Chapter <b>214 </b>No Exit, No Excuses
Chapter 214 No Exit, No Excuses
With a few brutal ms, Theresa crushed the zombie’s head into a pulp.
Then, with a swift pivot, she turned around and used Quentin, still strapped to her back, as a <b>human </b>cushion, driving him backward into the narrow gap of the stairwell door. The impact forced a <b>gasp from </b>him<b>. </b>
“Beautiful… I’m still alive, you know,” Quentin wheezed.
“I’m aware,”
“Theresa said casually, and with a sharp <i>ck</i>, she slid thetch into ce, locking the door.
As the crashing and screeching continued from the other side, the teens around her stood frozen, <b>their </b>faces pale, adrenaline still rushing.
*Miss, are… are we trapped down here now?” one of them asked in a shaky voice.
Theresa rolled her eyes. “You might be, but I’m not nning to die in this basement.”
She eyed the door behind her. It wasn’t very thick. Outside, dozens–maybe a hundred–zombies were pounding against it with growing ferocity. Her mental sense swept the area and confirmed they were all ordinary zombies–no mutants in the horde.
That was one major benefit of attacking the city early. At this stage, mutant zombies <b>were </b>still rare. So far, she had only encountered a few. Like ability users, mutants were extremely scarce in the early days. As time passed, both would be moremon–but for now, her odds were good.
She started sketching out a n. If she could lure them all into a trap, she could wipe out the whole group. The only unknown was how many more might be outside.
That was when Ian spoke up. “Miss! I believe there’s another way out!”
He knocked on a section of the wall beside him. The dull echo revealed it was hollow. “This basement connects to the underground parking lot of the mall next door! My dad worked on the development–I’ve been here before. There’s a way through!”
Theresa’s eyes lit up.
She walked over to the wall Ian pointed at and knocked twice. Sure enough, it was hollow. Not a load- bearing concrete wall–just a partition.
She activated her mental ability and scanned beyond the wall. Her range covered about 100 feet. Beyond it was empty. No people. No zombies.
“Step back,” she said, and everyone immediately scrambled away.
With a single <i>boom</i><i>, </i>Theresa kicked through the wall, blowing a man–sized hole straight through the bricks.
Everyone stared, speechless. <i>Even </i><i>if </i><i>that </i><i>wasn’t </i><i>reinforced </i><i>concrete</i><i>… </i><i>that </i><i>was </i><i>still </i><i>a </i>brick <i>wall</i><i>! </i><i>And </i>she just- <i>kicked </i>it <i>down</i><i>! </i><i>One </i>kick?!
They had all been mentally preparing to take turns chiseling through it.
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Chapter <b>214 </b>No Exit, No Excuses
“She’s… amazing.”
“<b>Is </b>she a mutant?<b>” </b>
“She’s definitely a mutant! She already has someone with a space ability–she must be one of those superpower mutants<b>!</b><b>” </b>
<b>“</b>She’s so cool!”
“Follow her! If we stick with her, we’ll definitely get out alive!”
While they were still whispering in awe, Theresa had already strode through the hole, Quentin still strapped to her back like cargo.
Everyone rushed after her, ducking through the gap one by one.
The parking garage beyond was dark and cavernous. The beam from their shlights barely reached beyond the nearest row of massive support columns. A few abandoned cars <b>sat </b>under thick nkets of dust. Theresa paused beside one of the vehicles, sweeping her shlight inside. Dust covered <b>every </b>surface, including the little figurines on the dash. It was clear this car hadn’t moved in ages<b>. </b>
“It’s useless. This thing’s dead,” came Quentin’s voice from behind her.
“Shut it. If you’re not going <i>to </i>say something helpful, don’t speak at all,” Theresa snapped. She had no patience for his cursedmentary.
With a hard tug, she forced the car door open. The vehicle might’ve been junk, but whatever was left inside still had value. She snatched a pack of toilet paper, an unopened bottle of water, and left behind one half–empty bottle–clearly already used and left sitting for who knew how long.
As she moved on, the others–her little line of tagalongs–peeked into the car behind her. When they spotted the half–bottle of water, their eyes lit up like they’d found buried treasure.
No one cared that it had been opened months ago. They were thirsty. That was all that mattered.
“I’m drinking first!” Ginny snatched the bottle without hesitation and downed two–thirds in a single go.
“What the hell, Ginny! We’re all thirsty!” someone shouted.
“I’m dying of thirst! Just let me finish it!”
“No way!” Kieran Creed yanked the bottle from her. “There’s a whole group of us–you nearly finished it on your own! What about the rest of us?!”
“I’m thirsty too,” said his girlfriend, Phoebe Wain, tugging gently on his sleeve.