Chapter 4

Adriana POV:

The streets were a special kind of hell. The air, thick and hot, tasted of smoke and desperation. People with vacant, hollow eyes shuffled along the sidewalks, past overflowing trash cans and boarded-up storefronts. The city was holding its breath, waiting for the final collapse.

I kept my head down, my hand clutching the heavy-duty pepper spray in my pocket. Every shadow seemed to hold a threat. But the image of my mother, alone and vulnerable, propelled me forward.

It took me two hours to get to her small apartment building and another hour to convince the terrified superintendent to let me in. When I finally opened her door, she was sitting in the dark, listening to a battery-powered radio.

"Adriana!" she cried, her face a mixture of relief and fear. She hugged me tightly. "I was so worried. The phones are dead."

"I'm here, Mom," I soothed her. "Everything's going to be okay. We're getting out."

I didn't explain the details. I just told her to pack a small bag, necessities only, and that Bryant had arranged everything. The lie felt like gravel in my throat, but it was a necessary one. Her hope was a fragile thing, and I would protect it.

The journey back was even more tense, but we made it. As we stepped into the cool, quiet lobby of my building, my mother sighed in relief.

When we walked into the apartment, Bryant and Katia were sitting on the couch, looking at a data slate. The broken mug had been cleaned up, as if it never existed.

Bryant stood up, forcing a polite smile for my mother. "Carolina, good to see you're safe."

"Oh, Bryant, thank you for sending Adriana," my mother said, oblivious. She gave him a warm hug. "You've always taken such good care of her. Of us."

He stiffened at her touch, his eyes flicking to me over her shoulder with a look of pure fury.

As soon as my mother went to the guest room to settle in, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into the kitchen, his grip like iron.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed, his voice a low, furious growl.

"I'm taking care of my mother," I said, trying to pull away.

"We don't have the resources, Adriana! The rations are portioned precisely for two people for the next twenty-four hours. You've brought in an unsanctioned variable!"

"She is not a 'variable,' she's my mother!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "The woman whose life savings you used as seed money for your career!"

"That was an investment, and it paid off," he retorted, his face cold and hard. "This is not about emotion, it's about math. Her presence jeopardizes our departure plan."

"Our departure plan?" I laughed, a bitter, ugly sound. "You mean your departure plan with her." I jerked my head toward the living room where Katia was pointedly ignoring us.

"This is insane," he said, rubbing his temples. "I gave you a clear, logical plan for your own survival. A generous one. And you throw it back in my face and do this?"

He thrust a data slate into my hands. It was a detailed budget. A schedule for black market food deliveries. A list of guarded "safe zones" in the city. A plan for me to live out the apocalypse alone.

I didn't even read it. My fingers closed around the thin slate, and with a surge of cold fury, I snapped it in half over my knee. The crack echoed in the silent kitchen.

His eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind?"

Before I could answer, my mother's voice came from the living room. "Adriana, honey? Who is this young lady?"

We both froze. Bryant's face went pale. He walked quickly out of the kitchen, and I followed. My mother was standing there, a kind, curious smile on her face, looking at Katia.

Bryant moved to stand slightly in front of Katia, a subtle, protective gesture that spoke volumes. "Mom, this is Katia Hodges," I said, the words feeling foreign in my mouth. "She's... a colleague of Bryant's. Her building had a security issue last night."

The lie tasted even worse the second time.

"Oh, the poor dear," my mother said, her expression full of sympathy. "It's so dangerous out there. It's wonderful that you have a safe place to stay, and that you'll all be traveling together."

Bryant' s posture was rigid. He couldn't bring himself to respond.

"We need to pack, Mom," I said quickly, steering her toward her room. "Just a small carry-on. Ten kilograms maximum."

"Ten kilograms? So specific!" she said with a cheerful laugh. "It's like we're going on a real adventure."

Her innocence was a physical pain.

Once she was in her room, I turned back to the living room. Bryant was waiting for me, his arms crossed, his face a thundercloud.

"You told her she's coming," he stated, his voice dangerously low. "You let her believe that."

"Yes," I said.

"And how, exactly, do you plan to get a third ticket? Do you have any idea how impossible that is? The security checks are biometric. You can't just sneak someone on."

I thought of the message from Emmett. Of the name Carolina Pearson, confirmed. Of the private transport.

I looked straight into his angry, dismissive eyes. The eyes of a man who thought he held all the cards. The man who had written me off completely.

And for the first time in a very long time, I smiled. A genuine, confident smile that didn't quite reach my eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Bryant," I said softly. "I have it covered."