Chapter 105: Fucking freak

Everything felt warm for a moment, familiar.

My eyes fluttered open after Aubrey hit a pothole. The jolt jerked me fully awake. Even from Lila’s lap, I could see Aubrey’s fists tighten on the wheel, her jaw set as she tried to stay calm.

“You’re thinking too much about it—he was just tired.” Isabella reassured Aubrey from beside her.

Aubrey scoffed, muttering something about tossing the psycho slut out before we even reached Missouri.

I sat up quickly, realizing who she was talking about. I rubbed my head once and glanced at Lila. A smile lingered on her face, impossible to read.

Oh, shit.

“I hope you two were comfortable,” Aubrey spat from the front.

I looked at her from the backseat.

“Your cuddle buddy’s gonna go pretty soon.”

I exhaled slowly. I didn’t know what to say. Aubrey was supposed to be my girlfriend, and here I was, resting on my ex’s lap. Guilt churned in my stomach.

But it had no time to linger.

“Wait…—what the fuck is that?” Isabella muttered, her eyes fixed ahead.

The checkpoint that showed us we were leaving Chicago came into view— Armed men, armored vehicles, barrels of guns pointed directly at us. The orange in their eyes glinted in the sun.

A blockade.

They made a blockade for us…?

“Aubrey, we need to turn around,” Isabella said.

Aubrey didn’t answer. Her foot pressed harder on the gas.

What the fuck was she doing?

“We can make it,” she muttered under her breath.

“Aubrey, fucking stop!! You’re gonna kill us all!!!!”

The car gained speed. It was clear she had gone off the deep end.

“AUBREY!!!” I screamed.

She didn’t slow.

I sank back into the seat, closing my eyes, waiting for the collision.

The tires skidded, Aubrey hitting the breaks as her eyes widened. She seemed to realize a little bit too late that a Toyota Camry wasn’t built to ram a humvee.

The front of the car crumpled. Metal screamed. Glass shattered. The world tilted as we slammed forward.

I opened my eyes, gripping Lila tightly. Somehow, by inches or luck, we weren’t dead.

I smelt something metallic as I looked around, dust clouding my vision. I could see the airbag deflating from the dashboard. Outside through the cracked windows, I could see something else.

Armed men beginning to surround us from all sides.

I had almost choked on my words.

“We need to get out of here..”

Aubrey’s eyes fluttered as she opened them. They widened even more once she noticed the men already trying to break the glass with the butt of their rifles.

“MOVE!! MOVE!!”

Aubrey began to reverse, before hitting something— or someone.

“They’re surrounding us—!! I don’t have anywhere to—”

“Run them over!! Run them the fuck over!!!”

Isabella shouted.

Aubrey pressed the pedal, reversing, knocking whoever was in their path. It didn’t take moments for them to start firing at us, bullets peppering the glass, grazing my skin. I felt the heat of it all.

It was like she wasn’t reversing fast enough.

I felt bones and flesh crunch underneath us as Aubrey flung the car around, speeding off with what little remained of the vehicle.

I collapsed in my seat as the weight of what had just happened pressed down on me.

“They’re boxing us in,” I said through ragged breaths. No one answered. Maybe they were too scared.

For some reason I had underestimated how much territory those assholes had. Chicago was theirs now. Maybe Missouri, maybe even fucking Texas.

This felt like dealing with the Crucible all over again.

My mind began to work silently. Maybe we could cut through Wisconsin instead of directly taking the route we did from before.

Regardless, we were in their playground now.

The car didn’t slow for nearly two minutes.

The steering wheel shook in Aubrey’s hands. Or maybe her hands were shaking and the wheel followed.

Nobody spoke.

The only sound was the engine whining too hard and Aubrey’s breathing — sharp, uneven, dragging in air like she’d just run miles.

“We’re clear,” Isabella said softly.

Aubrey didn’t answer.

Her knuckles were white. Blood trickled from a thin cut along her wrist where the glass must’ve nicked her. She didn’t seem to notice.

“We’re clear,” Isabella repeated.

The car jerked slightly as Aubrey swerved around a bend too fast.

“I said we’re clear!” Isabella snapped.

Aubrey let out a laugh.

It wasn’t amused.

It wasn’t relieved.

It was thin. Wrong.

“Clear?” she echoed. “You saw how many there were, right? You saw their eyes?”

Her voice climbed higher with each word.

I shifted in the backseat. Lila’s hand slid into mine again, her thumb brushing slow circles against my palm.

Aubrey saw it in the rearview mirror.

Her laugh stopped.

The silence after felt heavier than the crash.

She kept driving another few seconds.

Then she slammed on the brakes.

The car skidded slightly before stopping crooked across the empty road.

“Aubrey—what the hell are you doing?” I asked. “We need to put more distance between us and them.”

She didn’t move.

Her chest was rising too fast.

“You almost died back there,” Isabella said carefully. “We all did.”

“No,” Aubrey whispered.

Her shoulders started trembling. At first I thought she was crying.

Then she started laughing again.

“You almost died,” she repeated. “And the first thing I see when I look back there is him cuddled up with his psycho ex like we’re on a fucking road trip.”

My stomach dropped.

“Aubrey—”

She ripped off her seatbelt and shoved the door open so hard it groaned in protest.

“Oh, we’re doing this now,” she muttered to herself, pacing a few steps before turning toward the backseat. “We’re absolutely doing this now.”

She yanked at the back door. It stuck on bent metal. She pulled harder, swearing under her breath until it tore open.

“You,” she said, pointing at Lila. Her finger was shaking. “Get the fuck out.”

Lila tilted her head slightly, still calm. Still smiling.

“Aubrey,” I said, stepping out quickly. “This isn’t the time.”

“When is the time?” Aubrey snapped, stepping closer. “After she gets you killed? After you freeze again?”

That one hit.

Behind me, Lila’s arms slipped around my waist.

I stiffened.

It was deliberate. I knew it was deliberate.

“Adrian,” she murmured softly. “She’s scaring me.”

Her grip tightened.

Aubrey stared at the way Lila pressed against me.

Something in her face shifted — not rage.

Something worse.

Recognition.

“You think I don’t see it?” she said quietly. Too quietly. “You think I don’t see what she’s doing?”

Lila leaned up, lips brushing my ear.

“Save me,” she whispered, just loud enough for Aubrey to hear.

Aubrey’s mouth parted slightly.

For a second, she just looked at me.

Not angry.

Not screaming.

Just tired.

“You chose,” she said.

She brushed past Isabella and walked toward the front of the car.

“Wait—where are you going?” I called.

“You want her?” Aubrey said without turning around. “Have her.”

She pulled the driver’s door open. It resisted, then gave.

“I’m done fighting for someone who doesn’t fight back.”

The engine roared again.

Isabella hesitated, looking between us.

Then she ran after Aubrey.

I stood there, heart pounding, Lila still holding onto me like I was the only stable thing left in the world.

The car disappeared around the bend.

And only then did it fully settle in.

We weren’t just trapped in Chicago.

We’d split again.

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