Page 12 of Glass Rose (Where Roses Rot #1)

EIGHT

SOFIA

The store’s back door bursts open, and Alex emerges, backpack bulging, with Dr. Cho trailing behind him with a shopping cart piled high with supplies.

They stop at our approach.

“See?” I can’t help the smugness in my voice. “They waited.”

“They’re leaving.”

He’s right. Alex has keys in his hand.

Gavin parks beside them, jumping out before the engine fully dies.

Alex waves the camera in our direction, red recording light blinking like an accusing eye. “Look who finally decided to show up. Our resident mad scientist and her pet experiment.”

I slam the door shut. “Stop filming me.”

“Seriously?” He keeps the camera trained on my face. “This is history in the making. The apocalypse, live-streamed. Or at least recorded for posterity.”

“I said stop.” I shove my palm against the lens, pushing it away. “The military is looking for me. They knew my name, Alex. They could be tracking us right now. ”

“It wasn’t the military,” Gavin says. “It was Green themselves.”

“Green themselves?” I face him. “What are you talking about?”

Alex lowers his camera, suddenly more interested in the conversation than filming it. “You’re saying Green Industries has its own private military now?”

“Kind of.” Gavin’s eyes scan the horizon. “Containment teams. Specialized units for when something goes wrong.”

“We need to go. Now.” Dr. Cho pushes the shopping cart forward, the wheels squeaking against the pavement. “The store’s television was still working. Emergency broadcasts. The virus has reached major population centers. They’re calling it ‘civil unrest,’ but the footage…”

A bad feeling erupts in my stomach. “How bad?”

“Bad enough that they’ve stopped pretending it’s contained.” She finally looks at me, and I see the fear she’s been hiding. “They mentioned Green Research by name. Said there was a terrorist attack that released an experimental pathogen.”

“Terrorist attack?” My voice rises. “They’re blaming us?”

“Easier than admitting they created a zombie virus,” Alex says.

Gavin moves to the cart, checking what they gathered. “We need to move fast. And ditch the camera. Nobody needs it.”

“What about my footage?” Alex clutches it to his chest. “I’ve been documenting everything. The world needs to see?—”

“The world is fucking ending.” The words tear from my throat. “Your subscribers are either dead or running for their lives. Nobody’s checking online during their lunch time for the latest apocalypse update.”

“Phone networks are still up.” Alex draws out his phone. “ But reception’s spotty. I’ve been posting clips when I can get a signal.”

Gavin’s head snaps to him. “You’ve been what?”

“Uploading footage. Small clips, nothing that would?—”

“Are you tracking the location?” I step forward, pulse hammering in my ears. “When you upload, is GPS enabled?”

Alex’s silence tells me everything.

I rake my hands through my hair. “They’re tracking your goddamn uploads.”

“I didn’t think?—”

“That’s right. You didn’t think.” Gavin’s voice drops dangerously low. “That’s how they knew you’re still alive.”

“Relax,” Alex says. “The last one from the supermarket run was 5 minutes ago.”

A distant sound cuts through the air—the rhythmic thump of helicopter blades.

“Give me your phone.” Gavin extends his hand.

Alex backs away. “No way. It’s my only?—”

Dr. Cho reacts in the span of a heartbeat, her hand darting out like a striking snake, snatching the phone.

“What the—” Alex spins around.

“I’m sorry.” She throws it onto the asphalt. The screen shatters, still glowing. “But I don’t want to find out what they’re planning with us.”

Gavin grabs the hunting knife from my thigh, and before Alex can lunge forward, he drives the blade straight through the device. Sparks fly as the battery punctures, and the screen flickers to black.

“Are you fucking insane?” Alex’s face contorts, veins bulging at his temples. “That was our only?—”

“Get in the cars. Now.” Gavin hands me the knife back and throws the supplies into our van. “Five minutes is more than enough time for them to triangulate our position. ”

“Fine. I’m sorry.” Alex tosses tissues my way. “You look like shit, by the way.”

“Parents were infected.” I catch them. “Had to put them down.”

Dr. Cho gasps softly.

“Shit.” Alex’s face softens momentarily. “Sofia. I’m sorry.”

“Everyone’s losing someone today.” I grab armfuls of water bottles. “Where are we going?”

Dr. Cho helps me load them.

Alex tosses his backpack into the second vehicle, eyes darting to the sky. “OutdoorExtreme warehouse. Two hours west. Off the beaten path. He got camping gear, survival equipment—everything we need.”

The helicopter sound grows louder.

“We’ll check it out. But at the first sign of trouble, we bail.” Gavin slams our trunk shut. “Cho with Alex. Sofia with me. You lead, we follow.”

Alex holds my stare a beat too long, that familiar half-smile playing at his lips. “Don’t lose us. Cell service is fucked, remember?”

The helicopter sound grows unmistakable now. Not imagination. Not paranoia.

“Go!” Gavin jumps into the driver’s seat.

My hands won’t stop shaking. I shove them into my pockets and get in beside him on the passenger seat as Alex and Dr. Cho peel out of the parking lot. Gavin follows. The supermarket’s automatic lights flicker off behind us, another small piece of civilization winking out.

“Get some rest if you can,” Gavin says. “I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

“I just want to wake up from this nightmare.” A child’s teddy bear sits in the middle of the road, matted with something dark.

I look away. “My whole life, I’ve been waiting for things to get better.

Study hard, get good grades, and land a prestigious job.

Pay off debts. Help my parents retire. I had this whole fucking plan. ”

Gavin’s knuckles whiten on the steering wheel. “Plans are the first casualty in any disaster.”

“What about you? What was your plan before… before all this?”

“Before they attempted to make me a perfect soldier who wouldn’t question orders?”

I nod.

“Expose Green. Get justice for the people they hurt.” He gives a harsh laugh. “It worked. Just not in the way I wanted, but also not how they planned it.”

“How do you do it? Stay so… detached?”

“Practice.” His expression darkens. “Fourteen months of torture. You either break or you adapt.”

I study the tension in his jaw, the controlled breathing, and the quiet intensity in his blue eyes, focused on the street. He’s really something. How can he shift from deadly to gentle in the space of a heartbeat?

The faintest smile crosses his lips. “Sleep. We should take any opportunity we get.”

I nod and turn back to the window. The landscape is changing, becoming less concrete as we head west. More trees. Fewer buildings. Is that better or worse for survival?

One abandoned warehouse with a faded sign reading ‘OutdoorExtreme’ hangs crookedly from a post.

“That’s it?” I squint at it.

“What were you expecting? A neon sign saying ‘Apocalypse Supplies Here’?” Alex strides to what looks like the entrance. “The whole point is it doesn’t attract attention.”

“Who is he?” Gavin asks .

“John. We call him Crazy John, but like, affectionately. He’s a bit… intense.” Alex taps his temple. “Doomsday prepper type. Been stockpiling for years.”

“Guess he was right,” I say.

Alex knocks on the door. “Follow my lead.”

“Stay behind me.” Gavin matches my pace as we approach the door. “Anything feels off, we leave. Immediately.”

I nod. His body radiates heat in the cool morning air, and I fight the urge to move closer. I’m still reeling from earlier.

Dr. Cho crosses her arms tightly over her chest. “You sure he’s here?”

Alex knocks again, and the security camera mounted above the entrance swivels to us, its red light blinking to life.

“Smile for the camera,” Alex says through his teeth, waving at the lens. “Hey, John! It’s me, Alex Torres! From the urban explorer channel?”

Silence.

“John!” Alex throws his arms up. “Open up, man! We’ve got some serious shit going on out here!”

“This was a mistake,” I mutter. “We should try somewhere else.”

“Give it a minute.” Alex leans closer to the camera. “John! It’s the fucking zombie apocalypse, dude! This is your moment! Please!”

As if triggered by the Z-word or the please, metal scrapes against metal—locks disengaging, one after another.

Gavin steps forward, positioning himself slightly in front of me. His hand hovers near his waistband, where he’s tucked the gun lifted from the security guard back at the facility.

The door opens with a heavy metallic groan, revealing a sliver of fluorescent light from inside, but no one appears in the gap.

“John?” Alex calls, his confident demeanor faltering slightly. “You there, buddy? ”

“Weapons on the ground,” a raspy voice calls out from inside. “All of them. Now.”

Alex glances back at us, his expression saying I told you so. “John, it’s me, man. Alex? We did that coll?—”

“I know who you are.” The door opens wider, and a wild-eyed man with an unkempt beard that reaches his chest appears. He clutches a shotgun in his hands. “Doesn’t mean I trust you. Weapons. Ground. Now.”

Gavin doesn’t move. “Not happening.”

John aims the shotgun at him. “Then you can fuck right off back to whatever hellhole you crawled out of.”

“Please.” I step forward despite Gavin’s warning hand on my arm. “We need somewhere safe, or… we can trade?”

John’s bloodshot eyes narrow on me. “Who are you?”

“This is Sofia.” Alex flashes that practiced smile. “She’s cool. And that’s Dr. Cho, and the intense guy is Gavin. They’re with me.”

John examines us, the shotgun barrel dipping slightly. “Come in. But I’m watching you. All of you.”

Alex enters first, camera on record. Dr. Cho follows, adjusting her glasses as she steps across the threshold. I hesitate, something primal warning me that once I enter, everything changes again.

Gavin grabs my hand. “Don’t let go.”

I nod and lean into his guidance. Why does it feel so normal for him to do that? For me…

“Welcome.” John secures the door behind us with a series of locks and bolts. “To the end of the world.”