Surviving the Apocalypse With My Yandere Ex-Girlfriend

Chapter 208: Fuck that

When you’re numb, there isn’t much you could say or do.

Whenever my dad used to argue with me about what I did to fuck up, I’d often tune him out.

Pretend I was somewhere else.

Like... this wasn’t really my life. Like it was reality TV or something.

"NO, NO HALE FUCK THAT!!" Aubrey screamed.

The sound cracked through the room like a whip.

Hale had pulled me aside only a few minutes ago, trying to talk in private. It hadn’t stayed private for long. Within seconds it turned into something else entirely—Aubrey forcing her way in, Terri hovering near the edge of it all, and Lila just... gone quiet in a way that didn’t feel normal anymore.

Aubrey was furious. Of course she was.

"Because the way I SEE IT??? It’s either she fucking goes, or I GO." She said, pointing directly at Lila.

Her voice wasn’t shaking. That was the worst part. It was steady, certain, like she’d already decided how the world would continue without her in it if she had to.

I rubbed my eyebrow once. Not because I was thinking, but because I needed something physical to ground me. Something that wasn’t the sound of everyone breaking at once.

Lila sat in the corner.

Not speaking.

Not reacting.

Just watching.

Not even blinking much.

It wasn’t the Lila everyone kept trying to pretend she still was. It was something quieter than that. Something observant in a way that didn’t feel human anymore.

...just watching.

It’s gotten that bad... huh?

Hale tried to step in again, his voice calm in the way it always got when things were slipping.

"Aubrey, just—"

"NO HALE! NO!" Aubrey cut him off immediately, spinning on him. "LOOK AT HIS FUCKING FACE!!!"

She pointed at me.

At the blood running down my cheek from earlier. I hadn’t even realized it had kept going. Warm, slow, humiliating in a way I couldn’t explain.

"I’m not spending another MINUTE with that fucking psychopath."

The words didn’t land like insults.

They landed like decisions.

And that was when Lila smiled.

Small.

Soft.

Almost pleased.

And that?

That was it for me.

Not anger. Not panic.

Just... clarity.

Something in me finally stopped fighting what it already knew.

I had enough self-awareness for it all.

Enough to make the hard decisions for myself and the people around me.

"Look—..." I started.

Everyone turned toward me immediately.

The room went quiet in that unnatural way it only does when people are waiting for someone to either fix everything or destroy it completely.

I didn’t look at anyone for long. I couldn’t.

"I’m sorry," I said. My voice came out steadier than I expected. "For everything that’s happened. For everything I’ve dragged you into."

Aubrey’s expression tightened, like she already knew where this was going.

I kept going anyway.

"And I’m grateful. I am. To you, Terri... to all of you for getting me out when you did. For keeping me alive when I probably shouldn’t be."

Lila’s smile widened.

Not subtle. Not hidden. Just openly pleased now, like she was watching something unfold that only she understood the ending to.

Aubrey’s jaw clenched when I continued.

Because I did continue.

"But this... this isn’t working. Not like this. Not with her here. It’s not a fit for me. It’s not safe for you guys."

I swallowed once.

"And honestly... it would probably be better if I just left with Lila. So nothing else ever—"

"Your ass isn’t going ANYWHERE, Adrian." Aubrey snapped.

Instantly.

No hesitation.

The room snapped toward her again.

Even Isabella, who had been silent this whole time, looked up sharply like she couldn’t believe Aubrey had actually said it out loud.

Aubrey wasn’t backing down though. Her eyes were already wet, but her voice didn’t break.

"I already..." she stopped, breathing hard through her nose like she was trying to force control back into her body. "I already lost you once. I can’t fucking... I can’t do that again."

The anger collapsed in on itself.

And the tears came.

Not dramatic. Not slow.

Just immediate.

Like her body had been holding them back purely out of spite until now.

My eyes widened.

I didn’t know what to do with that. I didn’t know where to put it. Aubrey didn’t cry like this. She didn’t break like this.

And it hit harder than anything she’d said before.

Isabella moved instantly, crossing the space and catching her as she started to fall apart, guiding her out of the room with Terri trailing behind them in stunned silence.

The door shut behind them.

And the room felt wrong after that.

Hale exhaled slowly through his nose.

A beat passed.

He looked around the room.

Then at Lila.

She hadn’t moved.

Of course she hadn’t.

Finally, Hale just nodded slightly, like he’d accepted something he didn’t want to accept.

One by one, the others left.

Terri lingered for a second longer than the rest, looking between me and Lila like she wanted to say something but didn’t have a version of it that wouldn’t make things worse.

Then she left too.

And it was just us.

Me.

Hale.

And Lila.

Hale didn’t tell her to go. Not because he couldn’t—but because he knew it wouldn’t matter.

He crouched down slightly so he was closer to my level.

And for a second, he just studied me.

Like he was trying to figure out where I ended and everything else began.

"I know," I said quietly, before he could even speak.

I glanced at Lila.

"I’ll try to keep her in check, Hale. I promise."

Lila looked at me and blew a playful kiss.

Then, without shame, made a crude gesture right after it.

I didn’t react.

Hale sighed again, rubbing a hand down his face.

Then he looked at me properly.

And this time, he didn’t ease into it.

He said it plainly.

"You’re a smart kid, Adrian. I saw it the day we pulled you out of that warehouse. You got Aubrey out. You got Terri out. You kept people alive when you had no reason to be able to do that."

Silence filled the space after that.

Heavy.

Not empty.

He continued.

"I thought that meant you could handle more than most people. I thought you could handle this." His eyes flicked briefly toward Lila. "I thought you could manage it. Control it. Or at least not let it spill into everyone else."

He exhaled.

"But I was wrong."

That landed harder than anything else.

Because it wasn’t angry.

It was disappointed in a way that still cared.

"I should’ve said something sooner," he added. "Before it got like this."

I opened my mouth.

Closed it again.

"Hale, okay. Okay. I get that, I get it alright..."

"Do you?" he asked immediately.

The question wasn’t rhetorical. It was direct.

"Yes."

"Then why," he said, voice sharpening slightly, "was your first instinct to say you’d just leave with her to save the trouble?"

I went quiet.

Because I didn’t have to think about the answer.

It was already there.

Because I always do that.

Because leaving is easier than watching people get hurt around me.

Because if it’s just me and her, no one else pays the price.

"She could’ve hurt Terri, Adrian. Your friend."

"Yeah, okay, but she didn’t!" I shot back, sharper than I meant.

Hale didn’t flinch.

"She hurt you instead."

The air changed.

It wasn’t metaphorical.

It genuinely felt like the room shifted temperature.

And then—

Lila stood up.

Slow.

Controlled.

But wrong in a way I immediately noticed.

She started walking toward us.

Hale noticed too.

He stood.

Instinctively.

Not aggressive yet—but ready.

I stood faster.

Stepped between them immediately.

My hand pressed against Lila’s chest.

"Lila. Stop it," I said quietly.

Her eyes were locked on Hale.

And there was nothing soft in them anymore.

Just focus.

Just intent.

I felt it in my chest before anything else happened.

Hale’s hand drifted slightly toward his weapon.

I saw it.

So did she.

"Lila," I said again, sharper.

Something in her shifted.

Not gone.

Just contained.

Barely.

Eventually, she stopped moving.

The silence returned in pieces.

Hale exhaled once, controlled.

"We’ll talk later," I said to him.

He didn’t argue.

He just nodded once, like he’d already accepted that "later" might never come in a clean way.

I turned.

Lila’s hand slid into mine immediately.

Tight.

Possessive in a way that didn’t feel comforting.

I walked.

And I didn’t look back.

Not at Hale.

Not at the room.

Not at anyone.

Just forward.

"Honey, let me see it," Lila said softly as we walked.

I ignored her.

"Baby... I want to see it."

She stopped us suddenly.

Pulled me around.

Her hands cupped my face with unexpected gentleness.

I winced slightly as she turned my head to look at the cut on my cheek.

"Oh, sweetie..." she whispered.

She leaned in and kissed it.

Once.

Then again.

Then again.

Soft. Repetitive. Almost ritualistic.

I pushed her back lightly.

"Lila, fucking stop it," I said.

Not loud.

But firm.

"What’s gotten into you?"

She paused.

Then smiled.

Just briefly.

Like a flicker.

Then she brushed my hair back from my forehead.

"Have I told you how much I love your eyes?"

"Lila."

"God," she murmured, almost to herself, "it’s so hard not to love every part of you..."

"Lila," I said again, sharper.

She stopped.

The smile stayed.

That was the unsettling part.

"You okay?" I asked her.

She tilted her head.

"I’ve never felt better."

"You just came off a head injury."

"So?" she said simply.

"They starved you. They kept you locked up for days."

She cupped my face again.

Soft.

Grounding.

Terrifyingly calm.

"You’re my rock, Adrian," she said. "My strength. My reason."

"I feel better than I ever have when I’m with you. Why would anything be wrong?"

"The infection," I said quietly.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"It’s doing something to you. I know it is."

"God," she snapped suddenly, sharp and sudden like glass breaking.

"Just shut the fuck up, will you?"

I froze, my expression shifting.

Because just a second ago she was—

And now she was—

Before I could finish that thought, her expression smoothed out again.

Like nothing had changed at all.

She leaned in close.

And whispered something sweet and quiet into my ear.

Something only I was meant to hear.

And I didn’t move.

Not immediately.

Because I couldn’t tell anymore which version of her was real.