End of the Journey

A gunshot rang out in the eerily silent highway. Elena stood frozen with her arms still locked in a shooting position. It took her a second until she ran to Axel's body.

Her shot got the infected right in its temple, but not in time to save Axel from getting bitten. When she got to Axel's side, his shoulder was already mauled and black blood splattered all around his body. Tears pooled in her eyes as she dropped to her knees beside his body. Axel turned his head and gave her a wry smile.

"Don't worry. It's okay," Axel said in an attempt to comfort her.

"Okay?! What do you mean okay? You're infected now, all because of me," Elena said. She struggled to talk as she sobbed at the sight of Axel's mangled shoulder.

The gunshot had frightened the three inside the bus, but Angela had kept Rae from running outside to check on her brother. When they heard Elena's cries, they all ran outside and quickly found the two behind the car. Rae burst into tears when she saw her brother and ran to his side.

Axel slowly lifted himself up with the help of Elena, grimacing when he felt the throbbing pain in both his ankle and shoulder intensify. He smiled softly at Rae.

"Don't worry, Rae," Axel said. "I'm okay."

Looking around, he noted everyone's expressions. Elena and Rae looked at him in tears, while Angela was horrified. Dylan seemed more indifferent, but looking more closely, you could see a hint of sorrow in his eyes.

Axel took a breath and walked over to pick up his bag that he dropped in his rush to save Elena. He pulled out a clean shirt and quickly changed before he slung it over his good shoulder and picked Rae up from the ground.

"Let's go, guys. That gunshot probably drew nearby infected. We don't have time to waste here."

The others were still stunned as Axel spoke, but after some coaxing, he got all of them to pick up their things and start moving. His nonchalance helped them all to somewhat recover, but even when they were running to reach Albany, it stayed in the back of their mind.

In this manner, they traveled the twenty miles to Albany in relative silence. After the seventh mile, when Rae couldn't run any further, Axel picked her up like before. He didn't say anything or show anything regarding his shoulder injury. If the group hadn't seen how gruesome it looked when he changed his shirt, they would never have believed that he was injured and infected by the virus.

In the three occasions that they were spotted by a few infected, Axel put Rae down and quickly took care of them before the others could react.

It was nine o'clock when they finally made it to Albany. Four hours to travel twenty miles was something that none of them would have probably imagined doing before the apocalypse. They had basically run a marathon with supplies on their backs and difficult terrain to traverse.

The whole group was filled with tension. They didn't know whether or not they've already been spotted by infected. Although everyone was dehydrated and exhausted, they struggled to make it to the gates of the coalition. Slowing down at this point meant risking their lives.

Elena took the lead since they entered Albany. Even in the dark, she was able to easily navigate the streets and avoid red zones. They came to a stop before a massive wall that didn't exist a few months before.

Glaring lights were spread out evenly on top of the ten-meter tall wall that connected to and ran through various other buildings. Sentry posts marked every cardinal position, while an extra post was stationed in the entrance gate. From the alleyway in which they peeked at the entrance, the group could see soldiers stationed on the top of the wall. They could hear and see bullets fly and hit any wandering zombie that came near the wall. Unlike Elena and her group, however, the soldiers used silencers that minimized the noise exposure and prevented many infected from being drawn.

Elena turned to the rest of them, while locking her gaze onto Axel and Rae.

"We're finally here," she sighed with relief. "Just follow our leads. We don't want to get shot."

Angela hesitated to speak as her gaze nervously flitted between Axel and Rae.

"What are you doing?" Dylan asked.

"What do you mean?"

Dylan sighed and gestured toward Axel. "We can't let him inside. He's infected now."

Instantly, Rae turned to him and glared childishly at him. Before she could say anything, though, Elena quickly replied to him.

"He's coming in. He saved my...our lives multiple times now. He deserves this much." Elena turned to walk away before whipping her head back. "And don't even think about mentioning the bite. I'll deal with it when the time comes."

Axel stayed quiet as he put Rae on the ground. Elena was already walking away and failed to notice the grateful smile on his face. Even though he wasn't planning on spending the night, his heart warmed to see her defend him. Sadly, Elena didn't know that his days were already numbered from the start.

Axel's only concern now was making sure that the proper arrangements were made for Rae. He was forcefully fighting off the virus for the past few hours as he felt himself continuously weaken. Although his body was meant to break down long ago, he would continue pushing on until he could rest in peace.

The rest of the group followed Elena as they slowly approached the wall. Axel watched as Elena brought her hand up to her mouth and made a high-pitched bird call.

Immediately, spotlights shone on the group. The light blinded the group, causing all of them to squint their eyes. Axel and Rae mimicked the others' movement as they watched them lift their arms up slightly above their head. When they finally began walking forward again after a moment, a loud voice called out to them, causing Axel to lift his head up to look at the speaker.