11

One Month Later...

I woke up to the radio playing softly in the background. Ronan was still holding my hand in his as we quietly drove on the highway. 

"Where are we?" I sleepily asked him and he placed a kiss on the back of my hand.

"Cleveland, Ohio." He softly uttered so I tiredly sat upright. 

"We're in Cleveland?" I asked him in shock before curiously looking around me. "Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked him and he frowned at me. 

"Believe me, I tried." He told me while he focused on the road.

"What happened here?" I asked Ronan in shock. 

"Seems like they're bombing all the big cities. Chicago was a shit show." Ronan uttered and my heart sunk into the pit of my stomach. 

"Did you see anyone- on the road?" I asked him in concern.

"Except the rotters? No." He blankly stated and my stomach churned. 

"Do you think they've gotten to New York yet? The bombing?" I anxiously asked him and he clenched his jaw. 

"I don't know, Hailey." He uttered, his voice gently fading into the silence. The car dawned in silence and I knew I had to break it. 

"Thank you." I told Ronan and his eyebrows furrowed together in a light frown. 

"For what?" He asked genuinely wanting to know. 

"For being here. For everything. I'm really really happy to have you back in my life." I told him and his eyes softened on me. 

"Me too." Was all he said and I quietly watched him in adoration. He means so much to me.

Looking back at everything to where we are right now, I realize just how much time we've wasted, Ronan and I. We could've been something great, we used to be but we were just kids back then. 

Even so, I really loved him. I still love him and it haunts me everyday that I pretended not to.

He didn't deserve what I did to him but I didn't deserve what he did to me either. We hurt each other and for absolutely no reason at all. 

If only we communicated things a little bit better with each other...

Suddenly the car came to an abrupt stop and the tires screeched at the impact. I saw a little girl standing in the middle of the road and realized that Ronan stopped the car to save her life. 

I quietly watched the little girl as she stood in the middle of the road. Frozen. She had dark greasy hair and she was wearing dirty and ragged clothes. Ronan drove past her and I watched her in the rearview mirror. She started waving at us to stop as Ronan slowly drove away from her. 

"Stop the car, Ronan we have to help her." I told him and he frowned over at me. 

"No." He blankly stated. 

"Stop the car!" I told him, my voice more urgent this time and he clenched his jaw before stopping the car. He reversed all the way back to the little girl and her face lit up as she realized we were coming back for her. 

Ronan grabbed his gun from his waistband and took the safety off before jumping out of the car. 

He was quick to examine her for any signs of the infection. He nodded at me which told me that she wasn't infected. 

"Get in." He blankly told her and she quietly climbed into the backseat. He buckled her seatbelt before getting behind the steering wheel again.

"Thank you for coming back for me." She uttered, her voice soft and innocent. 

"You're welcome. Where are your parents? How did you end up here all by yourself?" I curiously asked her. 

"My parents are dead. The infection took them. My sister too. We were staying at a church in town but it got overrun by the rotters, that's how I ended up here. I was hiding from the rotters behind the cars. You're the first and only car I've seen all day." She told Ronan and I and I was shocked to say the least. 

"How old are you?" I asked her. 

"Eleven." She answered before looking out the window as we passed through burning skycrapers.

"Where are you heading? Do you have any family left? Anyone we can take you to?" I asked her in a gentle tone. 

"No, I have no one left." She softly uttered with tears in her eyes. "And I'm so scared." She added and my heart squeezed at her words. 

"We'll take you to the first shelter we hear of. I'm sure they'll take you in." Ronan blankly told the little girl and I looked at him in disbelief. 

"Don't be mean." I told him. 

"We don't catch strays, kid. It's nothing personal to you." Ronan blankly told her and I frowned at him. 

"Ronan, she lost her family, she has nowhere else to go." I told him. 

"How do you know that? She could be lying to us for all we know." He said before narrowing his eyes on me. "Don't tell me you believed that shitty story she just told us." He uttered in disbelief and I looked at the little girl, feeling sorry for her. 

"I believe her, Ronan. She's just a kid."

"A kid who could be leading us into a trap." He argued so I hopelessly slumped into my seat. 

"Can we just find a place to stay for tonight? We've been on the road for two days. We need to get off the road and you need to get some sleep." I told Ronan but he didn't respond to me. 

I don't think either of us really anticipated how many factors could slow us down. It's taken us an entire month to travel from LA to Cleveland. But we're finally here and that's all that really matters.

"What's your name?" I asked the little girl to make small talk.

"Serene." She told me with a small smile on her face. 

"That's a pretty name." I uttered and Ronan frowned at me. 

"Hailey-Jade, I swear to God if you get attached to this kid I'll leave both your asses on the side of the road." Ronan told me and I started laughing at him. He joined in on my laughter soon after before running a hand over his face. 

"Hectic." Ronan and I uttered in unison and continued laughing together. 

"You're hilarious." I sarcastically told him and he just smiled at me. 

"So are you guys boyfriend and girlfriend?" Serene asked Ronan and I and my eyes widened at her words. 

"Okay." I awkwardly uttered. "No more talking in the car." I told Serene and Ronan looked at me in amusement before his gaze landed on the road again. 

We drove for another ten minutes until Ronan stopped in front of a house. A seemingly empty house. 

"Where are we?" I asked him. 

"My dad's house." He blankly stated. 

Right-

How could I forget? Ronan and Cooper decided to live with their mom in LA after she divorced their dad five years ago. His dad, then moved to Cleveland and hasn't been back in LA ever since. Not even to see his sons. They always had to go and visit him, it was never the other way around. Ronan never wanted to visit his dad but he had to do it for Cooper. 

"Do you think he's home?" I asked Ronan and he shook his head at me. 

"He got deployed last month, said he'd be back in three months." Ronan explained before shutting off the engine. He jumped out of the car and Serene and I followed suit. 

"What about the hulks? They're everywhere." Serene asked us and I frowned at her. 

"Hulks?" I asked her and she nodded at me. 

"Yes, that's how my parents died. Those things they just appear- out of nowhere." She told us and a nauseating feeling settled into the pit of my stomach. 

Hulks... there are hulks in Cleveland?

"We have to get out of here, Ronan." I told him in panic and he pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"We need to rest, you said it yourself. Come on, it's safer inside." Ronan told me while looking into my eyes and I slowly nodded against my will before following him up to the frontdoor. 

It's safer inside... 

Yes. 

We just need to stay indoors- and we'll be fine.