I carefully picked Luke's belongings up from the ground. Ellie was the one who had placed them in my room. She figured that I'd want some of his things. For keepsakes.
There was a watch, a black ring, a compass which I assumed belonged to their dad, a pen with his name tattooed on it, and a chain, the one I gave him on his 21st birthday. It feels so long ago now but he kept it and I think that's all that really matters.
I noticed small scribbling on the bottom of the ring box so I carefully picked it up. A light frown settled onto my forehead when I saw my name written on the bottom of the box.
I sucked in a deep breath before carefully opening the box and almost laughed when I saw what Luke had put inside of it.
An SD card inside of a ring box? Classic, Luke.
I laughed, feeling relieved for some reason. I closed the little black box again and gently placed it under my pillow before smiling to myself.
I wonder what his reasoning was behind putting an SD card inside a ring box. Wait why did he have a ring box with my name written on the bottom of it?
My smile dropped from my face as the realization started settling in.
I pulled the box out from under my pillow and quietly left my room.
I went inside the kitchen and found everyone standing around the countertop. They were drinking coffee while laughing together as they made conversation with each other.
"I need a laptop to access whatever Luke put on this SD card." I uttered and their heads snapped over to me.
"Where are we supposed to find a laptop, Hailey-Jade?" Oliver asked me in confusion.
"We could go looking for one." DeAndre uttered.
"Never a dull moment." Cooper sarcastically uttered before smiling over at me so I rolled my eyes at him.
"So, who's coming with me?" I asked them with a wishful smile on my face.
"I'm definitely going with you." Cooper eagerly uttered before coming over to stand behind me.
"Great then DeAndre and I will go scavenge for some weapons." Ronan told me and I frowned at him.
Is he seriously trying to avoid being with me after last night?
"In that case Oliver and I will go looking for a generator. We could use one." Ellie told us.
"Well, let's get to it then." I smiled at them and everyone nodded at me before we left the house.
I zipped up my jacket as we walked out into the cold. It stopped raining two hours ago. Hopefully it won't start raining again. Cooper and I climbed into the Jeep. Ronan and DeAndre got into a pickup truck that they must've found on the highway. Ellie and Oliver drove Luke's Bentley.
We drove down a dirt road for fifteen minutes before we drove onto the main road. We headed towards the nearest town.
Oliver and I separated from the rest of the group before driving through different neighborhoods.
"This one." I told Cooper and he stopped the car on the side of the road.
"No rotters in sight, good call." He winked at me. I jumped out of the car before grabbing a sharpened axe from it.
The world has turned dark, thick clouds were heavily resting above our heads. There was a mixture of rain and blood streaming down the streets and into the drains. The smell was horrific so I pulled my face in distaste.
"Buckle up, buttercup, it's go time." Cooper smiled over at me, his eyes almost completely closed as he did so.
"Go time? We're looking for a laptop. We have the most boring mission out of everyone." I laughed out and he joined in on my laughter soon after.
"No, you're right," he uttered through his laughs. "But you know what I meant. We're back in business, baby. Cooper and Hailey, at your service! Wooh!" He exclaimed and my eyes widened at him.
"Oh my God. You're gonna get us killed. If the rotters didn't know we were here before, they sure as hell do now." I told him and he lazily threw his arm around my shoulder before smiling over at me.
"What can I say Hailey-Jade, the world is healing. I mean we're finally friends again, after what- four years of not talking to each other?" He asked me and my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.
"Just focus." I told him while trying my best to mask the pain in my voice.
"What about this house? Seems like whoever lived here would have had a couple of laptops." Cooper uttered so I tilted my head to the side while staring at the house in front of us.
A beautiful glass house, it almost looked like a mini tech company. Extremely futuristic if you asked me.
"You're actually right." I uttered and Cooper took a gun out of his waistband. He walked ahead of me and cocked his gun.
There was a dead man lying in the doorway, the door was hitting into his rotten ribcage as it tried to close by itself.
Cooper kicked the man out of the way before holding the door open for me and I quietly lurked inside. Cooper followed shortly behind me and the door closed behind us.
The man on the ground had a bullet wound on his forehead. Someone must've shot him right after he turned...
Images of Luke flashed through my head as I remembered that he had to go through the same thing.
"I'm going upstairs to go get the laptop. Check if the rest of the house is clear. I don't want any surprises when I get back." Cooper whispered at me before he quietly made his way upstairs.
I walked down a dimly lit hallway, the light tiredly flickering on and off. I pushed every door down the hallway open with my foot but they were all empty. I turned back around and found a man dressed in black standing in the hallway, watching me.
His head violently started twitching to the side, his chest rapidly heaving up and down. His eyes were glowing blue in the dark.
And I instantly knew what it was.
A rotter. I helplessly looked behind me but there was nowhere for me to turn to. My heart started beating faster and faster in my chest as the rotter came storming at me.