12

I heated up some canned spaghetti before dishing up for three. I carried the plates over to a small table in the kitchen and Ronan and Serene silently joined me. 

It was quiet inside and outside the house. The only sound we could hear was the wind, howling outside, whispering around every corner. Hushed. Almost as if it was hiding from the rotters just like the rest of us. 

"Thanks." Serene softly uttered before picking up a fork and placing a heaping scoop of spaghetti into her mouth. 

"You're welcome." I told her before placing a small amount of food into my mouth and forcing it down my throat. 

"So, where are you guys from?" Serene curiously asked me. To make small talk, I'm guessing. 

"We're from-"

"None of your business." Ronan blankly uttered and I looked at him in disbelief. 

"Right, we're from 'None of Your Business'." I sarcastically told Serene and she lightly laughed at my words. "We're from LA. What about you? Are you from Cleveland or were you and your family just passing through?" I asked her. 

"No, I'm from New York City. We were visiting my nana in Chicago." She softly uttered. "Chicago was so pretty before- they bombed everything and started shooting people for no reason. The National Guard was supposed to protect us but they failed." She uttered and a tear loosely fell out of her left eye. 

"You're right. They did fail us, which is why we need to help each other. We've survived this long for a reason. There's still good in the world even if it might not seem like it sometimes." I told her even though I didn't believe that myself. 

I'm such a hypocrite. 

Serene is right. How are we, the living, any better than the dead? Who are the real monsters? Is it us or them? 

Ronan pulled a cigarette out of his pocket before quietly leaving the table and I let out a soft sigh. 

"Excuse me," I softly told Serene before following Ronan out of the house. He was quietly standing near a pool behind the house, cigarette burning between his lips while he stared out at the view in front of us. 

"Since when do you smoke?" I softly asked him and he looked over his shoulder at me, as if he was startled. 

"What?" He asked, as if I had just snapped him out of his thoughts. 

"I said, since when do you smoke?" I repeated myself before taking the cigarette from him. 

"Since the world went to shit. What's it to you?" He rudely asked me. 

"Oh, I see. You're back to being an asshole again." I told him in distaste and he just blankly stared at me. 

"I've always been an asshole." He blankly stated and I frowned at him before throwing the cigarette as far away from us as possible. 

"Smoking is a nasty habit, Ronan. Quit while you still can." 

"And so is telling people what to do all the time." He shot back at me. 

"What triggered this? This behavior?" I asked him and he shook his head at me.

"Why do you have to be so- persistent all the fucking time? Just leave me alone, alright?" He angrily told me and I nodded at him in understanding before going back inside the house. 

My heart was aching at his words but I refused to cry. 

I closed the door behind me and turned around, only to find two men already looking at me. They were pointing their guns at me and Serene- 

Serene stood in the middle of them.

I opened my mouth to call Ronan but one of them stopped me. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He told me while Serene collected the last of our supplies. 

Ronan was right about her- oh God. What am I going to do? They quietly started backing away from me and toward the frontdoor. They were going to escape. 

"Ronan!" I yelled before hiding behind the table. And a loud shot went off. I watched as they ran out of the house. Ronan entered through the backdoor and briefly looked over at me. 

"They're armed!" I yelled as he ran after them. I heard tires screeching as they sped down the road. 

"Hailey-Jade!" Ronan's voice came, ringing in my ears. I hopelessly started crying into my hands. "Hailey-Jade, are you okay?" I heard Ronan asking, sounding a lot closer than the first time he called my name. I slowly looked up at him. My tears blurred my vision but I kept my gaze on him. 

"What the hell just happened?" He asked me, his eyes wild with shock. 

"Serene tricked us. That's what happened! They stole all our supplies, Ronan. You were right." I numbly uttered the last part and he frowned at me. 

"Did they hurt you?" He asked me in concern. 

"I'm fine." I shortly responded to his question. "I'm so sorry, Ronan. I was so stupid, I should've listened to you and I- I'm so sorry. You must hate me for what I've done-" 

"I could never hate you, Princess." He uttered before kneeling in front of me and I sadly looked up into his eyes, trying my best not to cry but I failed so miserably. 

"You don't hate me?" I sobbed out and he shook his head at me. 

"Impossible." He told me in a gentle tone. He scooped me up into his arms and I sobbed into his shirt, clinging to him for dear life. 

I looked up at him and he gently wiped my tears away.

"What's your call, Hailey-Jade?" He asked me while staring deep into my eyes and for some reason, I couldn't talk, couldn't form any words to say. 

Because I didn't know if we should go back to LA. Or if we should still go to New York. I had no idea where my dad was, or where to start looking for him. All I knew was that there are so many horrible people in this world. 

We have to stop them before they do this to someone else. That's my call.

"I don't know. Tell me where we should go and I'll follow you." I told him while staring deep into his eyes and Ronan ran a tired hand over his face. 

Say we should go after them, I prayed. Please tell me that you want to take revenge on those people for how weak they made me feel, for how they deceived us, I wished.

Please know what I'm thinking when I cannot speak to you, I silently begged him.