Chapter 146: Let me breathe

For a fleeting moment, all I could think about was how normal it felt.

Sitting there. Talking. Breathing without feeling like something was about to rip my throat out.

Naomi leaned back slightly on the stump across from me, one hand resting near the rifle by her leg.

“Doesn’t take much for you to get chummy with someone, does it?” she asked.

There was something dry in her tone, but not hostile.

I couldn’t help the small smile that slipped out.

“Guess that’s what loneliness does to you.”

She huffed lightly through her nose, shaking her head.

“Or maybe you’ve just always been like that. Friendly face, easy voice. Makes people drop their guard.”

“Worked so far.”

“Yeah,” she muttered. “Until it doesn’t.”

I was about to say something back, something smart, something to keep the moment going—

But my eyes drifted past her.

Movement.

At first, it was just a shape between the trees. Nothing clear. Just a figure getting closer.

My fingers tightened around the grip of my gun.

Naomi noticed the shift in my posture.

“What?” she asked, turning slightly.

I didn’t answer.

I squinted, trying to make sense of it.

The way they moved.

The pace.

Not infected.

Too controlled.

My chest tightened.

Then—

It hit me.

“…Lila…?” I muttered.

The word left my mouth before I could stop it. I wasn’t able to believe my eyes. Something warm settled in my chest before I was able to stop it.

Was I seeing things…?

Naomi turned fully this time.

“What?”

And then she saw her.

Even in the low light, there was no mistaking her.

Dirty blonde hair. Blood-streaked skin. Eyes—

Her eyes.

Naomi’s voice dropped.

“…Oh, shit.”

Lila didn’t slow down.

She raised the gun.

The warmth vanished.

Everything in me snapped at once.

I lunged forward and shoved Naomi hard off the stump just as the shot rang out.

The crack split through the clearing.

Naomi hit the ground with a grunt.

“WHAT THE FUCK—?!” she shouted.

I barely heard her.

My eyes were locked on Lila.

She was already reloading.

Fast.

Too fast.

“I thought you said she was dead!” Naomi yelled from the ground.

“I thought so too!” I shot back, panic rising in my throat.

Lila was already reloading.

Fast. Controlled. Focused.

She kept walking toward us, firing again without hesitation. The shots tore through the space around us, forcing me to step back as my heart slammed against my ribs.

I forced myself to really look at her.

Her eyes weren’t just red. They pulsed. Locked onto something with an intensity that made my stomach turn.

“Oh, fuck…” I whispered.

“LILA!!!” I shouted, my voice cracking.

Nothing.

She kept firing.

“STOP!!! IT’S ME!!!”

My hands went up without thinking, like that would somehow fix this.

Like she just hadn’t seen me.

Like this was a mistake.

But deep down—

I knew she saw me.

I knew exactly what this was.

Behind me, Naomi scrambled, grabbing the rifle.

My chest dropped even further.

“Fuck this,” she muttered, raising it.

“No—!”

I turned, shoving the barrel away just as it fired.

The shot went wide into the trees.

“What the hell are you doing?!” she snapped. “She’s trying to kill us!”

I didn’t answer her. I couldn’t.

Because when I turned back—

Lila was closer.

Way closer.

Naomi cursed and bolted for cover, ducking behind a large boulder.

Lila walked right past me.

Close enough that I felt it.

That presence.

That heat.

My pulse spiked so hard it made me dizzy.

She didn’t even look at me.

Her focus snapped straight to the boulder.

She fired again.

And again.

And again.

“LILA!!”

Nothing.

Just gunfire.

I dragged my hands through my hair, my thoughts slipping over each other.

What the hell was I supposed to do?

Step in front of her? Into the line of fire?

With the look on her face, I was almost certain she’d shoot me too, whether by accident or not.

Grabbing her was out of the question, especially with that gun in her hand.

Last time we fought over a weapon—

I remembered it too clearly.

Too real.

I was starting to feel helpless, before—

Click.

Click.

Click.

Silence.

The gun ran dry.

For a split second, everything froze.

Naomi stayed behind the rock, breathing hard.

Lila didn’t hesitate.

She threw the gun aside like it meant nothing.

Her hand went straight to her pocket.

Knife.

“Lila— Lila! Relax!” I rushed forward.

She pulled it out, fumbling only for a second before gripping it tight.

Her movements were sharp.

Desperate.

Focused.

On killing.

On Naomi.

I grabbed her wrist.

“Stop—!”

She was stronger than I remembered, or maybe just more desperate. The blade flashed dangerously close as she tried to break free, her focus still locked on Naomi.

We struggled, her blade inches from slipping free of my grip.

“Lila, listen to me—!”

She didn’t.

Her breathing was uneven, almost shaky.

Not fear.

Something else.

Something worse.

Like she was about to break.

Then—

The blade slipped.

Slice.

“FUCK—!”

Pain exploded through my hand.

I stumbled back, clutching my palm as blood poured through my fingers.

My vision blurred for a second.

“Shit—…Adrian, baby— I’m so sorry—”

Her voice changed.

Just like that.

I looked up.

She was right there.

Eyes wide.

The anger—gone.

Replaced with panic.

Real panic.

She stepped toward me.

I stepped back.

Instinct.

My hand throbbed, blood dripping onto the dirt.

She froze when she saw that.

Really saw it.

Her breathing hitched.

“…I didn’t mean to,” she said softly. “I didn’t— I wasn’t—”

Footsteps.

Naomi.

She came around the boulder, rifle raised.

Her eyes flicked from my bleeding hand—

To Lila.

To the knife.

Her face hardened.

She took aim.

I moved without thinking, stepping between them.

“Adrian, move,” Naomi said, voice low and tight. “She’s dangerous.”

“Will you just stop?” I snapped.

Behind me, I felt Lila shift.

The knife raised again.

“Just wait till I get my hands on you,” she spat. “You fucking slag.”

Naomi’s jaw clenched.

“Say that again.”

“QUIT IT!” I yelled, pushing Lila back slightly with my good arm.

Everything felt like it was spinning.

Too fast.

Too loud.

Lila looked at me.

Really looked this time.

Her expression twisted.

Hurt.

Anger.

Something raw.

“Couldn’t wait, huh?” she said. “Couldn’t even wait to see my body decompose.”

“What—?” I blinked.

“You move on quick, you asshole.”

Her voice cracked at the edges.

That hit harder than anything else.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“At least pick someone prettier!” she snapped, pointing the knife toward Naomi.

Naomi scoffed, tightening her grip on the rifle.

“Oh, I’ll show you pretty—”

“Lila, stop!” I cut in.

She didn’t.

Her breathing picked up again.

Unsteady.

“You think I didn’t see it?” she said. “You sitting there, laughing with her like I never existed?”

“I wasn’t—”

“You were smiling,” she said, quieter now. “You don’t smile like that unless you mean it.”

That shut me up.

For a second.

Because she wasn’t wrong.

But not like that.

Not the way she thought.

“She never replaced you,” I said finally, forcing the words out. “We were just trying to survive.”

Silence.

Lila stared at me.

Then at Naomi.

Then back at me.

Her grip on the knife loosened slightly.

“…You expect me to believe that?” she asked.

Her voice wasn’t loud anymore.

That made it worse.

“I thought you were dead,” I said. “I watched you fucking die!!! I saw when those freaks put a bullet in your…”

Her eyes flickered.

The words died in my mouth. I held my tongue back, the painful memories flooding back into my brain like a faulty dam. I pressed my fingers over my eyes, breathing hard as I attempted to collect my thoughts.

“And that’s it?” she said. “You just…move on? You could’ve atleast waited 10 years. AT LEAST!!!”

“I didn’t move on!” I said, sharper now. “I kept going. There’s a difference. What the hell was I supposed to do???”

Naomi didn’t lower the rifle.

Didn’t blink.

But she didn’t shoot either.

Lila’s arm slowly dropped.

The knife dipped toward the ground.

Her shoulders sank just a little.

“…I looked for you,” she said, almost to herself.

I swallowed.

“I didn’t know that.”

“You don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t know what I did to get here.”

Her eyes lifted back to mine.

That red still there.

Still burning.

But not as wild.

Not as out of control.

Not yet.

“I smelled your lighter,” she said quietly, holding it up. “Followed it all the way here.”

My chest tightened.

Naomi finally spoke again, voice tight.

“So what now?”

No one answered her.

Because standing there—

Between the two of them—

I realized something.

This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

People don’t forget that they were trying to kill each other so easily.

Lila’s fingers tightened slightly around the knife again.

It wasn’t raised, nor attacking— but the grip wasn’t gone either, it growing more vice with each drop of blood that fell to the floor,

And Naomi’s finger was still resting near the trigger, almost like she was a hunter.

Ready.

Waiting.

One wrong move.

One wrong word.

And everything would go to hell all over again.

God damn it.

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