CHAPTER 37 — Sublevel Three
Elion — POV
The Variant's body was on the ground forgotten, when we left the mall.
We didn't linger.
Not with that noise, or not with those survivors watching us from the upper floor like wolves sizing up prey.
We piled back into the SUV— the bags, supplies, toys, everything stored in my Inventory—and I started the engine.
No one spoke immediately.
Not out of fear.
But because our hearts were still racing.
Alexiy stayed close behind my seat again, eyes down, maybe thinking about the future, or about the monster I'd just killed? Rea watched the rearview like she expected survivors to follow. Delilah scanned every rooftop we passed.
Meso… Meso was practically vibrating.
She turned her tablet sideways and pulled up something that looked like a floor plan—or a blueprint.
"Okay," she said, tapping the screen with manic enthusiasm. "Hospital next. Main goal: testing rooms on the East Wing, Sublevel 3. That's where they kept all the fun stuff."
"Fun?" I echoed. "As in… medical tools?"
"Research tools," she corrected, eyes gleaming. "But yes— Special scanning equipment, Extreme microscopes, cryo-preservers, analyzers… and of course—"
She leaned forward between the front seats, grinning.
"The pharmacy."
Alexiy frowned. "Is that really… safe?"
"Oh, Alexiy," Meso said sweetly, patting the air like she was petting an imaginary kitten. "All drugs are fun drugs. It just depends on how you use them."
Rea choked. Delilah looked away. Alexiy turned pale.
I sighed. "Meso, stop scaring people."
"I'm not scaring anyone," she said. "I'm being educational."
Right.
We drove in tense silence for a few moments, weaving past overturned ambulances and burnt cars.
"And besides," she continued casually, "we also need basic things. Gauze, needles, syringes, saline, disinfectants, epipens, morphine, scalpels, sutures… in case, you know."
"In case the worst happens," Rea finished grimly.
"Exactly." Meso beamed. "See? Shared goals. You can't expect me to operate without the proper tools right?"
Alexiy didn't speak, but she nodded. Until the girls realized Meso would be doing any medical kind of stuff. "Wait Meso... why would you do be doing any surgery?"
"Well I may not be a licensed doctor but I do know enough about human anatomy, I could pass an exam."
The silence in the car felt vey deep, as everyone was wondering what kind of life Meso lived. I only knew parts and even those were hard to believe.
And with every mile we approached the hospital, the part of the city around us grew more destroyed.
Collapsed buildings and cracked roads. Glass everywhere and more bodies. More undead.
It was quiet now, but the kind of quiet that smelled like something terrible happened and never left.
After ten minutes, the huge white shape of Alder Falls General Hospital came into view—half the windows shattered.
"Okay, Elion." Meso leaned forward again. "Take a right. There's an employee access road up ahead. We're going to the underground parking."
"Not the main entrance?" I guessed.
"No." She shook her head quickly. "I bet it was too populated during the collapse. The rout I've planned is the, East Wing Sublevel 3. It was a private access points for staff, so it's less likely to have been swarmed. When the world went to shit."
I nodded and followed her directions.
We rolled down a ramp into a dim, concrete corridor.
Level 1 passed. Level 2 passed.
Finally—
SUBLEVEL 3 — EMPLOYEE ACCESS
I pulled into a shadowed corner near a metal door.
Meso slapped the dashboard. "Perfect. Park here."
I turned off the engine. Silence swallowed us again.
"Everyone ready?" I asked.
Rea checked her magazine. "Yes."
Delilah nodded.
Alexiy inhaled deeply. "…Yeah."
Meso clapped her hands once, like a child about to open presents. "Let's go!"
We approached the metal door together.
It was one of those big, thick, metal doors. But it had a security window, it was't fully opaque, but the foggy glass seemed to be covered by something.
I grabbed the handle. No give.
Meso tapped the door with her knuckle. "Probably electronically sealed during the collapse. Security lockdown protocol. Either that or you need a badge to get in." She said then pointing to the card reader at the side.
"So how do we get inside?" Alexiy asked.
"Oh," I said. "That part's easy."
I reached inward.
I felt the intent, and forced the ice to form. As it hardened and took shape I made sure to dump mana to strengthen the ice.
An ice 'crowbar' formed in my hand— solid, sharp, and cold enough to burn.
I smashed it into the center of the window on the door, cracked the glass, and shattered the small pane with a single hit.
The sound echoed into the empty parking garage.
Alexiy stared at me like I'd just robbed a bank. Rea and Delilah looked tensed. While Meso leaned forward with interest.
I reached in, unlocked the door from the inside, and pushed it open.
"Problem solved."
Meso stepped in behind me instantly.
"I really want to sit down with you sometime and run controlled tests on your powers," she said dreamily. "You're making ice 'crowbars' now? That's so… practical."
"I'm not sure that's the compliment you think it is." I respond dead faced.
"Oh, it is~" She giggled
The hallway beyond was motionless, and silent. The fluorescent lights flickered overhead.
Meso took point, and I covered our back. Alexiy stayed near me, while Rea and Delilah were alert. Meso walked like she was floating, following the map she downloaded onto her tablet.
We passed broken gurneys and overturned wheelchairs. Medical posters fluttered lightly as our movement disturbed stale air.
Finally, Meso stopped outside a door marked:
RESTRICTED ACCESS — LAB 3B
She grinned."This one."
The door was locked. Again.
She looked at me.
"Elion~" she sang.
"Yeah, yeah." I cracked my knuckles.
I stepped back, and lifted the ice crowbar, as if were a baseball bat, and smashed out the window panel on the lab wall. Not the small window on the door.
Glass rained down inside the room, and the hallway.
Without hesitation, I pulled myself through the broken opening, boots crunching on glass.
Behind me, I felt their eyes on my back.
I peeked out through the hole.
"What?"
Rea stared. Delilah stared. Alexiy stared.
Meso smiled brightly.
"Elion," she said cheerfully, "that was the single most unnecessarily dramatic entrance I've ever seen."
I shrugged. "Well if the end of the world is happened of course I'm going to make a dramatic entrance."
"What does that even—"
"And," I cut in, "I'm not paying for the repairs."
Inside the room, I grabbed a tarp from my Inventory and spread it neatly over the broken glass. After all I can be a gentleman.
Meso slipped through first, hopping lightly and landing with a soft thud.
She turned back, hands on her hips.
"Well, it's not like morals, laws, or rules hold any value anymore," she said. "The world ended. Nobody cares about 'damage to public property' now. As long as we don't turn into feral beasts, I think we're fine ignoring silly rules. Right?"
She turned her head slightly, eyes landing on Alexiy.
Alexiy hesitated… then nodded. Stepping through the window felt like a small act of rebellion.
Meso stepped aside to let the others enter, then delivered one last line—quiet, mischievous, explosive.
"And besides… the stupid law against polygamy is definitely going to get broken. Right?"
She winked straight at Alexiy.
Alexiy's entire face went red.
"Wh-what? N-no! That's— I'm not—!"
Meso leaned close, whispering with wicked delight:
"Oh? So you're just planning on being Elion's mistress?"
Alexiy's brain short-circuited.
Before she could respond, Meso patted her cheek, turned, and skipped deeper into the lab like she'd just dropped a nuclear bomb and walked away.
Alexiy stared after her, face flushed, heart pounding, thoughts spiraling.
"You good?" I coughed lightly.
She jumped and nodded fast— too fast.
"Let's proceed." I turn around and follow Meso. The sooner we get the stuff the sooner we can leave.