Kenzie didn't want her to go.
The thought hit her hard and fast, sharp enough to steal her breath before she even realized it was there. Lila's hand was already on the door, fingers curled tight like if she loosened them, she might change her mind.
"Lila," Kenzie said, her voice small and strained in the tight space of the Jeep. "Please… don't."
Lila turned, eyes glassy, face torn in half by the impossible choice sitting in front of her. For a second, she looked younger—less like someone hardened by blood and running and death, more like the girl Kenzie had met a year and a half ago, standing in a dorm hallway with an armful of laundry and no idea where the dryers were.
Kenzie swallowed and forced herself to keep going.
"I've known Alyssa since freshman year," she said quickly, words tumbling out before fear could stop them. "A year and a half. We lived together, we cried together, we survived finals together. She's been with Aaron for almost a year now. They're solid. They're real. He's from Savannah. He knows this place. He knows where to go, where not to go."
She leaned forward, clutching the edge of the seat.
"They're the only people you really know here," Kenzie said softly. "The only ones who knew you before all of this."
Lila's mouth trembled.
Kenzie felt something ugly and selfish rise up in her chest, and she hated herself for it—but she said it anyway.
"You don't know us," she continued. "Not really. And I don't blame you. This group—" She glanced around the Jeep. At the exhaustion. The grief. At Tally curled in on herself, silent and hollow. "—this group is breaking. And I don't feel safe anymore. Not like before. Especially not now."
Her eyes flicked, unbidden, to Tally.
She didn't finish the thought.
She didn't need to.
Alyssa and Aaron were running toward the Jeep now, breathless, frantic, eyes wild with relief and fear. Alyssa slammed her hands against the window, smiling and crying at the same time when she saw Lila inside.
"Oh my God," Alyssa sobbed. "I thought you were dead."
Lila flung the door open and climbed out before anyone could stop her.
They crashed into each other in the street, arms tight, shaking, both crying so hard neither of them could speak. Aaron stood guard beside them, crowbar raised, eyes scanning every shadow, every parked car, every doorway.
There was no room in the Jeep.
They all knew it.
No one even asked.
But the desperation was still there—written all over Alyssa's face when she looked at the packed vehicle. The way her eyes flicked to the back, to the trunk, to the floorboards, searching for impossible space.
Aaron spoke quickly, voice low but steady. "I've got a plan."
Ethan swore under his breath from the driver's seat. "We don't have time for a TED Talk."
Aaron didn't rise to it. "My family's place is south of here. Old neighborhood. Brick houses. Most of them are fortified. My uncle preps—always has. There's a storage shed with generators, water tanks, supplies. If it's still standing, it's safer than the streets."
Caleb's head snapped up.
"South?" he asked. "Near Richmond Hill?"
Aaron nodded once. "Yeah."
Caleb's breath caught. "My wife's family lives there. Or… lived." His jaw clenched hard. "If there's even a chance—"
"I'm going," Caleb said suddenly, before anyone could argue. "I can't keep wandering. I need somewhere to go that isn't just running until I die."
Ethan slammed his palm against the steering wheel. "We are burning daylight."
His eyes darted to the street again. He shifted in his seat, tense, restless. "I see movement. I don't know if it's real or if I'm losing my damn mind, but we are not staying parked."
Lila turned back to the Jeep.
Her eyes landed on Kenzie.
Kenzie climbed out slowly, legs shaking, heart pounding so hard it hurt.
"You don't have to explain," Kenzie said quietly. "I get it."
Lila shook her head. "No. I don't want to leave you like this."
Kenzie laughed weakly. "We already lost Justin. We're already fractured. This isn't betrayal. This is… survival."
She hesitated.
Then she did something she hadn't planned.
She stepped closer to Tally.
Tally didn't look up.
She hadn't said a word since the gas station.
Her silence felt heavier than screaming.
Kenzie swallowed hard. "You probably hate me," she said softly. "You always did."
Tally's head lifted just slightly, eyes rimmed red, hollow and unfocused.
Kenzie kept going, because she would never get another chance.
"I know you thought I followed you because you were loud, or pretty, or took up space. Like I wanted to steal attention or be seen." Her voice cracked. "But that's not why."
She wrapped her arms around herself.
"You were the only one who ever made me feel like I belonged. Like I wasn't invisible. You talked to me. You stood next to me. You let me hide behind you when things got too much." Tears slid down her face. "You were my only real friend here."
The words hung in the air.
Tally flinched like she'd been struck.
Kenzie wiped her face angrily. "I stayed under you because you made the world less scary. Not because I wanted anything you had."
She took a step back. "And I'm sorry if I never said that before."
Tally's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
The silence felt unbearable.
Lila stepped closer to Kenzie, hands trembling. "Come with me," she said suddenly. "Please. You don't owe them anything. They're not your family either."
Kenzie's heart shattered.
For one terrible, tempting second, she wanted to say yes.
She wanted to run.
To leave the tension, the fear, the way Tally looked at her like everyone always blamed her for everything—even when she hadn't done anything at all.
She wanted to take Lila's hand and disappear into the promise of somewhere safer.
But then she looked at the Jeep.
At Dot. At Marcus. At Renee. At Mari, hollow-eyed and wrecked. At Ethan, carrying the weight of leadership he hadn't asked for. At Tally, breaking apart in silence, convinced she was alone in the world now.
Kenzie shook her head, sobbing. "I can't."
Lila let out a broken sound.
They hugged hard—desperate, clinging, the kind of hug meant to imprint memory because you know it's the last one.
"I love you," Lila whispered.
Kenzie nodded. "I love you too."
Ethan shouted, "NOW!"
A growl rolled through the street behind them.
Low. Close.
Aaron spun, crowbar raised.
A shape lunged from between two cars—too fast, too close.
Someone screamed.
The world snapped back into motion.
And whatever choice Kenzie had made, whatever goodbye had just happened—
the dead didn't care.
They were already coming.