After persuading Jace to hit the road with us, he agrees. Reluctantly at that.

Zarius stays at the back while I lead the way down to the building. The heavy silence between us speaks volumes. It feels like we are stumbling through a sandstorm blindly, and moving forward is the only thing we can do.

We barely exchanged words. I keep checking up on Jace, afraid that he might do something crazy again if I let him out of my sight for more than a second. Losing his family has clearly put him down in the dumps. Although he's still alive and following us, it's like he has disconnected himself from life.

When Maddie sees us coming, she shoots us an understanding look and pulls Jace into a quick hug. "Glad to see you again, Mr Torres."

Jace grimaces at the sound of that. "Please, Miss Campbell. Just call me Jace. School has already finished a long time ago. Detentions too."

She lifts a brow, amused, before nodding once. Jace had always received a detention note from her because he had a habit of forgetting to do homework. "If that's the case, you can call me Maddison too."

From behind her, Mia emerges while carrying an old toy sword that she has gotten from my house. When she saw us carrying weapons, she insisted on not being empty-handed.

She gives Jace a tiny wave. "Hi."

He blinks in surprise. "Hello there, little warrior."

She giggles, and he smiles a little. After squeezing ourselves into the car, we pull out of the mall's entrance and make our way back to school.

In the cafeteria, there are several fresh faces. Just like us, some students have gone home and brought back more survivors whom they have encountered along the way. A quick count tells me we have gone up to at least thirty survivors, which is more than I've expected. All of them look worn out, but still clinging to every chance of survival.

People have gathered even more makeshift weapons they could find, such as hockey gears from the gym or knives that are attached to the janitors' old mop handles. They have even gotten some solar gear and those huge studio light stands from the photography room, placing and aiming them towards the exit, acting as a weapon to cause temporary blindness and pain to those monsters if they ever burst through those doors.

Our group settles by the pillar. Maddie leaves to have a word with the other teachers, whereas Mia distracts Jace by asking for his attention—something which I'm grateful to her for. I'm pulling out the energy bars from my bag when I hear a couple of familiar voices coming from my left, where another group lingers. I can hear them speak hopeful words of how the military is going to rescue us tomorrow.

Well, let's pray that they will be right.

Curious, I glance in their direction, but the sight startles me. A pair of tall, dark-skinned men who are carrying guns.

It's Max and his brother...Matteo?

It's that jerk who unlocked the door in the Black Rose Bar and let Mia run out into the storm?

My fists are shaking as waves of anger overwhelm me. "Jace?" I call out. "Look after Mia."

From my peripheral vision, Jace gives me a look of disbelief. "Seriously? You're giving me the nanny job now?"

I almost snorted. "I think it suits you."

"Oh god." He facepalms himself. "You must be going blind."

I shake my head. Now is not the time for me to bicker with him.

My feet are moving on their own. Seething with rage, I stomp over to where those two men are standing and throw out a punch at Matteo's face. It lands on his left cheek, and I sincerely hope it leaves a nasty bruise behind.

He stumbles backward in surprise, blinking repeatedly. In a split second, he advances towards me angrily, but Zarius flies to my side immediately and steps between us. Blocking him with his towering and muscular build.

"Delia." Zarius holds me close behind him, throwing a murderous glare in Matteo's direction. His voice comes out in a deep, low growl and the tension in the air intensifies. "Did he hurt you before? What do you want me to do?"

My mouth opens to speak, but nothing comes out. If Zarius is thinking of going against a human like Matteo for my sake, we all know who's going to end up dead. "It's alright. I can handle this."

Zarius nods and steps aside, but remains close to me.

"What the hell—" Matteo's gaze shifts from him before landing on me. Recognition registers in his face, which morphs into a sly grin. "Oh. Fancy meeting you again, girl. Still as rude as ever?"

I grit my teeth. "And you're still behaving like the crackhead I know you from before. I've not forgotten what you did back there."

His eyes widen in surprise. He feigns innocence, his voice growing louder knowing we've caught everybody's attention in the cafeteria. "I'm sorry. You must have been mistaken about me. Sometimes, I appear unfriendly. If I've upset you before, I didn't mean it."

Anger flares within me. So this is the game he wishes to play? "That's not it," I hiss. "We both know what you did."

Matteo clicks his tongue in disagreement. "Now, now. Don't look at me like that. I assure you I'm on your side. We're all looking to survive together. Look, I've brought all the guns and ammo that we've found."

With his boots, he nudges the two black duffel bags sitting at his feet, but I'm not amused by his gaslighting words and his peace offerings. Ignoring him, I turn towards Max to shoot him a question. After all, between the two brothers, he's the more logical one.

"Where's Charles?"

Colors drain from his face before he swallows hard and looks away. His expression is full of remorse and shame. "Dead," he reveals. "The night after you left, the creatures found us. Must be the trail of blood that came from Charles's injuries. It led them straight to our hideout. Matteo and I barely got away."

"And Emily?"

"Dead too. Wouldn't leave without her husband and she got caught by the creatures."

Sadness washes over me as I think of the kind-hearted couple who had housed Mom and me at the beginning of this attack. But we don't have the time to grieve, neither does my heart can stomach it.

"You keep your brother away from Mia," I warn, eyeing Matteo with another death glare. "Otherwise, I'll make him regret it."

Without waiting for their response, I march back to our group with Zarius in tow. Maddie is already waiting for me, and she lifts her brow questioningly.

"That's the guy whom you told me about before?"

"Yes."

Her expression darkens. "I'll tell the others to be careful."

I nod. After the show is over, the entire crowd in the cafeteria disperses. Zarius bends down so that he's almost my height. His hand sweeps my sweaty bangs off my forehead as he searches my eyes for any sign of distress. "Are you alright?"

The gentleness in his tone wraps me like a blanket. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Sorry for startling you back there."

His features tighten as he glowers at Matteo, who is standing across the cafeteria. "I dislike how that human male spoke to you," he admits with a deep frown. "If he bothers you again, let me know. I'll feed him to the nightcrawlers."

Each time he portrays his concern for me, my stomach does a somersault. "Thanks."

But unlike me, Jace remains unimpressed, and I can hear him grumbling from behind us. "Seriously, guys... Can't you spare some consideration for the rest of us who are single?"

Zarius and I stare at each other, almost smiling at his remark, until Maddie comes back to our spot with a dreadful reminder.

"The sun is setting soon, guys. Are you ready?"