CHAPTER 2: A Second Chance

FREYA'S POV,

“Jesus, are you even listening to me?” Griffin snapped at me.

I wasn't. I was hearing the hundreds of footsteps coming towards me. I was seeing his fingers slide into Selena's and his lips find hers with a hunger he never had for me. I was feeling the rotten teeth biting into my ankle and the weight of a dozen bodies pinning me down.

“What is wrong with you today?” Griffin walked out of the closet and looked at me properly. His patience visibly ran out. “Okay, so that's what you're doing. Being crazy again. Truthfully, I can't do this anymore. I am tired of taking care of your shit all the time.”

‘Your shit. Minutes ago I was begging you to save my life. But you chose to save her, a stranger.’

“If you don't get your act together,” he went on, fixing his hair in the mirror. “I swear to God, I will leave you. The depression excuses are getting old. Eat salad instead of the junk you eat, do some exercise once in a while, and you won't be depressed.”

A few hours ago, those words would have destroyed me. I would have apologised for my incompetence and spent the whole day trying to earn back the kindness he had never once given me. Now, I only felt the coldness of his betrayal in my chest. I loved him with my entire heart, and he used that against me.

“Okay,” I said without hesitation. “Let’s get it done. I don't want to be with you anymore.”

Griffin blinked in shock. “What are you talking about?”

“I agree with what you are proposing. Divorce me. It's the best thing you could do for me.” My voice came out steadier than I expected. “Go ahead, throw me out of your life. You can keep this house and whatever else you want. I don't care anymore.”

For a whole minute, he stared at me, like I'd started speaking another language. Then his jaw tightened, and his eyes turned red.

“You’re losing your mind.” He grabbed his jacket off the chair angrily and said, “I don't have time for whatever this is, or the interest. When I get back, we're going to sit down, and I'm going to teach you again exactly how this relationship works.”

“I will have the divorce papers ready,” I said, and he slammed the door on his way out.

The memories rushed back. I pressed the heel of my hand against my mouth to keep the sound in, but the cry came out anyway, ugly and broken. I cried harder than I had in years. Not for him, for myself. For every minute I'd spent making myself smaller so he wouldn't feel like I was overshadowing him. Yet, he chose someone else over me.

When there was nothing left, I wiped my face with the back of my hand and grabbed my phone from the bed. I dialled an old number before I could talk myself out of it. I knew the ending of my story, and now I was going to change it because I wasn't the same weak girl anymore.

“I can't believe you actually called me.” Priyanka's voice came through, bright and startled. “Everything okay?”

I took a deep breath before speaking. “I was looking for a good divorce lawyer. And suddenly I remembered that I was friends with one.”

There was a long pause before her voice came through. “Can you say that again, ma’am? Perhaps slower this time. I want to enjoy every second of it.”

“Priyanka!” I warned, though I was already smiling through the tears.

“I have been waiting four years for this exact moment. I told you he was not good for you, but you were so blinded by him you couldn't see the red flags.” I could hear her already moving around her office. “What do you want me to file under?”

“Infidelity.”

"Oh!” Her voice changed completely. “I am so sorry.”

“You don't have to apologise.” I swallowed hard, trying to hold back the tears. “You were right about him this whole time.”

“Do you have any proof against him?” She questioned. “Chats, pictures, videos, anything that might help us speed things up?”

“I'll get it.” I already knew exactly where to look. “Just get the papers ready.”

“I have already started working on it. I'll send them over. Take care.” She hung up, and for the first time in longer than I could remember, I let myself breathe.

That was when I noticed James, Selena's husband, on his balcony. He had a newspaper in one hand and a coffee mug in the other. He was very deliberately not looking at my window, and failing miserably. I glanced down and noticed I was still in my thin, silk lingerie. Not exactly what one would wear for a Tuesday morning chat with the neighbour.

But a bulb went out in my head. I wasn't proud of it, but I had only thirty days before the apocalypse.

I smiled and leaned into the open window. “Morning, James. What are you doing?”

“Nothing much.” He turned toward me and walked to the other corner of the balcony. It was closest to my window. “You tell me.”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about something,” I said, putting my hair in a messy bun. “Are you willing to sell the old factory on the outskirts of the town? I want to buy it.”

“The old factory?” He looked at me in confusion, abandoning the newspaper on the floor. “Why? That place is a wreck, Freya. If you are looking for a factory, I can show you better buildings in the city.”

‘Those better buildings won't stop the dead,’ I wanted to say, but I said. “No, I want that one... I can't tell you much about it, but that's the only one I want. I will pay you more than the market value for that building.”

I remembered the place too well, and it proved to be a great shelter for months. It was a huge building with multiple levels and a surveillance system that had let us keep an eye on the horde gathering outside for months. It was far away from the city, with walls and barbed wire and solar panels on the roof.

Selena treated herself like a queen because it was her building after James' death, and everyone had to follow her orders till Ronan's group joined us.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Fine. I'll have my lawyers do the paperwork. You won't have to pay me more.”

“Thank you,” I said and was about to turn around when I remembered something else.

In my last life, James died in the first wave because Selena left him behind. It was one of the stupidest things she could have done. James had served in the army for seven years and had been deployed to an active war zone. He knew firearms and battle strategy better than any of us. If I was going to survive the zombies, I needed him on my side.

“What happened?” he asked, looking more concerned than Griffin had been when he left me behind to die. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just... there is something I need to do.” I was listing the things required to survive the apocalypse. Last time, many people died when they went out of the shelter looking for food and weapons. “Can I go look at the factory? I can send the money right now.”

“Freya, calm down. I don't know what's happening, but if you want to see the factory, I can take you with me.” He looked at me once before saying. “Get dressed and meet me in the garage.”

“Thank you, James.”