Sacrifice

"How far away are they?" Elena whispered. The five of them huddled together on the floor as their backs faced the side of the bus and they peaked out the window facing north.

"Ten minutes out, at most," Axel said.

"Do we have time to run?" Rae asked. She was shivering in fear from the infected that led the horde.

Axel wrapped his arm around her as he ran every scenario possible in his head. If they were spotted now, it would be impossible for them to outrun the zombies based on their current conditions. At the same time, if they were already spotted heading into the bus, they would be sitting ducks as they waited for the infected to surround them.

"No. Our best chance is to wait it out. We can't outrun them like this. We just have to hope they didn't see us already."

Hearing this, Dylan panicked. "No! We need to run. We can't handle all of those."

Angela hurried to calm him down when she saw him getting ready to rush out. When he started to push Angela away, Axel reached out and grabbed his arm forcefully.

"Stop! If you run out recklessly right now, you'll kill us all," he whispered harshly.

Dylan was freaking out when his eyes met Axel's. Instantly, he felt a chill run down his spine as his body froze and he let Angela drag him back down to the floor.

"Everyone stay calm and don't lift your head up too high. It's daylight right now, so they can't see that well. As long as we stay out of sight for a while, they'll wander off," Axel said. Although he repeated the obvious, it had a calming effect to the rest of them.

The group waited with bated breath. It felt like hours passed as they huddled together for comfort. After a few minutes, the group felt an impact on the side of the bus. Rae was about to burst into tears until she felt another pair of arms wrap around her. When she looked around, Axel and Elena had both hugged her to calm her down. As Rae stopped herself from making noise, Axel and Elena shared a short moment together.

Axel looked at her in gratitude and emotion. He felt as if he could leave Rae in good hands. Yet, he couldn't help but feel somewhat bitter. Not to mention leaving his loved one, he felt regret that he could not get to know Elena any better.

Throughout the past three days, he became more and more certain that Elena was the type of person that Axel could trust to take care of his little sister. Although she was just as tired as the rest of them, she put in extra effort in looking after the group.

Thumps rang out in chorus as bodies slammed against the bus. Luckily, none of the infected seem as if they were trying to get in. They were just passing by for now. Even with the sunlight impeding their vision and the tinted windows, none of them dared to take the risk to look outside.

A few hours passed by. The five of them were in constant tension, wondering if an infected would somehow spot them at any moment. When they didn't hear anything for around half an hour, Axel finally worked up the courage to look outside. Scouting around, his nerves calmed down. However, a frown soon worked its way up onto his face when he noticed the daylight fading. When he checked his watch, the time read 5:06 P.M.

They had lost six hours hiding in the bus.

"Okay, I think we're good," Axel said.

The others had gotten nervous when they saw Axel's frown, but relaxed when he spoke.

"I think we should keep moving," he said after a pause.

"What? Are you crazy?!" Dylan screamed at him.

"Quiet down. They may be gone, but they'll come back if they hear you screeching."

"Why do you want to go so early? I think we should stay put, just to make sure they all pass by," Angela said.

"We'll be safer if we get back to your coalition as soon as possible. What're we gonna do if that horde stays around? Or when the sun sets and they're probably not far from here? If we go now, it'll only take us around three hours to make it, right before night falls," Axel said.

He couldn't afford to waste any more time. His breathing was starting to strain already and he knew that he likely wouldn't make it past morning.

"He's right," Elena said, after a pause. "It's risky, but we should try to make it before tonight.

When Elena saw that Dylan was about to keep arguing, she quickly glared at him and walked away to pack up. Axel felt immense relief that Elena backed him up, although he didn't know why. The most logical choice would be to stay put until the next day because it would be risky getting caught out in the open and not have a safe shelter for nighttime.

After comforting Rae and helping her pack up, Axel walked over to his pack where he passed by Elena.

"Later, you have to tell me why we're in such a rush that we have to risk the group," she whispered so only Axel could hear her.

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, he watched her open the bus doors and walk out. Axel chuckled before slinging his backpack onto his shoulder.

Out of nowhere, he heard a scream coming from outside. Axel's face instantly paled. He leaped out of the bus and whipped his head around. He spotted the back of her head peaking out from behind a car. She was on the ground and he could see an infected looming over her. It must have been hidden behind the car and taken Elena by surprise.

Axel's body moved before his brain could and he ran at the infected. Gritting his teeth, Axel threw himself over the front of the car and tackled the infected right as its teeth were closing in on Elena's frozen body. However, Axel didn't have enough time, so the body's zombie was closer to Elena than he expected. He was only able to grab its torso and bring it to the ground alongside him.

Before he could feel relief over saving Elena, Axel felt the body beneath him turn. He was easily knocked over in his tired state. From the corner of his vision, he saw Elena scrambling to get her gun out. Time seemed to slow as Axel prepared himself for familiar pain. Running on fumes, Axel didn't have the energy to fight off the infected after the initial adrenaline rush.

"Fuck, man." Axel cursed before the infected on top of him ripped into his shoulder.