Chapter 129: Shitty people

Terri’s eyes snapped open.

It took her a second to understand why.

Her chest rose and fell faster than it should have, her heart beating like she had just been running. A strange feeling crawled up her spine, slow and cold, settling deep in her chest.

She stayed still, listening.

Nothing.

Just the quiet.

The trees stood tall around them, their branches swaying lightly as the wind passed through. The moon hung above, its light breaking through the gaps and casting pale shadows across the ground.

It should have felt calm.

It didn’t.

Terri swallowed, her throat dry.

She looked around again, slower this time, like she expected something to be there if she just looked hard enough.

There was nothing.

No movement. No sound.

Just the forest.

Behind her, Hale let out a soft snore.

She glanced over at him.

He was on his back, one arm resting over his chest, the other hanging slightly off to the side. His face looked relaxed, even with the faint tension that never really left it.

The snore came again.

Terri almost smiled.

He swore he did not snore.

Her expression faded just as quickly.

That feeling did not go away.

She could not explain it, but it sat heavy in her gut. Like something had already happened. Something bad.

Something she should have been there for.

It was the same feeling she had that night.

The one that made her take the car and go back to the compound alone.

The one that made her believe something was wrong before she even saw it.

Her fingers curled slightly against the ground.

She looked at Hale again.

He had said yes.

He actually said yes.

In a few hours, when the sun came up, he was going to start teaching her. Teaching her how to fight. How to survive. How to stop being dead weight.

The thought should have made her feel better.

It didn’t.

If anything, it made everything feel more fragile.

She let out a slow breath and rolled onto her side, facing him.

For a moment, she just watched him.

Then she spoke.

“Hale?”

No response.

She frowned slightly.

He had to be asleep.

Still, she kept going.

“How do you think Adrian and the others are holding up?”

The question hung in the air.

No answer came.

Terri shifted slightly, pulling her arms closer to herself.

“…I really miss them,” she said.

Her voice was quiet, but steady.

“Not that I don’t enjoy your company or anything. Trust me, you’re great…” she added, almost awkwardly.

A small pause followed.

“But I just miss it.”

She stared past him, into the trees.

“Things were really nice back at the compound,” she continued. “Just talking about random stuff. Arguing over dumb things. Relying on each other for mundane things like chores and what not, It felt…normal.”

Her voice softened.

“Like how things used to be. It was something I could keep up with.”

The wind picked up slightly, rustling the leaves above them.

“…and when it all got taken away— I…”

The words died in her throat. Terri swallowed again.

“I know you’re worried too,” she said. “You just don’t say it.”

She let out a small breath.

“But we’re going to find them. In one piece.”

She nodded to herself, like she was convincing something deeper than just her thoughts.

“We have to.”

Silence settled again.

Terri closed her eyes, trying to let that be enough.

Trying to believe it.

A few feet away, Hale stared up at the sky.

His eyes were open.

He had not been asleep for a while.

He said nothing.

His jaw tightened slightly as he listened to her.

Then, slowly, he turned his head just enough to look at her.

She looked peaceful now.

Like she had managed to talk herself into rest.

Hale looked away again, back up at the sky.

His expression did not change.

But the grip of his hand against the ground tightened.

And he did not sleep.

—

My face had looked blotchy, like I’d been waterboarded.

But the torture hadn’t started yet. Atleast, not for now.

Each time I thought the tears would stop streaming my face, they just…couldnt.

They never did.

Even when the mind fracture started settling in. Even when I felt that shift in my head, that thing that always happens when I’m pushed too far. When something inside me breaks and rebuilds stronger.

It didn’t matter.

None of that mattered.

It didn’t even feel real yet.

Not the chair. Not the ropes digging into my wrists. Not the dim light hanging above me like it was waiting for something.

My mind kept trying to move anyway.

Counting distance. Studying the walls. Looking for weak points. Angles. Patterns.

A way out.

No.

Just…fucking stop it.

I couldn’t bare to think about anything else, even when my mind pushed for tactics that would aid in my survival.

…I thought about the screams.

I thought about Aubrey.

The way she dropped.

The way her body just gave out like someone pulled the plug.

I didn’t even get to see the life leave her eyes.

My chest tightened.

My best friend.

Despite everything.

Despite the arguments. The tension. The distance.

It took me seeing her fall for me to finally admit that.

It took her seeing her die for me to realize that all the good outweighed the bad. By a long shot.

The shit I said to her.

The way I treated her.

The things I never fixed.

I never even said sorry.

Not once.

God fucking damn it, Adrian. You should’ve just swallowed your damn pride.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but it didn’t help.

Julia.

Dead before we even got the chance to catch up. Before anything could be normal again.

Carl.

Adira.

My breath hitched.

Lila.

I thought about her eyes when she looked at me from the ground, how her eyes slowly began to dimly fade as she tried to push out her last “I love you” towards me, like she was desperate for me to hear it for the last time.

And I remember how she stopped mid sentence.

A few months ago, when this all first started, I fooled myself into thinking that her dying would never break me.

And as the tears continued to flow, snot running down my nose, I realized how much of a god damn lie that was.

People hated her. She was difficult. A hindrance. Crazy. An infected that none of us should’ve trusted.

On paper.

My breath stuttered. I hiccuped once, twice, before the sounds I couldn’t control kept coming.

She was a psychopath, but I loved her all the same.

She was my girlfriend.

I barely looked up when I saw the door creak open. I already knew.

Annie, and along with several other gunmen walked in, surrounding the chair I sat on with my hands tied behind my back.

Eyes of glowing amber made me sick now.

So did that fucking smell.

She looked like she came here to enjoy this. To say something clever. To watch me break.

But when she saw my face—

She seemed to pause.

Just for a second.

Her fingers curled slightly at her sides.

Like she didn’t expect this.

Then it was gone, replaced with that same expression.

But this time, it felt forced.

After a moment, she spoke.

“You’re pathetic, you know that?”

She spat. I didn’t respond, biting my lip as I tried to stifle my noises.

She paused for a moment, something flashing in her eyes filled with Amber.

Then she spoke again.

“This is your fault, you know. All of it.”

She said.

My eyes widened just slightly.

My eyes lifted slightly.

She started talking.

“The warehouse,” she said, pointing at me like she was counting off a list. “You remember that, right? You tore through it like it was nothing. Do you even know how many people were in there?”

I said nothing.

Her jaw tightened.

“Those were my people, Adrian. Not soldiers. Not fighters. People.” Her voice cracked for half a second before she forced it steady again. “You slaughtered them like it didn’t mean a thing.”

I felt my fingers twitch against the restraints.

She took a step closer.

“And then there’s the others,” she continued. “The ones you picked off one by one. The ones who didn’t even get a chance to fight back.” Her eyes burned into mine. “Do you even remember their faces?”

I didn’t answer.

“Of course you don’t,” she said quietly. “Why would you?”

A beat passed.

Her lips pressed together before she spoke again.

“And my sister,” she said.

That one hit different.

Her voice dropped.

“You remember her, don’t you?” she asked. “Or is she just another body to you too?”

I clenched my jaw.

“The one with the silver teeth,” Annie said. “Yasmine.” Her breathing started to shake, but she kept going.

“She was just doing her job. Trying to get us the stuff that we need to survive. And you just…got in her way. Made things hard for all of us.

My chest tightened.

“You killed her.”

Silence filled the room.

She let out a short, broken laugh, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe it herself.

“And you wanna stand there and act like I’m the villain?” she asked. “Like I’m the one who took things too far?”

Her eyes locked onto mine.

“You’re the one that started this war, Carter. Not me…”

She finally said.

Then, with red eyes, I looked her dead in the eyes as tears continued to form.

“I should’ve killed you that day..” I muttered under my breath.

Her expression faltered.

“What?”

“You want to know the truth?” I said.

Her eyes darkened.

“I felt bad for you. For everything. I was gonna leave for good. End whatever this is.”

A beat.

“Now I know that you and your sick kind need to die. All of you. You’re all sick monsters…your humanity was gone the moment you turned infected.”

Annie frowned.

“Would you say it’s the same thing for Lila?” She said.

My eyes widened.

“The dog we put down?”

I went more furious than I already was.

“She’s different.”

“Why?” She cut throigh my words.

“Because you knew her before hand? Because you were familiar with her?”

A beat.

“By your logic, she’s a still a monster.”

I went silent.

“See people like you only see one way. You force yourself to believe everyone who isn’t with you is the villain.”

She continued. “Well guess what, Carter? Infected or not, you’re a shitty person, too.”

I looked at her.

“And shitty people meet their demise sooner or later.”

With that, she leaned away from me.

“Damien.” She called to someone hiding behind the doorway.

My eyes widened, my pulse stuttering as my heart dropped.

“Would you like to do the honors?”

For a fleeting moment, I waited to see who’d walk in.

There was no fucking way

For just a fleeting moment, I wanted to believe it was a different Damien.

But it wasn’t.

Same dark hair. Small eyes. Chiseled jaw. It was him.

My face went from confusion, into a deep settled anger as he looked at me. I stared right back.

It was funny. I hadn’t seen him around the house in so long.

Now it all made sense, the scumbag.

He was a fucking traitor.

And as Annie placed the gun in his hand, something inside me snapped further.

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