𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝘽𝙤𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨

Chapter Twenty five

Jennie

I lay awake for a long time, trying to ignore the faint rustling sounds of Y/N shifting about on the floor of the bedroom.

I roll Kai's necklace through my fingers. I had given it to him sometime last month when I'd found it during one of our salvage raids.

I hadn't even known he'd kept it, let alone that he actually wore it. I feel tears come to my eyes and I blink them back.

It's been easy to not think about Kai for the last few days while I've been so preoccupied with staying alive myself, but I can't stop the thoughts from coming now.

I loved him, maybe. It's been harder and harder to be close to him for the last year since his dad died, but that doesn't change the fact that I care about him. Some part of me will always care for him, or at least love the man that he was when we first met.

And now he's gone, dead, for good. I'll never see him again.

And it's because of Y/N.

I try to be rational about it. Y/N didn't know who he was to me when she killed him.

Y/N didn't even know me then. If she hadn't killed him, one of the others most likely would've. We were horribly outnumbered and there was no way we'd have survived. It wasn't Y/N's fault.

But I just can't shake the cold feeling that's settled in my gut. It's hard to forgive her, and it drives home the fact that I've been slowly forgetting over the last few days: Y/N is a Corpse. She's a cold-blooded killer, and all of her sweet charm and puppy eyes doesn't change that truth.

I roll over, trying to pretend that I'm still asleep in case Y/N is watching. Squinting through my lashes I see that she's lying on her side facing away from me and she's not moving. Sulking, apparently.

If there's ever a chance for me, it's now. I get out of bed as quietly as I can and pull on my still-damp clothes. I tiptoe out of the room, keeping a cautious eye on Y/N but she doesn't react. She must be deep in whatever she's thinking about.

When I reach the hall I pick up my pace, hurrying downstairs. I grab my bag and then my eyes fall on the stack of polaroids we took earlier. On the top is the first one of Y/N, her puppy eyes wide with surprise. Smiling, I pick it up and tuck it in my bag before I slip outside.

The engine in the truck takes three tries to start this time and I spend the whole time convinced that Y/N is going to come out at any minute and catch me.

What will I do if she does? How do I explain it to her? That even though I rationally know it wasn't her fault, I'm angry at her for something she couldn't control?

I let out a breath of relief when the truck finally starts and I peel out of the driveway and into the pre-dawn glow.

It's time for this whole thing to be over. I'm going to go home and get on with my life and forget that Y/N and this experience ever happened.