Apocalypse: The Dead Lives-Chapter 4: Danger

We ducked as soldiers opened fire on us.

Then suddenly- all of a sudden!

The sound of a body dropping behind us made everyone turn around. My eyes widened in horror when I found Mika's lifeless body lying on the ground.

"Mika!" I cried out to her.

"She's dead, Hailey-Jade! We need to keep moving!" Oliver yelled before pulling me along with him and everyone started running again.

"We can't just leave her there!"

I tried to run back to Mika but Oliver refused to let go of my arm.

"Hailey-Jade! Pull yourself together, we have to get out of here!" He yelled at me in frustration.

After running for a few more minutes we finally got to Dead Man's Bridge.

Dead man's bridge is closed off because it caved ten years ago.

But then-- five years ago, my brother and his friends decided to mend the bridge and deemed it their new hangout spot. Long story short, they got high one day, and Cole, Oliver's best friend, fell off the bridge and died. Hence why, it's now called Dead Man's Bridge.

They tried to cover up the murder and went to jail for it.

Crazy, I know, and now we're at this stupid bridge that has always ruined so many lives. Again.

Even before the bridge caved, a lot of car accidents used to happen here. Which is why I really don't think that we should be here.

"Come on, Hailey-Jade," Oliver uttered before holding his hand out to me.

"No. Are you crazy? We can't both cross at the same time."

"We can. I checked the bridge earlier, it's safe." Oliver tried to convince me but I shook my head at him.

"Ellie, go on over," Ronan told Ellie and she nodded at him before she quietly crossed the bridge. The sound of rocks and sand falling suddenly became audible as Ellie got to the other side of the bridge.

"You can go before me," Ronan uttered from behind me and my heart skipped a beat at his closeness. His hand gently brushed against mine so I sucked in a shivery breath.

"No, I can't-"

"Sure you can." He interrupted my sentence before staring deep into my eyes.

"Okay." I hesitantly uttered then quietly watched as Oliver and Cooper crossed the bridge, one after the other. I held onto the straps on my backpack before I quietly made my way over the bridge.

I didn't dare to breathe or to look down.

And somehow I managed to reach the other side of the bridge in one piece.

Ronan was next, he crossed the bridge and a light frown rested on his forehead as his eyes landed on me.

"Are you okay?" He asked me and I just simply nodded at him.

"I'm fine." I softly uttered before looking back.

My heart ached over the fact that I just lost my best friend. She didn't deserve to die like that and neither did my neighbors.

It's only been a day and the government has already turned into our enemies.

"I saw an empty cabin on my way here." Oliver interrupted my thoughts. "It seemed old and abandoned though, so we might have to get down and dirty tonight," Oli uttered as he led the rest of the way.

"Thanks for saving my life by the way. If it weren't for you Evan would've- killed us." I told Ronan.

"Don't mention it." That was all he said.

"No, I have to," I argued.

"You really don't have to, Hailey-Jade." Ronan tried to convince me.

"Ronan," I uttered before taking his hand into mine. "Thank you for saving my life even though we're not friends anymore," I said while staring into his eyes.

"We were never friends," he blankly uttered.

"Whatever. You know what I meant," I muttered under my breath before letting go of his hand.

"Always at your service." He uttered with a smirk on his face.

An old cabin in the woods suddenly came into our line of view. We curiously made our way over to it. Oliver seemed proud of his discovery.

I quietly watched as Ronan checked if the cabin was occupied or not. He signaled for Oliver and Cooper to help him clean the place once he was done examining it.

"Hailey!" Ellie called me, snapping me out of my thoughts, I walked over to her before taking my backpack off.

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"I think I just got my period," she whispered into my ear.

"Shit. Uhmm- I think every backpack has an emergency kit in it. Each kit should have tampons and pads in them, as well as some wet wipes." I informed her. "Do you want me to come with you?" I asked her since it was already dark and she nodded at me.

"Please do." She desperately uttered.

"Hey, Coop! Can you tell Ronan and Oli that we had to go pee? We won't be long." I told Cooper and he narrowed his eyes on us in suspicion before reluctantly nodding at us.

"Don't go too far." He warned us and we nodded before walking back into the woods.

"Sorry about your friend." Ellie softly uttered.

"Thanks." I shortly responded to her words.

"Listen, Hailey-Jade, I know you've never liked me, and you probably have your reasons, but who would've thought that we would survive the apocalypse together? I mean, I guess what I'm actually trying to say is that life is short, and I think we're gonna lose a lot more people than we already have. So, let's just try to get along with each other and make the most of our days left here on earth." She told me so I smiled over at her.

"Who said I didn't like you? I mean you have to be cool if you're best friends with Ronan and Cooper." I smiled at her and she laughed at my words.

"Wait so you never hated me?" She asked me in disbelief.

"No, why would I? You're a great athlete, a smart student and you've always been nice to me." I pointedly stated. "Besides, I don't think I have the capacity to hate anyone."

"Well thank God." She uttered with a smile on her face and I laughed at her.

Ellie finished her business once we were far enough from the cabin. She was done within five minutes then we decided to head back.

We got back to the cabin and saw that the guys had already started a fire.

Ellie went over to hug Oli so I went to stand near the fire. Ronan came walking up to me and I quietly watched him. He was perfect, from his head to his toes. I finally took the chance to take all of him in again. He was wearing a white vest that didn't sit too tight on his body paired with some army green cargo pants.

He was covered in tattoos, from his neck down but his hands had no ink on them, just two black rings. He had a Patek Phillipe watch on his arm along with a few rubber bands. There were three chains around his neck.

He had raven brown hair, dark features, fair skin, and a dimple on his right cheek. He had the perfect nose, lips, and jawline.

Everything about Ronan King screamed danger.

His eyes were red so I assumed that he just came from smoking with Oliver and Cooper. Still, there was a burning cigarette between his lips. I grabbed the cigarette from between his lips before throwing it into the fire, and he clenched his jaw in anger.

"What's your deal, Princess?" He asked me while watching me through narrowed eyes.

"Nothing. Cigarettes are bad for you, quit while you still can." I told him.

"And since when do you care about my well-being?" He asked me in amusement.

"You're an asshole," I uttered before walking away from him but he pulled me right back into him.

"Stay away from me, Hailey-Jade. That's your final warning." He told me before leaving my side and my eyes stung with tears.

"Gladly," I whispered to myself.