When Adelaide returned later that evening, her blood-covered face and hands said it all, she didn't need words to tell anyone what had happened. They were ambushed while they were in a nearby Tesco's and barely stood a chance against the sickos. Their group of seven had been split up with one half being in the front of the shop while the other half was at the back in the store room and collecting as many tins as possible. Adelaide was somewhat lucky to be at the front of the shop when it happened but it didn't help much.

She tried to fight off as many of them as she could but some of them slipped past her and got to her friends at the back of the shop before she had the chance to kill them. Once she killed the sickos around her and was assured by the rest of the group that they had the area covered, she ran to the back to help her friends but it was too late. Out of the three that went, only one of them survived the initial attack but he didn't come out unscathed. The boy – Jared – was pale and looked on the verge of passing out.

Adelaide kneeled beside Jared and looked at the large cut on the side of his face, being careful not to touch it as she examined it. "You'll be okay, it'll take a few days to heal but other than that you should be okay."

Jared shook his head, lifting his hand up to reveal a bite mark that was aggressively seeping blood over his arm and onto the floor. "I'm going to be one of them, you should go before I hurt you and everyone else."

Adelaide shook her head, forcing back her tears as she placed a hand over the bite mark to try to stop the bleeding. "No, no. You don't know that, you're gonna be fine. You're not gonna be one of them, I won't let you."

Jared forced back his tears, too, not wanting his leader to see him cry. "Even if I don't turn into one of them, Justin would turn me into one of his lab rats. Just let me go, Addie. It's over for me." A single tear fell down his cheek as he brought out a pistol he kept in his pocket and held it in his shaking hand.

Adelaide was crying by this point, unable to stop the sobbing from leaving her lips. "I'm so sorry, I should've got there faster."

Jared wiped away Adelaide's tears with his finger before she moved her head away. "Don't be sorry, I should've kept a lookout."

Adelaide couldn't speak as her sobbing only made incomprehensible nonsense leave her lips, she held onto his hand tightly. Her eyes closed and the sound of a gunshot rang inside her ears as she felt a warm liquid spray over her face and she knew it was all over.

She was still in shock when she came back to the museum, not quite sure how she should react. She gave her weapons in and jogged into the nearest toilets, slamming the door behind her. Looking at the mirror in front of her, she could see her face covered in Jared's blood. Looking down at her hands and they were covered in blood too, causing her to go into a panic and grabbed a damp flannel next to the sink and scrubbed at her hands and face until the once white flannel was now dark red with blood.

Adelaide came out of the toilets almost half an hour later, all trace of her tears and blood were gone but Adelaide knew that it would take a lot more than that to be okay again.

She had some food, but barely talked out what had happened. Hayley kept Esme out of it, not wanting to allow her to see or hear the horrors that were outside the doors. Adelaide sent Esme to bed, giving her a short bedtime story before promising that she would spend the whole day with her the next day and that seemed to satisfy Esme.

Once Esme was safely asleep, Adelaide walked around the empty halls of the museum, a small glass of alcohol in her hands. Several weeks beforehand, she and one of the other fighters – Hanna – found several bottles of assorted alcohol ranging from whiskey to tequila. The pair decided to keep the alcohol to themselves and casually drink through the bottles whenever they felt like they needed it.

She made her way through towards the main entrance, deciding to start conversations with various older kids that hung out there. She talked with a couple of slightly older kids about anything they could think of. The trio quickly noticed a large commotion at the main entrance as a group of kids ran inside, all of them obviously terrified and out of breath.

Brooke greeted them, lantern in her hand and asked the group various questions but got no reply. She tried again but got no answer again until a boy spoke up. "I'm sorry, what? Did you say something, babes?"

The moment Adelaide heard his voice, her heart skipped multiple beats inside her chest, causing her to drop the glass she was holding and sprint through the crowds of kids that surrounded her. Hot tears fell down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around DogNut's body, causing him to fall back a little, not quite realizing who it was before he hugged her back, his face burying in the crook of her neck.

"Did you miss me that much, princess?" His voice was hoarse a little and he was completely breathless as he smiled. As much as he didn't want to admit it, but finally being reunited with Adelaide made the trek across London worth it.

Adelaide smiled through her tears as she slowly came out of the hug, her hands resting on his cheeks. She was going to answer but before she had the chance, she felt his lips on hers. It wasn't the soft kiss they'd shared back at the Imperial War Museum, this was harder, more urgent. The kind that simply said, "I'd been waiting a year to do that".

When they parted, Adelaide was the one who was breathless, her heart almost exploding out of her chest as she rested her forehead against DogNut's, her eyes closing. "You're here," she whispered, her arms kept around him.

DogNut looked back at her, pressing a gentle peck to her lips as he kept the smile on his lips. "Now you can't get rid of me, looks like you're stuck with me."

Adelaide didn't say anything as she hugged DogNut again, completely unaware of the death glare Courtney was giving her over her shoulder – looking as if she was ready to kill both of them; especially Adelaide.

Note

I'm going to deviate slightly from the book so DogNut stays at the museum a little longer but it will get back to the proper story soon.

But my babies are back together so everything will be okay… for now at least hehehe.

In all honesty; I might take a break from writing this story and writing in general. Not because I'm not enjoying this story – believe me, I am, I love writing this story – it's just that my mental health isn't exactly the best right now and I think I'll just take some time off to look after myself. Sorry for boring you with my problems – just thought I would let you guys know what's going on.

Until next time;

Lorna.