Surviving the Apocalypse With My Yandere Ex-Girlfriend-Chapter 45: Point of no return

Hale scratched his beard, knuckles dragging along the dented side of the truck.

Metal groaned under the pressure.

We’d pulled over minutes ago. Not to fix anything—just to breathe. Just long enough to pretend the world had stopped trying to kill us.

It hadn’t.

Hale’s eyes brushed to the dents, the shattered headlights and the remains that still clung to the car.

He reached out, pressed two fingers into the dried blood smear along the hood. Dragged them slowly, deliberately, like he was testing paint instead of what used to be someone’s face. He rubbed the residue together once, then finally looked at me.

My hands were still lifted, shading my eyes as I narrowed them toward the road.

A car was coming.

Cleaner. Fewer dents. Less red.

Peter. Jane. Isabella. The others,

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

"Truck’s pretty busted up," Hale said behind me.

I turned.

"Yeah— I..." My voice stalled.

My eyes drifted to Lila without meaning to. She stood a few feet away, staring off toward the tree line like nothing had happened. Like she wasn’t standing in the middle of a graveyard we’d carved ourselves through.

Hale followed my gaze.

I looked away first.

"I just... lost control there for a second," I said.

Hale’s expression didn’t change.

It never did.

He wiped his bloody fingers on his jacket. "We can probably juice her for a couple more miles."

I frowned.

"But you’re gonna need another one soon."

Something tightened in my chest. I raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

He glanced at me. Flat. "I’m talking about the truck, Adrian."

"Oh."

Heat crawled up my neck. Stupid. I nodded once, too fast.

"Holy shit—!"

I flinched as a door slammed behind me.

Jane rushed forward, her face already twisted with concern. "Are you okay, Adrian, honey? You’re not hurt, are you?"

She didn’t wait for an answer. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Her hands were on my face— thumbs pressing into my jaw, tilting my head side to side like she was checking fruit for bruises. Too familiar. Too close.

Peter hovered behind her, rubbing his palms together. Isabella lingered farther back, arms crossed, watching.

Her gaze was cold, calculating. Like it always was. Yet...something deeper lingered.

A smile played at her lips.

I focused on Jane again. The touch was strange. Intrusive.

But... warm.

For half a second, it felt good to be checked on. To be seen as something fragile instead of useful.

Then the feeling evaporated.

I felt it before I heard it—Lila’s attention snapping back into place. The air shifted. Tightened.

"He’s fine," Lila said coolly. "You can let him go now."

Jane froze.

Her fingers stayed on my face a moment longer than necessary. Her smile dimmed, sharpened at the edges.

Lila stepped closer. Not between us. Beside me.

Claiming.

Jane finally withdrew her hands, smoothing down my shirt as if she still had the right.

Lila’s glare cut across us, sharp as a blade.

"Just wanted to make sure our...beloved leader was okay."

Those words lingered in my mind too long.

With that, she turned away.

Lila’s jaw tightened. She picked at her eyebrow, irritation simmering just beneath her skin.

"Slut," she muttered.

Of course she’d say some shit like that.

Jane stopped.

Slowly, deliberately, she turned back around.

"What was that?"

My stomach dropped.

God damn it.

I froze as Lila’s words cut through the air.

"I think you heard me loud and clear, since you turned around."

All semblance of civility were out the window for the two now.

Everyone was watching now. Terri’s hand shook as she wiped at tears. Aubrey leaned against the truck, smirking for the first time since we’d hit the road. Cherie had that infuriating half-smile, like she already knew how this would go.

Jane laughed, low and humorless, rubbing her eyes.

"You know what?" she said, her voice tight, fragile—but charged.

The tension in the air felt like static, prickling along my skin.

I opened my mouth, ready to say something—ready to step in— but Jane spoke first.

"I don’t think he needs you to speak for him, bitch. He can do it himself."

"Stop trying to flirt with my boyfriend in front of me, you fucking hag."

She shot back. The insult landed like a punch. My chest tightened. My stomach twisted into a knot I couldn’t undo.

"Oho, shit! Shits getting tense!!" The guy in the flannel shirt chimed in, grinning like he’d scored front-row seats to a fight. He was ignored.

"Guys...please, we don’t have—" I tried, my voice small in the charged air.

"Stay out of this, Adrian," Lila snapped, sharp enough to leave bruises.

Jane raised an eyebrow.

"You don’t get to talk to him that way," Jane retorted, her eyes locked on Lila’s, unblinking, unyielding.

"I can talk to him however I want," Lila spat back, each word dripping with venom.

Something inside me coiled tight, twisting. Heat crawled up my spine, and my fingers dug into my thighs.

"After all, he’s my b—" Lila started.

"I’m not your boyfriend, Lila,"

I felt like a scratch record saying that so often. My voice shook as I exhaled a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

She turned toward me slowly, her glare slicing across the room like a knife.

Jane’s smile flickered— proud, amused, a flash of relief.

"Adrian, honey," she said softly, voice strained, trying to temper the storm. "We can talk about this later. I just need to—"

"Lila, just stop."

I swallowed hard. My throat closed. The words stuck, heavy, sharp. My pulse thundered.

And I knew that whatever came next, the atmosphere had shifted— irreversibly.

"Would you look at that?" Jane said, a smile tugging at her lips.

"You shut the fuck up." Lila’s reply was sharp, lethal. Matte black flashed in the dim light.

My heart dropped. She pulled the Glock 19 straight to Jane’s face—the one Hale had given me. The one she’d taken from me. My pulse spiked, gaze locking on her hand.

Jane, somehow, only smiled. Calm, unnerving.

"Lila." My voice cut through the silence, firm but low.

She didn’t look at me. She stayed trained on Jane, gun unwavering.

"Lila, look at me." I stepped closer, keeping my tone deliberate, controlled.

Her glare wavered for the briefest moment.

"I don’t have time for this. None of us do. You need to calm down, now."

I saw her face twist, the edges of fury softening into raw emotion.

"Don’t tell me to calm down," she hissed, teeth tight.

"LILA!" My raised voice overlapped with hers, sharp enough to cut through the tension, loud enough to make everyone stop breathing. Silence fell. Even Jane faltered for a fraction of a second.

"Don’t make this any bigger than it needs to be," My tone softened slightly. Firm, but careful. Conscious of her storm inside.

Her eyes met mine. And then... tears pooled there. Bright, fleeting, impossible to ignore.

Something twisted in my chest. The weight of her fury, her fear, her exhaustion— it hit me all at once.

"Lila..." My voice was low, steady, full of all the things I couldn’t say yet.

She hesitated, gun lowering slowly, sliding back into her pocket. She stepped toward the truck, slammed the door shut behind her. The sound echoed.

I exhaled sharply, shoulders dropping. Relief, tension, and something else I didn’t recognize all tangled together in my chest.

Lila didn’t look back at me.

Not once.

And that scared me more than the gun ever had.