At first, there was darkness.
Not the kind that ca with nightfall.
The kind that felt alive.
The kind that pressed against Aubrey’s eyes and ears and lungs, swallowing sound and turning every shadow into sothing waiting to move.
The front door creaked open beneath her hand.
The familiar sound should have been comforting.
Instead, it made her stomach twist.
Her boots stepped across the wooden floor of the house in Illinois, each footfall producing a soft groan from the aging boards.
This was supposed to be safe.
That thought hit her imdiately.
Safe.
That was the entire reason she had left them here.
Carl.
Adira.
The others.
They had food.
Shelter.
Locked doors.
Distance from the worst of everything.
This place was supposed to be safe.
Yet the mont she stepped inside, sothing felt wrong.
The sll hit first.
Blood.
Not faint.
Not old.
Fresh.
So fresh that her throat tightened.
Aubrey froze just inside the doorway.
The silence bothered her almost as much as the sll.
Normally sobody would have answered by now.
Carl would’ve complained about her being gone too long.
Adira would’ve said sothing sarcastic.
Anybody would’ve said sothing.
Instead—
nothing.
"Carl?" Aubrey called.
No answer.
"Adira?"
Still nothing.
Her pulse quickened.
Slowly, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a flashlight.
The beam flickered once before stabilizing.
Light spilled across the room.
Dust.
Furniture.
A knocked-over chair.
Nothing that imdiately explained the sll.
"Guys, I’m back."
Her voice sounded smaller this ti.
Less confident.
The beam swept across the living room.
Then stopped.
A body rested on the couch.
Relief imdiately surged through her.
Soone was sleeping.
Had to be.
From this distance she could have sworn she saw movent.
A slow rise and fall.
Breathing.
"Ay."
She let out a shaky laugh.
"You scared the hell out of ."
Walking closer, she reached out and grabbed the figure’s shoulder.
The second she pulled—
everything stopped.
The flashlight illuminated the face.
The expression.
The stillness.
The reality.
Aubrey recoiled so fast she nearly tripped over herself.
Her stomach lurched.
The old man wasn’t sleeping.
Hadn’t been for a long ti.
The shock frozen on his face was enough.
She didn’t need anything else.
Didn’t want anything else.
A dark, heavy feeling settled into her chest.
"What the fuck...?"
The words escaped before she could stop them.
She backed away.
Then looked around.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
The shadows felt closer.
"Carl!"
Her voice cracked.
"Adira!"
Louder now.
Desperate.
Fear had replaced caution entirely.
She didn’t care what might hear her.
Didn’t care if infected were nearby.
She needed answers.
"CARL!"
The flashlight beam shook violently in her hand as she searched the room.
Then she saw him.
And the world shattered.
For a second, her brain refused to process what she was looking at.
Carl.
Motionless.
Hanging above the floor.
The sight was enough.
Aubrey let out a sound she didn’t even recognize as her own.
The flashlight nearly slipped from her fingers.
Her knees buckled.
Tears ca instantly.
Ugly.
Raw.
Uncontrolled.
She covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming again.
Then she heard movent.
A sound.
Small.
Wet.
Behind her.
Aubrey turned.
Adira stood in the doorway.
Or sothing wearing Adira’s face.
Her clothes were filthy.
Her expression wrong.
Her eyes burned with a red glow that made Aubrey’s stomach drop.
Then she smiled.
A familiar smile.
One Aubrey had seen a hundred tis before.
Only now it felt monstrous.
"Aubrey, Aubrey, Aubrey..."
Her voice was almost playful.
"Mind stepping away from my al for ?"
Aubrey stared.
For half a second she couldn’t move.
Couldn’t think.
Couldn’t breathe.
Then sothing inside her snapped.
The pistol appeared in her hand.
The shots rang out one after another.
The flashes illuminated the room in violent bursts.
Adira laughed.
Actually laughed.
Even as she staggered backward.
Even as Aubrey emptied round after round toward her.
The laughter never stopped.
By the ti the gun clicked empty, Aubrey was shaking.
Breathing hard.
Tears running down her face.
Then—
another laugh.
Directly behind her.
Aubrey spun around.
And felt her heart stop.
Lila stood there.
Not the Lila she knew.
Not really.
She looked like sothing pulled from a nightmare.
Dressed in white.
Eyes glowing red.
A cruel smile resting on her lips.
And standing in front of her—
Adrian.
He wasn’t speaking.
Wasn’t moving.
Just standing there.
Looking at Aubrey.
Sothing broke inside her.
Sothing that had already been cracking for weeks.
"You caused this...?"
The words barely escaped her throat.
Lila didn’t answer.
Instead, she gently took Adrian’s face in her hands.
Turned his head.
And kissed him.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Never once breaking eye contact with Aubrey.
Like she wanted her to watch.
Like she wanted her to understand.
Like she was reminding her of sothing.
Claiming sothing.
Aubrey couldn’t look away.
Couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe.
Then—
she scread.
And woke up.
Aubrey bolted upright in the truck.
Sweat drenched her clothes.
Her lungs burned.
For several seconds she couldn’t tell what was real.
The truck.
The seats.
The sunlight.
The voices outside.
Everything felt distant.
Wrong.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Hyperventilation.
Panic.
The remnants of the dream still clung to her.
"You good, Aubrey?"
Isabella’s voice cut through the fog.
Aubrey looked at her.
Then around the truck.
Then back at Isabella.
"Where the fuck...?"
She rubbed her face.
Trying to force herself back into reality.
Isabella shifted awkwardly.
"They’re trying to find replacent tires."
Aubrey blinked.
"Tires?"
"The ones we had got shot out."
"Oh."
Right.
The infected.
The chase.
Callahan.
Reality slowly returned.
Aubrey sank back into her seat.
A long silence followed.
Then Isabella spoke again.
Carefully.
Like she was stepping through a minefield.
"Hey, Aubrey?"
Aubrey already sounded exhausted.
"What?"
"You think maybe we could talk?"
Aubrey glanced at her.
"About what?"
Isabella hesitated.
Then shrugged weakly.
"Last night. Everything."
Sothing flickered across Aubrey’s face.
Guilt.
Pain.
Anger.
Maybe all three.
She reached for the door handle.
"I’ll pass."
The door opened.
"I need so fresh air."
And just like that she was gone.
Leaving Isabella staring after her.
"Oh."
The disappointnt slipped out before she could stop it.
"...okay."
—
It had been a few minutes since we’d pulled into the abandoned auto shop.
The place looked like every other building we’d passed for the last several months.
Broken windows.
Rusted signage.
Overgrown weeds pushing through cracked concrete.
Dead.
Everything looked dead nowadays.
Hale and a few others were inside trying to find replacent tires while the rest of us waited around the lot pretending we weren’t completely exhausted.
Honestly, I still wasn’t sure how we’d gotten away.
Every ti I replayed it in my head, it felt less believable.
Callahan.
That blonde infected woman.
The armored vehicle.
The fact we hadn’t lost anybody.
It all felt like sothing that should’ve ended differently.
My hand drifted toward my mouth before I realized what I was doing.
I wiped at my lips.
Imdiately regretted it.
I could still rember the taste.
tallic.
Wrong.
The woman’s blood.
Just thinking about it made my stomach turn.
I spat onto the concrete.
"...fucking disgusting."
More importantly—
what the hell had been wrong with her?
Most infected wanted to kill you.
Eat you.
Rip you apart.
She’d looked like she wanted to have fun.
That part bothered more than anything.
The smile.
The way she’d looked at .
The way she’d reacted after—
"Nope."
I physically shook my head.
Didn’t want to think about it.
Didn’t want to rember it.
"Adrian."
Hale’s voice cut through my thoughts.
I looked up.
"What?"
He was crouched near a stack of tires.
Holding a clipboard.
Looking annoyed.
" You rember what the model was?"
I blinked.
"Oh."
Right.
The truck.
I glanced through the open garage door.
The vehicle sat near the edge of the lot.
Aubrey was climbing out of it.
Probably trying to get away from everyone.
Couldn’t bla her.
"...I think it’s a 2016 Chevy Suburban."
Hale stared at .
"You think?"
"...pretty sure."
"Pretty sure doesn’t help ."
I sighed.
"Fair."
Hale pointed outside.
"Go check."
I imdiately pushed myself upright.
"Yeah, alright."
The mont I stepped outside, cold air hit my face.
Winter wasn’t here yet.
But it was close.
Close enough that I could feel it.
The lot itself was quiet.
Aubrey had already wandered off toward the far side of the property.
Terri and Isabella were sitting near a concrete barrier.
Naomi was helping move supplies.
Everything felt...
Normal.
Or as normal as things could be.
I started toward the truck.
One hand shoved into my pocket.
Mind already drifting elsewhere.
Then sothing grabbed my arm.
Hard.
Before I could react, my back hit tal.
The truck rattled from the impact.
"What the—"
I looked up.
And imdiately regretted it.
Lila.
She was standing right in front of .
Way too close.
Her hand still wrapped around my wrist.
And she looked pissed.
Not yelling pissed.
Not screaming pissed.
The dangerous kind.
The kind where sobody had already thought about what they wanted to say ten tis before confronting you.
My stomach dropped.
"...Lila?"
Her eyes locked onto mine.
Not red.
Not completely.
But close enough that I noticed.
There was sothing restless behind them.
Sothing simring.
Imdiately, I looked around.
Instinct.
Nobody nearby.
Nobody paying attention.
The others were scattered throughout the lot.
Nobody could hear us.
Which sohow made this worse.
"Lila..."
I forced a smile.
"What’re you doing?"
Her expression didn’t change.
Not even a little.
"Wanna tell what the fuck that was?"
I blinked.
"...what?"
"The fuck."
She squeezed my wrist.
"Was that."
My brain completely stalled.
What?
What was she talking about?
I genuinely had no idea.
The fight?
Callahan?
The truck?
The—
Then realization hit .
And sohow that was worse.
"...you’re joking."
Her eye twitched.
"Oh."
That wasn’t a good sign.
"Oh, you’re saying you need to remind you."
My heart skipped.
Imdiately.
Every survival instinct I possessed started screaming.
Before I could even answer, she jerked forward.
Her nails dug into my hand.
Hard.
Pain shot up my arm.
"Ow—"
I stopped talking.
Lila moved closer.
Way closer.
Close enough that strands of her dirty blonde hair brushed against my face.
Close enough that I could feel her breath.
My pulse spiked.
"Lila..."
Then I felt teeth against my neck.
Every muscle in my body locked.
Instantly.
There wasn’t a single rational thought left in my head.
Just pure panic.
No.
No no no.
There was no way.
She wouldn’t.
She’d never—
Her teeth pressed harder.
My eyes widened.
I couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
Then—
she bit down.
Not enough to break skin.
Not enough to draw blood.
Just enough.
Enough to hurt.
Enough to make a point.
Enough to send every alarm bell in my body into overdrive.
When she finally pulled back, I stayed frozen against the truck.
Lila stared at .
For a mont neither of us spoke.
Then sothing softened in her expression.
Not much.
Just enough.
She could see it.
The fear.
The tension.
The fact I’d completely locked up.
"That jog your mory, sweet pea?"
My brain tripped over itself trying to formulate words.
"I—"
Nothing.
Try again.
"I— she was—"
Still nothing.
I swallowed.
"She wouldn’t get off ."
Lila stared.
I continued.
"I had to do sothing."
The explanation sounded pathetic even to .
"She was literally trying to kill ."
"Never again."
My hand throbbed.
I looked down.
Her nails had sohow dug deeper.
Tiny streaks of blood ran across my skin.
I frowned.
That wasn’t normal.
Not even for Lila.
The infection had made her stronger.
Sure.
But this?
This felt different.
"Never again."
She repeated it slowly.
Carefully.
Like she wanted to make sure I heard every word.
"You don’t let another woman straddle you like that."
I blinked.
"...Lila."
"You don’t let another woman talk to you like that."
Her voice dropped lower.
"You don’t let another woman make you afraid."
I stared at her.
Trying to figure out if she was serious.
The worst part?
She absolutely was.
"Lila."
She stepped even closer.
Impossible.
Yet sohow she did.
I could barely think.
My back was pressed against the truck.
There was nowhere else to go.
Then she leaned toward my ear.
And whispered—
"Because that?"
My pulse hamred.
"That’s my job."
My brain completely short-circuited.
Lila smiled.
Not a normal smile.
Not one I recognized.
One that felt wrong.
Possessive.
Satisfied.
Almost proud.
"Always will be."
For several seconds I couldn’t even respond.
Partly because my hand hurt.
Partly because my neck still burned.
Mostly because I had absolutely no idea what the hell I was supposed to say to that.
Lila finally released .
The pressure disappeared.
The pain lingered.
She looked completely calm now.
Like she’d accomplished whatever she’d set out to do.
Then she walked away.
Just...
walked away.
Leaving standing there against the truck.
Confused.
Uncomfortable.
And, if I was being honest—
a little shaken.
I watched her disappear around the corner of the building.
Then looked down at the blood on my hand.
The tiny crescent marks her nails had left behind.
My chest tightened.
Because the thing that bothered most wasn’t what she’d said.
It wasn’t the jealousy.
It wasn’t even the threat.
It was the fact that for the first ti since I’d t her...
I hadn’t been scared of what Lila might do to sobody else.
I’d been scared of what she might do to .
And standing there in that empty parking lot, staring at the marks she’d left behind, I finally understood sothing.
The pathogen wasn’t just changing her anymore.
It was changing the way I saw her.
And sohow...
that terrified even more.
Reviews
All reviews (0)