Chapter 41: Do we really?

The convenience store was dark except for the thin spill of moonlight leaking through the front windows and the dull glow of a dying emergency light near the back. Shelves loomed like shadows around us, half-empty, picked clean in places where panic had already passed through.

We sat on the floor in a loose circle, backs to coolers and overturned crates, everyone clutching whatever food they’d scavenged—protein bars, crushed chips, dented cans. The sounds of chewing and rustling wrappers felt too loud in the quiet.

Lila was pressed against my side.

Not just close—clinging. Her arms were wrapped around mine, fingers locked together like she was afraid I’d vanish if she loosened her grip. Her head rested on my shoulder, warm, familiar. I could feel her breathing, slow and deliberate, like she was reminding herself I was real.

Everyone noticed.

Aubrey didn’t bother hiding it. She scoffed under her breath and looked away. Terri scratched at her nose and fixed her attention on the floor like she’d found something fascinating there.

Isabella’s expression stayed neutral— too neutral. Cold, almost. Jane offered a small smile from across the circle, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

I’d already learned the difference.

Cherie sat apart from the rest, tucked into a corner near the back room, fingers picking endlessly at the restraints around her wrists. Peter, meanwhile, looked like he was trying to eat the apocalypse away, shoving food into his mouth with single-minded focus.

Hale wasn’t inside. He’d taken first watch outside, rifle slung, eyes on the road. I was supposed to switch with him soon.

I sighed, wiping sweat from my brow.

It was hot. Stale. The air clung to my skin like it didn’t want to let go.

Someone— one of the survivors who’d come with us— cleared his throat and raised a canned beer to his lips. He took a long swig, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, stubble scratching against his skin.

“You two seem awfully close,” he said, nodding toward Lila and me. “Is that your—”

“Yes.”

Lila cut in before I could open my mouth.

No hesitation. No glance my way. Just certainty.

Her grip tightened slightly, like punctuation.

The man blinked, nodded once, and looked away.

Aubrey pushed herself to her feet with an irritated exhale. “Unbelievable,” she muttered.

We all looked up as she headed for the door.

“Aubrey—?” Terri started.

“I’m switching with Hale,” Aubrey snapped, not slowing. Her voice was cold, sharp enough to cut. “Someone competent should be outside.”

The bell above the door jingled as she shoved it open and disappeared into the night.

Silence followed her.

Lila watched the door for a long second, eyes flat, unreadable. Then she turned back to me, her expression softening instantly, like a mask slipping back into place. She tucked herself closer, nuzzling into my shoulder.

The whiplash made my chest feel tight.

For a while, the only sounds were chewing and the faint hum of the refrigeration units still clinging to life somewhere in the building. Then a man across from me— middle-aged, sunburned, wearing a flannel that smelled like old beer— cleared his throat.

“So,” he said, tapping his can against the floor once. “Texas.”

Something in my chest twisted.

A few heads lifted.

“What about it?” Peter muttered, mouth still half full.

The man shrugged. “That’s where we’re headed, right? Figured someone ought to say it out loud.”

Jane leaned back against a shelf, arms folded. “Big place. Plenty of room to disappear.”

So was Hyde Park.

“Or plenty of room to die,” Isabella said flatly.

That shut things up for a second.

Terri shifted beside Aubrey’s empty spot, hugging her knees.

“Adrian, you mentioned there were camps down there. Real ones. Doctors. Labs. People actually studying what’s happening.”

Peter scoffed, like he wasn’t the one who told me that bullshit.

“I heard that about Chicago before we heard the news.” Someone said.

A few nervous chuckles followed. They didn’t last.

The man with the beer looked at me again. “You said there was a reason,” he said. Not accusing. Just waiting

“What’s Texas supposed to be for us?”

Lila tightened her arms around mine, her fingers threading together like she was bracing.

“Texas isn’t about space,” I said. “Or safety. Not really.”

That drew their attention fully now.

“There were research facilities down there before everything collapsed,” I continued. “Medical hubs. Disease control branches. Private labs that prioritized learning about the disease even before things went really bad.”

As I spoke, my eyes flicked— just once— to the corner of the room.

Cherie sat half in shadow, knees drawn up, fingers worrying at the restraints around her wrists. She wasn’t eating. Wasn’t listening like the others.

She was staring at me.

Hard.

Unblinking.

I forced myself not to react and kept going.

“If anyone has answers about what this thing is,” I said, “or how it spreads… or how to slow it down— it won’t be up here.”

Jane tilted her head. “You’re saying we’re chasing a cure.”

“I’m saying we’re chasing information,” I corrected. “There’s a difference.”

I felt like I was doubling down.

Peter’s chewing had stopped.

“And if there’s nothing left?” he asked. His voice was calm, but his eyes weren’t. They were fixed on me now, sharp, digging. “If it’s all burned out like everywhere else?”

“Then at least we’ll know,” I said. “And we stop guessing.”

Peter leaned back slightly, arms crossing. His glare deepened, like he was weighing something he hadn’t decided whether to say out loud.

Lila spoke softly, but with certainty. “People don’t survive without answers. They just last longer.”

I felt a weight lift slightly as she backed me up.

I swallowed.

“None of us have anything to lose,” I said, the words coming easier than they should have.

“Might as well take the chance.”

No one answered right away.

Terri hugged her knees tighter, chin dipping as her thumb rubbed nervously at the seam of her sleeve— over and over, like it was the only thing keeping her grounded. Jane’s hand drifted unconsciously to her forearm, fingers brushing the edge of that tattoo before she caught herself and folded her arms again. Isabella stared at the floor, jaw clenched, like she was counting something she didn’t want to name.

Across the circle, Peter finally set his food down.

Carefully.

Like it mattered.

The man in the flannel exhaled slowly, shoulders sagging as if he’d been holding his breath for days. “I just hope you’re right, man,” he said.

No one laughed. No one nodded.

Lila leaned her head more firmly against my shoulder, her weight settling into me like an anchor. I felt the warmth of her through my shirt and realized, suddenly, how fragile it all was— how easily a wrong turn, a bad decision, could take it away.

From the corner, Cherie’s stare never wavered.

Not hopeful or afraid.

Knowing.

Outside, somewhere beyond the walls, a truck engine idled— and for the first time since I’d said it, I understood the lie in my own words.

I suddenly felt selfish.

We all had something worth loosing.

And Texas was the place that probably tested exactly how much.

Unknown location, 9:34 pm.

The boy’s eyes stayed glued to the floor, even with the woman crouched in front of him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from her.

“Carl… look at me.” Her voice trembled, a fragile thing beneath the mask of composure she wore.

She reached for his chin, trying to lift it, but he jerked away.

“Please…” she whispered.

Tears burned in his eyes, reluctant and heavy, streaming down his cheeks like molten sorrow. Slowly, almost painfully, he raised his gaze.

“They’re all dead…” he said, voice hoarse, trembling. “Because of you…the people you tried to protect by betraying Adrian…They’re ALL DEAD!”

The words cut through her like knives. Her chest tightened, blood running cold as she struggled to keep herself from breaking. She exhaled shakily, blinking back the tears threatening to spill.

“Carl… I am so… so sorry. Words cannot explain how much—”

“DONT YOU DARE TRY TO—”

“They can’t,”

Adira cut in sharply, voice breaking. Her hands were clenched so tightly they shook.

Silence followed, thick and suffocating.

“But please… just—…you have to tell me where the boy is. They’ll kill you if you don’t comply.”

Her eyes flickered, wavering. Her voice softened, almost pleading. “Please… I can’t lose you as well.”

For a long, unbearable moment, he held her gaze. Her chest heaved; she wanted to reach for him, to close the space between them, but she stayed still.

“I just don’t get it,” he finally whispered, voice cracking. “Why? Why did you do it?”

Adira’s eyes widened ever so slightly. She swallowed hard, words failing her. Silence stretched between them, taut and electric, carrying everything they could not say.

But then—

The door shattered the darkness, bursting open with a roar of light. It slammed against the wall, rattling the shackles at Carl’s wrists. He flinched, shielding his eyes as the brightness seared into his retinas.

“Alright, reunion’s over.”

Adira stumbled backward, chest heaving, “Please just wait! I— we need more time..” she stammered, voice cracking like fragile glass.

Vivian stepped through the doorway, boots clicking against the floor. Her piercings caught the light, glittering like cold stars. She grinned— slow, deliberate, unflinching. “I already gave you few hours, sweetheart.” Her tone was silk over steel, cruelly calm.

Carl’s stomach dropped. He swallowed thickly, bile rising, but his gaze remained locked to the floor. The chains dug into his wrists as he shifted, every movement a jolt of pain.

Adira’s hands quickly reached into her back pocket, pulling something matte black.

Vivian’s eyes narrowed.

Adira’s knuckles were white, her chest rising and falling rapidly as her fingers tightened on the gun.

“I won’t let you—..”

Her voice faltered. She took a step forward, trembling, but determination flared in her eyes.

Vivian only smiled, as if she had been waiting for this exact moment. From behind her back, she produced a small walkie-talkie.

Carl’s stomach dropped.

“Oh, don’t be so tense,” Vivian purred, tilting her head. “I already found a little… toy to help me. This was in the brat’s sachel.” She lifted it high like a prize, a wicked grin painting her face.

Her finger hovered over a button, teasing. Like a challenge.

“No—..” Carl rasped.

“Let’s see what this one does, hmm?”

Static hissed, sharp and electric, before Adrian’s voice came through. He flinched.

“Carl? Hey… how are you holding up? How’s the group? Everything okay?”

The boy froze. His chest constricted. The words, calm and familiar, clashed violently with the chaos surrounding him. There was a faint echo, Adrian’s message bouncing all across the room. Undeniable.

“I ran into a few folks along the way,” the voice continued, steady and measured. “Got some info… Texas looks promising. Thought you should know.”

A beat.

“Alright, let me know when you’re hearing this. Write me back.”

The device clicked off, leaving silence that pressed down like a vise.

Carl’s jaw was rigid, his hands twitching against the chains. He could feel his heart hammering in his throat.

Adira’s gun wavered, trembling violently. Her chest rose and fell, shallow and fast, her eyes darting between Carl and Vivian. She swallowed, trying to steady herself.

Vivian’s lips curled into a slow, venomous smile.

“Things worked out pretty great in the end, didnt they?” She purred.

Carl’s jaw tightened. His throat moved, but no sound came. His eyes, wide and raw, locked on her.

“For me, at least.”

Silence stretched. Thick. Electric. Every second screamed that the answer would have to come from him— if he could even find the word

Vivian’s eyes suddenly froze, ice creeping over the mock warmth of her features.

From the shadows, silhouettes emerged—men armed to the teeth, rifles glinting in the harsh light. Slowly, deliberately, they filled the room, their presence consuming every corner.

With that, she stretched once, her limbs straining as she let out a sigh— almost bored.

“Alright then.”

Their confused gaze said it all. Adira’s grip on her gun increased.

She looked at both of them.

“Kill them both,” Vivian commanded, voice calm, precise, terrifyingly final.

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