Surviving the Apocalypse With My Yandere Ex-Girlfriend

Chapter 247: What takes over

The cold no longer bit.

It simply existed.

Every breath left my lungs in pale clouds that dissolved into the gray afternoon as Lila half-carried me through the snow, one arm locked around my waist while mine hung uselessly across her shoulders.

Neither of us spoke.

Not because there was nothing left to say.

Because I didn’t have enough air to waste on words.

Each step felt disconnected from the last.

My boots dragged.

My knees refused to lock properly.

My chest felt...

Wrong.

Like breathing had become something I had to consciously remember to do.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Miss one.

Panic.

I swallowed hard.

Nothing about this felt human anymore.

The lattice.

That fucking lattice.

Vivian had spoken about it like it was salvation.

The crucible had spoken about it like it was evolution.

Neither of them had mentioned this.

Neither of them had mentioned feeling like your own body no longer belonged to you.

Like every heartbeat needed permission.

Like every breath was borrowed.

"...Adrian?"

Lila’s voice reached me through layers of fog.

I looked at her without really seeing her.

She frowned immediately.

"Talk to me."

I opened my mouth.

Nothing came out.

Only another shaky breath.

She squeezed my side.

"We’re almost there."

Almost where?

I didn’t even know where "there" was anymore.

Snow crunched beneath us.

One step.

Then another.

Then—

My right leg simply...

Stopped working.

It folded underneath me without warning.

The ground rushed upward.

I hit my knees so hard I barely felt the impact.

Lila stumbled with me.

"Adrian!"

I caught myself on both hands.

The snow beneath my palms was soft.

Cold.

For some reason...

I couldn’t push myself back up.

"...Come on."

Lila crouched beside me.

"Come on, sweetie."

I tried.

My arms trembled violently.

Nothing.

"...What’s wrong?"

I didn’t know.

God...

I didn’t know.

Something climbed into my throat.

A pressure.

Deep.

Burning.

I barely had enough time to turn my head.

A violent cough tore through me.

Then another.

The third one felt like something inside my chest ripped apart.

"Hhk—!"

Blood exploded into the snow.

Bright.

Wet.

Far too much.

I stared at it.

For a second my brain refused to process what I was looking at.

Then another cough bent me nearly double.

"Hgh—!"

More blood splashed across the white ground.

Thick.

Dark.

Strings of it hung from my lips before dripping between my knees.

My stomach cramped so violently I thought it was trying to turn itself inside out.

I gagged.

Nothing.

Then another wave came anyway.

My entire body convulsed.

"Hrk—!"

More.

The taste...

Metal.

Hot.

It coated my tongue.

Ran down the back of my throat.

I tried swallowing it.

Immediately regretted it.

Another cough.

Another mouthful.

Every muscle in my ribs screamed.

Small noises escaped me before I could stop them.

Broken little sounds.

Half cough.

Half whimper.

I hated them.

I couldn’t stop them.

"Adrian..."

Lila’s voice had changed.

There was something inside it I had never heard before.

Fear.

Real fear.

She grabbed both my shoulders.

"Look at me."

I couldn’t.

Another cough threw me forward.

Blood dripped from my chin onto the snow in slow, uneven drops.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Each one looked impossibly loud.

"Oh God..."

Lila looked between me and the blood staining the ground.

"No."

She shook her head.

"No, no, no."

Her hands hovered uselessly over me.

My back.

My shoulders.

My neck.

She kept touching me before pulling away again like she couldn’t decide what would actually help.

"I—"

Her voice cracked.

"I don’t..."

She didn’t know.

Lila...

Didn’t know.

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

She looked completely overwhelmed.

She grabbed my face with both hands.

Cold fingers.

Shaking.

"Look at me."

She wiped blood from the corner of my mouth with her sleeve.

It only smeared.

She tried again.

Gentler this time.

"There..."

Her smile lasted less than a second before collapsing.

"We’re okay."

Another cough.

"Hghk—!"

Fresh blood splattered across both our jackets.

She flinched.

Not because it landed on her.

Because it came from me.

"We’re okay," she repeated.

"We’re okay."

She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

I couldn’t answer.

Breathing hurt too much.

Everything hurt too much.

My vision blurred around the edges.

The trees swayed.

Or maybe...

I was.

Lila pulled me into her arms.

She held me so tightly it almost hurt.

"I’ve got you."

I felt her forehead press against mine.

"I’ve got you."

Something warm landed on my cheek.

Then another.

Tears.

She was crying.

"I’ll do better."

Her voice came apart.

"I swear."

She laughed once.

A tiny broken sound.

"I’ll stop arguing with you."

Another tear.

"I’ll listen."

She nodded to herself.

"I’ll be good."

She cupped my face again.

"I’ll be whatever you want me to be."

Her breathing became uneven.

"Please..."

Another sob escaped her.

"Please stay."

I was trying.

God...

I was trying.

My eyelids felt heavy.

Too heavy.

"No."

She shook me gently.

"No."

My head drooped.

She caught it immediately.

"No, Adrian."

Another shake.

"Stay with me."

I blinked once.

Twice.

Everything looked darker.

"No."

She was crying openly now.

"You don’t get to leave."

Her hands tightened around my face.

"You hear me?"

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

"You don’t get to leave me."

The world drifted.

Far away.

Then—

Voices.

Faint.

Carried by the wind.

"...this way!"

Another voice answered.

"I found blood!"

Lila froze.

Every muscle in her body locked.

She slowly lifted her head.

Listened.

Boots.

Several pairs.

Crunching through snow.

Getting closer.

Much closer.

Her tears stopped instantly.

Her breathing steadied.

She looked back down at me.

Then toward the voices.

Then back at me again.

Her expression changed.

Not because she stopped caring.

Because something older...

Something colder...

Had just taken over.

—

The room was quieter than it had any right to be.

Not peaceful.

Never peaceful.

Just emptied.

Like grief itself had settled over the walls.

Adira sat exactly where they’d left her.

Her wrists rested loosely in her lap.

There were no ropes anymore.

There didn’t need to be.

She hadn’t moved since Carl’s body had been carried away.

The blood beneath her fingernails had dried into dark crescents.

She hadn’t tried washing it off.

Across from her, Miriam lowered herself into a chair with the same measured grace she seemed to bring into every room.

Neither woman spoke.

For a long while, only the muffled sounds of reconstruction drifted in through the damaged walls. Hammers. Voices. The distant growl of baseline infected somewhere beyond the compound.

Miriam folded her hands neatly.

"I’ve been meaning to speak with you."

Adira didn’t acknowledge her.

Her eyes remained fixed on the floor.

Empty.

Cold.

The kind of cold that didn’t come from winter.

Miriam studied her for a moment before continuing.

"...You were close with Carl."

Silence.

"I noticed it the first day I arrived."

Still nothing.

"You always seemed to drift toward him."

Miriam tilted her head slightly, remembering.

"When the others scattered, you found him."

"When people argued, your attention stayed on him."

"When he spoke..."

A faint smile touched her lips.

"...you listened."

Adira’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.

Miriam noticed.

"So I wondered."

Her voice softened.

"Was he your friend?"

No response.

"...Your brother?"

Nothing.

She waited one more heartbeat.

"...Perhaps..."

"...your lover?"

Adira looked up.

It wasn’t sudden.

It wasn’t dramatic.

She simply raised her head.

Their eyes met.

Miriam stopped speaking.

The room somehow felt smaller.

Adira never frowned.

Never bared her teeth.

Never threatened her.

She simply looked.

There was enough hatred inside that stare to make words unnecessary.

Not loud hatred.

Not explosive hatred.

The quiet kind.

The kind that sat inside someone for years.

The kind that survived after tears ran dry.

Miriam held her gaze.

For the first time since entering the room...

She allowed herself to become silent.

A full second passed.

Then another.

Even the man with the gray eyes, standing near the doorway with his hands folded behind his back, shifted his attention fully onto the two women.

Finally...

Miriam exhaled softly.

"I see."

She didn’t elaborate.

She didn’t need to.

Some answers weren’t spoken.

They lived inside the way people looked at one another.

Miriam leaned back slightly.

"I imagine his death has left quite the hole."

Adira’s face never changed.

But inside...

Something twisted.

Carl laughing as they walked through frozen streets.

Carl arguing with Adrian over the stupidest things.

Carl handing her the larger half of a meal when he thought she wasn’t paying attention.

Carl standing between her and danger before she’d even realized there was danger.

Then...

Carl on his knees.

The gun.

The sound.

She blinked once.

The memory disappeared.

Miriam watched every tiny movement.

"Adrian abandoned you."

The words landed gently.

Like snow.

Which somehow made them crueler.

"You know that, don’t you?"

Nothing.

"He left."

"He didn’t look back."

Still...

Nothing.

"He ran away with the one person he couldn’t bear losing."

Her eyes searched Adira’s face.

"His one true beloved."

The words hung there.

Heavy.

Cruel.

Calculated.

"And you."

She spoke almost in a whisper now.

"What do you have?"

Silence answered her.

"You’ve lost Carl."

"You’ve lost your home."

"You’ve lost the people who gave your life purpose."

Her voice lowered even further.

"So why..."

"...do you keep holding on?"

The question lingered.

Not because it demanded an answer.

Because it invited surrender.

The gray-eyed man remained perfectly still.

Watching.

Listening.

Observing every flicker that crossed Adira’s face.

She gave him nothing.

Her breathing stayed slow.

Her shoulders stayed square.

Her eyes never left Miriam’s.

Finally, Miriam rose.

"I don’t think you’re evil."

She smoothed an invisible wrinkle from her sleeve.

"I think you’re tired."

She stepped closer.

Not enough to threaten.

Just enough that her words no longer belonged to the room.

They belonged only to Adira.

"People like you deserve salvation."

A pause.

"They deserve rest."

She turned toward the door.

"But pride has buried better people than either of us."

She stopped with one hand resting against the frame.

"When you’re ready..."

She looked back over her shoulder.

"...give in before it’s too late."

Another pause.

Long enough for the words to settle.

"It is..."

She offered the faintest smile.

"...something to think about."

Then she walked away.

The gray-eyed man lingered for only a moment longer.

He glanced once toward Adira.

She hadn’t moved.

Hadn’t spoken.

Hadn’t broken.

He inclined his head almost imperceptibly before following Miriam out.

The heavy door shut behind them.

The lock clicked.

Only then...

Adira slowly looked down at the dried blood beneath her fingernails.

Her thumb rubbed across it once.

It didn’t come off.

"...I’m sorry, Carl."

The whisper was so quiet the empty room almost swallowed it whole.