Lily slowed down slightly, her brows drawing together. "I overheard a conversation earlier," she continued.
"A passing group ntioned a place called SiIvy Base. They said it has plenty of food, and it’s cheap. The housing is good, the facilities are stable, and the protection is solid. Apparently, almost none of the residents even need to go out to fight."
The words settled heavily between them.
Ava and Mia stopped walking almost at the sa ti.
It wasn’t the promise of food or safety that stunned them. It was the na.
SiIvy Base.
Mia’s fingers tightened around the strap of her bag.
’SiIvy...?’ The sound echoed strangely in her head. Ava turned slowly toward Mia, her expression mirroring the sa disbelief.
They exchanged a look... silent, charged.
’That na...’ Ava thought, her heart skipping a beat.
Almost instinctively, a mory surfaced.
Once, long ago, Ivy had muttered absentmindedly, almost unconsciously, "If I ever have a child with Silas, I’ll na her SiIvy."
At the ti, they had laughed it off, teasing her rcilessly.
Now, the laughter was gone.
The realization hit them like a sudden chill down the spine.
Mia swallowed. Ava’s eyes widened just a fraction.
’If that’s true...’ Ava thought slowly, ’then this base...’
There was a very real possibility that SiIvy Base belonged to Ivy or Silas.
Imdiately, Mia suggested that they go there and check out the base for themselves.
Lily froze. She had been stunned earlier too. Every single ti she ntioned any kind of safe place, Mia and Ava had been the ones to oppose the idea most strongly before.
They had been worried, anxious to the point of pacing, insisting that they should continue wandering around to find their missing best friends.
And now, they had suddenly agreed.
The shift felt abrupt, almost wrong, like the ground tilting beneath Lily’s feet.
’Since when did they change their minds?’ she wondered.
Just as she opened her mouth to ask what had caused this sudden decision, a soft chuckle drifted from behind them.
Grace, who had followed them quietly, folded her arms and tilted her head, her smile edged with mockery.
"So, you don’t even care about your friend anymore?" she said lightly, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Are you finally going to stop pretending about your so-called good friendship?"
The atmosphere tightened instantly. Mia stopped walking.
For a second, she stared ahead, then let out a short laugh that sounded anything but amused.
"At least we still rember our friends," she said, her voice calm but sharp.
"Even in an apocalypse." She turned slightly, her eyes glinting. "Unlike soone who pretends to be a friend and still goes after her friend’s man."
The words hit like a slap.
Grace’s face drained of color, her lips parting as if the air had been knocked out of her.
"Lily and Caleb broke up a long ti ago," she blurted out, her voice rising defensively.
"So it’s completely fair for to go after him. Caleb is a good man. He deserves soone to look after him."
Lily felt her chest tighten.
She was just about to speak when a faint voice echoed from behind them, calm yet firm.
"I don’t need anyone to take care of ."
Caleb stepped forward from the shadows, his expression steady.
"I’m more than capable of taking care of myself."
The mont his words settled, Mia burst out laughing, the sound echoing too loudly in the empty space.
Even Ava couldn’t help herself, covering her mouth as she laughed.
"See?" Mia said between chuckles. "Way better than that pretentious guy Jas who loves taking advantage of both sides."
Ava nodded, amusent flickering in her eyes.
Caleb really was different. He always kept a clear distance between himself and Grace, no matter how many obvious hints she threw his way.
To the point that even Mia and Ava, despite themselves, had started to admire him a little.
Grace, however, looked as if she had been struck. Her face fell, her fingers curling tightly at her sides. She shot Lily a sharp glare.
"If that’s the case," she snapped, "then why didn’t you clarify things? Why didn’t you say anything?" Her voice trembled.
"You always made it seem like there was nothing going on between you and Caleb."
For a mont, Lily simply stared at her, stunned, as if Grace had suddenly grown two horns.
Then she let out a short, incredulous laugh.
"Clarify what?" she asked. "Caleb just said he doesn’t need anyone’s help. He didn’t say he needed mine."
Her eyes hardened. "Why are you acting like I asked him to say that?"
Grace’s composure finally shattered. Tears welled up and spilled over as she sobbed, her shoulders shaking.
"Ever since I started going after Caleb, everyone has been calling out," she cried. "Why didn’t you stop them? If you really call yourself my best friend, why didn’t you take a stand for ?"
Lily laughed, but there was no humor in it, only exhaustion and disbelief.
"And what exactly is supposed to justify your actions?" she asked quietly.
Grace wiped her tears, desperation flickering across her face.
"As a best friend, you should support ," she insisted.
That only made Lily laugh harder.
"What are you even saying?" She looked straight at Grace. "Did you ever ask if I still had feelings for Caleb?"
Grace fell silent.
Lily continued, her voice steady but heavy.
"The mont I broke up with Caleb, you ca to and told you were going to pursue him. You even needed my help!"
She shook her head. "Not once did you ask if I was willing. Not once did you ask if I still had lingering feelings for him."
Grace opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again, no words coming out.
"You didn’t," Lily said softly. "As a best friend, you failed every single ti." Her voice trembled slightly.
"And yet, I always helped you. I went with you to et Caleb even when my heart ached. I ssaged him for you, asked him to et you, even when jealousy burned inside ."
She laughed bitterly. "But you never saw any of that as effort."
User Comments
0 comments from readers