Where did I know this chick from?
The girl's hands trembled as she tugged her mask down. The muted light flickered across her caramel features.
She had long, wild curly hair that frizzed and tangled under the mask she had been wearing— the ends slightly brown. Curly bangs seemed to cover her forehead. The tears streaking her face hadn't been enough to hide the darker freckles peppering across her button nose.
As her lip quivered, I could see the faint glint of silver braces that made its appearance along the bottom half of her teeth.
Pretty, in a "yearbook-photo-but-she-could-glow-up" kind of way. I guess she could've been someone's type.
"Tell me who and where your group got those supplies from."
Aubrey didn't even let her breath. The poor girl couldn't stop quivering. She wasn't even able to—
"SPEAK. Or I'll shoot you where you stand."
The crack in her voice finally shattered.
"I—I don't know exactly who!! It was Sheldon who knew them personally! They're— they're some kind of…group. They called themselves the Crucible."
The room shifted. Aubrey's eyebrow lifted. Her men traded glances.
My stomach tugged, that name scratching at the edge of memory.
The Crucible.
Yeah. I'd heard that before. Some creepy wannabe cult thing back before everyone lost their damn minds. I never really payed attention to shit like that, anyway.
Did they have something to do with us getting kidnapped too? The geeks couldn't have done it themselves.
Aubrey exhaled through her nose, holstering her gun with an annoyed flick.
"You're coming with us, train tracks."
The girl blinked in confusion. My mind suddenly clicked—
…Train tracks—!? No way.
Holy shit.
She was the girl who helped me pass algebra in junior year.
The one who sat behind me with the stacked notebooks and the permanent pencil smudge on her hand.
My eyes lingered on her longer than I realized. She caught it— her lips slowly twitching into a tiny, nervous smile. Braces and all.
I found myself smiling back.
Yet, that softhearted moment had been short lived as I felt the temperature behind me plummet.
I could feel Lila's eyes stare through my very soul as she watched everything unfold, her knuckles becoming white, her expression dark as her jaw clenched so violently it looked like her teeth might crack out of her mouth.
A low sound left her throat. Barely audible.
Possessive.
I swallowed hard, pretending I didn't hear it.
Outside the warehouse, the humvee lurched forward, its metal frame shrieking as it scraped against broken concrete and twisted debris. The engine growled—too loud for the quiet— before it surged ahead.
We followed in a beat-up Land Rover, tires crunching through rubble like old bones.
Aubrey drove.
Train Tracks sat stiffly in shotgun.
Which left the backseat to me… and Lila.
She had refused the front seat without a word. Refused distance.
Her thigh pressed lightly against mine, her arms folded tight, her gaze glued to the window like she was trying not to murder her reflection.
"So anyway," I said, clearing my throat. "Where exactly are we going from here? You didn't tell."
My voice sounded too casual for someone who was pretty sure New Jersey had become a meme by now.
Somewhere out there, Twitter was probably on fire—people posting shaky videos of the apocalypse, hashtags climbing faster than the infection. I wasn't gonna let delusion influence my thoughts anymore. I knew it probably wasn't just the south side anymore. Not just Chicago.
The whole damn country was probably unraveling thread by thread. My parents…? I didn't even wanna think about what they were going through.
Aubrey inhaled sharply, like she'd been waiting for the question.
"There's a base a few hours from here,"
she began, eyes flicking between the road and the rearview mirror.
"People who're just trying to survive. People who aren't waiting for some warm, comforting broadcast from the government telling everyone to remain calm."
Her knuckles tightened around the wheel.
"Not that we've gotten one yet."
Lila's head lifted—just a fraction.
Aubrey caught the movement in the mirror. Her jaw tensed, but she didn't comment.
"I fought tooth and nail to convince them to make me go on a mission to find you."
Her voice sharpened. Directed.
She wasn't talking to me.
Lila remained still. Unblinking— not even offering a twitch.
The air in the car went cold again, like someone had cracked open a freezer door and forgotten to shut it.
I looked down at my hands. Pretended to check my sleeve. Pretended I didn't notice the violent, unwelcoming aura emerging inches beside me.
After that, the journey fell into a heavy, uneasy silence.
I made sure my head rested firmly on the window beside me for the whole entire ride.
"We're here." Aubrey's voice cut through the quiet after hours.
Ugh…my fucking head hurts.
My skull throbbed in this slow, heavy pulse. I couldn't even tell what time it was. Three in the morning? Four?
I cracked an eye open.
Lila was already staring at me.
Her posture was stiff, hands in her lap, eyes wide and unblinking like she'd been waiting— expecting— me to eventually give up and rest my head on her thighs the way I did during the ride to Hyde Park.
My eyebrows twitched.
Did she seriously sit like that the entire ride...?
I swallowed and turned my attention to the window before she could read my face again.
Outside, the headlights washed over tents, makeshift housing, stacked crates, and military vehicles parked in rigid formation. Some kind of fortified camp—organized, alive, guarded.
For the first time in hours, something inside my chest loosened.
This place looked safe.
My body sagged involuntarily, relief spilling through my bones like warm water. I didn't even realize how tightly I'd been holding myself together until right now.
"They're back—!"
A voice cut through the cold air, sharp enough to snap me out of the fog in my head.
People.
Good. More bodies. More distractions. More chances to get away from Lila for good.
I pushed the Land Rover's door open, the metal creaking with a tired click. My movements were sluggish, stiff. Hours of tension had turned my muscles into concrete.
Lila, Aubrey, and Train Tracks stepped out right after me, doors slamming one by one.
A section of the camp shifted instantly.
A small crowd pulled toward us—not rushing, not overwhelming, but enough that I had to blink and adjust. Dozens of faces, lit by floodlights and fire barrels. Eyes glinted with a mix of curiosity and wariness
Dust crunched under boots as people leaned in, whispering, pointing. Anxiety crept up my spine as my tired eyes glanced towards the unknown faces.
Aubrey straightened, and suddenly the crowd eased back like the tide being pulled by gravity.
She was fairly known here, it seemed.
Men clapped her on the shoulder. Someone muttered, "Thank God." Another asked if the mission went clean. A couple shot looks at Lila, me and the other girl— like they were trying to figure out what kind of strays Aubrey had dragged in.
The soldiers who'd come with her peeled off toward the humvee, its engine still rumbling as they drove it deeper into the base, probably to park it in some designated spot. The massive vehicle rolled away, headlights sweeping over tents and barricades.
I stepped aside subtly, letting the crowd cluster around Aubrey.
"Aubrey, a word. Now."
The voice sliced through the noise like a blade. The cluster around us had shut up instantly.
A woman pushed through the crowd—buzzcut sharp enough to cut glass, a thick scar dragging across the bridge of her nose, and a build that told stories of intense soldier's training and experience. Her uniform clung to thick muscle, authority practically radiating off her.
Yeah.
I didn't even need a name tag to know she ran this place.
She stopped in front of Aubrey, eyes narrowing. She didn't seem angry or pleased— Just…assessing.
"And bring your new friends with you."
She didn't wait for a response— a heel turned as she walked off, expecting for us to follow.
I didnt really know how to feel about her.
Aubrey exhaled through her nose, shoulders tightening. Her eyes flickered back to us— me mainly.
I had a similar look on my face. I had no idea what I was even walking into.
Lila's face was cold and unreadable, a glint of disdain hovering her features. I audibly sighed.
Was she really going to ruin this for me too?
Aubrey motioned for us to follow.
I dragged my feet after them, something sinking in my gut.
This place was either going to be my salvation…or I was entering into another wolf's den.