Chapter 148: You’re too close for comfort

I barely got any sleep that night.

It wasn’t the cold. I’d dealt with worse. It wasn’t even the ground digging into my back or the way my leg kept throbbing every time I shifted.

It was everything else.

The woods never really went quiet. There was always something moving. Branches snapping in the distance. Leaves shifting like something was dragging itself through them. Sometimes it was nothing. Sometimes it wasn’t.

Either way, it kept me awake.

A moment passed.

Then—

Nothing.

The forest had gone quiet in a way that didn’t feel natural.

I noticed it before I heard anything else, my whole body tensing.

Naomi had been crouched near the edge of the clearing, scanning through the trees while adjusting the strap of her bag. Lila stood a few steps behind me, too close for comfort, her presence lingering like something I couldn’t shake.

No birds. No insects.

Just wind brushing through branches.

“You hear that?” Naomi said.

“I hear nothing,” I replied.

“Exactly.”

That sat wrong.

Lila’s fingers brushed against my arm. “Maybe they’re just scared,” she said softly. “Like they should be.”

I didn’t respond. My eyes stayed on the treeline.

Then it came.

A low, wet sound.

Followed by another.

Crunching.

Naomi’s posture changed immediately. “Shit.”

Figures started to move between the trees. Not fast. Not rushing.

Just walking.

Red eyes caught the light first. Then silhouettes. Then the shapes became clearer.

There were too many.

“Back up,” Naomi said under her breath. “Slowly.”

Lila didn’t move.

“They don’t look that fast,” she said.

“They don’t have to be,” Naomi snapped. “Move.”

I grabbed Lila’s wrist and pulled her with me as we started stepping back toward the thicker part of the woods.

More shapes appeared.

Left. Right. Behind the first wave.

My chest tightened.

“We’re surrounded,” I muttered.

“No,” Naomi said quickly. “Not yet. We cut through before they close it.”

One of the infected let out a sharp, broken laugh.

Another dropped to its knees over something on the ground, tearing into it with both hands.

The sound of flesh ripping carried too clearly.

“Don’t run,” Naomi said. “Not yet.”

Too late.

One of them saw us.

Its head snapped in our direction, eyes locking in. Then it screamed.

And the rest followed.

“God damn it,” Naomi said.

We broke.

Branches snapped underfoot as we pushed through the woods. My leg screamed with every step, but adrenaline forced me forward.

Behind us, they came faster than they should have. Not exactly sprinting, but fast enough.

“Left!” Naomi shouted.

We veered hard, cutting through a narrow path between trees. I nearly slipped but caught myself, grabbing onto a branch.

Lila stayed close. Too close.

I could feel her right behind me.

“Your leg’s bleeding,” she said.

“Not now,” I snapped.

Gunfire cracked through the woods.

Naomi.

Short bursts. Controlled.

I glanced back just in time to see one drop, then another.

But it didn’t matter.

There were too many.

“Don’t waste ammo!” I shouted.

“I’m making space!” she fired back.

We broke into a small clearing, but it only made things worse. There was no cover.

Naomi turned, raising her rifle again.

“Keep moving!” she yelled.

“I’m not leaving you—” I started.

“Move, Adrian!”

Another wave pushed through the trees.

One lunged.

Naomi dropped it mid-step.

Another grabbed at her jacket.

She slammed the butt of the rifle into its face, then fired point blank.

Blood sprayed across her sleeve.

“Go!” she shouted again.

I grabbed Lila’s arm and pulled her forward.

We ran.

And then Lila stopped.

I felt it immediately when her grip slipped from mine.

I turned.

“What are you doing?!” I shouted.

She stood there, breathing hard, eyes locked on Naomi behind us.

“They’re getting too close,” she said.

“No shit!”

“No,” she said, shaking her head slightly. “To her.”

Something cold hit my stomach.

“Lila—”

“If she slows us down, we don’t make it.”

Her words came out calm, like she’d already thought it over.

“She’s not slowing us down,” I said firmly.

“She will,” Lila replied. “She already is.”

Behind us, Naomi fired again, retreating step by step as the infected closed in.

“Run!” Naomi yelled. “What the hell are you doing?!”

I turned back to Lila. “We’re not leaving her.”

Her eyes flicked between me and Naomi.

Then back to me.

“You’d choose her?” she asked quietly.

“This isn’t about choosing—”

“It is,” she cut in. “It always is.”

Another scream echoed through the trees.

Closer now.

“Lila, listen to me—”

“No,” she said, stepping closer. “You listen to me.”

Her hand grabbed my shirt, gripping tight.

“I didn’t come all this way just to die because you won’t let go of someone you just met.”

“She’s keeping us alive,” I shot back.

“I am keeping you alive,” she said sharply.

A shot rang out behind us.

Then another.

Then—

“Adrian!” Naomi shouted. “Move your ass!”

I looked back.

She was losing ground.

They were right on her.

I turned back to Lila. “We’re helping her. End of discussion.”

Her grip tightened.

For a second, I thought she was going to argue again.

Instead, she nodded once.

“Fine.”

Relief barely had time to settle before she moved.

Not toward Naomi.

Past me.

Fast.

“Lila—?”

She reached Naomi first.

Naomi didn’t even get a word out before Lila grabbed her shoulder and shoved her hard.

Not away from the infected.

Toward them.

My brain stalled.

“What the fuck?!” Naomi shouted as she stumbled.

The infected surged forward.

“No!” I yelled, sprinting.

I slammed into Naomi, knocking her sideways just as one of them lunged. Its teeth snapped inches from her face.

I fired.

Once.

Twice.

It dropped.

Naomi scrambled back, grabbing her rifle again.

“What the hell is wrong with her?!” she snapped.

I didn’t answer.

I was already turning.

Lila stood a few feet away, watching.

Not panicked.

Not scared.

Watching.

“Why?” I demanded.

She tilted her head slightly.

“She was going to get you killed,” she said.

“She’s keeping us alive!”

“She’s in the way.”

Another infected rushed us.

Naomi fired, dropping it mid-run.

“We can argue about this later!” she shouted. “Move!”

This time, I didn’t wait.

I grabbed Naomi’s arm and pulled her with me. She didn’t resist.

We ran.

Lila followed.

Of course she did.

We pushed deeper into the woods, cutting through tighter paths where the infected struggled to move as fast.

The sounds behind us started to fade.

Slowly.

Eventually, they stopped.

We didn’t stop running until our legs gave out.

I dropped against a tree, breathing hard, my chest burning.

Naomi leaned over, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

Lila walked up a few seconds later, barely winded.

Silence hung between us.

Then Naomi straightened and looked at her.

“You try that again,” she said, voice low and steady, “and I will put you down myself.”

Lila smiled faintly.

“You can try.”

I pushed myself up, stepping between them.

“Enough,” I said. “Both of you.”

Naomi didn’t take her eyes off Lila.

“She tried to feed me to them.”

“I know,” I said.

“And you’re just… what? Fine with that?”

“No,” I replied. “I’m not.”

Lila looked at me.

There was something in her expression now. Not anger.

Something else.

Something that expected me to understand.

“I was protecting you,” she said.

“By killing someone helping us?” I asked.

“She wasn’t helping,” Lila insisted. “She was a risk.”

“She’s the reason we got out of that alive,” I shot back.

Lila’s jaw tightened.

“She’s the reason you’re still thinking like this,” she said. “Like you need anyone else.”

I stared at her.

“That’s not how this works,” I said. “Not anymore.”

“It is for me,” she replied.

Naomi let out a dry laugh. “You hear that? That’s your girlfriend.”

“Shut up,” Lila snapped.

“No,” Naomi said. “I’m serious. You don’t see it?”

“See what?”

“She doesn’t care about anyone but you,” Naomi said. “And the second someone gets between that, she’ll kill them.”

Lila stepped forward.

“And what makes you any better?” she shot back. “You’d leave him behind the second he slows you down.”

“No,” Naomi said. “I’d make sure he doesn’t.”

The tension snapped tight again.

I stepped forward, putting space between them.

“We’re not doing this,” I said firmly. “Not here. Not now.”

Neither of them moved.

“We keep moving,” I continued. “We get somewhere safer. Then we figure this out.”

Naomi finally looked away, adjusting her grip on her rifle.

“Fine,” she muttered.

Lila didn’t respond.

She just looked at me.

Like she was waiting.

For something.

I didn’t know what to give her.

After a moment, she turned and started walking.

Naomi followed, keeping her distance.

I stayed where I was for a second longer, pressing my hand against my bandage, feeling the dull throb underneath.

Then I pushed off the tree and went after them.

Because stopping wasn’t an option.

Not anymore.

And neither was pretending this wasn’t going to get worse.

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