Chapter 11
Lucilla
Dinner was a meager spread of protein bars, meat sticks, and stale cookies scavenged from one of the classrooms. It was hardly a feast and certainly no match for the cafeteria meals back home, but it filled their stomachs. Being full counted for more than flavor.
“I’ll take first watch,” Myra announced, pushing herself off the wall of the classroom they’d turned into makeshift sleeping quarters.
“I’ll help,” Luci added quickly, glancing at Alex before he could object. “I can’t sleep this early. It’ll be fine,” she promised.
The last thing Luci wanted was to feel like dead weight. With everything the team was risking for her, this felt like the least she could do. And besides, she’d managed to grab a book from the library earlier. That would be enough to keep her mind busy until fatigue finally won her over.
Alex looked at her for a moment, his brow furrowing as if weighing whether to argue, then he gave in with a reluctant nod. “Alright. But if you see or hear anything out of place, you come find me. Got it?”
“I got it,” Luci assured him.
She expected that to be the end of it, but before she could turn away, Alex leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers.
It was quick and almost instinctive, as if it was just habit.
To Luci, it was starting to feel natural, like they had always been meant to meet here, no matter how impossible the road that brought them together had been.
And though she couldn’t put words to it, something inside her whispered that this was only the beginning for them.
“Should we give you two some privacy?” Grayson teased, grinning as he dodged the foam block Alex threw at his head.
“Shut up,” Alex shot back, though the corner of his mouth twitched with amusement. His retort only made Luci smile wider as she rose and trailed after Myra.
“He’s ridiculous around you,” Myra said, glancing over her shoulder with a smirk. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like that with anyone before.”
Luci almost asked if that included Myra but she swallowed the impulse, answering only with a faint smile and a nod. Once they were back near the barricaded entrance, she lowered herself against the wall, letting the cool concrete press into her back before she cracked open her book.
Myra couldn’t seem to sit still. She shifted from pacing to sitting to standing again. Her boots scraped restlessly against the floor. The constant motion was distracting, but Luci managed to work her way through nearly half the book before Myra’s voice cut through the silence.
“How soon do you think they’ll be able to operate on Jace?” Myra asked, not slowing her pacing.
Luci lowered the book into her lap. “Depends,” she admitted.
“I moved him to the top of the transplant list, so he’ll be next in line.
From what I remember, there wasn’t another patient who was a perfect match for a donation so they’ll need to 3D-bioprint new kidneys for him, but Doc will handle it. He’s in good hands.”
What Luci didn’t mention was how many protocols she’d broken to make that happen. Manually shifting Jace’s priority was a violation that could cost her her career in an instant, but she knew Doc would cover for her if it came to that. Still, one misstep, and her license was gone forever.
“Good,” Myra replied calmly, but her jaw was tight, her shoulders wound like coiled springs.
“You care about him a lot,” Luci responded.
Myra froze mid step, her hand curling into a fist before she forced it open again. “He’s like family,” she admitted. “If anything happens to him, I don’t know who I’d be anymore.”
Luci set her book aside. “Then it’s good he’s on the list.” She tried to sound reassuring. “At least now he’s got a chance, Myra. That’s more than most people have.”
Myra nodded once, but before she could reply, a faint scratching sound started above them. She glanced up at the ceiling, rolling her eyes. “Another damn rat,” she muttered, shifting toward the wall.
Myra suddenly went still, slowly raising her hand to her cheek. Her fingers smeared a crimson droplet across her face just as another splashed onto the floor between them, painting the linoleum red.
Both women looked up at the same time.
Blood was dripping through the gaps of the air vents above.
Luci’s stomach lurched as she locked eyes with Myra.
The infected weren’t outside.
They were inside the vents.
Myra’s hand was already on her rifle. She flicked the safety off and leveled it at the vent above them.
“Get to the others now!” she shouted, her eyes still locked on the ceiling. “Go!”
Luci’s heart pounded in her chest as she stumbled to her feet, her book forgotten on the floor.
The first gunshot cracked like thunder and the sound ricocheted through the hallway.
She didn’t dare look back as the infected thrashed against the air ducts above.
She wanted to freeze, to give in to her fear, but she forced herself to move.
She sprinted down the hall, her lungs burning. By the time she made it to the mouth of the classroom, chaos had already erupted within.
The vents had split open and the infected had begun dropping down from the ceiling.
“Move!” Alex barked, thrusting Luci’s backpack into her hands so he could pick up one of the gasoline-filled jugs. He pulled her forward and out of the classroom. She barely had time to catch her breath before Luna hurled herself at one of the infected, her teeth snapping.
“Stairs! To the roof!” Alex ordered.
They bolted as Sable and Paxton fired into the swarm.
Together, they all crashed into the stairwell, the sound of their boots clashing with the shrieks of the infected flooding in behind them.
Luna barked furiously, snapping at anything that came too close, while Grayson tried to force her up the steps.
“Don’t stop!” Sable shouted, firing blindly down the stairwell. The flashlights attached to their guns lit up the dark, illuminating the grotesque figures of the Hollowed climbing up the stairwell behind them.
Luci clung to the railing, forcing her body upward two agonizing steps at a time while the infected shrieked with hunger from below. No matter how fast they climbed the stairs, it felt like the Hollowed were closing in, clawing their way up with merciless speed.
Panic ripped at her chest as Luci realized this stairwell could turn into a tomb at any second.
And just when she thought they wouldn’t make it, Luci’s gaze caught Alex ahead of her. He glanced back, not at her, but at Grayson, who was only a step behind. For a fleeting second, the two men exchanged a look.
Silent, heavy, and final.
Luci didn’t understand what it meant until Grayson’s rifle swung up with brutal precision. The gun went off, deafening everyone in the narrow stairwell as the bullet tore through Paxton’s knee.
Luci’s scream ripped straight from her chest. Paxton crumpled with a strangled cry, dragging Sable down with him. For one horrible second Luci felt paralyzed until Grayson pushed her between the shoulder blades.
“Keep moving!” he barked.
Behind them, the stairwell became a slaughterhouse.
The infected slowed, descending on Paxton and Sable.
Paxton swung his rifle, setting shots off wildly while his sister clung to the railing.
Their screams cut through the stairwell for a few more agonizing seconds before the horde devoured them whole.
Luci stumbled upward, clutching at her chest as her breath lagged with horror. She had seen death before but never betrayal delivered so coldly and efficiently.
This new world didn’t just force them to survive. It was molding them into something crueler than she could bear to be a part of.
They fought their way up the last few flights of stairs before the rooftop door finally came into sight like salvation at the end of a nightmare. Alex lunged forward, swinging it open just wide enough for Luci, Luna, and Grayson to slip through before slamming it shut behind them.
Fists and limbs began to strike the metal almost instantly.
Grayson stomped down on an abandoned pallet until it broke apart, and then he thrust a jagged plank into Alex’s hands.
Together they jammed it through the handle to brace the door.
The wood fussed against the frame and the hinges rattled under the relentless assault.
It would hold but not for long. And they all knew it.
“You guys go,” Grayson said raggedly. He braced his rifle against his shoulder and kept his eyes fixed on the rooftop door, the hoard behind it growing louder with every passing second. “I’ll hold them back.”
Alex shook his head violently. Luci hunched over, hands braced on her knees as she fought for air. Her chest burned as if it were collapsing in on itself, and even Luna looked like she’d reached her limit.
“No,” Alex snapped, already moving toward the edge of the rooftop. His voice carried the kind of determination born of desperation. “There’s a ladder to the fire escape. We can all make it down together.”
But Grayson’s jaw was set, his decision was final. “I can’t.”
Alex spun to face him, confusion and fury colliding in his face. “You’re not making any — ” His words broke off as Grayson lifted the hem of his shirt.
Luci’s stomach dropped when she saw the raw, crescent shaped wound gouged into his side, the blackened veins already splintering outward from the bite.
“They got me back in the classroom,” he confessed.
Luci stumbled back, her hand flying to her mouth as if she could stop the scream clawing its way up her throat. The air suddenly felt too thin.
“No,” Alex choked, shaking his head like he could undo what he was seeing. His voice cracked as he spoke again, almost in a plea. “That’s not possible. I can’t—”
His hand dragged through his hair, tugging like the pain might wake him from the nightmare. But the wound was there, and the pounding at the door only was growing louder.
Alex’s chest rose and fell and when Luci finally looked at him, she caught the glassy shimmer in his eyes he couldn’t blink away. He was trying to stand tall, to hold on to the strength everyone expected from him but his tears betrayed him.
Grayson noticed it too. He gave a soft, warm smile, the kind that held years of brotherhood. “It’s alright, man,” he said quietly. “Go save your girl. Let me do this for you.”
Alex shook his head again, his fists clenched at his sides. Luci’s stomach twisted as the truth hit her like a brick at full speed. This wasn’t just about losing another soldier. Grayson was the only brother Alex had ever known.
She dropped to her knees without thinking and tore her backpack open so fast the zipper nearly broke.
Her fingers fumbled until she found the metal case she had sworn to protect at all costs.
Without another thought, she entered the code and flipped it open, letting the cold mist roll out as the seal hissed.
“Luci, what the hell are you doing?” Alex questioned, panicked.
Ignoring him, Luci’s eyes locked on Grayson. “How much do you weigh?” she asked breathlessly as her mind began racing through calculations, doses, risk margins.
Grayson blinked at her in confusion. “What?”
“Answer me!” she pressed, her voice breaking. “If there’s even a chance I can save you, I have to try.”
Alex took a half step forward, torn between hope and dread. “Luci — ”
She cut him off, shaking her head. “No. Don’t you see?
If I don’t try, then I’ve already become like this world.
Cold, cruel — willing to let someone go because it’s easier.
I won’t do it.” Her voice cracked, but her hands were steady as she pulled one of the fragile vials free.
“Not when I can still choose to be better.”
For a heartbeat, the pounding at the door faded beneath the weight of her words. The infected were coming. The rooftop trembled with their fury, but Luci refused to let it decide who she would become.