Cooper had his head resting on my lap as we all sat huddled up in the lounge area. Ronan called for a eting earlier, all he said was that we needed to discuss our next step.
Ellie was watching Cooper in concern, and Oliver, who sat next to her, was curiously waiting for Ronan to start talking.
Luke entered the room and sat down next to ; once he was settled in, he looked up at Ronan, who was sitting across from us.
Ronan scratched his chin with his thumb while glaring between the two of us. He scoffed before removing his gaze from us.
"Ronan?" Ellie called Ronan and he blankly looked at her.
"Right," he uttered in realization. "Hailey-Jade and Oliver where do we stand on finding your dad?" Ronan asked Oli and I.
"Honestly, I don't give a shit about finding that asshole. He clearly doesn't care about or my little sister so why should we give a shit about him?" Oliver angrily asked the group.
"I know he's your dad, but I agree with Oli. It's too much of a risk to put ourselves out there again. We're vulnerable out there- against the dead- against the living. You saw what happened to Mika. The world has turned crueler, crueler than it used to be, and I don't want to lose any more people. I don't want to go look or fight for soone who doesn't want to be found and fought for." Ellie said while looking at . "At least not right now, while I still have so much to lose." She added.
"So what do you suggest we do?" I asked them.
"Let's stay here," Cooper spoke for the first ti today. "Think about it, we have food, water, a roof over our heads, a warm bed to sleep in, there are no rotters out here, we have everything we need. We can't pass this opportunity up." Cooper told us.
"Coop's right. I'm getting closer to finding a cure too. I'm making progress every day, and with ti, I'm sure I'll be able to create a cure for the NecroVirus." Luke added.
"So it's decided then?" Oliver asked, and Ronan looked at in concern, but he didn't say anything.
"No, it's not. I need to go find my dad. I'll bring him here, he'll be safer with us than out there on his own." I told them before getting up from where I was sitting.
"Oliver and my dad are all I have left in this world when it cos to family. I have to find him." I uttered, determined to see this through.
"Again with this bullshit, Hailey-" Oliver looked at in disbelief. "He doesn't want to be found! He's probably been waiting for this mont his whole life, alright? He probably fantasized about getting rid of us. Because our dad's a deadbeat, Hailey-Jade! And you need to make peace with that fact." He said while looking into my eyes.
"That's easy for you to say now, but if the roles were reversed and Dad was in our position, he would've helped us no matter what. I know him, he's just going through sothing at the mont." I told Oliver.
"Why do you act as if the sun shines out of this guy's ass? When has he ever been there for us? Why did he never co to visit in jail? Why does he never talk about Mom? Why do you still call him Michael and not dad?" Oliver asked . "Because he ant nothing to us after mom died."
"That's not true at least he kept the food on the table. He kept the lights on. That's more than most kids had growing up." I argued.
"Stop bullshitting yourself, Hailey-Jade. Our dad was doing the bare minimum. That's not what we deserved, that's not what any kid deserves." Oliver blankly stated and the room dawned in silence.
"Enough. Please, stop arguing before you say sothing that you'll regret later." Ellie told Oliver and I.
"I'm going out there whether you're coming with or not. I've already made up my mind." I blankly told them before leaving the room.
I made my way upstairs to my bedroom, slamd the door shut behind , and grabbed a backpack from my closet. I heard the door opening behind but I didn't bother to turn around.
"You alright?" I heard Luke's voice coming from behind . My eyes widened in shock as I turned around to face him.
"Luke, what are you doing here?" I asked him in shock.
"Don't go, Hailey-Jade." He softly told .
"I have to do this, Luke. I would've done it for any of you. I know he's made mistakes, but he's my dad, and I don't want anything bad to happen to him."
"I get that but do you really think they're gonna let you go out there alone?" Luke asked , referring to the rest of our group. "What if soone gets hurt?" He asked .
"Fine, they don't have to co with . I can do this on my own, I don't need anyone." I pointedly told him.
"Yeah but what about the people who need you? What if sothing happens to you, Hailey-Jade?" He asked , his voice sounding so harsh.
"Listen, we're going to lose a lot of people from now on. I've made peace with that and so should you." I blankly told him before going back to packing my bag. I sat down at the edge of my bed and slipped my feet into a pair of worker boots.
"If you go out there then all of this was pointless. Finding a cure ans nothing if you're dead, Hailey-Jade. Why can't you see that?" He asked .
"Luke-"
"No, you're being selfish. You don't get to co into my life and tell not to die just for you to walk right out of it again." He angrily told .
"Okay. I'll stay." I softly told him before looking into his eyes and he let out a breath of relief.
He ran a tired hand over his face and exhaled slowly. "Get so rest." He told in a gentle tone.
"You too," I uttered in the sa tone and he nodded at before he left my room. I pulled my hair into a ponytail before pulling on my coat.
Once all the lights turned off downstairs, I grabbed my backpack and quietly stalked down the tal staircase. As soon as I reached the laboratory, I looked around in alert and only continued once I was in the clear.
I opened the front door and it automatically locked behind . I went over to the Jeep, parked in front of the facility. I opened the door and gasped in shock when I found Ronan sitting behind the steering wheel.
"Get in." He told and I smiled before getting into the car.
"Let's get out of here," I uttered once I was settled into the passenger seat and he smirked at my words before slowly driving away from the facility.
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