The key
Chapter 30
Time wasn't on their side. The night posed a danger neither of them could fully put into words. There was no way around it — they had to reach the generator room and switch over to backup power if they wanted a shot at using the live CCTV feed to track down the car.
They made their way down the stairwell, the temperature dropping with every step, the descent made worse by how little they could see. Both kept their guards up, picking through the narrow, cramped hallway with nothing but flashlights scavenged from the hardware store. They found the generator room — locked. There was no key for this one either. They'd have to improvise.
Once inside, they searched for anything resembling a breaker or a control panel. Duncan found something first.
"Hey — come check this out," he called to Leo, who was in the next room over, inspecting signs that someone had clearly been using the space without authorization — a scattered pack of cigarettes, a scramble of empty beer cans.
"What's up?" Leo said, heading over. Duncan was standing in front of a massive machine fitted with two keyholes, both needing to be turned at once before a lever could be pulled to switch over to the generators. One key was missing. Without it, there wasn't much else to try.
Frustrated, they headed toward the parking lot, already running low on time. The nearest exit was about twenty meters north down the hallway — a door mostly used by security.
Before they could reach it, a voice cried out for help. They crouched to the door's window to track the sound and spotted a heavyset man running as fast as his body would let him, right up until he slammed into a parked car and set off its alarm. That alone was a problem — they'd wanted to keep this clean, minimal noise, minimal exposure. At first, they considered just letting it go. They were already risking enough without adding a stranger's life to the pile. But when Leo looked closer, he noticed the man was dressed formally — and something about that made him reconsider.
"Are you stupid?" Duncan whispered, watching Leo's face. He already knew where this was going.
"What if he's got information we need?" Leo answered, eyes locked on the man now lying unconscious outside.
"What if he's just some random guy? It's a mall — all kinds of people wander in," Duncan said, trying to talk him down.
"*Shit,*" Duncan muttered, watching Leo dash out the door anyway.
As convincing as Duncan's point was, Leo wasn't buying it. He took a breath, loosened his shoulders, and eased the door open — the creak of the hinges echoing through the parking lot louder than he would've liked. He moved fast, closing the thirty-five meters toward the man car by car, using each one for cover. With about five meters left to go, an undead shape emerged from the dark nearby. Leo slowed, careful not to expose himself, inching the rest of the way.
*Knew it,* he thought, looking down at the man.
The man's eyes snapped open, and he screamed — Leo clamped a hand over his mouth instantly, scanning the lot for movement. A few seconds passed. Nothing. Still, Leo wasn't about to relax.
"There's an undead right on the other side of this car," he whispered into the man's ear. "So if I were you, I'd keep my voice down — unless you've got a death wish."
The man nodded, shaking. They got up slowly, checking their surroundings twice before starting back toward Duncan, weaving car to car. Just as they were close enough to make a final sprint, an undead cut off their path — and more started pulling themselves out of the dark behind it. Overwhelmed, the man's nerve broke. He bolted upright, screaming, making a straight run for the door and dragging every ounce of the horde's attention with him.
"ARGHHHH — I'M GONNA SURVIVE THIS SHIT!" he screamed, weaving wildly with Leo right behind him. There was nothing left to do but follow — the man had already taken the choice out of their hands.
The horde, starving and savage, surged after them — groaning, howling, trampling over each other in a writhing mass of rotting flesh, closing the gap fast.
If Duncan hadn't thrown a trash bin into their path at the last second, one of them wouldn't have made it back.
With the clock against them and the door's window already starting to crack under the pounding of hands trying to claw through, they scrambled back into the generator room.
"Hey — you work here?" Leo asked, panting, staring down the heavyset man.
"Yeah. I'm — I'm head of security," the man answered between gasping breaths, sweat running down his face, clearly at the edge of what his body could take.
Leo and Duncan exchanged a look, both hoping the next question would finally get them somewhere.
"Do the backup generators still work? We need them on — we're trying to search the mall using the CCTV cameras," Leo said, keeping his voice calm and even.
"Yeah, they work. But you need a key to turn them on," the man said, stammering, clearly stalling.
Frustrated but out of better options, the two gave him the benefit of the doubt, stepping aside to talk it over quietly while the man sat catching his breath. After about five minutes, Duncan started pressing him — where was the last key. Time wasn't on anyone's side, and the pressure cracked him fast.
He'd thought about lying. But he'd already said too much to walk it back now.
Glancing around the room, he finally told them — the key was hidden inside a false compartment just behind Leo.
The second their backs were turned, the man bolted from the room.
*What are they, crazy?* he thought to himself, already halfway up the stairs.
"Did he just—" Leo barked, catching a glimpse of the man disappearing up the stairwell. "Is he an idiot?"
"Don't worry about him. He seems to know what he's doing," Duncan said, already at the table, running his hands along the wall until he found the false compartment. He looked at Leo, popped it open — and there it was. The last key, sitting among a scatter of other forgotten things.
