Complications

Three days quickly passed by since Axel and Rae had left the comfort of their hideout. Numerous times, Axel had to save the others by staying behind and distracting numerous zombies. Most of the time, they were accidentally spotted from far away, leaving them in constant tension as they were prone to be attacked at any time. Many other times, however, infected were drawn by Dylan's inconsiderate actions. He failed to realize that getting frustrated and whining about the long journey could raise stress levels easily.

It was a surprise that Dylan had survived for so long.

"Can we take a break?" Angela asked. She was breathing heavily from hours of jogging and sneaking around.

When Axel looked around, he saw that most of the others were in a similar state, except for Elena. His heart clenched when he saw Rae struggling to keep moving forward, too, but she was determined to not say anything. He was glad that Angela had chosen to speak up. The past few days, he set aside how difficult the journey would be if they hauled ass. He chose to keep going for the sake of making it back before the others would notice his deteriorating condition.

"Yeah. Let's take a breather in that bus over there. I'll check it out first." Axel said, before making his way to the bus a few meters ahead. He carefully checked inside, before sighing in relief when it was clear. They were in the middle of a highway, which was dangerous enough as they were exposed in the open space. Although cars littered the road, they were nowhere near enough cover.

Axel motioned to the others that it was safe. After a few seconds, they had all made it inside the bus. Luckily, the bus had tinted windows, which gave them a layer of security against the infected' eyesight. Axel closed the door and sat down next to Rae.

Axel took out a bottle of water and passed it to her. While the others rested, he took out his map. From Brookline to Albany, it was approximately 165 miles. The five of them had hauled ass and used all thirteen hours of daylight they had available. Most of the time, when Rae reached her limit, Axel would carry her until she could run again. Even with all the detours they had to make, they had covered around 145 miles in the short span of three days.

On the map, they were somewhere between Cherry Plain and Averill Park. Only twenty or so miles separated the small group from Albany. Axel breathed out a sigh of relief when he confirmed that they were almost there.

The others were confused as to why they were in such a rush to get back, something that Dylan made sure to comment on frequently. However, it's not like he could tell the others that he was running out of time. Rae, especially, couldn't find out that this trip with her was going to be the last time they would be together.

"How far away are we?" Elena came up to where Axel and Rae were sitting. She looked tired, but good enough considering how much they've run.

"About twenty miles out. If we keep going like we have been, we can make it in a few hours."

Axel paused when he saw a hesitant look on Elena's face. "What's up?"

"I don't think we can keep this up. Even if we're almost there, look around you. We're all exhausted and Dylan looks like he's gonna throw a fit soon." The last bit almost made Axel smile before he truly looked around.

Angela was snoring lightly with her head tilted sideways as she sat straight up, Dylan had an angry look on his face as he strained to breath and his eyelids threatened to drop, while Rae also seemed as if she would doze off at any moment. Although Axel had carried her for most of the trip, she was only ten years old.

"Hmm, maybe we do need a break."

Elena hesitated. "Axel."

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're okay? You've had the biggest load out of all of us here. You've carried all of our things for at least part of the trip, not to mention Rae. You look like you're running on fumes and I'm not sure if you realize it yet. Just look." Elena gestured toward the tinted window.

Axel turned to look at the window in confusion as he finally got a good look at his reflection. His eyes were sunken, his face looked as if he had lost weight, and his whole being seemed to scream for sleep.

Axel closed his eyes for a second to feel out his condition. He almost fell out of his seat as his head dipped immediately. His eyes whipped open as he took a few deep breaths to regulate his body. Elena leaned down hurriedly and touched his forehead.

"You're burning up! We need a break," she said, resolutely.

"I'm okay. We just need to get to Albany and we can relax," Axel said tiredly. Running constantly without any rest, he could feel the virus coursing through his body. The infection had already started reaching his torso, so he likely only had less than a day left.

"Axel, what's wrong? Why are you in such a rush?" Elena asked, concerned but firm as she was prepared to argue with Axel. She wasn't about to let him tear his body apart any longer.

"I'll tell you when we get there. It's noth...," he trailed off as he struggled to concentrate on some movement he saw from his periphery vision.

"What?"

"Shit!" Axel whispered harshly. "There's a whole horde coming from the north!"