Chap #7 Thud, Thud, Crash

Joy chuckled. "That's a lot to ask from someone you met less than an hour ago, no?" But the humor did nothing to ease the tension.

Keneric squeezed her hand. "Look, we don't have much choice here. And those cars are close enough. I'll do the jump first so you can have more confidence."

Joy stared at the white sedan, which was barely four feet away, and nodded. She took a deep breath. "Fine. But if I die, I'll haunt your next ten generations."

"Deal," Keneric smiled. "Now watch carefully."

He turned around, backed up to the edge of the SUV's roof, and with a running start, leaped across the gap. He landed with a solid thud on the white sedan's roof, turned to face her, and extended his hand.

"See? That was easy, no? Your turn."

Joy nodded. She was never the athletic type—if her wide-frame glasses didn't scream that out loud, nothing else would. Looking down at the green bubbling water below, she clenched her knuckles until they turned white. The image of the rats mutating surfaced in her mind.

But Keneric was still standing there, arm stretched out, making it impossible for her to wimp out.

"Just run and jump," he nodded to her.

She took a few steps back on the SUV's roof and, with a graceful start, finally jumped.

Her landing, however, was anything but graceful—instantly making her question her life choices. Good thing Keneric was there to catch her, or she would've slipped right off the edge into the swamp water.

She breathed heavily, one hand over her chest, the other gripping Keneric's.

"I DID IT!" she exclaimed with a brilliant smile.

Keneric nodded. "One down, a few more to go." He pointed at a pickup truck. "That's next."

Joy bit her lip. That jump looked a bit longer. But Keneric's extroverted energy made it hard to argue.

Following his lead, they jumped again, landing on the rear tray—this time with much more grace. They repeated the process once more, finally ending up on top of a black station wagon.

With each jump, they got closer to the parking ramp, lit dimly by the flickering red emergency light.

"You're a natural," Keneric praised. "One more jump and we can almost reach the exit ramp."

But this last car… it was considerably farther than the others.

Keneric eyeballed the distance—at least 7.5 to 8 feet.

"This one's hard," he admitted.

Even Keneric didn't feel too confident about it. And Joy, already huffing and puffing, shook her head.

"I can't," she said. "That's too far. I'll never make it."

"You can," Keneric insisted, but his voice lacked the confidence it held earlier.

He quickly looked around for an alternative. Maybe a car with the keys still inside? But after checking every vehicle they'd landed on—nothing. They were not that lucky.

He thought about using the axe to rip out a seat, maybe fashion a stepping stone. But nothing he found was stable enough. No makeshift bridge, no shortcut.

Then a disturbance rippled through the green water.

Keneric noticed it first.

The mushroom that had fallen into the mystical swamp earlier now emerged—transformed. It was five times larger, about the size of a baby. Its white head now glowed hunter green. Spider-like legs protruded from its base as it climbed the SUV beneath the vent. A ghostly mouth had formed on its front, replacing its once-cute appearance with pure horror.

"What the—" Joy gasped, stumbling back.

Keneric also stepped away, then glanced toward the final car and the bubbling liquid below.

He took a deep breath. "Let's go."

Then he sprinted across the station wagon and launched himself into the air with all his strength. Mid-air, he also leaned forward, letting the wind rush past his face.

Joy watched him suspended for a second before he crash-landed on the frunk of a white electric truck. The axe stabbed into the roof, helping him stabilize as he slid toward the edge.

"Made it," Keneric heaved, turning back and extending his hand again.

He glanced toward the mushroom—now vanishing into the water below.

But then more mushrooms started falling from the vent above, splashing into the cursed liquid.

All Keneric could think was: the mushroom army was about to get a boost.

"Come! We don't have time!" he yelled.

But Joy didn't move. Fear rooted her in place.

Even after back-and-forth pleading, she still wasn't convinced.

Keneric actually thought about leaving her.

They had just met. He wasn't some knight in a shining armor ready to die for a stranger. He had stayed this long only because he felt a sliver of responsibility after coaxing her out of the SUV.

But that sliver wasn't strong enough to tie him down.

Joy saw the hesitation. She smiled sheepishly. "Don't worry about me. Go. I'll figure something out."

But inside, she was panicking. Behind her: monsters. Ahead: a deadly jump. Below: mutating swamp water.

Without Keneric, she was as good as dead.

Then the entire parking lot shook.

A crash ripped through the air, and a one-story tall golem smashed a hole between the two buildings.

Joy collapsed onto the station wagon's roof, horrified by the hulking creature that now stared at them through the giant opening.