The forest had become quieter.
Not because the world had finally decided to give us a break.
Because the violence was getting farther away.
Lila and I trudged through the snow in silence, our boots sinking several inches with every step. The trees around us stood black against the white earth, their branches heavy with frost. Every so often the wind shifted, carrying the smell of smoke through the pines.
Smoke.
Gunpowder.
Burning wood.
I didn't have to look back to know the compound was still dying behind us.
The infected had gotten inside.
The hunters had gotten involved.
People who had survived the end of the world had probably just become another part of it.
I kept walking.
There wasn't anything else I could do.
It was funny.
I'd spent so much time wondering why people were always chasing me.
The Crucible.
Amber Society.
Now Miriam and these intelligent infected.
Everyone wanted something.
Sometimes it was my blood.
Sometimes it was the lattice.
