Encounter

Two figures could be seen running through an abandoned city. Broken cars littered the streets, remnants of the chaos that the apocalypse wrought when people ran for their lives. Yet all they did was hasten their own deaths when cars crashed into one another and caused more casualties, further supplementing the number of infected running around. Buildings were boarded up or completely destroyed as if decades had passed instead of mere months. No matter where they passed, bloodstains accompanied them.

"Rae, slow down," Axel said. He was breathing heavily as sweat dripped down his face.

He had told Rae that he had twisted his ankle. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he was infected, especially since they just lost their parents. How would she react in knowing her last loved one was a few days away from death?

Infection takes a few days to spread. No one really knows how it works, at least no one Axel knew. But he needed to find someone to take care of his little sister. That was the hard part. Almost no one in the current world didn't have blood on their hands. He didn't have any other choice, though, he could never leave his ten-year old sister alone in this fucked up world.

"Are you okay?" Rae asked. Her small face scrunched up in concern. Her eyes were still red from the tears. They had stopped running and had taken a break leaning against the wall of what used to be an old music store.

Normally, they would never rest in an open space, but they had no choice. With no weapons on hand and no energy to fight, they couldn't risk getting caught in indoors.

No matter what, it was reckless but it was a few seconds of needed respite. They hadn't stopped running for the past twenty minutes, but nighttime was an even scarier time to deal with infected. They became more active once the glare of the sun couldn't interfere with their vision. Their enhanced vision was an impediment under the sun, but when it was dark they were able to spot a human from miles away.

Axel rolled up his pants to get a look at his ankle, making sure that it was out of sight of Rae's vision. He could see the veins surrounding his chewed-up skin darken to an inky black. A grimace ran across his face as he wondered where he could find a reliable caretaker in the span of a few days.

Human population was only a tiny fraction of what it once was and those who remained preferred to stay out of sight. After all, the scariest thing in the apocalypse was always dangerous humans who've learned to take advantage out of any situation. A young, pretty girl like Rae being left alone with savages like those...Axel didn't even want to imagine the consequences. Zombies would at least kill you right away. Humans wouldn't. He hadn't met anyone since the first few days of the apocalypse and he would rather it stay that way.

"I'm okay, I just needed a second. Let's go, we don't have much time left."

They just had to reach their hideout by nightfall. Checking his watch, Axel could see that it was around 7:32P.M. They had just around an hour before dark. An hour to cover a little less than seven zombie-infested kilometers. A typical day in the post-apocalyptic world, but one made all the more dangerous and somber in their condition.

"As long as we don't run into any unnecessary trouble, we'll be fine..." Axel thought.

They started their trek back to their hideout. They were in the outskirts of what used to be Boston while their destination was a town nearby called Brookline. A horrible place to be, since they're right in the middle of the whole shit-storm. A city infested with thousands, if not tens of thousands, of zombies, while infected wildlife lurked not far away.

They didn't have a chance to leave the area before since traveling would have proved more dangerous. Axel's parents had been older when they had him and Rae; their mother was sixty and their father was fifty-nine at their time of death. Moving an hour away from their home in Albany was already dangerous enough for their parents.

Hell, if they hadn't insisted in coming on this supply run because of how desperately they needed supplies, he would have never let them come out of the hideout. It was only supposed to be to a nearby store less than three kilometers away that they had checked out before and hidden supplies in, but when they got there the place had been completely ransacked.

All of their hiding spots had been uncovered and months' worth of supplies were gone. They hadn't even thought anyone else was still alive around them.

All Axel knows is that he should have gone alone. If he had, his parents might still be alive. His sister might be growing up in an apocalyptic world, but at least she would have had her whole family there with her. The guilt was starting to creep up on him as he started to wonder about all of the "what if's."

They were able to run for most of the way there before Axel needed a break. He could feel his ankle pulsing, but he grit his teeth and smiled at Rae to let her know he was fine when he saw her worried face. It was already 8:18P.M. and they could see the sun dipping beneath the horizon. Only 500 meters separated him and his sister from safety.

It had taken them the better part of the hour to get this far because of the numerous twists and turns they had to take to avoid the red zones they had marked before. Red zones were those crawling with infected and luckily they didn't tend to wander, unless they saw something worth leaving their area for.

Now, it was a straight line to their hideout and even with Axel's ankle they should be able to make it in less than four minutes. The cars obstructing their path won't affect them too much, they just have to make it before the sun completely sets.

They ran as fast as they could and could see their hideout in sight. It was a two-story house that they had found abandoned. The owners must have left in a hurry since rotten steak greeted them when they found it lying on top of the kitchen table. The best part about it was that it had a secure basement with a thick, bolted door as its entrance. If the owners had been more conscientious, they would have realized that their best protection would have been staying at home.

But right as they were only a couple of houses away from reaching it, they heard gunshots ringing from nearby. Maybe only two blocks away in the same direction they were heading.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Axel swore under his breath. He couldn't believe how unlucky they were to be so close from safety and now so far. Zombies were superior in sight by far and rather horrid in hearing, but even they can hear the deafening sounds of gunshots. It would take a matter of minutes before the whole area would be swarmed by a horde. The nearby red zones Axel had marked weeks ago would likely completely shift and reorient because of this.

If they sprinted, they could make it before any infected arrived, but they also risked being spotted by whoever was shooting like a maniac. There was little guarantee as to which option gave them a better chance of surviving. In other words, they were royally screwed.