Apocalypse: The Dead Lives-Chapter 5: The Church

"Hailey, wake up," I heard Ellie's voice coming from beside me.

I tiredly got up and neatly rolled my sleeping bag up.

"Good morning," I uttered before yawning.

"Good morning, I hope you got enough sleep last night because we have to keep moving. Come on they're waiting for us outside." Ellie uttered as she zipped up her jacket.

I pulled my clothes on from yesterday before loosening my hair and tying it into a bun on top of my head. I cleaned my face with a wet wipe and grabbed my backpack before leaving the cabin.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Cooper yelled at me as soon as he saw me.

"Good morning," I blankly uttered.

I locked eyes with Ronan and he bit into his bottom lip as soon as he saw me. His eyes slowly ran over my body and I blushed a deep shade of red before turning my back on him. Oliver smiled at us in amusement before looking over his shoulder, almost as if to hide his smile.

"Morning," Oli greeted me in a serious tone. Then we huddled up together to discuss our next steps.

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"We're heading downtown, there's a church offering sanctuary for survivors. I heard them announcing it over the radio this morning." Ronan informed us.

"That's great but does anyone have reception yet?" Ellie asked us in concern.

"No, and I don't think it's coming back either," Cooper answered her.

"So, then let's go to the church. They might still have wifi- I need to check my emails to see if my dad's responded yet." I told them.

"Maybe I can contact my family there too." Ellie agreed.

"Then let's move," Oliver uttered with a smile on his face.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked him and he smiled at me over his shoulder.

"I'm a free man, Hailey-Jade. Life doesn't get any better than this." He happily told me.

"The world is literally ending right now. There's nothing great about that-"

"Fuck that, Hailey-Jade. Look around you, we can do whatever the fuck we want and nobody's gonna stop us because we're all equal now." He smiled at me.

"Equal? This is about equality?" I asked him in confusion. How did he manage to connect the zombie apocalypse to equality?

"That's the thing about the NecroVirus. It doesn't give a shit about whether you're a cop, or a surgeon, or a warden, or if you're on the fucking national guard. It takes whoever it wants to. That's what makes us equal! That's equality." He uttered in a passionate voice.

"Well at least someone's enjoying this." Ellie smiled at me and I just shook my head at her. "Your brother's hot by the way." She uttered and I frowned at her.

"Good luck with that," I told her and we both started laughing together.

Ronan and Cooper were in a deep conversation with each other, they walked behind us while Ellie and I just blindly followed Oliver. I trusted him with my life, so I didn't care that much, and besides, he knew these roads like the back of his hand.

After walking for another hour, the city came into our line of view. We made our way down the mountains and quietly started walking down the streets.

We took alleys and backroads, to avoid the infected and well- everybody else.

We reached the church soon after but something was off. There were gunmen standing guard in front of the church doors.

They surprisingly let us in without a question. Inside we were met by a reverend who shook each of our hands.

"Welcome to the Los Santos church." The reverend kindly uttered. "Please write your names down on this paper." He added while pointing at a pen and paper lying on a small cabinet next to us.

I grabbed the pen and wrote everyone's names down while Oliver and Cooper cross-questioned the reverend.

"And how many are staying here?" Cooper curiously asked the reverend as I placed the pen down.

"Twenty-five at the moment, but I'm sure we'll be a full house by nightfall." He told us. Ronan quietly looked at our surroundings, he blankly looked over at the reverend before taking a step closer to him.

"Me and my people will keep to ourselves. Just make sure that your people do the same." Ronan told him in a warning tone and the reverend nodded in understanding.

"Of course, the living area is through here," he pointed at an open door. "The bathrooms are outside, we have hot water and wifi if anybody wants to shower or contact their loved ones." He explained to us.

"And it's all free?" Oliver asked but he seemed a bit sceptical.

"Yes, these are all worldly things. The Lord wants us to help each other out during this time of need. I am simply following the orders of our God. It's my final purpose on this earth." The reverend told us.

"Thank you, Reverend." I kindly told him and he smiled at me.

"You're welcome, child." He told me.

"Come on, let's go find an empty spot," I told the group and they nodded at me before we all walked through the door that led to the living area.

"Seems a little too good to be true, doesn't it?" Ellie asked us as we made our way to an empty spot in the living area.

"Sure does," Oliver muttered under his breath. All the people inside seemed hopeless, desperate, and bewildered. They watched us with curious eyes as we set our backpacks down at our station.

Everything about these people screamed untrustworthy.

The reverend entered the chapel soon after we did and addressed the residents.

"People of the Los Santos church, please welcome our new friends. They have decided to join us today and share all their food and supplies with us." The reverend uttered and I looked over Ronan in confusion because that's not what we agreed on. We were told that we could stay here for free.

The residents clapped their hands while smiling at us.

"The supply room is just this way." The reverend uttered with a smile on his face.

"Just say the word, Hailey-Jade and I'll put that piece of shit in his place." Oliver angrily whispered into my ear.

"It's fine, Oli. Let's give them what they want. Dad would've wanted us to share with them." I softly uttered. "It's not fair but neither is us living here for free," I added.

"That's bullshit, Hailey. What if they kick us out after we give them our supplies? We don't know these people." Cooper argued.

"I know, Cooper. But I need to contact my dad then we can all get the hell out of here.

"Without food or any supplies?" He wildly asked me.

"We can get supplies elsewhere but we need to get to my dad and your brother. The only way we're gonna do that is if we make contact with them." I told Cooper.

"Your dad could be dead, Hailey-Jade! Luke could be dead!" He angrily yelled at me with tears brimming his eyes. "Take a look around you, it's a miracle that we're still alive," Cooper uttered before walking a few feet away from us. Ellie went over to check if Oliver was okay and I quickly wiped a stray tear away.

"No, I'm sorry but we're not sharing our supplies with anyone. We're leaving." Ronan loudly uttered while looking the reverend in the eyes and I frowned over at him.

"Ronan-"

"Enough, Hailey-Jade!" He angrily uttered while gripping my wrist in his hand. "We're leaving, end of discussion." He blankly stated.

The room broke out into chaos, people angrily started yelling at us for not wanting to share our supplies with them. The guards entered the chapel with a rifle in each of their hands and my eyes widened in shock.

What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?