The door finally gave in with a violent crack.
Wood splintered inward and slamd against the wall as a man stumbled through the opening. Blood pooled at the corner of his mouth and dripped from his fingertips, leaving dark spots on the floor. His head tilted slightly as he stared at Terri.
Then he smiled.
Terri shrieked and raised the gun with shaking hands. The barrel wobbled as she tried to aim.
The man’s breathing ca out in quick bursts when he saw her. His eyes slowly dragged up from her legs to her face like he was studying sothing he wanted to keep.
The red in his eyes pulsed.
Then he moved.
He rushed her in a sudden burst of speed that Terri was not ready for.
She scread and fired.
Two shots cracked through the room.
Both missed.
The man slamd into her before she could react. The impact knocked the air from her lungs as she hit the floor hard. The gun slipped from her hand and skidded across the tiles.
He lood over her with that sa bloody smile.
His hands jerked and twitched as they grabbed her wrists and pinned them down. His grip was far stronger than it looked, and Terri could not break free no matter how hard she tried.
Her breathing broke into panicked gasps. Tears gathered at the edges of her eyes as she stared up at him.
His head leaned closer.
Then everything ended in an instant.
The crack of tal against bone rang through the room as the butt of a rifle smashed into the side of the man’s skull.
His body went limp imdiately.
He collapsed forward and landed heavily on top of Terri.
For a mont she just stared at the ceiling. Her heart pounded so hard it hurt. Her thoughts raced in every direction at once.
"Get up."
The voice cut through the fog in her head.
Terri slowly turned her head.
Hale stood over her with his rifle still in hand. One arm stretched out toward her.
It never felt like an offer.
Her hands trembled as she shoved the dead weight off her chest. The body rolled to the side with a wet thud. She grabbed Hale’s hand.
He pulled her up in a single motion.
"Can you walk?" Hale asked, still holding onto her arm.
"I—I think so."
Her legs shook the mont she tried to move, but she forced them forward as Hale guided her out of the quarters.
They moved quickly through the hallway.
Terri limped with every step.
Hale noticed.
They pushed outside and the full sight of the compound hit her all at once.
Bodies were scattered across the pavent. Blood sared across walls and concrete. Smoke drifted through the air while distant screams echoed through the night.
"Annie, am I doing good!?" a woman shouted sowhere ahead.
Terri turned her head just in ti to see her.
The woman stood over soone on the ground, smashing their skull again and again with a rock. Blood splattered across the pavent with every hit.
"Please tell !" the woman cried hysterically. "Please please please please please!"
Terri’s hand flew to her mouth.
Her stomach twisted violently.
"Hold it in," Hale said as he kept moving, adjusting his pace to match her limp.
Terri nodded weakly, but her face had already gone pale.
Hale glanced at her and frowned.
"Hold it in, Terri," he said again. "You can empty your whole guts out once we leave this place."
But her body had already made the decision.
She doubled over and wretched.
The sound ripped out of her throat, loud and ugly in the middle of the chaos.
Hale froze for half a second.
It was loud enough.
Too loud.
Movent stirred behind them.
Figures turned.
Hale swore under his breath.
He did not hesitate.
He scooped Terri into his arms and broke into a run just as the first shot cracked through the air.
Bullets slamd into the wall beside them. A knife spun past his shoulder and buried itself in the dirt. Soone hurled an axe that struck the pavent where they had been standing a second earlier.
Hale kept running.
Terri clung to his jacket as the infected poured out behind them.
And for the first ti since the outbreak began, she realized sothing that shook her to the core.
Peace was nonexistent in a world with infected. No place was safe for them anymore.
Maybe it never was.
—
"Well, co on then. We need to get a move on," Aubrey said as she checked the nonexistent watch on her wrist.
Julia suddenly stood up from the couch beside as our talk cut short. I watched her walk a few steps toward the window.
I frowned.
Lila stayed where she was, her expression completely neutral.
"Oh— well, bye then guys..."
Julia looked back at Aubrey, confused. Aubrey stared right back at her.
"You’re coming too," Julia said after a laugh, like she thought I was making so attempt at a joke.
I wasn’t.
I stood up slowly. I had a feeling this was what they were here for.
Honestly, what else could they be here for?
My eyes shifted to Lila. She had been quiet through the entire conversation. A thought crossed my mind that made my chest tighten.
Was Aubrey about to tell to leave her again?
"Why?" I asked.
Aubrey’s head snapped toward .
"What the fuck do you an why????" she shot back.
Isabella quickly stepped in before Aubrey could say anything else. Still, sothing twisted in my chest when I saw her doing it.
"Don’t you want out of here, Adrian?" Julia said. "This place is a damn wasteland. You can’t keep clinging to it just because it’s your hotown."
"I’m not," I replied.
I glanced briefly at Lila before continuing.
" and Lila were planning on staying here for a while. Just until everything calms down."
The room went quiet for a mont. I noticed Aubrey’s eyes darken imdiately, while Julia’s widened in confusion.
"...and after that we’re going to travel to Canada."
I said it more quietly than I intended, like the words themselves were fragile.
Aubrey leaned back and rubbed her eyebrows while looking up at the ceiling.
"Fucking Canada," she muttered.
I barely looked at her.
"Nice water. Beautiful landscape. Not many infected."
"And who the fuck told you that?!!" Aubrey suddenly shouted, pointing straight at Lila. "Her??"
Lila simply folded her arms.
Outside, the infected reacted to the noise. Their claws scraped harder against the walls and windows.
"Aubrey—.." Isabella tried.
"No, no, fuck that," Aubrey continued, shaking her head. "For the record, Isabella, this is exactly why I was hesitant to co back looking for these losers."
Sothing in snapped.
"Hey, you’re the one who sped off after one argunt!" I shot back. "You took your new little girlfriend and left to die!"
The entire room fell silent. Isabella’s eyes darkened.
Julia’s eyes slowly drifted toward Aubrey. She stared at her for longer than a mont, her expression hardening. Aubrey noticed the look and turned away, folding her arms tightly.
I continued before anyone else could speak.
"But you know the person who’s actually been there for this entire ti? Since the surge started?"
Aubrey opened her mouth like she was about to answer.
I didn’t let her.
"Lila."
Lila looked at , clearly surprised. A faint blush crept across her face.
"She’s the only reason I’m alive right now," I said. "There’s no way I’m leaving her for any of you."
"We’re not asking you to," Isabella said quickly.
"We just want you to co back with us. To the compound."
"There isn’t a place for there anymore," I replied.
Isabella’s eyes widened.
"Wait, wait, wait," Julia finally spoke, looking between us. "I’m so fucking lost. Aubrey, you abandoned him???"
She turned fully toward Aubrey.
"It’s a long story," Aubrey muttered.
"What kind of long story explains leaving soone you practically grew up with to die?"
Aubrey didn’t answer.
Julia shook her head in disbelief, before pressing on.
"And what’s all this talk about leaving Lila? None of this makes sense. Why would you even—.."
Her voice trailed off as she saw her laugh quietly.
"Oh...you want to know why?" Aubrey said suddenly.
Her eyes moved slowly to Lila.
"Because she’s infected."
The tension in the room beca suffocating.
I opened my mouth imdiately, ready to deny it—
"That girl standing there isn’t the sa person you went to high school with," Aubrey continued coldly. "All she is now is a monster. A monster that does a good job at playing faces."
Nobody spoke.
Finally Julia broke the silence.
"I an..."
She looked Lila up and down.
"She doesn’t look infected."
"That’s because she hides it well," Aubrey said. "But when the truth cos out, trust , it’s ugly."
"That’s enough, Aubrey!" I said sharply.
Silence dropped over the room like a heavy weight.
Aubrey crossed her arms.
I took a breath before speaking again.
"It was a mistake for you all to co here... just get out."
No one moved.
"Get out—! All of you. I never want to see your faces again."
A beat passed.
Aubrey scoffed and grabbed her bag before walking back toward the window she had used to get in.
Julia looked at for a mont longer than necessary before turning away.
Isabella looked between the two of us frantically, realizing we were about to separate again.
"Wait! Can everyone just calm down?" she tried desperately. "We can talk about this."
"What’s there to talk about?" Aubrey snapped. "He already made his decision."
I folded my arms.
"Adrian," Isabella said carefully, "you said you don’t have a place at the compound anymore, but that simply isn’t true."
I looked at her.
"If you really plan on leaving," she continued quietly, "the least you can do is co back and say goodbye to everyone else."
"At least that. Just for the closure."
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