Kenzie waited until the noise in the bank settled into its uneasy rhythm—the soft murmurs, the occasional clink of a can being opened, the low crying that came and went like waves. The building smelled like carpet cleaner and fear, metal and old coffee. Daylight slanted in through the tall glass windows at the front, filtered by hastily taped signs begging for help or warning people away.
She grabbed Lila's wrist gently and tugged her toward the side hallway near the offices.
"Hey," Kenzie whispered. "Come here. Please."
Lila went with her, but reluctantly. Her shoulders were tense, her jaw tight. She already knew something was wrong—Kenzie could see it in the way her eyes searched her face like she was bracing for impact.
They stopped near a closed office door. The bank logo was still stenciled in gold lettering on the frosted glass. Everything looked normal. That was the worst part.
Kenzie took a breath.
"I think," she said carefully, "I think I'm going to join the group heading toward the army base."
Lila stared at her.
For a second, she didn't react at all. Just blinked, like her brain hadn't caught up to the words yet.
Then her face crumpled.
"What?" Lila whispered sharply. "Kenzie—what are you talking about?"
Kenzie swallowed.
"The group that came through earlier—the sisters, Monica and Jade. They're going toward the base. I think… I think I'm going to go with them."
Lila shook her head, a quick, angry motion. "No. No, you're not. You just— you just got here. You left the Jeep. Why would you do that if you were just going to leave again?"
Kenzie flinched.
"I didn't leave them to leave you," she said quickly. "I swear to God, Lila, I didn't."
"Then why did you get out of the Jeep?" Lila demanded, her voice trembling now. "Why would you do that if you knew how dangerous it was?"
Kenzie closed her eyes.
"I just wanted to hug you," she said. The words came out small, raw. "That's it. I just wanted to hug you. I thought they were stopping. I thought—"
Her voice broke.
"Everything happened so fast."
Lila's anger faltered, confusion bleeding through it.
"You barely know me," Lila said. "Why would you—"
"Exactly," Kenzie interrupted, tears burning her eyes. "I barely know you."
That stopped Lila cold.
Kenzie pressed on before she could lose the nerve.
"I care about you," she said. "I really do. I don't even know when that happened, but it did. And maybe that's trauma, or fear, or the fact that you were kind to me when everything else was falling apart."
She let out a shaky laugh.
"But I'm seventeen," she said. "I'm only seventeen. Yesterday, I was five months away from graduating high school."
Lila's face softened despite herself.
"I miss my mom," Kenzie continued, her voice dropping. "I miss my grandmother. I miss my stupid house and my stupid street and my stupid routines."
Her lips trembled.
"And my little brother," she added quietly.
Lila inhaled sharply.
Kenzie laughed again—this time hollow, broken.
"He died," she said. "I watched him die. And I didn't scream. I didn't fall apart. I didn't even cry."
Her eyes burned.
"I don't have time to grieve," she said. "Not now. Not ever. Not if I want to survive."
She looked down at the bag strapped to her chest.
"I have Barbie," she said. "She needs me. And I can't follow anyone else's plan. I can't follow anyone else's instincts. I have to trust my own."
Lila wiped at her eyes angrily.
"So what," she said. "You're just going to leave?"
Kenzie shook her head.
"I would never leave you alone," she said. "But Tally—she's not my family, and she's mean sometimes, and she scares me—but I've known her my whole life. I would never abandon her in the middle of something like this."
She looked up at Lila, eyes shining.
"You just came into my life yesterday," she said softly. "And as much as I care… I can't build my survival around someone I just met."
The words hurt them both.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Then footsteps approached.
"You're not wrong," Aaron said quietly.
Kenzie and Lila both turned.
Aaron stood in the hallway with Alyssa beside him. They hadn't meant to eavesdrop—but in a place like this, privacy was an illusion.
Alyssa crossed her arms. "We heard enough," she said gently. "And she's right."
Lila looked between them, stunned.
"We were already thinking about heading to the base," Aaron added. "My family's closer to that direction anyway. And if the military's still holding anything together, that's where resources will be."
Alyssa nodded. "We'll go with you. To the base. We can help you get there—and maybe you can help us get to my aunt's place afterward."
Kenzie stared at them.
"You'd do that?"
Aaron shrugged. "At this point? Numbers matter."
For the first time in hours, Kenzie felt something like relief.
They started whispering plans—vehicles in the parking lot, possible routes, roads to avoid. Alyssa pulled out a pen and began sketching a rough map on the back of a deposit slip. Monica and Jade would want to go too. Maybe a few others.
Hope, fragile and dangerous, crept into the room.
Then it shattered.
A scream ripped through the bank.
High. Piercing. Animal.
Kenzie spun toward the sound just as one of the tellers—Marissa—came running from the back hallway.
Something was on her back.
She was screaming so hard she couldn't form words.
"Help me!" she shrieked. "Please—help me—!"
Blood streaked down her blouse, dark and soaking.
Raul burst out behind her, face contorted with horror.
"No—NO—!" he yelled.
Marissa stumbled, crashing into the corner near the desks. She collapsed against the wall, clawing at the thing on her back.
Mateo.
His small body clung to her like a parasite.
His teeth were buried in her shoulder.
He was chewing.
Not biting and pulling away.
Chewing.
Blood sprayed across the wall as Marissa thrashed, her screams turning into wet, choking sobs.
"Mateo!" Raul screamed, rushing forward.
He grabbed the boy around the waist and yanked him back—but Mateo snarled, a sound no child should ever make, and lunged again.
Raul threw himself between them, shoving Marissa away as she slid down the wall, sobbing.
Mateo turned on him.
His eyes were wrong.
Milky. Empty. Hungry.
He latched onto Raul's arm.
Raul screamed.
People froze.
Some cried.
Some ran.
Kenzie stood rooted to the floor, bile rising in her throat as she watched a father wrestle his undead child to the ground, sobbing and begging and bleeding all at once.
The bank filled with chaos.