novelDen Chapter 213: You thought wrong, asshole
Chapter 213: You thought wrong, asshole
For a moment, my brain refused to focus on what was in front of me.
Everything blurred together.
The truck.
The road.
The gun in my hand.
The woman climbing out of the wrecked vehicle.
None of it felt real.
Instead, memories came crashing into me all at once.
Texas.
The compound.
The walls.
The arguments.
The screaming.
The blood.
Callahan barking orders like he always did.
Callahan standing guard.
Callahan laughing around a fire while everyone else tried to pretend the world hadn’t ended.
Callahan.
Dead.
Or at least, I thought he was.
The memories hit so hard they almost knocked the breath out of me.
But eventually—
eventually I had to look at what was standing in front of me.
Callahan was different.
Not just because he was infected.
The stubble he used to keep trimmed had grown wild enough that it almost hid his face. Dark tattoos crawled across his chest and arms in ugly patterns, some crude enough that they looked carved into his skin rather than inked there.
He looked like a parody of the man I remembered.
Like someone had taken Callahan and twisted every sharp edge into something crueler.
He lifted his gun.
"Lower your gun, prick."
Behind him, the blonde woman I had originally been aiming at started laughing under her breath while she pulled herself upright.
I didn’t move.
My gun stayed exactly where it was.
For a second, neither of us spoke.
Then I found myself saying the only thing my brain could come up with.
"I don’t understand."
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
"I thought you were dead."
Callahan’s smile vanished.
"Well you thought wrong, asshole!"
The sudden rage in his voice made several heads turn from the truck.
He pointed at me.
Callahan pointed the barrel directly at my chest.
"You got any idea how many times I imagined this conversation?"
I stared at him.
He laughed.
The sound held no humor.
"You don’t, do you?"
His finger tightened around the trigger.
"Because you’re Adrian."
There it was.
That old bitterness.
That old resentment.
Even after everything.
"You always thought you knew better."
I stayed silent.
"You let anybody into that compound."
His voice rose.
"Anybody."
He spread his free hand.
"Didn’t matter who they were. Didn’t matter what they did."
His eyes flashed.
"If they had a sad story, Adrian let them in."
A few of the infected behind him laughed.
Callahan laughed too.
"How’d that work out?"
I didn’t answer.
"Go ahead."
He stepped forward.
"Tell me I’m wrong."
I remained silent.
That only seemed to make him angrier.
"You got people killed."
His voice cracked.
Not with grief.
With fury.
"You got good people killed."
Something twisted in my chest.
An old wound.
A familiar one.
I buried it immediately.
No time.
No room.
Not now.
Callahan watched my face carefully.
Searching.
Looking for guilt.
Looking for regret.
Looking for something he could sink his teeth into.
When he didn’t get it, he scoffed.
"Yeah."
He shook his head.
"Same old Adrian."
Before I could answer, he shoved two fingers into his mouth and let out a sharp whistle.
The sound cut through the road.
My frown deepened.
The blonde woman immediately reacted.
Not because she’d been ordered.
Because she’d been waiting.
Waiting for permission.
She started walking toward me.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Like she already knew how this was ending.
"So what?" I asked.
"You spend all this time hunting me? For what?"
Callahan laughed.
The sound was ugly.
"You really think you’re that important?"
He grinned.
"We only spotted you a few days ago."
His finger pointed toward the truck.
"Saw your dumb ass blasting music while driving that thing."
Frustration punched me in the chest.
God damn it, Aubrey.
Callahan kept smiling.
"I’ve been waiting."
His eyes gleamed.
"Plotting."
His voice lowered.
"And now I’m gonna have you and everybody inside that truck skinned alive and eaten like it’s nothing."
My eyes stayed on him.
Steady.
Unblinking.
"You?"
His grin widened.
"You’re gonna regret the day you ever stepped foot in—"
STAB.
The knife buried itself in his thigh so suddenly that for a second I thought I’d imagined it.
Then Callahan screamed.
The blonde woman immediately broke into a sprint.
Profanities exploded from her mouth as she hurled her rifle aside.
I blinked.
Wait.
What?
Why throw away the gun?
Movement erupted behind her.
More infected climbed from the armored vehicle.
Men.
Women.
Faces that felt vaguely familiar.
Faces I couldn’t place.
Faces from Texas maybe.
Faces from somewhere.
My pulse spiked.
I slammed my foot against the roof of the truck.
"EVERYONE OUT!"
The metal boomed beneath me.
The doors flew open almost immediately.
Chaos exploded.
—
Callahan spun around.
Lila wasn’t there.
His eyes widened.
Then she appeared again.
Fast.
Too fast.
The knife flashed.
A deep slash opened across his face.
Blood sprayed.
Callahan stumbled backward.
For a second I thought she’d won.
Then he smiled.
Actually smiled.
Blood dripping down his cheek.
Like he was enjoying it.
—
The blonde woman reached me.
I fired.
The shot cracked across the road.
She moved.
Not by much.
Just enough.
The bullet missed.
My eyes widened.
I fired again.
Same thing.
The woman laughed.
Now I only had three rounds left.
And she was already on me.
"God damn it."
She hit hard.
Her fist crashed into my jaw.
Pain exploded through my face.
I staggered backward.
She followed immediately.
No hesitation.
No pause.
A second punch came for my ribs.
I blocked.
The impact still rattled my entire arm.
She wasn’t just strong.
She knew how to fight.
Military.
Martial arts.
Something.
The way she shifted her weight.
The way she protected her center.
The way she attacked openings.
None of it was random.
I threw a punch.
She slipped it.
My lattice surged.
Heat flooded my muscles.
The next swing was faster.
She barely avoided it.
The shock on her face told me she’d felt the difference.
Good.
I drove forward.
Punch.
Elbow.
Knee.
She blocked most of it.
Not all.
A knee caught her stomach.
She grunted.
We separated.
Both breathing hard.
For a moment neither of us moved.
The wind whistled across the ruined road.
Then I laughed.
A short ugly sound.
She tilted her head.
"What?"
I wiped blood from my mouth.
"For an intelligent infected..."
I pointed toward the discarded rifle.
"You’re pretty fucking stupid."
Her smile widened.
I continued.
"You needed that gun after all."
To my surprise, she laughed.
Actually laughed.
"Guns are boring."
Something about the way she said it made my skin crawl.
She stepped forward.
Slowly.
"I never wanted you to die that easily."
My grip tightened around the pistol.
She licked blood from her lip.
"We’re only getting started."
Her eyes glittered.
"I want to hear you beg."
My stomach twisted.
That sentence.
That exact sentence.
Vivian.
The memory hit me so suddenly it almost made me miss her next movement.
She lunged.
I barely reacted.
Her shoulder slammed into my chest.
The world flipped.
We crashed onto the asphalt.
The gun flew from my hand.
It skidded across the road.
The blonde woman straddled me immediately.
Her fist came down.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Stars exploded behind my eyes.
—
"ADRIAN!"
Lila’s scream cut through everything.
She turned toward me.
For the first time since the fight started.
That was a mistake.
Callahan saw it too.
He slammed into her.
The knife went flying.
Lila hit the ground hard.
Callahan climbed on top of her.
Then—
CRACK.
A bullet screamed past his ear.
Callahan immediately threw himself aside.
Instinct.
Training.
Fear.
Hale stood near the truck with smoke rising from his barrel.
His expression was ice.
—
"You ain’t going nowhere, sweetie."
The blonde woman pressed me harder into the pavement.
I struggled.
Nothing.
Her grip tightened.
My lattice burned.
Still not enough.
Then she leaned closer.
Smiling.
And suddenly—
an opening.
Tiny.
But there.
I took it.
My teeth sank into her neck.
Hard.
As hard as I could.
The woman screamed.
Her entire body jolted.
Shuddered.
Twitched.
But the sound wasn’t pain.
Not entirely.
Something else was mixed into it.
Something that made my skin crawl.
She rolled away from me almost immediately.
Hands clamping over the wound.
Breathing hard.
I scrambled to my feet.
Confused.
"What the fuck—"
"ADRIAN!"
Hale again.
The truck’s engine roared.
Everyone was moving.
Everyone was climbing back inside.
The infected were regrouping.
Callahan was already screaming orders.
The blonde woman remained crouched where she’d fallen.
One hand against her neck.
The other shaking.
I backed toward the truck.
Then climbed inside.
The doors slammed.
The engine screamed.
The vehicle lurched forward.
Callahan shrank in the distance.
Still shouting.
Still furious.
Still alive.
The blonde woman slowly stood.
Her fingers touched the bite mark on her neck.
Blood coated them.
For a moment she simply stared.
Then something strange happened.
A blush crept across her face.
Slowly.
Almost disbelieving.
Her eyes locked onto the disappearing truck.
Her smile returned.
Different this time.
Softer.
Hungrier.
"Oh..."
She pressed her fingers harder against the wound.
Then laughed.
A breathless sound.
"That’s why she liked you."
The truck disappeared over the hill.
And the smile on her face only grew.
"I can’t wait to meet you again, Adrian."