15

"I want to leave this place and I don't want you or Marco to follow me. Because I want nothing to do with you anymore, Michael!" I angrily yelled at my dad. Marco decided to leave the room a few seconds ago, he figured that my dad and I needed some space.

"Where are you gonna go, Hailey-Jade?" My dad asked me in concern.

"As far away from you as I can get." I rudely told him.

"No, I can't let you go back out there. It's too dangerous."

"And since when do you care about my safety? You didn't care to leave me in LA, or when the outbreak happened, you didn't even care about the email I sent you, and you sure as hell don't care about me now. Not that I expect you to." I pointedly stated.

"You're upset and I get that but you're not thinking straight, Hailey-Jade." My dad angrily told me.

"No, I am thinking straight! For the first time in my life I can finally see you for who and what you truly are. Boy was I wrong about you." I told him in disbelief.

"Don't burn this bridge, Hailey-Jade." He begged me.

"You did that a long time ago, Michael." I spat at him. "You did it the minute that Mom passed away! You burned this bridge, not me! Oliver was right about you." I cried while backing away from him.

"Hailey-Jade-" He tried but I immediately cut him off.

"Get out." I hissed at him in anger and he carefully watched me before quietly leaving the room I was in. I grabbed an empty vase from off my bedside table and angrily threw it against the wall.

Because screw my dad and everyone else who works for Marco.

I looked down at my arm and let out a heavy sigh before getting up from where I was sitting. This- wound- is just another reminder of how weak I am. It didn't take much for that rotter to overpower.

I mean I was caught off guard and unarmed but I still should've been able to protect myself. I just got lucky this time. If I wasn't immune to the NecroVirus, God knows what would've happened to me. I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now.

Next time, I might not be so lucky again. Even though I'm immune to the infection, I'm not invincible to the infected. I could easily get torn apart by a rotter.

I was completely defenseless, I mean if Marco's men didn't remove that rotter from his office, it would've finished its job and killed me.

I need to become stronger, I need to be able to defend myself against an attacker, dead or alive.

I couldn't defend myself against Serene and her friends, Marco and his men, who dragged me here against my will, and that rotter who almost tore off my arm.

I couldn't even help Ronan when he needed me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to think about what could've happened to him. Everyone assumes that he's dead, that the rotters got to him.

But I just can't and won't believe it. He has to be out there somewhere, alive, escaped, wounded. Let him be anything but dead, please God.

Ronan can't be dead...

My eyelids suddenly started growing heavy, I frowned before placing a hand to my forehead. I got up from my bed and fell to my knees. I tried to get up again but my legs didn't want to work anymore.

The pill.

My dad gave me a pill and I drank it without a question.

Why would my dad be giving me sedatives or paralytic drugs?

***

I woke up to the sound of objects being moved above my head. "I'll keep Marco distracted. Get Hailey-Jade out of here as fast as you can. I'll keep in contact with you." I heard my dad whispering to someone.

I felt someone throwing me over their shoulder and my eyes slowly flickered open. I recognized the white hoodie he was wearing, it had a cartoon astronaut on the back of it.

I let out a breath of relief before relaxing my body against him. I trust him with my life, remember?

"Run, Oliver!" I heard our dad yelling from behind us. I lifted my head and saw him watching us from a distance. Oliver started running and I kept watching our dad until he disappeared from our line of view.

The sun blinded my eyes so I instinctively squeezed them shut.

Shots started going off behind us as Oliver ran down an alley.

Then I saw an upside down Cooper, he lifted me off of Oliver's shoulder with ease before carrying me for the rest of the way.

"I thought you said she was heavy." Cooper told Oliver in disbelief and he just laughed at him. "Kid's as light as a feather." Cooper added making Oliver laugh even louder.

How can they be making jokes right now- when shots are being fired at us? And how the hell did they get here?

I was placed into the back of a car. I carefully opened my eyes and saw Ronan sitting in the backseat, holding a hand to his bandaged chest.

He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth before smiling at me and I burst out into tears. I pulled him into a tight hug and he grunted in pain.

"Sorry." I softly uttered before pulling away from him and he clenched his jaw before pulling a shirt over his head.

"It's fine." He told me in a gentle tone.

His eyes landed on my bandaged arm and he pulled his face in anger. "What happened to your arm, Hailey-Jade? Did they hurt you?" He asked me and I shook my head at him.

"No, I got into an argument with my dad. I threw a vase at the wall and the glass accidentally cut me." I lied through my teeth and Ronan frowned at me before running a tired hand over his face.

"I'm fine." I added but he was still suspiciously watching me. I rested my head on his shoulder and he pulled both of my legs over his lap. I placed a kiss on his neck before laying my head against his chest and he placed a lasting kiss on my forehead.

My safe haven.