Surviving the Apocalypse With My Yandere Ex-Girlfriend

Chapter 153: Ready or not

"I just don’t get what I’ve been doing to anyone nowadays. It’s starting to feel like... I don’t know, everyone hates me or something."

Aubrey’s voice carried a little louder than she probably meant it to. The fire popped between them, sending sparks up into the dark. Hale sat across from her, elbows on his knees, hands loosely clasped, eyes on the flames.

He hadn’t said a word yet.

Aubrey dragged a hand down her face, exhaling hard.

"Since all this shit started, I lost Lila," she went on. "And yeah, I know how that sounds, but... we were close. Like, really close. Middle school, high school, all of it. She used to tell me everything."

She gave a dry laugh that didn’t last.

"Now all she cares about is Adrian. That’s it. Like the rest of us don’t even exist."

She gestured vaguely with her hands, like she couldn’t even pin down what annoyed her most about it.

"And now Terri too?" she added, her voice tightening. "For what? Because I left a stupid walkie talkie behind?"

The words came out sharper than intended.

Across the camp, Terri paused mid-conversation with Isabella. Her eyes flicked over toward the fire, catching Aubrey’s raised voice. She didn’t hear everything, but she didn’t need to.

Her shoulders stiffened slightly.

She looked back at Isabella, forcing a small, polite smile.

Isabella returned it, but there was tension in her eyes too. She glanced toward the fire for a second, then back at Terri, like she didn’t know if she should say something or stay out of it.

Terri chose silence.

It had taken everything she had just to say what she said earlier. She wasn’t doing that again. Not tonight.

Back at the fire, Hale rubbed his thumb along his eyebrow, thinking. The silence stretched long enough that Aubrey started to shift in place.

Her breathing slowed, but her jaw stayed tight.

She was waiting.

"In all honesty, Aubrey—"

Her eyes narrowed before he even finished.

He kept going anyway.

"I can see why Terri’s angry at you."

Aubrey blinked like she hadn’t heard him right.

"You serious?"

Hale didn’t react to the tone. He just looked tired. Like he had already run through this conversation in his head and didn’t have the energy to soften it.

"No, see, this is why I didn’t even want to talk to you," Aubrey snapped, sitting forward. "You’re never on my side. Ever. Not once. Not when I told you something was off with Lila months ago. Not even now."

She went on.

"You just—! You brush it off like it doesn’t matter."

"Aubrey, listen to me," Hale said, a little sharper this time.

Something in his voice made her pause.

She didn’t relax, but she stopped talking.

He let out a quiet breath, looking down at the fire for a second before speaking again.

"I know I haven’t been great," he said. "Not to you. Not to anyone."

He scratched the back of his neck, then looked up at her again.

"When you told me Adrian was missing, I didn’t take it seriously. I didn’t take a lot of things seriously. That’s on me."

Aubrey’s expression shifted just slightly. Not softer, but less explosive.

Hale continued.

"I’ve got a bad habit of ignoring things until they blow up in my face. And when they do, yeah... I feel like shit about it. Every time."

He paused, glancing off toward the others.

His eyes landed on Terri for a moment.

She wasn’t looking at him. She was focused on Isabella, nodding along to something she said, but her posture was still tight.

Hale looked back at Aubrey.

"If it wasn’t for Terri, I probably wouldn’t have even made the kind of effort that found you," he said.

That landed.

Aubrey blinked, caught off guard.

"What?"

"She pushed for it," Hale said simply. "Kept at me about it. Said I couldn’t just wait for a response on the walkie talkie I was using."

Aubrey looked past him toward Terri now. Really looked this time.

Terri laughed softly at something Isabella said, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

Aubrey swallowed.

Hale leaned back slightly, resting his hands on the ground behind him.

"So yeah," he went on. "I get why she’s pissed."

Aubrey shook her head, frustration creeping back in.

"It was a mistake," she said. "I didn’t leave that walkie talkie there on purpose. I didn’t even realize it was gone until later."

"I believe you," Hale said.

She looked at him, surprised at how quick that came.

"But she doesn’t know that," he added. "All she knows is she tried to reach you when things went bad, and you weren’t there."

Aubrey’s jaw tightened again.

"I almost died," Hale continued, quieter now. "So did she. That kind of thing sticks."

The fire crackled between them again. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Aubrey stared into the flames, her anger starting to shift into something heavier.

"...I didn’t know," she muttered.

"I know," Hale said.

She let out a shaky breath, dragging her hands through her hair.

"I just... I’m trying here, you know?" she said. "I’m trying to keep people alive. To make the right calls. And it feels like no matter what I do, it just blows up in my face."

Hale didn’t answer right away.

When he did, his voice was steady.

"Welcome to it."

Aubrey let out a humorless huff.

"Yeah. Great."

Hale glanced toward Terri again, then back at Aubrey.

"Give her some time," he said. "She’ll come around."

Aubrey followed his gaze one more time.

Terri shifted slightly, like she felt eyes on her. For a split second, her gaze met Aubrey’s across the fire.

It didn’t last long.

Terri looked away first.

And this time, she didn’t smile.

—

A few minutes later, I found myself off to the side of camp, away from the fire and the others. The trees were thicker here, the light barely reaching through. My arms were folded tight across my chest, my thumb pressing into my elbow without me even realizing it.

Naomi had filled me in fast. Too fast.

Lila had snapped while I was gone. Not loud enough to draw everything in, but enough.

Enough to make it a problem.

So here I was.

"He’s just a kid, Lila."

"So fucking what, Adrian!?"

Her voice came out sharp, louder than it should’ve been. I didn’t flinch, but I did glance past her for a second, checking if anyone else was close enough to hear.

She didn’t care.

Of course she didn’t.

"We were considered kids a few years ago too, weren’t we?" she went on, stepping closer, her hands moving as she spoke. "And he tried to kill you. He didn’t hesitate. Not for a second."

Her eyes were bright.

Too bright.

That red in her corneas wasn’t just there. It pulsed. Every word she said, every breath she took, it felt like it deepened.

I had seen that look before.

It never ended well.

"You forgot you tried to kill me too?" I shot back.

That made her pause.

Not for long, but enough.

I pointed straight at my hand, at the fresh wound she had put there earlier.

"Gosh, baby, don’t be so sensitive about it," she said, her tone flipping in a way that made my stomach twist. "That was different. I wouldn’t actually want to—"

"But you were close to."

Her smile faded just a little.

"I was angry."

"So was he."

That one stuck.

She looked at me for a second, really looked, like she was trying to figure out if I was serious. Then she turned away, pacing, dragging her hands through her hair.

She muttered under her breath. I caught pieces of it.

"Always like this... so stubborn... doesn’t listen..."

It was the first time I had heard her say it out loud.

Not joking. Not teasing.

Actually mean it.

I let out a slow breath and glanced back toward the kid.

He was still tied up where we left him, sitting against the base of a tree. His head was slightly lowered, but his eyes were up, watching everything.

Watching me.

Naomi stood a few feet from him, rifle in hand. She wasn’t relaxed. Not even close. Every time he shifted, her finger twitched near the trigger.

"Look," I said, turning back to Lila. "He’s not just some random kid. He’s got people. A group. A camp, probably."

She scoffed, not even facing me.

"So what?"

"So if we kill him, that doesn’t end anything," I said. "It starts something. They come looking. They find us. Then it’s more of the same shit. Like Annie and her group. Just blood on top of blood."

She turned back to me, fast.

"So what?" she repeated. "Then we kill them too. Before they even get close."

The way she said it...

Flat. Easy. Like she was talking about clearing out a couple infected instead of people.

I stared at her for a second.

Then I spoke slower.

"Those ’people’ could be kids," I said. "Pregnant women. People just trying to survive. Same as us."

She opened her mouth—

"Do you want that on your conscience?" I cut in.

That did it.

Silence.

She just stared at me.

I let out a short, dry laugh, dragging my hand down my face.

"Who am I kidding," I muttered. "You don’t even have one."

The second the words left my mouth, I knew I shouldn’t have said it.

Her face changed.

Not explosive.

Not loud.

Just... hurt.

Her fists clenched at her sides. I saw it, the way her fingers curled tight, nails pressing into her palms. Her lips trembled, just slightly, like she was trying to hold something back.

Tears filled her eyes before she could stop them.

And that hit harder than anything she’d said.

"Wow," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Okay."

She turned, like she was about to walk away.

I reached out and grabbed her arm before I could think twice.

"Let go of me," she said.

Soft. No fight in it.

That scared me more than if she had screamed.

"Lila, just listen to me."

She kept crying, quiet but steady. Her shoulders shook just a little.

"Look at me."

She didn’t at first.

Then she did.

Her eyes were wet, red, and locked onto mine in a way that made my chest tighten.

"...I watched you get shot," I said, my voice lower now. "Because of me. Because I couldn’t let shit go."

I swallowed, trying to steady myself.

"Julia’s dead for the same reason," I added. "And you... you could’ve been too. Hell, you still could be."

She didn’t interrupt.

Didn’t argue.

She just listened.

"I’m trying to stop that from happening again," I said. "Even if it’s slow... we can figure something out with his people. Talk. Trade. Something."

I gestured back toward the kid.

"It’s easier this time," I said. "They’re not infected."

For a second, she just stared at me.

Then she smiled.

Soft.

Warm.

The kind of smile that made it easy to forget everything else.

"Okay," she said quietly.

Relief hit me before I could stop it. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and gave a small nod.

"Okay."

For a moment, it felt like things might actually settle.

Then—

"Guys?"

Naomi’s voice cut through everything.

I turned immediately. Lila did too.

Naomi stood a little higher up the slope, a pair of binoculars in her hands. Her posture was stiff.

I frowned.

She lowered them slowly.

"There’s a group coming this way," she said. "And they’re not far."

My stomach dropped.

I looked back at the kid.

He didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

But something in his face shifted.

And for the first time since we tied him up, I couldn’t tell if he looked relieved—

or ready.