Chapter 20
Lucilla
“Keep your eyes on the road!” Luci scolded as she threw a raisin from her trail mix at Alex’s head. They were her least favorite, and anyway, he’d earned it.
The sun had barely risen when she insisted Alex learn how to drive.
An RV wasn’t exactly ideal for learning, but so far, he’d managed surprisingly well.
Except for his infuriating habit of stealing glances at her.
Not quick, harmless ones either but the kind of lingering looks that made her pulse quicken and left her wishing she could pretend she hadn’t noticed.
Behind them, Luna snored softly on the cushioned bench, blissfully oblivious to the road ahead.
“Oh, come on! I wasn’t throwing things at you when you were driving,” Alex protested, swerving just enough to dodge the next raisin.
He leaned back into the seat then and let both his hands settle on the wheel, but his eyes found her again almost instantly.
“I just wanted to look at you. Is that so bad?” His grin pulled at her in ways she hated admitting.
Luci’s cheeks flushed before she could respond, “I’m not saying it’s bad,” she retorted as evenly as she could.
“It’s just proper driving etiquette.” She forced her gaze toward the road ahead, but the effort was useless.
The memory of his hands and mouth on her the night before rushed through her mind, making heat pool low in her stomach.
What they had shared was more than warmth in the dark.
It went past desire and into something she couldn’t quite name.
Last night had left her trembling, not just from his touch but from the realization that hope still existed.
That even in this cruel world, they could still love.
Along with the miracle of her vaccine actually working, her hope burned fiercer than ever.
Alex clicked his tongue playfully as if he were biting back some snide remark, and Luci pressed her bottom lip between her teeth to smother the laugh that bubbled up. For the first time in years, maybe even before the outbreak, she realized she felt something startlingly close to happiness.
“You never told me what happened with that medical student,” Alex said after a moment. This time his eyes remained fixed on the road ahead. “Did he end up becoming a famous doctor or something?”
Luci’s smile dropped. She had kept this part of the story to herself on purpose.
A sigh slipped past her lips as she tossed the half empty trail mix bag into the cup holder and shifted her knees up like that would protect her from what she was about to say.
“No,” she confessed. “Daniel Alcides Carrión died in 1885 from complications of the infection.”
For a moment, the silence was filled only by the hum of the engine. She shifted, curling tighter into her seat. “I don’t think he ever imagined his experiment would cost him his life. But what I always admired was how deeply he believed in his theory. Enough to risk everything and die for it.”
The RV jolted to a stop, and before she could catch her breath, Alex turned toward her. His jaw was slack, his eyes wide with something between anger and fear.
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” The hurt in his tone stung more than if he’d shouted at her. “If I had known, I would’ve never said yes to either of us taking the vaccine.”
Luci blinked at him, stunned by the intensity in his words but also touched by how much he cared. “Alex…I wasn’t worried. I trust my research, and I trust myself.”
He shook his head in disbelief and gripped the steering wheel like doing so might temper his feelings. “That doesn’t mean you should’ve risked your life.”
“That’s the thing,” she said quietly. “Every part of my career has been a risk. For as long as I can remember I’ve been walking into rooms where I wasn’t supposed to belong.
Fighting to be heard over people who didn’t see me as an equal.
I learned early on that no one would ever believe in me more than I believed in myself.
If I doubted my own work, I would’ve stopped before I even started.
” Her voice softened just a touch. “If I don’t trust me, who will? ”
Alex’s expression dropped, and the look in his eyes turned into something more vulnerable.
Luci watched as he sat in silence for a moment while his knuckles turned pale against the steering wheel.
She could almost see the thoughts coursing through his mind, the words he wanted to say but couldn’t quite form.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said quietly, turning just enough to meet her gaze. His eyes softened, stripped of their anger now. “Don’t think for a second that I don’t believe in you. I always have, Luci, and I always will.”
Her throat tightened, and she had to look away, afraid that her expression might show just how much those words meant to her.
He pressed on. “It’s just…The thought of losing you is excruciating, but I know better than anyone how strong you are. You don’t need me to believe in you, but I do. With everything I’ve got.”
Luci turned to look at him. Others had said the same before, but she could see that no one had meant it as much as he did now.
“I know I’ve said it before, back when we were just friends,” he whispered, “but I need you to hear it now, for what it really is. I love you, Luci, more than I ever thought I could love anyone.”
For a moment, Luci couldn’t breathe. His words wrapped around her in a way she hadn’t been prepared for, yet deep down had always wanted.
“I love you too,” she whispered, the admission spilling out as natural as breathing. Her lips curved, and when a smile broke across his face, she felt her heart twist in the most beautiful way.
For a few seconds, they just looked at each other, the silence was thick but no longer heavy. Instead it was charged with something that felt almost sacred.
Then Luci gave a soft laugh, nudging him like she was breaking the trance “Alright, Romeo,” she teased, lifting her brows toward the road ahead, “you’d better start driving if we want to get there by tomorrow.”
Alex laughed and shook his head but was unable to wipe the grin from his face as he shifted the RV back into gear. Still, his hand lingered near hers on the console for just a moment longer than necessary, as though he couldn’t quite bear to let the moment go. And honestly, neither could she.
Many hours later, they stopped to let Luna out one last time before settling down for the night after crossing into New Mexico.
They had taken turns driving, but Luci was more than happy to accept the reprieve.
Navigating through ruined highways and destroyed cities wasn’t nearly as effortless as it looked.
Each stretch of road held its own challenge, but by some miracle, they’d made it farther than expected.
Still, the constant sight of the infected weighed on her.
Each glimpse was a reminder of what their world had become, and more than once she’d caught herself imagining what life might have been like if it had all remained untouched.
If her brother had returned from work that day. If Danielle had returned her messages…
Even as she wondered, a part of her didn’t wish for any other version of events.
She had known Alex before only in passing — brief words exchanged in hallways.
It was the outbreak that had carved out space for something greater.
Deep down, she’d suspected their connection had always been there like a fever waiting to bloom.
As she stood under the heat of the desert, her mind drifted back to a night in the Pathology lab.
She had been hunched over a microscope, chasing clarity in a sample that refused to cooperate when the door had opened, Grayson and Cipher had arrived for one of their routine security checks.
Grayson, however, lingered longer than usual, watching her scribble notes before clearing his throat.
“Have you ever been to that bar across the hospital?” he asked casually as he leaned against the doorframe.
The question startled her enough for her to glance up. The guards rarely acknowledged her beyond simple greetings. “Uh…no,” she said carefully, lowering her pen. “It’s not really my scene.”
Grayson smirked, as though that were the answer he’d expected. Then, almost offhandly, he added, “Well you should come tonight…I know someone would be real happy if you did.”
The way he said it stuck with her long after he left. At the time, she had shaken her head and dismissed it as one of his usual jokes. But now, in hindsight, she realized he hadn’t been talking about himself.
He’d been talking about Alex.
Maybe that had been the first spark of confirmation that what she’d sensed wasn’t only in her imagination.
“Luci?” Alex called, pulling her back into the present and cutting through the blur of her thoughts and memories.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, blinking as though she had just woken up. “What were you saying?”
Alex chuckled softly as he closed the space between them. He reached up and let his fingers brush a stray curl from her cheek before he tucked it behind her ear. “What’s going on in that mind of yours?” he asked as his eyes searched her face for an answer.
Luci’s lips pulled into a smile, but she couldn’t help but glance away.
The truth wasn’t simple. Her mind hadn’t been quiet in months and the thought of saying Grayson’s name out loud felt dangerous at the moment.
If she could go back, she would have insisted they all receive a dose of the vaccine before they left the hospital.
But there had been no way of knowing what would happen, no way of preparing for the weight of that regret.
“Nothing,” she lied softly, forcing herself to sound normal.“It’s just been a long day, and tomorrow will be longer.”
Alex tilted his head and studied her patiently.
The gesture was small, but the intent behind it made it clear that he was listening and weighing her silence as much as her words.
In his eyes she saw the urge to press and make her say what she was holding back. But after a long silence, he let it go.
“I know,” he responded, brushing his thumb along her cheek. The gentleness of his touch contrasted the heaviness in his tone. “That’s why I think we need a backup plan.”
Luci’s brows knit together as her chest tightened with confusion. “You don’t think the plan we already have is enough?”
Truthfully, she couldn’t imagine trusting anyone more than Alex when it came to these things. He’d been with Prometheus as long as she had and if there was one thing the Collective excelled at, it was drilling their people until every last one of them was an expert in their field.
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” he admitted, though she could hear the hesitation in his tone. His jaw flexed before he finally spoke again, softer this time. “It’s just…I know from experience that Prometheus is capable of some pretty terrible things.”
His words hung heavy in the air. He looked worried, like the admission itself might deter Luci from loving him any more than she already did.
“Once we’re there,” Alex continued, “I just want us to be ready if things go wrong. Like if they don’t respect you, or keep their promises.”
Luci knew he was talking about Noah without him having to say her brother’s name. She’d gambled on the hope that he was still out there, still alive. But faith was a brittle thing when stretched too far, and without it, what was she really fighting for?
Alex continued, “I don’t want you to feel like you’re trapped. Like you don’t have a way out.”
Luci held his gaze for a long moment. As sweet as his words were, and as much as she cherished how far he would go to make sure she was safe, she knew the truth. There was only one way to escape Prometheus.
Death.
She had accepted that long ago when she’d taken on the debt to become a doctor and continue her research.
Prometheus’s methods might not always have aligned with her morals, but they were her only gateway to making a difference.
To her, compromise was worth it if it meant her work could reach those who needed it most.
“It won’t come to that,” Luci said softly, offering him a smile meant to chase away his worry.
“If we’ve survived this long under Prometheus’s will, then we can survive a little longer.
AZ-7 is just another facility. I don’t know if our stay there will be temporary or forever, but either way, we’ll figure it out together, Okay? ”
Alex said nothing, but his eyes were filled with tenderness. Relief flushed through her as he finally nodded. He tightened his hold against her cheek. “Together.”
She smiled as he leaned in to kiss her slowly.
But before their moment could continue, Luna barked, her tail thumping against the side of the RV as if to remind them they weren’t alone. Luci pulled back with a laugh, and Alex shook his head with a crooked smile.
“Guess that’s our cue,” he said.
They climbed back into the RV and let the headlights carve a path through the dark as they pulled onto the road again, searching for a safe place to park for the night.
As the miles carried them deeper into the unknown, it suddenly felt like they weren’t running from the world but toward something bigger, more important and just for them.