Ronan stepped in front of me in a protective manner as the residents of the church started marching forward, ready to attack us at any moment.
Oliver grabbed our dad's gun from my waistband before cocking it and I looked at him in shock. The guards aimed their weapons at him and instead of aiming his gun at the guards he aimed it at the church residents.
Ronan loaded my dad's shotgun that I gave him last night and aimed it at the guards.
"Stay back! Or I'll shoot anyone I see as a threat!" Oliver angrily yelled at them in a warning tone.
"Let us leave and nobody has to die!" Ronan stated and we slowly picked up our backpacks.
"Fine, but this is not the end! I'm sure our paths will cross again." The reverend told us with a smirk on his face and we slowly backed out of the church.
Once we got outside, the church doors got locked behind us. The guards led us out to the gates and locked them behind us before smugly heading back to their posts.
"Infected! There's infected heading our way." Cooper uttered in a panicked voice and I looked around us in alert only to find the infected coming our way from both sides of the road.
"This way!" Oliver yelled at us and we followed him down an alley. The infected started following us but they weren't as slow as the ones from yesterday.
"Where are we going?" Ellie curiously wanted to know.
"An old tunnel that leads to the highway." Oliver yelled while running down the alley. We reached another street and followed Oliver all the way down it.
"This way, come quick!" He yelled before making his way down a dark tunnel.
"Oli, what if there are more infected waiting for us on the other side?" I asked him in fear.
"Well we can't exactly turn around now, Hailey-Jade." He shortly responded to me.
"Wait!" I yelled at them and everyone stopped in their tracks. "Let's just find a car." I told them while looking at the cars around us. There was an entire tunnel full of abandoned cars.
"I'm sure one of these has a key." Ellie uttered.
We split up and searched for a car with a key in its ignition or one that could be hot wired.
"I found a car!" Cooper yelled at us. "But you're not gonna like this." He added. We all started walking over to him to see what he was talking about.
Ellie's hands flew up to her mouth so I curiously peaked over the car door to see what she was looking at.
I squeezed my eyes shut but the image remained inside my head. The image of a baby sitting on the passenger seat. His veins were discolored and his skin was extremely pale.
The baby was infected with the NecroVirus.
I heard Oli taking the safety off his gun before pointing it at the baby's head. I turned away from him and then the shot went off. The sound ripped through my body and I felt myself becoming nauseous by the thought of what just happened.
Ronan carried the baby away in it's carrier before returning to the car and getting in behind the steering wheel.
No one said anything after that. I mean what was there to say. A mother or a father left their child behind. They just left him with the infected, how could someone be so cruel?
I quietly sat inside the Jeep and hopelessly stared out the window.
I felt Ellie taking a hold of my hand so I squeezed her hand in mine before resting my head against hers and we just stayed like that for the rest of the ride.
I could tell how much it upset her, how much it upset everyone. If only we came across that baby a little bit earlier-- maybe then we could've helped him. I mean we could've taken him to a shelter, I would've looked after him if I had to.
How cruel has this life become? And Oliver has the nerve to call this equal. How is any of this equal if the weak and the helpless still get the short end of the stick?
I'd rather call it cruel and unfair because that's what it truly is.
We took an exit off the highway and I frowned at Ronan.
"Where are we going?" I asked him in alert.
"I know a place where we can get reception." He blankly responded and I just quietly watched him.
"Oh," was all I could say before the car drowned in silence again.
"Do you think it's safe- where we're going?" Oliver asked him in concern.
"I know it is." Ronan pointedly stated and a deep frown settled on my forehead.
"So where exactly is this place?" Cooper curiously asked his brother.
"We're heading South to a mountain facility. Luke bought the place last year during the Fall. He was planning on opening his lab up there next year. He said I could come here to hide, if I ever needed to." Ronan blankly uttered.
And I wondered just how much he knew. What else does he know? Does he know what project Luke was working on with my dad?
I wondered how he was so good at surviving, how he knows how to fight, how to use a gun, he has hiding places, he knows where to get reception, it's like he's been preparing for the apocalypse his entire life.
It's like he was made for this.
***
After a two hour drive we finally reached the facility in the mountains. We were surrounded by nothing but forest. There were no infected here either.
The sun was busy setting behind the mountains as we tiredly climbed out of the car. I grabbed my backpack before following the rest of the group up to the facility.
The place was still in perfect shape.
We walked into the facility and found that it was already filled with equipment and chemicals.
An unsettling feeling settled into the pit of my stomach as I saw broken vials lying scattered on the floor. The lights were flickering as if the power would go out at any minute.
"Someone's been here." I uttered in a whispered tone.
"Do you think it's--" Ellie started in fear.
"No, Luke is in Upstate New York," Cooper cut her off. Ronan loaded the shotgun before taking the safety off and stalking forward. Oliver followed shortly behind him.
Cooper grabbed a bloody axe lying on the ground and a cold shiver ran down my spine. I grabbed the pocket knife from my backpack and Ellie did the same. The three of us quietly followed Oliver and Ronan's trail.
Ronan and Oliver walked upstairs and disappeared around a corner.
"Uhm- Coop." Ellie uttered in fear and Cooper and I both looked over at her in fear.
"What?" Cooper asked her with a frown on his forehead. She pointed to our left. There was a man in a lab coat watching us, his chest was rapidly moving up and down, his veins were discolored and his eyes had turned to a greyish color. He stormed at us and Cooper jumped in front of us in a protective manner.
A scream left my mouth when Coop hit his axe into the man's skull, his body instantly dropped to the ground and I kept my hands on my mouth in shock.
"Are you okay?" I asked Cooper before examining him, just to be sure that he didn't have any bites or scratchmarks on his arms.
"I'm fine," he uttered, his eyes wild with shock. I pulled him into a tight hug and he just lifelessly kept his arms around me.
"Let's keep moving." I told him after pulling back from him. I let a crying Ellie walk in front of me, we took the metal stairs to the next floor and found a door opened on a crack. There was a bloody hand print smeared on the door.
Cooper kicked the door open nonetheless.
We found Ronan and Oliver inside but they were staring at something in shock. I followed their gazes and my eyes widened at the sight of Luke sitting in a glass container, labeled as "Quarantined" I ran over to the container but Luke stopped me. He pointed down to his arms and my hands flew up to my mouth.
Tears instantly started rolling down my cheeks as I realized what was going on.
Luke- was infected with the NecroVirus.