Chapter 101: Jealousy

The door slammed open hard enough to rattle the thin metal walls.

A man staggered inside, one hand clamped to his side. Blood slipped between his fingers and dripped onto the concrete floor. It was dark—too dark—and when it caught the light, there was a faint tint of amber mixed in.

He hit the wall and slid against it, breathing uneven.

The glow in the corners of his eyes flickered, weaker than it should have been.

“Amber—… I…” His voice cracked. “I need it.”

At the far end of the room, a woman sat at a steel table.

She had just drawn a fresh syringe. The liquid inside glowed a deep molten orange. Without hesitation, she slid the needle into her arm and pushed the plunger down. Amber flowed into her veins.

Her shoulders relaxed.

Her pupils sharpened.

The molten color spread into her corneas.

“I need it… please,” the man said again. He tried to stand straighter but failed. “I’m bleeding.”

She looked up at him slowly.

“The batch hasn’t come,” she said. Her golden grills flashed when she spoke.

He swallowed. “Look, Annie… I know about your secret stash.”

Her jaw tightened.

“I just need one hit,” he pushed. “I’m bleeding out. Just one.”

She stood from the table.

“My sister just died trying to secure the first batch for your people,” she said evenly. “The blood ceremony is compromised. Half the district is relapsing because there isn’t enough of this to go around.”

He dropped his gaze.

“What makes you different?” she asked. “Why should you get it?”

He opened his mouth, but movement outside the stained window caught his eye.

A shadow ran past.

Then another.

Black curly hair. A streak of bloodred.

His head snapped toward the glass, then back to her.

She noticed.

She stepped closer.

“Your job right now,” she said, stopping inches from him, “is to bring back the prisoners we need for the ceremony. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

He nodded quickly.

She lifted the syringe.

Hope filled his face at once.

She held it above his mouth.

He opened wide without hesitation, tongue out, eyes desperate.

The drop fell.

It landed on his cheek.

The liquid hissed against his skin. He cried out as it burned, tears spilling down his face.

She tilted her head slightly.

“Oops,” she said. “Missed.”

She slid the syringe back into her pocket.

“Now get the fuck out of here,” she told him. “And do your job.”

He quickly scrambled out.

—

Aubrey’s grip on Isabella’s hand was tight enough to hurt as they ran through the building.

They cut through overturned tables and smeared floors, boots slipping in blood that hadn’t dried yet. Isabella could barely process what she was seeing. Bodies. Broken basins. Open doors. It all blurred together.

She didn’t even know if anyone was chasing them.

Then bullets tore into the wall ahead.

Metal screamed as a round ricocheted off a beam near the corner.

Isabella flinched.

They were.

They turned the corner hard.

“So what’s the plan?” Isabella asked between breaths.

“I’m working on it,” Aubrey shot back, teeth clenched.

They sprinted down a narrow corridor lined with dirty windows. Aubrey risked a glance outside.

Her pace slowed.

Isabella almost collided into her.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Isabella hissed. “They’re right on our tail—”

She followed Aubrey’s gaze.

And froze.

Outside, in the open lot below, a car had skidded to a stop. Smoke still curled from the tires.

Lila stepped out.

She walked toward a group of infected like she had somewhere to be. Her face was calm, but distant. Not scared. Not angry.

Just… there.

“So,” Aubrey said quietly, eyes hard, “she was alive after all.”

One of the infected didn’t hesitate.

He stepped forward and punched Lila clean across the face.

Her head snapped to the side.

Aubrey’s mouth twitched.

“Doesn’t seem like it’ll be for long. Come on. We need to move.”

Isabella tugged at her hand.

But Aubrey didn’t move.

Below them, the infected circled Lila.

Another punch.

A kick to her ribs.

Someone grabbed her by the hair and yanked her forward.

Aubrey watched it all. Her smirk deepened with every hit.

Then a gunshot cracked through the air.

Sharp. Close.

The infected flinched.

Another shot followed.

And another.

Aubrey’s eyes shifted.

Adrian stood near the car, smoke trailing from his gun. He had fired into the air first, and now he was firing at them. One infected dropped. Then another.

The rest scattered in confusion.

Adrian grabbed Lila by the arm and dragged her back, shielding her with his body as he kept shooting.

He didn’t hesitate.

He didn’t look away from her.

“Well,” Isabella said slowly, “looks like we found your boyfriend sooner than we anticipated.”

Aubrey grimaced at the word.

Boyfriend.

Before she could respond, shouting echoed down the hallway behind them.

“Lesbian with the septum piercing and emo with the slit wrists! WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!”

The voice was getting closer.

Aubrey snapped her attention back to Isabella.

“That’s us,” she said flatly. “Move.”

This time, she didn’t hesitate.

They ran.

—

I shoved Lila into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. An infected lunged at me from the side. I shot him before he could grab my jacket. He fell, but others were already closing in.

I jumped into the driver’s seat and locked the doors, forcing myself to take one steady breath.

It didn’t matter.

They swarmed the car anyway.

Hands pounded against the metal. Fingers clawed at the handles. Some of them moved with that jittery sharpness that meant they were still riding Amber. Focused. Fast.

Others were worse.

Relapsing. I could tell, too.

Their movements were sloppy but violent, like they were trying to tear the world apart with their bare hands.

One of them staggered in front of me and slammed his forehead into the window.

The glass spiderwebbed on impact. Blood smeared across it.

I flinched and dropped my gaze to the steering column, ripping open the panel and reaching for the wires.

“Come on… come on,” I muttered.

My hands wouldn’t steady.

The Lattice was conveniently silent now.

No numbers. No angles. No calculated calm.

Just noise.

The infected outside started screaming over one another. The man at the window slammed his head into the glass again. The crack spread wider.

Lila was breathing hard beside me, but she wasn’t speaking. I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t.

Tears of frustration blurred my vision as I tasted something metallic.

I twisted two wires together.

Nothing.

The head hit the window again.

Harder.

The entire pane exploded inward.

Glass cut across my face and lap. I felt it bite into my skin as the man forced his head through the broken frame, teeth snapping inches from me. His neck dragged against the jagged edges, flesh tearing open as he pushed forward anyway.

I reacted on instinct.

I pressed the gun to his forehead and pulled the trigger.

His skull snapped back. His body went limp, but his neck stayed caught in the shards.

And then the engine hummed.

I slammed my foot on the gas.

The car lurched forward. The infected scattered or went under the tires. The dead man’s body dragged along the side, his head still wedged in the broken window frame. His blood smeared across the glass as we tore through the lot.

“Move!” I shouted at no one.

I drove straight through the cluster ahead. The car jolted as bodies hit the hood and rolled off.

“Fuck, fuck, FUCK!”

The weight on the side of the car finally gave. His body ripped free and tumbled across the asphalt behind us.

Wind rushed through the shattered window, sharp and cold. Blood streaked the door, and a red hole gaped where the glass had been.

—

Aubrey and Isabella burst through the side exit and into the alley, lungs burning, boots slamming against wet pavement.

Behind them, the building roared with chaos—gunshots, screaming, something heavy crashing through a wall.

They didn’t stop until they reached the chain-link fence at the edge of the lot.

Isabella grabbed the wire and started climbing. “Come on, come on—”

An engine revved nearby.

Both of them turned.

Across the lot, a car tore through the infected. Bodies scattered. Blood streaked across the shattered window as it sped toward the main road.

Through the cracked windshield, Aubrey caught a glimpse of him.

Adrian.

Hands tight on the wheel. Jaw set.

And beside him—

Blonde hair.

Lila.

The car didn’t slow. It didn’t hesitate. It blew through the broken gate and disappeared onto the road.

For a second, the world felt strangely quiet.

Isabella exhaled in relief. “They made it.”

Aubrey didn’t answer.

Her fingers tightened around the fence until the metal dug into her palms.

She told herself it didn’t matter. They hadn’t seen them. They didn’t even know they were there.

But as the sound of the engine faded into the distance, something ugly rose in her chest.

It felt raw. Territorial. Stupid.

Like being left behind.

Her jaw clenched. Her teeth ground together as she stared at the empty road, heat crawling up her spine.

Isabella dropped back down beside her. “Hey.”

No response.

“Aubrey.” Softer now. “Are you okay?”

Aubrey blinked, like she’d just come back to herself.

“Yeah,” she said, voice flat. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Another shout echoed from inside the building.

Isabella grabbed her wrist. “We need to move. Now.”

Aubrey tore her eyes from the road.

For a split second, she imagined the car stopping. Imagined him looking back. Choosing differently.

It didn’t happen.

Her expression hardened.

“Right,” she said.

Then she started climbing.

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