Chapter 161: What Mrs. Graham said

I kept my eyes forward as they walked along the cracked highway, one hand resting loosely near the knife at my waist. The other hung stiff at my side, fingers twitching every now and then like they couldn’t decide if they were tired or just done listening to me.

The road stretched out in front of us like it had somewhere better to be

My leg dragged a little more than I wanted it to.

Come on, Adrian. One foot infront of the other. Don’t think too far ahead. Don’t make her think she had anything else over you.

But it had been too late.

By the time I looked towards her— she had that…look.

Lila definitely noticed.

She didn’t say anything about it.

That was worse.

“You’re limping more,” she said anyway, after a few seconds.

I exhaled slowly through my nose.

“Didn’t ask for a report.”

“I’m not reporting,” she said, almost sweet. “I’m observing.”

I glanced at her.

She smiled.

Not wide. Not exaggerated. Just enough to show she knew exactly what she was doing.

I looked away.

The silence stretched for a bit after that. Their footsteps filled it. Gravel crunching. Fabric shifting. The faint clink of something in Lila’s bag.

I swallowed.

“Map’s still wrong.”

Lila tilted her head slightly.

“Or you’re reading it wrong.”

“I’m not—” I stopped himself, jaw tightening. “We should’ve hit a junction by now.”

“We did,” she said casually.

I blinked.

“…what?”

“Back there,” she nodded behind us. “About ten minutes ago.”

I stopped walking.

“You didn’t say anything.”

Lila took two more steps before noticing, then turned back to me slowly.

“I wanted to see if you’d notice.”

I stared at her.

I chest rose once. Fell.

Seriously?

“You wanted to— what?”

She shrugged, stepping closer.

“You get this look,” she said, gesturing loosely at his face. “Like you’re holding the whole world together in your head. I was curious how long it’d last before it cracked.”

I let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“I’m serious, Lila.”

“So am I.”

We stood there for a moment.

Wind moved through the trees lining the road, carrying the faint smell of something rotting far off.

I dragged a hand down my face.

“We’re wasting time.”

“We’re alive,” she corrected.

“That’s not the same thing.”

She watched me closely.

The way my shoulders stayed tense even when i wasn’t moving. The way my eyes kept flicking—not just scanning, but searching. Like something was always about to go wrong.

Like it already had.

I swallowed the smell down.

Then started walking again.

“Anyway, the map says we should hit Detroit soon,” I muttered.

“Soon?” she echoed.

“Relatively.”

“That means you don’t know.”

I glanced at her.

“You got a better idea?”

“No,” she said easily. “I just like when you admit you don’t.”

I almost said something back.

Didn’t.

Didn’t have the energy.

“Let’s just keep moving,” I said.

I stepped forward again. She fell in beside me without another word.

For a bit, it was just footsteps.

Gravel crunching.

Clothes shifting.

My breathing.

Her breathing.

Then—

“Adrian.”

I kept walking.

“What.”

“You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”

My jaw tightened.

“I’m thinking about where we’re going.”

“Mm.”

That sound. That quiet little hum she did when she didn’t believe me.

I stopped again.

“Say it.”

She blinked. “Say what?”

“Whatever you’re thinking. Just say it.”

She tilted her head slightly, studying my face.

“You want the nice version or the real one?”

“Don’t start.”

“You don’t actually want the truth,” she said softly. “You want me to say something that makes you feel better.”

I laughed under my breath.

“Yeah, because you’re real good at that.”

She didn’t react to the tone.

Just stepped closer.

“You keep calling her name in your head,” she said. “Over and over. Like if you say it enough, she’ll come back.”

My chest tightened.

I didn’t answer.

Didn’t need to.

She saw it.

“She left you,” Lila said.

There it was.

Flat. Clean. No hesitation.

I looked at her.

“She didn’t—”

“She didn’t wake you up,” she cut in. “Didn’t say goodbye. Didn’t even look at you before she left.”

Her voice wasn’t loud.

Didn’t need to be.

Every word landed anyway.

“Atleast Aubrey had the decency to look you in the face when she did.”

“—don’t.” I replied sharply.

Lila’s face remained neutral.

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” I continued, but it came out thinner than I wanted.

“And plus, you’re forgetting that shecame back.” I went on, pointing at Lila’s chest.

She only smirked.

“Probably to give herself closure if you were really dead or not.”

My chest stuttered once. My fists tightened at my sides.

“I know people,” she said again.

I hated that line.

Because she believed it.

Because part of me thought she might be right.

“She had her reasons,” I muttered.

“Yeah,” Lila said. “You.”

That hit harder than I expected.

I looked away.

My fingers flexed at my side.

For a second, I thought about arguing.

Defending her.

Defending Naomi.

But the image came back anyway—

Empty spot where she should’ve been.

No sound of her packing.

No warning.

Just… gone.

I exhaled slowly.

“…we need to focus,” I said. “Getting to Canada. That’s it.”

Lila watched me for a second longer.

Then nodded.

“Okay.”

Too easy.

That bothered me more than if she kept pushing.

We walked again.

The road narrowed, trees closing in tighter around us. Shadows stretched across the pavement, broken by patches of weak sunlight.

Then—

Movement.

Off to the side.

I heard it before I saw it.

Slow dragging steps.

Wet.

Uneven.

My hand went straight to my knife.

“Stay back,” I said.

Lila didn’t answer.

I stepped toward the sound.

It came out of the trees a second later.

A man.

Or what was left of one.

Skin torn open along the neck, dried blood caked down his chest. One eye gone, the other red, cloudy and wrong. Jaw hanging just slightly off, like it forgot how to stay in place.

It saw me.

Smiled creepily, but it’s jaw made things crooked.

Started toward me.

I didn’t hesitate.

Stepped in, grabbed the back of his head, and drove the knife up under his chin.

Bone gave.

He dropped.

Fast.

Quiet.

I pulled the blade out, wiped it on my jeans without thinking.

Then I turned—

Lila was already crouched next to the body.

“…Lila.”

She didn’t look at me.

Her fingers hovered over its face.

Not touching yet.

Just… close.

Like she was feeling something I couldn’t see.

“You ever notice,” she said quietly, “how close the baseline look to us? Even after they’re infected?

I frowned.

“They don’t.”

She smiled faintly.

“They do.”

She finally touched it.

Light.

Careful.

Like it wasn’t dangerous anymore.

“They’re us,” she said. “Same body. Same voice. Same thoughts—…but warped.”

“They don’t think like us anymore.”

“How do you know?”

I stared at her.

“…because they try to eat and kill people, Lila.”

She let out a soft breath. Not quite a laugh.

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

Something in my stomach twisted.

“Don’t do this.”

“Do what?”

“This—whatever this is.”

She looked up at me then.

Her eyes caught the light through the trees.

That red tint—subtle, but there.

“You act like there’s a clean line,” she said. “Like one day you’re human and the next you’re… that.”

She nodded at the body.

“And nothing in between.”

“There isn’t.”

“There is,” she said.

Her voice dropped.

Quieter.

More certain.

“I feel it sometimes.”

My chest tightened.

“What.”

She stood slowly.

Too calm.

Too casual.

“Not like them,” she said quickly, almost reassuring. “Not… gone.”

She stepped closer.

“But different.”

I didn’t move.

Didn’t step back.

Didn’t step forward.

Just watched her.

“The way everything gets sharper,” she continued. “The way people move. Breathe. The way I can tell what they’re about to do before they do it.”

Her hand lifted slightly.

Hovered near my chest.

Didn’t touch.

“Like right now,” she said softly. “You’re scared.”

“I’m not scared.”

“You are,” she whispered.

Her lips twitched into a small smile.

“But not of them.”

She glanced down at the body.

Then back at me.

“…of me.”

My throat felt dry.

I didn’t answer.

She saw it anyway.

And for a second—

She looked happy about it.

Not big.

Not obvious.

Just… there.

Then it was gone.

Just like that.

She stepped back, brushing her hands off.

“Come on,” she said lightly. “We’re losing daylight.”

Like the conversation never happened.

Like she didn’t just say all that.

I stood there for a second longer.

Looking at the body.

Then at her.

Then back at the road.

My head felt… slow.

Like everything was stacking on top of everything else and I couldn’t sort through it fast enough.

The lattice wasn’t keeping up.

Too much.

Too fast.

I exhaled and followed her.

Because what else was I gonna do?

Leave her?

Not a chance.

And that was the problem.

As we walked, I kept my eyes forward.

But I could feel her beside me.

And for the first time since all this started—

I couldn’t tell if she was the reason I was still alive.

Or the reason I wasn’t going to stay that way.

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