Surviving the Apocalypse With My Yandere Ex-Girlfriend

Chapter 242: Is that who you really are?

The hours blurred together until they stopped feeling like hours at all.

Lila counted them anyway.

Not with time.

With footsteps.

The intelligent infected outside her room changed shifts every few hours. The one with the scar over his left eyebrow always scratched his neck before unlocking the food storage. The woman with the split lip lingered whenever she passed reflective glass, smoothing down hair that no longer needed smoothing. Another paced in uneven intervals whenever he grew hungry, his breathing becoming louder with every lap.

Patterns.

Everything had one.

She watched.

Listened.

Remembered.

Every careless habit became another piece on a board only she seemed interested in studying.

She had stopped throwing herself against the door.

Stopped screaming.

Stopped clawing until her fingers bled.

That was the version of herself they expected now.

So she gave it to them.

Sometimes she laughed for no reason.

Sometimes she whispered to walls that weren’t listening.

Sometimes she stared at nothing for so long the guards shifted uncomfortably before walking away.

They relaxed.

Not completely.

Just enough.

Enough for one to stop checking whether she was actually asleep.

Enough for another to leave the food hatch open two seconds longer than necessary.

Enough for them to stop expecting intelligence.

That was the mistake.

Lila sat cross-legged in the corner, her dirty blonde hair hanging over her face as she gently rocked back and forth.

One of the guards looked inside.

"There she goes again."

Another snorted.

"Girl’s finally fried."

Lila didn’t react.

Not until they walked away.

Only then did her rocking stop.

Her eyes opened.

Perfectly clear.

She listened.

Left corridor.

Two guards.

One baseline chained near the maintenance hallway.

Three intelligent infected stationed near Miriam’s chambers.

One outside Adrian.

Another rotation in...

She counted beneath her breath.

"...Seven..."

"...Eight..."

"...Nine..."

The footsteps arrived exactly when they were supposed to.

She smiled faintly.

Predictable.

Very predictable.

—

It happened quietly.

The maintenance worker carrying a bucket of dirty water never noticed the small strip of cloth lying near his boot.

He stepped on it.

The bucket slipped.

Water splashed across the concrete floor.

He cursed.

The baseline infected chained nearby jerked violently toward the noise.

Its restraints had already been worn thin from days of struggling.

One link snapped.

Nobody heard it.

Not over the shouting.

The baseline lurched forward, slamming into another infected hard enough to knock both into a rack of metal trays.

The crash echoed through the hallway.

"What the hell?"

"Infected loose!"

"Grab it!"

Boots thundered past Lila’s room.

One.

Two.

Five.

Someone yelled for reinforcements.

Another shouted Miriam’s name.

Doors opened.

Metal clanged.

Every eye turned toward the disturbance.

Exactly where Lila needed them.

She stood.

Her posture changed instantly.

The trembling disappeared.

So did the vacant expression.

She crossed to the food hatch and slid a thin piece of bent metal from beneath the frame.

Not stolen.

Collected.

Three weeks ago.

She’d hidden it where no one bothered looking because they assumed she spent her days chewing on the walls.

The lock clicked.

Once.

Twice.

The hatch swung inward.

Lila slipped through without making a sound.

She never ran.

Running drew eyes.

Walking belonged.

Every corner she turned had already been mapped inside her head.

She knew which hallway smelled like disinfectant.

Which lights flickered.

Which doors creaked.

She passed two intelligent infected wrestling the escaped baseline to the ground.

Neither spared her a second glance.

One pointed.

"You! Back to your—"

Lila stumbled theatrically.

Her shoulders shook.

She giggled under her breath.

The infected rolled his eyes.

"Forget her."

Perfect.

She kept walking.

Not faster.

Never faster.

Until she reached the heavy steel door.

The one she’d memorized from being dragged past it.

She looked once over each shoulder.

Silence.

Then she knelt.

The key wasn’t difficult to steal.

One careless guard had left it hanging from his belt while wrestling the baseline.

Careless people rarely realized they were being touched.

The lock turned.

—

The hinges whispered.

I looked up.

For a second...

I thought I’d finally lost my mind.

Lila stood in the doorway.

Her dirty blonde hair had fallen messily around her face, snowmelt still clinging to a few strands. There was dried blood across one sleeve that wasn’t hers. Her breathing was steady.

Too steady.

The hallway behind her stayed quiet.

My brain refused to accept what I was seeing.

"...Lila?"

She eased the door shut behind her until the latch clicked into place.

No smile.

No rush toward me.

No tears.

Just those familiar red eyes studying me from across the room.

"...You weren’t supposed to come."

The words left me before I could stop them.

Not because I didn’t want her here.

Because I did.

God, I did.

But this place swallowed people whole.

It turned them into examples.

If Miriam found out...

If anyone found out...

Lila’s lips curled into the faintest smile.

"I know."

That was all she said.

Then she crossed the room.

She dropped onto one knee in front of me without another word and produced a thin strip of bent metal from somewhere beneath her sleeve.

I stared at it.

"...Where did you—"

"I watched."

She slid the metal into the cuff around my wrist.

"I listened."

She twisted it gently.

"I waited."

Click.

The mechanism shifted.

I blinked.

"You..."

Another click.

"...planned this?"

"I planned for a chance."

Her eyes never left the lock.

"I didn’t know if I’d get one."

Outside, someone shouted.

Another voice answered.

Boots pounded somewhere deeper in the compound.

Lila didn’t even flinch.

Neither did her hands.

They stayed impossibly steady.

Like the terrified girl who had clung to me minutes earlier...

Had never existed.

And that realization sent something cold through my stomach.

Not fear.

Recognition.

She hadn’t been breaking apart.

She’d been waiting.

For me.

—

The second cuff fell open.

I rubbed my wrist once, more out of habit than relief.

It still didn’t feel real.

Lila was already on her feet.

"We have to go."

She didn’t wait for me to answer.

She cracked the door open just enough to peer through the gap.

The hallway beyond had changed.

The shouting had become screaming.

Not frightened screams.

Dying ones.

Her eyes narrowed.

"...Now."

I followed her into the corridor.

The smell hit me first.

Blood.

Not fresh.

Fresh and old mixing together until breathing through my nose became impossible.

An intelligent infected lay folded against the wall.

His throat had been opened so wide I could see the vertebrae beneath.

Another stumbled past us.

Half of his face had already been chewed away.

He wasn’t attacking us.

He wasn’t attacking anyone.

He clawed at himself.

Digging bloody grooves into his own chest while shrieking at something only he could see.

Then another infected slammed into him.

Not to restrain him.

To eat him.

The sound made my stomach twist.

Wet.

Animal.

The attacker buried its teeth into the side of his neck and tore backward hard enough to rip muscle free.

Blood painted the wall.

Another intelligent infected rushed forward.

"Get off him!"

The words barely left his mouth before three newly converted people tackled him together.

They didn’t bite him.

They ripped.

Fingers hooked into his cheeks.

Another seized his ear and pulled until cartilage snapped.

Someone laughed.

Someone screamed.

Someone begged for Miriam.

Nobody listened.

The hallway had become a slaughterhouse.

"Lila..."

She didn’t answer.

She only grabbed my sleeve and pulled harder.

We turned another corner.

Scientists sprinted in every direction.

One slipped.

A baseline infected landed on top of him before he could stand.

Its hands disappeared beneath the man’s jaw.

There was a sharp crack.

Then another.

The screaming stopped.

Across the corridor, Miriam stood surrounded by several intelligent infected.

For the first time since I’d met her...

She looked uncertain.

Not frightened.

Not panicked.

Confused.

A woman staggered toward her.

One of the newly converted.

She was crying.

Actually crying.

Blood streamed from both nostrils as she clawed desperately at her own face.

"Please..."

She collapsed onto her knees.

"...Make it stop..."

Miriam took one step forward.

The woman’s body convulsed violently.

Then she lunged.

Not toward the humans.

Toward another intelligent infected.

She bit through his lower lip.

The infected recoiled with a scream.

More failed conversions joined her.

Within seconds they were attacking one another indiscriminately.

Intelligent.

Baseline.

Human.

It didn’t matter anymore.

Miriam watched.

Her expression never broke.

But something behind her eyes did.

Her perfect order...

Had begun eating itself alive.

"Lila."

My voice came out quieter than I intended.

"...What happened?"

"I don’t know."

She looked at the chaos for only a heartbeat before meeting my eyes.

"But we don’t stay to find out."

She pulled me again.

This time I followed.

Almost.

Then—

A sound.

Not screaming.

Not laughter.

Crying.

Small.

Young.

Children.

My feet stopped moving.

Lila stumbled when I didn’t follow.

She turned immediately.

"What are you doing?"

I stared toward another hallway.

Behind one of the reinforced doors.

I heard it again.

A little girl.

Crying for her mother.

Another voice.

Older.

Trying to comfort her.

My chest tightened so violently it hurt.

"They’re still here..."

Lila followed my gaze.

"...Adrian."

"There are people."

"I know."

"We can’t just—"

"We can."

I looked at her.

She stepped closer until her hands found my jacket.

Her grip wasn’t desperate.

It was firm.

Intentional.

"You don’t owe these people anything."

I frowned.

She shook her head.

"You don’t."

"They abandoned you."

Her voice stayed calm.

"They left you bleeding in the snow."

Another explosion echoed somewhere deeper inside the compound.

Metal screamed.

The floor trembled beneath us.

Lila never looked away from me.

"You were alone."

"You begged this world for mercy."

"It gave you none."

"So why..."

Her fingers tightened around my sleeve.

"...do you keep trying to save it?"

The crying came again.

Louder.

Closer.

Every instinct in me pulled in opposite directions.

Run.

Help them.

Run.

Help them.

"Lila..."

"No."

She stepped directly between me and the hallway.

"You don’t get to die for people who already chose to leave you."

The words landed like a punch.

Because they weren’t entirely false.

And that made them hurt more.

Another scream echoed through the compound.

This one ended abruptly.

Lila grabbed my wrist.

"Now."

This time...

I moved.

Not because I wanted to.

Because there wasn’t enough time left to argue.

We ran.

As we crossed the final intersection before the outer corridor...

I looked back.

Just once.

Adira stood at the end of the hall.

She wasn’t restrained anymore.

She wasn’t running either.

She simply stood there.

Blood stained the front of her shirt.

Her face was wet with tears.

She looked straight at me.

Not pleading.

Not angry.

Just...

Disappointed.

She knew exactly what choice I’d made.

And somehow...

That hurt more than Carl’s death ever could.