Surviving the Apocalypse With My Yandere Ex-Girlfriend-Chapter 144: Won’t be the last

The fire cracked low between us, just enough to keep the cold off without giving us away.

I sat on a fallen log, elbows on my knees, staring into it. My leg throbbed in time with my pulse, dull and constant. Across from me, Naomi crouched near the edge of the light, adjusting something in her bag before finally settling down.

For a while, neither of us said anything.

The woods had gone quiet again. No branches snapping. No voices. Just the wind pushing through the trees.

I exhaled slowly. "Still think we should’ve used the guns."

Naomi didn’t even look up. "And I still think you’re an idiot."

I let out a short breath through my nose. "We had the ammo."

"Yeah," she said, finally glancing at me. "And then we wouldn’t."

I shook my head. "There weren’t that many."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "There were enough."

I gestured vaguely toward the trees. "We could’ve cleared them. Made things easier for later."

Naomi gave a quiet laugh, but there wasn’t much humor in it. "You don’t ’clear’ infected, Adrian. You survive them."

I didn’t respond right away.

She leaned forward, grabbing a stick and nudging one of the burning pieces of wood. Sparks shifted, rising for a second before fading into the dark.

"You fire one shot," she went on, "you’re not just dealing with what’s in front of you. You’re calling everything within earshot."

"I know how it works."

"Do you?" she shot back, looking at me now. "Because from where I was standing, you looked real eager to test it."

I held her gaze for a second, then looked back at the fire.

"...I just don’t like running," I muttered.

"Get used to it," she said. "It’s why you’re still alive."

Silence settled again, but it wasn’t as stiff this time.

I rubbed at my leg absentmindedly. The pain had dulled a bit, but it was still there. Still reminding me.

Naomi noticed.

"You’re gonna need to clean that again in the morning," she said.

"I know."

"You say that like you actually will."

I glanced at her. "You volunteering?"

She smirked faintly. "Don’t push your luck."

I huffed a quiet laugh.

Another stretch of silence followed. The fire popped softly.

After a bit, I spoke again. "So what’s our big plan?"

Naomi leaned back slightly, resting her hands behind her.

"Same as yours, I’m guessing," she said. "Head north. Don’t die."

She stated what we both already knew.

"Canada," I said.

She nodded once. "Canada."

"You actually believe that place is still standing?"

She shrugged. "Heard enough about it to think it’s worth the trip."

So I wasn’t the first.

Something twisted in my chest.

"Heard from who?"

"People passing through. Before things got worse." She paused. "Some said there were checkpoints. Others said whole towns were still intact."

"And you believed them?"

Naomi looked at me, her expression flat. "I didn’t say that."

I tilted my head slightly. "So what, then? Just hoping for the best?"

"That’s all anyone’s doing," she said. "Difference is, I’m actually moving."

I let that sit for a second.

"...You ever think it’s all bullshit?" I asked. "That we get there and it’s just more of the same?"

Naomi looked back at the fire.

"Yeah," she said simply. "All the time."

That answer came too easy.

"But staying here isn’t exactly a better option," she added. "So I’ll take my chances."

I nodded slowly.

"Besides," she said after a moment, glancing at me again, "you don’t really strike me as the type to sit still anyway."

I smirked faintly. "What gave it away?"

She gave me a look. "Everything."

I leaned back slightly, resting my hands on the log behind me.

"Glad I make a good impression."

"You don’t," she said. "You just make things interesting."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "That so?"

Naomi held my gaze for a second longer than she needed to.

"Yeah," she said. "In a ’things tend to go to shit when you show up’ kind of way."

I let out a quiet laugh. "And yet, here you are."

She didn’t answer right away.

Instead, she reached into her pocket, pulling out another cigarette. She lit it with a match, the brief flare lighting up her face before fading.

She took a drag, then looked at me through the smoke.

"Don’t read into it," she said.

"Wasn’t planning to."

"Good."

I watched her for a second, then looked back at the fire.

"...You could’ve left back there," I said after a bit. "At the cabin."

Naomi exhaled smoke slowly. "Yeah."

"But you didn’t."

She glanced at me. "Neither did you."

"That’s different."

"Is it?"

I frowned slightly, but didn’t answer.

She smirked, just a little. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Relax," she said. "You’re not that special."

I shook my head, a small smile slipping through despite myself.

"Keep telling yourself that."

Naomi let out a quiet breath, shaking her head.

The fire burned lower between us.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

But the silence wasn’t empty.

It sat there, steady, like something that didn’t need to be filled.

And for the first time in a while, I didn’t feel like I had to keep looking over my shoulder every second.

Not completely safe.

But close enough.

—

The city didn’t look real from a distance.

Hale slowed his steps as the outskirts of Chicago came into view, his eyes scanning what was left of it. Smoke still curled up into the sky in thin, uneven streams. Buildings stood hollowed out, some burned through, others just...empty. Like whatever life had been there had been ripped out all at once.

Even with no signs of any of their comrades, they still looked around. They’d already checked the remains of the compound— and that led them here.

It had been quite clear, on both their faces, that they were scared of what they were going to find.

Terri came up beside him, her boots crunching lightly over broken asphalt.

"That’s it?" she asked quietly.

Hale nodded once. "Yeah."

She let out a breath, but it didn’t sound like relief.

Up close, it was worse.

The streets were littered with debris. Burnt-out cars sat abandoned at odd angles, doors hanging open. There were dark stains on the ground that neither of them commented on. The air carried that same smell they had been running into more and more lately. Rot mixed with smoke.

Terri pulled her jacket tighter around herself. "Place looks like it got hit twice."

Hale didn’t respond right away. His eyes moved slowly, taking everything in.

"It did," he said finally.

They stepped deeper into the city, moving carefully. No rushing. No unnecessary noise.

A distant sound echoed somewhere between the buildings. Something wet. Something dragging.

Terri’s grip tightened slightly on the knife in her hand. "You think they’re still around?"

"Yeah," Hale said. "Just not out in the open."

That didn’t make her feel better.

They kept moving.

Every step felt like it could be the wrong one. Every corner looked like it could hide something waiting. But the streets stayed mostly empty. Too empty.

After a while, Terri spoke again. "You really think they came through here?"

Hale glanced at her. "The trail led here."

"That doesn’t mean they stayed."

"No," he said. "But it means they passed through."

She nodded, even if she didn’t look convinced.

They turned down a narrower street, one that looked like it had taken the worst of whatever happened. Windows shattered. Walls blackened. The ground uneven with rubble.

Hale slowed again.

Something felt off.

Terri noticed it too. "What?"

He didn’t answer. Just stepped forward a bit more, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Then he saw it.

Near the edge of the sidewalk, half-covered in dust and ash.

A bag.

Small. Worn. Familiar.

Hale’s steps quickened without him meaning to.

Terri followed. "What is it?"

He crouched down, brushing some of the dirt off with his hand.

Recognition hit immediately.

"...No way," he muttered.

Terri frowned. "What?"

He picked it up, turning it slightly.

There was no mistaking it.

"Aubrey’s," he said.

Terri’s eyes widened. "You’re sure?"

Hale nodded, his jaw tightening. "Yeah. I’ve seen her carry this thing a hundred times."

Terri looked around quickly, her breathing picking up just a little. "Then she was here. Recently?"

"Has to be."

The bag wasn’t buried. It hadn’t been there long.

Terri stepped closer, lowering her voice. "Then where is she?"

Hale didn’t answer.

His eyes were already scanning the area again, sharper now. Focused.

Because if Aubrey had been here—

Something had happened.

A faint sound echoed from further down the street.

Not distant enough.

Both of them froze.

Terri’s hand tightened on her knife. "You hear that?"

Hale nodded slowly, already reaching for his weapon.

Another sound.

Closer this time.

A low, uneven laugh.

Not human.

Terri swallowed. "We should go."

Hale didn’t move.

His grip tightened.

"No," he said quietly. "We’re close."

The sound came again.

Closer.

Hale glanced once more at the bag in his hand, then toward the dark stretch of street ahead.

Something moved in the shadows.

His expression hardened.

"Stay behind me," he said.

And then he stepped forward.