Chapter 6—THE MAN WHO LEFT HER.

The van hit the ground with a violent jolt.

Rue stumbled through the open door, landing hard on one knee before Kael caught her arm and pulled her clear. Behind them, the road groaned. The van's front wheels hung over a widening split in the asphalt.

“Move! Get away from the vehicle!” Kael shouted.

The others scrambled out. An injured man limped after them, followed by a woman carrying a child and her husband with another. The vehicle dropped another few inches with a metallic shriek. Rue hurried away, her bag bouncing against her hip, just as someone came running toward her.

“Rue!”

She turned.

Adrian reached her and wrapped both arms around her, pulling her against his chest as if he had been searching for her for hours. His grip was so sudden and tight that her first instinct was to shove him away. Instead, she stood stiffly in his embrace, staring over his shoulder.

“I've been looking all over for you,” he said. “I've been going crazy trying to find you. I thought something had happened to you.”

Rue slowly rolled her eyes.

“Really?” she asked. “Did you call me?”

Adrian's arms loosened. “I tried, but the network was down. Everything happened so fast, and I thought—”

“You didn't call me.”

“I was going to. Rue, don't do this. I'm happy you're alive. Can't you be happy to see me too?”

She eased out of his arms and looked past him.

A dark car stood near the kerb. Celeste sat in the back seat, one hand over her pregnant belly, watching them.

Old memories rose sharply. She remembered Adrian in the bunker, looking at Celeste as though Rue's life were easy to trade away. She had died because he chose Celeste. Now he hugged Rue as if nothing had happened.

Adrian followed her gaze. “What are you looking at?”

Rue looked back at him. “So you want me to come with you?”

“Yes. We have a car. We need to leave before those things come back.”

“So I can sit in the same car as your ex, who's pregnant for you?”

Adrian went still.

“What?” His face drained of colour. “Rue, what are you—how did you—”

His eyes darted toward the car. Celeste had shifted in her seat, watching them more intently now.

“I can explain,” he stammered. “It's not what you think. It's complicated. She—”

Rue waited, her expression empty. Rue stared hard.

Adrian swallowed. “Look, we don't have time for this right now.”

“Of course we don't.”

“Stop.” He seized her hand. “Stop being stubborn and come on. We need to leave. You don't know what you're talking about, Rue. You see her in a car and decide you know everything. Come with me, and we'll talk when we're safe.”

“I'm stubborn? You claimed you'd searched everywhere, but you never called. Now you want me in a car with a pregnant woman you can't explain.”

“That's not fair.”

“Neither was what you did to me.”

His expression tightened. He glanced at the watching survivors. “Not here. Please. Don't make a scene.”

Rue shook her head. “You're worried about a scene?”

“I'm trying to protect you!”

“You're trying to get me into that car before I ask another question.”

Adrian's jaw flexed. “You decide what happened before I can speak.”

“You've had plenty of chances to speak.”

“Rue—”

“Don't.”

Nearby, Kael watched Adrian's grip on Rue and the pregnant woman in the car. He didn't interrupt, but his shoulders had stiffened.

The injured man leaned against a post, breathing through clenched teeth. A child began to cry.

“What is keeping her?” the man carrying the other child whispered.

Kael didn't look away from Rue. “I don't know. But we can't stay here.”

“Shouldn't we help her?”

“We can't stay here.”

Adrian tugged Rue toward the car.

“Please,” he said, his voice growing urgent. “Just get in. We can sort this out later. I found you, didn't I? I'm here now.”

Rue planted her feet. “I'm not going anywhere with you.”

His expression changed. “Don't be stupid. You can't survive out here alone.”

“I survived you.”

For a moment, Adrian stared at her as if he had never heard her speak before. Then a desperate scream ripped through the street.

“Help me! Somebody, please! Get this thing off me!”

Rue turned toward the overturned delivery truck near the intersection. A man lay beside it, his leg pinned beneath twisted metal. An iron rod pierced his thigh, and blood spread beneath him as he struggled to escape.

“Please!” he screamed. “I can't get out!”

Rue wrenched her hand free.

“Someone's trapped!”

She ran toward the truck.

Adrian caught the strap of her bag and yanked her back so sharply that it cut into her shoulder.

“Leave him!” he snapped.

Rue twisted around. “Let go of me!”

“Look at him! He's finished. You go near that truck, you'll get yourself killed too.”

“He's alive!”

“And you're going to throw your life away for a stranger? What is wrong with you?”

The man tried lifting the metal, but it crushed his leg harder.

“Please! I don't want to die!”

Rue grabbed the bag strap with both hands and pulled against Adrian. “Let me go!”

“Stop fighting me!”

“Let go!”

The ground shivered beneath their feet.

Kael's head snapped up. “Rue! Get away from there!”

Pebbles hopped across the asphalt as a crack raced from beneath the truck toward Rue and Adrian.

“Rue, now!” Kael shouted.

She tried to turn, but Adrian still had her bag.

Then the road burst open.

Two enormous Hollows erupted from the ground in a storm of concrete and dust. Their black, segmented bodies unfolded above the street, jagged limbs punching into the asphalt. Narrow heads swung toward the screams, pale teeth flashing in their mouths.

Adrian released the strap.

He stared at the creatures, then shoved Rue away.

She crashed onto the pavement.

“Run!” he yelled.

He didn't reach for her or look back. He sprinted toward the car, abandoning her beside the split road.

The first Hollow lunged at the trapped man.

Its forelimb struck the truck and peeled the twisted metal aside with a shriek. The man tried to crawl away, dragging his injured leg behind him. He managed only a few inches before the creature seized him around the waist.

His scream rose above the grinding of metal.

The Hollow lifted him. He kicked and clawed, pleading for help, but its jaws clamped around his torso. His body jerked as its teeth tore into him, spraying blood across the pavement. His cries broke into gasps, then stopped.

Rue couldn't move.

The creature's jaws crunched as it pinned him down. Then it dropped what remained of him and turned toward the street.

The second creature had already noticed Rue.

It lowered its body, claws digging into the asphalt. Its head tilted as if it could hear the frantic pounding of her heart.

“Rue!” Kael shouted.

Kael ran toward her, but her limbs refused to obey. Adrian reached the car as Celeste scrambled out, screaming his name.

The Hollow opened its mouth and sprang toward her, but Rue remained frozen.