Surviving the Apocalypse With My Yandere Ex-Girlfriend

Chapter 243: So much for everything working out

The thing that had once been a man stood motionless in the middle of the forest.

Snow gathered across the folds of its enormous body without melting. It settled inside the deep cracks of its frostbitten skin, clinging to open sores that had long since stopped bleeding. Its stomach sagged over the waistband of a pair of torn jeans, pale flesh mottled with patches of black decay and angry red bite marks where baseline infected had tried chewing on it before learning better.

One ear was gone.

Its nose had rotted away months ago.

Every slow breath rattled wetly inside its chest, sounding less like lungs and more like meat being stirred together.

It tilted its head.

Listened.

The woods answered.

Not with birds.

Birds had disappeared a long time ago.

Instead...

Laughing.

High.

Low.

Manic.

Hundreds of infected wandered between the trees like starving children searching for a game. Some crawled on all fours, their palms worn raw from years of scraping frozen ground. Others stumbled through the snow with exposed ribs and hanging jaws, occasionally stopping to tear strips of flesh from corpses that had already frozen solid.

None of them wandered far.

They always circled back.

Always returned.

Because they followed him.

The fat infected smiled.

Thick strings of saliva dripped from between broken teeth before freezing against the folds of his chin.

He bent down with surprising ease and scooped up what remained of one unfortunate baseline infected whose spine had snapped after being hurled earlier.

The corpse twitched.

Still alive.

Still laughing.

The enormous infected stared at it for a long moment.

Then...

Without warning...

He shoved almost the entire upper half of the creature into his mouth.

Bones cracked.

Arms flailed uselessly.

The laughter didn’t stop.

Not until his jaws finally crushed the infected’s skull.

The sound echoed through the trees.

Crunch.

The fat infected chewed lazily.

Pink eyes wandered across the endless forest.

Searching.

Waiting.

Then...

His head slowly lifted.

The wind carried something.

Not blood.

Oil.

Gasoline.

Rubber.

Vehicles.

A slow grin stretched wider across what remained of his face.

He clapped.

Once.

The forest answered immediately.

Branches shook.

Snow fell from pine trees in heavy sheets.

One.

Ten.

Fifty.

Hundreds of infected lifted their heads simultaneously.

The fat infected pointed.

Not frantically.

Not excitedly.

Patiently.

Like a father showing children where dinner had gone.

The horde began moving.

—

Aubrey’s wrists burned.

The rope bit deeper into her skin every time the pickup bounced over another frozen rut in the road.

Her boots tapped absentmindedly against the truck bed with every jolt.

She barely noticed anymore.

Terri sat beside her with her hands bound behind her back, her shoulders drawn inward so tightly she looked as though she were trying to disappear into herself.

Cherie occupied another truck behind them.

Hale, Naomi, Isabella and the others had been split apart just enough that nobody could quietly plan anything stupid.

Bill had thought of that.

Of course he had.

The man driving glanced at her through the rear-view mirror.

One hand rested casually on the steering wheel.

The other drummed lazily against the door.

He looked comfortable.

Like this was another Tuesday.

Deep down...

Something kept bothering her.

She couldn’t name it.

Couldn’t explain it.

It wasn’t Bill.

It wasn’t Harry.

It wasn’t even the ropes digging into her wrists.

It felt...

Wrong.

Like something had quietly fallen out of place while nobody had been paying attention.

The feeling refused to leave.

She looked toward the tree line.

Nothing.

Just snow.

Just woods.

Still...

Her stomach stayed tight.

She looked back toward Bill.

"So you people really plan on killing us when you find Adrian?"

Bill’s smile appeared before his answer did.

He never even looked back.

"Even better if he’s alive."

He chuckled to himself.

"Means we get to kill the lot of you right in front of him."

Nobody laughed.

Aubrey lowered her eyes.

For just a second...

Chicago came rushing back.

The warehouse.

The shouting.

The second time she’d walked away from Adrian believing she’d never see him again.

Her throat tightened.

"You’d be wasting your time."

Bill’s fingers stopped tapping.

"Hm?"

She didn’t raise her head.

"I don’t think he’d give a shit anyway."

Harry looked up immediately.

So did Terri.

Even one of Bill’s men glanced between them before wisely deciding to keep his mouth shut.

Silence stretched across the convoy.

Only tires grinding through packed snow filled the air.

Aubrey finally looked up.

"Seriously..."

Her voice was quieter now.

"What the fuck did Adrian ever do to you people?"

Nobody answered.

She kept going.

"You act like he’s the only man left alive."

Still nothing.

The wind rushed between the trucks.

"I mean..."

She shook her head.

"...you’re obsessed."

Her eyes drifted from Bill...

...to Harry...

...to Saul...

"You’ve been chasing one person halfway across the damn country."

She let out a bitter laugh.

"It might be time to let shit go."

The truck behind them hit a bump.

Harry’s patience broke with it.

"Not another fucking word out of you."

His voice cracked through the convoy like a rifle shot.

He stepped onto the running board of Bill’s truck and drew his pistol in one smooth motion.

The barrel settled inches from Aubrey’s face.

Terri sucked in a sharp breath.

Aubrey looked at the gun.

Then slowly raised her eyes to Harry.

Her expression didn’t change.

"...I ain’t scared of you."

Harry’s jaw tightened.

She leaned forward as far as the ropes allowed.

"I ain’t scared of none of you."

For a heartbeat...

Nobody moved.

Then—

Bill’s smile disappeared.

His eyes shifted away from Aubrey.

Toward the road ahead.

The convoy slowed.

Not because he ordered it.

Because every driver had seen it.

The snow ahead...

Was disturbed.

Not by footprints.

By something enormous being dragged through it.

A trench.

Wide.

Fresh.

Deep enough that frozen earth showed beneath the snow.

It crossed directly over the road.

And disappeared back into the trees.

Bill didn’t say a word.

For the first time since Aubrey had met him...

He looked genuinely uncertain.

—

Cold air tore through my lungs.

Every breath felt raw.

The sweat on my face had already begun freezing against my skin, stinging every time the wind shifted.

I stopped.

Lila didn’t.

She simply kept walking through the snow.

Not fast.

Not slow.

Steady.

Purposeful.

Like everything behind us had already stopped existing.

I turned.

The compound looked nothing like the place I’d walked into.

One section of the outer wall had collapsed completely.

Baseline infected poured through the opening in endless waves, laughing as they climbed over one another. Smoke drifted into the gray sky from somewhere deeper inside. Gunfire cracked every few seconds before disappearing beneath the roar of screaming.

Miriam’s sanctuary.

Gone.

The people she’d sworn she could save...

Were being swallowed by the very things she’d devoted her life to protecting.

My stomach twisted.

"Lila."

She kept walking.

"Lila."

She finally stopped.

Only enough to glance over one shoulder.

"What, Adrian?"

I looked back toward the compound.

"...Adira."

She waited.

"I saw Adi—"

"The fuck does it matter?"

Her voice cut straight through mine.

"She can rot in hell with Carson or whatever his name was."

Something hot settled inside my chest.

"It was Carl."

My voice came out harder than I’d intended.

I stepped toward her.

"And you don’t ever talk about him like that."

For a moment...

She simply stared at me.

Her eyes searched mine.

Looking for something.

A joke.

A smile.

Anything.

She found neither.

Then she looked toward the ground.

A quiet laugh escaped her.

"Adrian..."

She shook her head slowly.

"Honey..."

She reached for my hand.

"...now’s really not the time."

Her fingers slipped between mine before I could stop her.

"They’re all dying."

She gently pulled.

"We need to leave."

I didn’t move.

She tugged again.

Nothing.

I looked back at the compound.

"We have to go back."

Lila blinked.

"What?"

"We have to go back."

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

She looked genuinely confused.

"...Are you hearing yourself?"

She pointed toward the compound.

"Look at it."

Another burst of gunfire echoed through the forest.

"They’re as good as dead."

"You don’t know that."

"I do."

"No."

I pulled my hand free.

"You don’t."

The warmth disappeared from her face.

"You seriously think you’re going to save them?"

"I have to try."

"No."

"I do."

"No."

She stepped directly into my path.

"You don’t."

"They’re still people."

"They’re already dead."

"They’re not."

"They chose this!"

"They didn’t all choose this!"

"They’re infected!"

"They’re scared!"

"They’re people!"

"They’re in my way!"

Silence.

The words hung between us.

Neither of us moved.

Neither of us breathed.

I looked at her.

Really looked.

Not at the girl who’d slept beside me.

Not the one who’d laughed with me.

Not the one who’d cried in my arms.

The thing standing in front of me now...

Only cared about one life.

Mine.

I took a step around her.

"Lila."

My voice had become frighteningly calm.

"Let go."

She didn’t.

Her fingers wrapped around my wrist again.

Stronger this time.

"Lila."

Nothing.

"Let go."

"No."

"I’m serious."

"So am I."

I yanked.

She held on.

I twisted.

She moved with me.

Then I shoved her hand away and turned toward the compound.

I never made it two steps.

Something slammed into my side.

The world flipped.

Snow exploded around me.

The impact knocked every bit of air from my lungs.

Before I could react—

Her weight landed on top of me.

One knee pinned my shoulder.

The other dug into my ribs.

I tried throwing her off.

She didn’t budge.

My right arm suddenly twisted behind my back.

Pain shot through my shoulder.

"Lila!"

Her grip tightened.

Not enough.

Just enough for me to understand she could.

She leaned close enough that I could feel her breath against my ear.

It was almost gentle.

"I’m not afraid to break your arm."

My entire body froze.

She didn’t sound angry.

She sounded...

Certain.

"If that’s what it takes to make you cooperate..."

Her fingers slowly tightened around my elbow.

"...then I’ll fix it after."