The only sound in the car was the engine.
It trilled low and steady as the road stretched out in front of us. No infected. No gunfire. Just open asphalt and the wind pushing through the shattered window.
I tried to focus on that.
On the quiet.
But the anger wouldn’t settle.
Before I could stop myself, I slamd my palm against the steering wheel.
"Damn it, Lila. What the fuck were you thinking?"
She didn’t flinch.
Didn’t even look at .
Her eyes stayed on her thumbs in her lap, like they were the reason she was still breathing and not .
"We almost got killed because of you. Was that what you wanted!? Was it!??"
My jaw tightened.
"Look at ," I said.
Nothing.
I sucked in a breath, ready to go off again, but I shut my eyes instead. My grip on the wheel tightened until the leather creaked under my fingers.
A dry sound left my throat. Not a laugh. Just air.
"You know," I said, staring at the road, "I’m seriously having second thoughts about going to look for you after this ti."
That made her look up.
Her face changed so fast it almost pissed off more. Like sothing inside her cracked open.
"—you don’t an that," she said. Her voice scraped on the way out.
So now she could talk.
I let out a slow breath through my nose. "Between you almost getting killed multiple tis after I tried to save you... and everything else? I think I do."
I saw it then.
The Amber in her eyes dimd.
Just a little.
I didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad one.
She looked down again.
Then she smiled.
Tears welled up, clinging to her lashes.
Not this shit again.
"You know what?" she said, voice shaking. "You’re right."
Sothing in my chest tightened.
"So was Hailey... Vivian... Aubrey... the others—"
"Hailey?" I snapped. "Wait. What did Hailey say to you?"
She ignored the question.
"I am a handful," she said quietly, like she had accepted a fact. "You should just abandon , Adrian. I’m clearly not worth it."
I glanced at her.
Really looked at her this ti.
The swelling on her cheek. The split in her lip. The bruises forming along her jaw. The way her shoulders curved inward like she was trying to make herself smaller.
Like she was already preparing to be left.
The anger drained out of all at once.
And in its place was sothing worse.
Guilt.
I felt like a complete asshole.
The car rolled back into the dical hub lot and ca to a slow stop.
The place looked the sa as when we left. Quiet. Too quiet.
It was a miracle those bastards hadn’t sent another group to squeeze the old man for more Amber.
Or maybe they had.
And I just hadn’t seen the bodies yet.
Lila looked at , her lips still trembling from what I’d said earlier.
I dropped my head forward and pressed my forehead against the steering wheel. The tal ticked softly as the engine cooled.
"Look, Lila..." I rubbed a hand over my face. "I’m not— I wasn’t going to abandon you. Okay?"
Her expression shifted. Relief cracked through the hurt. I almost missed it.
"Just swear to you won’t pull that kind of stupid shit again," I said. "Promise ."
She nodded slowly at first.
Then faster.
Like she needed to believe her.
I unbuckled my seat belt.
"Get out," I said, sharper than I ant to. "You’re not staying in here."
She fumbled with her belt and followed out.
I moved along the side of the building carefully, keeping close to the walls. I checked through every window before passing it. Dark hallways. Empty beds. No movent.
Minutes passed before I finally pushed the main door open.
The inside lights humd overhead.
I glanced back. Lila was right behind , close enough that I could feel her breath.
I opened my mouth to tell her to give space—
A door down the hall clicked open.
Agnes stepped out, shotgun raised.
For half a second, the barrel pointed straight at my chest.
Then she lowered it when she recognized .
But then— her eyes seed to darken as she noticed the person who was behind .
"You’re back," she said.
"Where’s your old man?" I asked.
"He’s in the lab. Working."
"Show ."
She didn’t argue. She turned and set the shotgun on a stretcher before walking down the hall.
I followed.
The sll of antiseptic hit first. Then sothing else mixed into it.
Sothing sweet and tallic.
Amber.
It hung in the air.
I stopped walking and turned to Lila.
"You wait out here," I said.
Her eyes flickered past toward the lab door.
I held her gaze. "It’s too strong in there."
It was too tempting. Too dangerous for soone who was already addicted.
She stared at for a mont longer.
Then she nodded.
Slowly.
I turned away from Lila and stepped into the lab.
The sll hit harder inside.
Agnes walked in like this was normal.
Of course it was to her.
"Pop, soone’s here for you," she called.
Mark pulled off his goggles and turned around. Relief softened his face when he saw .
I barely noticed.
My eyes were locked on the room.
Tanks lined the walls, filled with glowing amber liquid. Tubes ran between them. Pots simred over burners. Syringes lay arranged on steel trays. The liquid inside the glass tanks bubbled slowly, light catching in it like molten gold.
Despite its clear implications, it was almost beautiful.
The bubbles rose in steady streams. Calm. Controlled.
"Glad to see you back in one piece, Adrian," Mark said.
I didn’t look at him.
"You need to burn this," I muttered.
He heard .
"All of it."
I looked at him then.
His hands lowered the goggles onto the table.
"Adrian, you know I can’t—"
"You said it yourself," I cut in. "This is the shit that gives them teeth."
I gestured toward the tanks. The equipnt. The work he’d poured himself into.
"Destroy it all and get out of here before they co back and—"
"They already ca back," Agnes said.
I turned to her slowly.
"What?"
Mark stepped forward. "Adrian, listen. We didn’t have—"
"What did you do?" My voice ca out low and sharp.
He inhaled once.
"...I gave them the recipe," he said. "So they can make it themselves. Just so they can leave us alone.."
The words didn’t register at first.
Then they did.
"You did what?" My voice rose before I could stop it. "You did WHAT?!"
"We didn’t have a choice!" He shot back. "They said they’d leave us alone forever if we gave it to them. I didn’t see another way out."
"And you believed them?" I snapped.
Silence filled the room.
I stepped back, dragging a hand through my hair as I paced between the glowing tanks.
This was bad.
This was so bad.
"If you were in my situation," Mark said quietly, "you would’ve done the sa thing."
I didn’t answer him.
A heavy crash echoed from the front of the building.
Then another.
Shouting followed. Loud. Close.
My head snapped toward the door.
"Shit."
I pushed past them and ran out of the lab. Agnes grabbed her shotgun on the way. Mark followed behind us as the sound of the front entrance splintering filled the hall.
I stopped in my tracks as I stepped into the main hall.
Lila stood a few feet ahead, her hands raised. She wasn’t shaking or crying. Her expression was cold, almost empty.
Aubrey was near the broken entrance. Blood streaked her cheek and jaw. Her clothes were torn and her shoulder soaked red. She looked like she had crawled through hell and kept walking. A gun was trained directly on Lila’s chest.
Wait...Aubrey?
What the hell was she doing here?
Behind Aubrey, I could make out...
Isabella???
She was bruised and wide-eyed, breathing hard. I couldn’t imagine the two of them standing together like this, much less in the middle of all this chaos.
What the fuck was going on???
Aubrey’s eyes flicked to . They hardened for a mont, then softened.
"Adrian," she said, her voice tight. "Co on. We need to leave. Now."
I froze.
They had been looking for all this ti...?
"Who the hell’s this chic?"
Agnes muttered under her breath, her shotgun aid at the woman with a steady grip.
My mind tried to catch up with all of it, but to no avail.
"Adrian, if these are your friends, you need to tell them to stand down. Now," Mark muttered in my ear, his voice low but urgent.
Before I could answer, Aubrey shouted.
"YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!!"
Her gun was trained on Mark, who had been standing beside monts ago. He raised both hands, stepping back cautiously, eyes wide with confusion.
Agnes grimaced, her fingers tightening on the edge of the trigger of her shotgun.
Everything slamd into at once—the fear, the anger, the disbelief. For the first ti since all of this started, I didn’t know what would happen next.
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