavier whispered softly, cold sweat pouring down his temples into his collar. The tension in his back slowly eased against the door.

"Don't move," Daniel hissed back. "Keep your weight on it."

Xavier nodded, keeping his mouth firmly shut.

The tension relaxed slightly. Chania rubbed Bianca’s back in silence. Daniel leaned against the instructor’s desk, closing his eyes for a brief moment to stabilize his racing pulse.

But their safety was an illusion.

A dark shadow suddenly blocked the light filtering through the corridor window next to the classroom door. Daniel’s eyes snapped open.

Becca’s face was pressed flush against the glass, her entirely white eyes staring straight at him. The muscles in her face twitched erratically, and her torn, blood-slicked mouth hung wide open in a silent scream. She tilted her head in jerky movements, as if she had just discovered a new toy.

Becca drew her head back, then smashed her forehead into the windowpane with maximum force.

A sharp crack shattered the silence of the room. A spiderweb pattern erupted instantly across the glass, destroying its structural integrity in a single blow.