What a day, huh?
My eyes flickered to Lila as I watched her talk about sothing. So exhibit, so theory about how the infected used to behave, maybe sothing about solar panels. To tell the truth, my mind was else where.
I still enjoyed myself nonetheless. More than I wanted to admit.
I don’t even rember how we got on the rooftop in the first place, our legs swinging off the edge as we watched the dying sun. I missed days like this, and I knew i probably wasn’t gonna get another one in a long ti.
"Why are you looking at like that?"
Lila asked with a smile—this soft, sideways curve that made her eyes crease in the corners. I suddenly snapped out of my trance.
"Uh...nothing."
No, there was sothing. Sothing I couldn’t put my mind on for a while. So much death has happened around the both of us,
Despair should’ve been eating us alive. Hell, it was eating alive.
Yet, she was happy.
"I’m just...having a hard ti figuring you out, is all."
Her feet slowed, then stilled completely. A brow arched.
"aning?"
"I an— one minute you’re all happy and affectionate and the next you’re ripping out soone’s throat..."
The way Lila looked at made the words die in my throat. Damn it, I hope I didn’t kill the mood.
"What I’m trying to say is...how can you be like this when everyone around us is dying? Aubrey, your parents, your friends, my friends...they’re—"
Lila offered a warm smile. I stopped speaking. Her eyes slowly drifted to the sunset as she talked without looking at .
"The truth is...when I’m with you, I feel like I could do anything. Survive anything. It’s like you’re my light source to keep going."
My cheeks slowly began to burn a crimson red upon hearing her words. Her eyes drifted back to .
"Maybe that’s your superpower, Adrian."
I let her words settle in the thinning air.
You’re my light source.
.
The guy who could barely keep his hands from shaking.
I had been using her to survive—clinging to her, leaning on her, hiding behind her strength. She was the reason I was still breathing, and yet...
she said that.
My chest tightened. Before I could even process how the hell I was supposed to respond to sothing like that—
Lila suddenly rose to her feet in a single motion.
"Co on, let’s go."
Her voice cut through the mont— the warmth of the sunset sohow felt instantly colder at that
I pushed myself up and followed, brushing the dust from my jeans. The rooftop door was cracked open behind us, the museum below humming with artificial quiet. Our footsteps echoed in sync as we headed inside.
"Where exactly are we gonna go now?"
My voice didn’t sound like mine. If I’m bring honest, I was half-afraid of the answer she was gonna give.
Lila didn’t turn around.
"We’re gonna leave Chicago."
I froze mid-step.
My eyes widened, breath catching in my throat.
Leave Chicago?
Leave all of this?
The crazy infected, the bodies, the chaos—they all felt stitched into the city’s skin. Leaving almost sounded like... hope.
She finally glanced back at over her shoulder.
"New Jersey was where you wanted to go, right?"
Her tone was soft.
Too soft.
Like she had been holding this up her sleeve, waiting for the exact mont to pull it out and hand it to like a gift.
She was planning all this? Damn it, im such an asshole.
I opened my mouth, but nothing ca.
Nothing.
Just a stunned breath as I nodded slowly, as if any sudden movent would shatter the mont.
Lila smiled faintly—almost like she was proud of herself.
"It should take us about twelve hours."
The hallway lights flickered again—warm gold, cold shadow, warm gold—painting Lila in shifting colors like the world couldn’t decide if she was hope or danger.
She reached for my hand as we stepped outside.
And for a mont—just a mont—
I believed we could actually make it out alive.
The G-Wagon rumbled to life, its tires crunching over shattered glass as we rolled off the museum lot. For the first ti all day—maybe all week—I looked at Lila and didn’t feel dread clawing at my ribs.
I felt... hope.
She noticed staring. Of course she did.
Without a word, she slipped her fingers through mine, warm palms grounding like an anchor.
Hyde Park’s ruins blurred past us—burned houses, overturned cars, stray fires licking at the pavent.
We were almost out.
Almost—
The engine sputtered, choking—
Before the G-Wagon lurched to a complete stop.
"Oh, co on," I muttered, slamming my head back into the seat. "Give a fucking break."
Lila forced a nervous smile and turned the key again.
The engine clicked.
Once.
Twice.
Nothing.
A cold weight dropped into my stomach.
"Lila...?" I started.
But sothing hit the car.
A tallic CRACK shattered the window beside her, spraying glass across her lap.
"What the—?"
Before she even recoiled, a hand shot through the broken window—holding a syringe.
A needle jamd into her neck.
My heart stopped.
"LILA!"
Her eyes went wide.
Then unfocused.
Her body slumped sideways, sagging against the seatbelt as her hand slipped out of mine.
No.
No, no, no—
I scrambled back, breath trapped in my throat, panic slicing through every nerve. I didn’t even get the chance to scream.
Because my window exploded next.
Shards peppered my face, burning like hot sand. A shadow leaned in—faceless, gloved with latex, breath sharp and quick.
"Don’t—!"
I couldn’t even finish.
The needle punched into my neck, cold liquid flooding in like ice. Propofol, maybe.
My limbs dissolved into mush.
My vision blurred into sared colors—red, black, gold.
Through the distortion, I saw Lila’s still form.
I saw hands grabbing her.
Grabbing .
Lila was unconscious.
I was seconds behind.
As everything went dark, one single thought throbbed through my skull:
I probably wasn’t waking up after this.
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