[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-surviving-the-apocalypse-with-my-yandere-ex-girl":3,"chapter-surviving-the-apocalypse-with-my-yandere-ex-girl-surviving-the-apocalypse-with-my-yandere-ex-girl-chapter-195":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Surviving the Apocalypse With My Yandere Ex-Girlfriend",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1745850,2231,"Chapter 195: The Peace That Terrified Me","surviving-the-apocalypse-with-my-yandere-ex-girl-chapter-195",195,"\u003Cp>I don’t think people realize how terrifying peace can be until they’ve lived without it long enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the strange thing about the dream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not the fact that I was dreaming at all. Not the fact that my body felt weightless or that my mind felt drowned beneath warm water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was how normal everything was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No screaming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No smell of rot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just Englewood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stood outside the convenience store near the apartment blocks with a drink sweating in my hand while summer heat baked the pavement beneath my shoes. Cars crawled through the streets. Music played somewhere distant. Somebody argued over a basketball game nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And none of it was real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew that immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dreams never get the silence right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s always something missing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still... my legs moved anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People passed me without fear in their eyes. Nobody carried rifles. Nobody checked corners before turning them. Nobody looked hungry enough to kill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A little girl ran past me laughing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I watched her go with a strange feeling in my chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then I saw Lila.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She sat on the hood of a beat-up car near the curb with one leg folded beneath her, sunglasses resting on top of her head while she ate chips from a crumpled bag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Healthy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Human.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sight of her almost hurt more than anything else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked up and smiled when she noticed me staring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You gonna stand there all day?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My throat tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I walked toward her slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not because I was scared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because some part of me already understood this wasn’t for me. This was my brain showing me something cruel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lila crunched another chip between her teeth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You look exhausted.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You don’t,\" I muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe because I actually sleep.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I huffed out something close to a laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>God.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I missed her voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not the infected version. Not the obsessive thing the disease twisted her into.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just...her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wind moved through the street softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No gunshots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No infected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No smell of death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just people living.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lila tilted her head slightly as she looked at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You okay?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a simple question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I almost hated it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because people only asked that before the world ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afterward, nobody cared about okay anymore. Only alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked around the street again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the normalcy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then back at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You ever think people were happier before because they were distracted?\" I asked quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lila frowned a little.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Before all this.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There is no all this.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stared at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This version of her didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Didn’t know about infected tearing through throats. Didn’t know about Crucible. Didn’t know about Annie dying. Didn’t know about me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The realization hollowed me out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My eyes drifted toward the skyline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No smoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the world had forgotten what it really was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lila hopped off the hood of the car.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re being weird.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I am weird.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, but usually in a more annoying way.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That got another laugh out of me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Small.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Broken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then I noticed something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People were starting to stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not all at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like background actors forgetting what scene they were in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One woman stood motionless in the middle of the sidewalk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man near a bus stop stared directly at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My stomach tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lila kept talking but her voice started sounding distant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people kept staring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their smiles looked stretched now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You left me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lila hadn’t said that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least...I didn’t think she had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her mouth hadn’t moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I heard it anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You left me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people around us started twitching subtly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their eyes reddened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like infection bleeding through film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stepped back instinctively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Adrian?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lila’s voice sounded afraid now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not accusing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afraid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood crept from beneath her nose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then her eyes slowly turned red too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No,\" I whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The street darkened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sky dimmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sounds of the city began distorting into screaming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lila grabbed my wrist suddenly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You left me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time she definitely said it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her face started changing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not melting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not monstrous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked exactly like herself while tears streamed from bloodshot eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like she knew what she was becoming while it happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried pulling away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Couldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people around us started walking closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not running.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like death already knew it would catch me eventually.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the massive council tower windows, civilians flooded the streets below in waves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Angry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Terrified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Signs slammed against barricades while soldiers struggled to hold lines together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This was supposed to be a sanctuary!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You lied to us!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You said the infection could never get down here!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Look what your soldiers brought in!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One bottle flew upward and exploded against the reinforced glass with a violent crack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man standing by the window barely flinched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only his finger twitched once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he slowly turned around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rage sat on his face so heavily it almost looked physical.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer calmly sipped her tea across the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The contrast was absurd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man strode toward her and swept plates, papers, and coffee ingredients violently off the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ceramic shattered across the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer didn’t react.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Well?\" he snapped. \"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside, the riots only grew louder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer lowered her cup carefully onto its saucer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A functioning society will always experience unrest eventually,\" she said calmly. \"Even if you remove poverty from the equation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man stared at her like he wanted to strangle her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This unrest is happening because of you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your patient tears through my borough, your soldiers turn entire districts upside down trying to catch him, and now there’s an infected loose inside the city.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still composed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the screaming outside belonged to another universe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You told us Crucible had containment under control.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We do.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"BULLSHIT.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice echoed through the office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When the Britain borough collapsed, we relocated civilians successfully,\" Jennifer said evenly. \"We can repeat that process if necessary.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man looked genuinely horrified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’ll destroy the supply structure.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer stayed silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Overcrowding leads to shortages. Shortages lead to panic. Panic leads to violence.\" His voice lowered slightly. \"You know what happens after that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first time, Jennifer’s expression shifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like she knew exactly what happened after that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man laughed bitterly under his breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I should’ve never trusted Crucible involvement in civilian affairs.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer’s eyes lifted toward him slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cold enough to stop most people from speaking further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You people act like you own the world just because you knew it was ending first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heavy silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then his eyes drifted toward the secured door across the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toward Adrian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toward the room Jennifer had practically built a war around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He started walking toward it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jennifer’s calm cracked instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stood up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don’t.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man ignored her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice sharpened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I said don’t touch that door.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked back at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And finally saw it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not professionalism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Real fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cherie leaned against the wall quietly while Saul stood several feet away speaking to a woman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even from a distance, the warmth between them was obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way she touched his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way Saul smiled without realizing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way her shoulders shook when she laughed softly at something he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked...safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cherie stared harder than she meant to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because she couldn’t remember ever having something that looked like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not really.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her parents existed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crucible raised her more than they ever did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vivian trained her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fed her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taught her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And for a long time, Cherie thought that counted as love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Adrian happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Hale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Terri.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Peter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jane.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isabella.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Aubrey, somehow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Messy people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Loud people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People that argued and fought and screwed things up constantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But people who still looked for each other anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That had felt more like family than anything before it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until Texas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, everything broke apart so fast she still hadn’t caught up to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now Adrian was somewhere in this city probably hating her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Terri barely looked at her anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aubrey tolerated her at best.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And every time Cherie tried to think about Vivian, her stomach twisted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because part of her still missed her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the worst part.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Missing people who ruined you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cherie?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul stood nearby now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The softness returned to her face automatically like instinct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You okay?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cherie nodded once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saul studied her for a second before gesturing toward the woman beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mom, this is Cherie. We met her on the way to Canada.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman smiled gently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sheryl. Nice to meet you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her hand stretched out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cherie stared at it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually stared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like her brain stopped understanding what she was supposed to do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sheryl’s smile faltered slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So did Saul’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cherie finally shook her hand, but her movements felt delayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Disconnected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...you sure you’re okay?\" Saul asked quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cherie looked between them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mother and son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something in her chest suddenly hurt so badly she thought she might throw up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I...\" Her voice caught.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she looked away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...I think I need to take a walk.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nobody stopped her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cherie turned the corner quickly before either of them could see her expression collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And once she was alone—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She finally looked like someone who realized they didn’t belong anywhere anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>",1585,"2026-06-06T16:52:01.117Z",1,"novelbin.me","2fcb6e45c3efc66ffbc1bf5c056442335820aa92146de8afed414d280c733163","surviving-the-apocalypse-with-my-yandere-ex-girl-chapter-196","surviving-the-apocalypse-with-my-yandere-ex-girl-chapter-194",202,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurviving-the-apocalypse-with-my-yandere-ex-girl-cover.jpg"]