Chapter 86: Amber Society

The rising sun hung low over the compound, painting the sky in broken streaks of orange and purple.

Cherie leaned back from the pan of soaking clothes, the smell of blood and dirty water sharp enough to keep anyone awake. She lifted a wrinkled hand to shield her eyes as the gates creaked open.

I took my time with the gas pedal as I entered the compound slowly. I had already felt eyes on me, confused, already charged with questions about where I had run off to last night.

I already made a vow to myself that I would answer none.

I parked the vehicle, stepping out before slamming the door. I was a was about to make my way past Cherie.

“Where the hell’ve you been?”

“I was taking care of something.”

I said evenly, my eyes tracking her face and down to the pan where she had her clothes in. The skull insignia of the letterman jacket was soaked in blood and water.

Her eyes were focused on the car that I had just parked.

No one in the backseat, or the front.

She turned back to me.

“Aubrey’s been looking for you all morning.”

“Was she now?”

Boots crunched against gravel as I continued my way through the compound, cutting through soldiers and civilians alike.

My sleepless face was apparent to all who saw me.

Then again, I had this face most of the time.

“Carter.”

I stopped in my tracks. I was infront of medical, and Dr. Tekashi was already making his way down the steps.

I put my hands on my hips in an attempt to remain present.

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Lila is gone. Broken out of her chains. Would you know where she had gone off to?”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

My steps didn’t get far. Dr. Tekashi’s hand landed on my shoulder, firm.

I suppressed a sigh, perhaps tears too, as I kept my head down.

“That woman is imperative to our study. If she escaped, then—”

“So what if she did??” I asked, my voice charged.

He took a step back. I had turned to him fully now, pointing a finger.

“Lila isn’t some fucking test subject. She’s a human, just like you.”

Silence fell between us.

Tekashi cleared his throat.

“Adrian, I understand that you have—”

“You understand then? Great.”

I cut in, barely catching his frown.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to lay down.”

Aubrey’s foot tapped against the floor, fast and restless, like she couldn’t bleed the anxiety out of her body no matter how hard she tried. She chewed at her nail, eyes locked on the door.

When it finally creaked open, her heart jumped.

I stepped inside slowly, one hand rubbing my head as the sharp bite of cleaning chemicals hit my lungs.

So. It was a Wash Day.

Before I could say a word, arms slammed around me. Aubrey nearly knocked me off balance as she hugged me tight. I barely returned it, my body lagging behind my mind.

She pulled back just as fast, hands cupping my face, turning my head side to side. I didn’t fight it. I didn’t have the energy.

“You have a serious problem with disappearing without anyone’s knowledge,” she snapped. “Where the fuck have you been?”

“…Taking care of something.”

“Taking care of what????” Her voice rose.

I could feel Hale’s eyes on me from the table, spoon paused halfway to his mouth.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “You don’t see me hurt, do you?”

She hesitated.

Then, slowly, she let go.

We stared at each other for a beat—too long, too quiet. I turned and started toward my room.

“Adrian.”

I stopped, turning back.

“Promise me. Promise that you won’t leave like that again.”

Something twisted deep in my chest. My hands curled into fists at my sides.

Her eyes—god, those eyes—were too familiar. Almost like she was…

A dull pounding spread behind my forehead. I pressed a finger there, trying to ground myself.

“…You okay?” she asked, softer now.

“I’ll be in my room,” I said.

And that was all I had left to give.

The nightmare came in pieces as I closed my eyes.

Not all at once—just enough to keep dragging me under.

My body jerked in my sleep, breath hitching as sweat soaked into the sheets. Heat crawled across my skin, heavy and suffocating. Still, I was freezing.

I pulled the blanket tighter around myself, like fabric could hold me together. Like it could keep the memory out.

It didn’t.

—

My hands shook as I lowered the gun. Tears blurred everything, spilling fast, hot, uncontrollable.

Lila turned to face me.

Her eyes were soft. Too soft.

“So you did want to start a family with me, didn’t you?” she asked quietly.

I couldn’t answer.

She smiled, small and sad. “You’re not denying it. If it wasn’t true… I’d already be dead.”

She stepped toward me.

I stepped back.

She noticed. Her smile faltered.

I raised the gun again.

“Get away from here.”

Her face cracked—not fear, not anger. Confusion. Hurt.

“…What, honey?”

“GET AWAY!” I shouted. “I’LL SHOOT YOU—I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL!”

My voice broke. I bit down hard, trying to stop my mouth from shaking.

“I hate you,” I said, forcing the words out like poison. “I hate you. I’ve always fucking hated you. Just—just go.”

She stared at me.

Then she shook her head.

“You’re a liar.”

My breath caught.

She stepped closer.

Closer.

Until the barrel pressed against her forehead, cold metal against warm skin.

“Can’t you see?” she whispered. “I couldn’t live without you. I’d choose death over even one second apart.”

Silence swallowed us.

“So if you have to,” she said, smiling again, broken and gentle all at once. “Pull the trigger.”

“I can take it.”

She closed her eyes.

I breathed—

—and fired.

The shot ripped past her, tearing into an infected lunging from the side. It dropped hard, twitching on the ground.

Her eyes flew open.

That’s when the others came.

Shadows moving fast. Too many mouths. Too many hands.

I could handle it.

She couldn’t, not without a weapon.

I didn’t hesitate.

I shoved her hard. She hit the ground with a thud, breath knocked from her chest.

“Baby?” she cried. “Baby—where are you going?!”

I turned away.

Didn’t look back.

I walked straight to the car, every step feeling like I was tearing something out of my own body just to keep moving.

I slammed the door shut and turned the key just as hands hit the glass.

The engine roared to life.

I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.

I hit the gas hard, the tires screaming as the car lurched forward. In the side mirror, shapes swarmed where she’d fallen. Too many. Fast. Hungry.

I pressed my forehead to the horn and held it there.

The sound tore through the night—long, ugly, desperate. Like it might drown out my thoughts if I let it scream loud enough.

This was the only way.

That’s what I told myself.

Again.

And again.

—

I woke up choking on air.

My shirt was soaked through, clinging to my back. Sweat dripped down my temples. My chest burned like I’d been running for miles.

The room tilted.

My hands looked strange. They were pale, shaking.

I lifted one slowly and wiped under my nose, barely feeling it.

Wet.

I looked at my fingers.

It was…blood.

A thin, dark smear across my skin.

I let out a breath that almost turned into a laugh.

A weak smile tugged at my mouth.

“Guess the bitch was wrong,” I muttered to the empty room.

My head throbbed.

My body felt like it was fighting something it hated.

Good.

That meant it was still mine.

The lattice was failing.

And for the first time in a while—

I didn’t know whether to be scared or relieved.

—

Lila never bothered to defend herself as the infected surged toward her. Their snarls filled the air, bodies crashing close enough to touch—yet nothing seemed to hurt her.

Confusion settled in her spirit as she opened her eyes.

A blade punched straight through an infected’s mouth.

It dropped in front of her with a wet thud.

Gunshots cracked through the clearing. Not panicked. Controlled. Infected fell one after another, cut down by hands that moved too fast, too sure. Lila’s eyes struggled to track them.

Other infected.

Red eyes. Veins crawling beneath skin.

But there was something else.

Orange.

Glowing chemsticks swung from belts. Cracked goggles lit from within. Orange light smeared across the dirt, the trees, the bodies.

Someone crouched in front of her.

Black fingernails. Dark liner smeared just enough to look intentional. A mullet spilling down her back, strands catching the glow.

Lila barely looked at her.

“You know,” the woman said, voice calm, almost bored, “The common thing most people do is say thank you when someone saves their life.”

Lila lifted her eyes, cold and hollow.

The woman tilted her head, gaze flicking past her for half a second.

“That your boyfriend who just left you?”

Lila froze.

A tear slipped down before she could stop it. Her chest burned, tight and sharp, like something twisting deep inside her.

After a beat, she spoke.

“No. He never was…”

The woman smiled—not kind, not cruel. Just knowing.

Others stepped closer, slow and loose. Same dark clothes. Same orange glow. Same quiet hunger in their eyes. All different faces. All carrying the same weight.

“I know a misfit when I see one,” the woman said as she stood.

She reached into her jacket and pulled out a syringe. Amber liquid shimmered inside, catching the moonlight.

“You’re hurting,” she went on. “I get it.”

She pressed the plunger slightly. A drop spilled onto the dirt.

One of the men dropped to his knees instantly, dragging his tongue over the ground without shame.

The woman didn’t look at him.

“But I know ways to make it quiet,” she said, holding the syringe out.

“So,” she added softly, “what do you say?”

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