"No!" screamed Cali, Ana was quivering in horror. Ignoring both of them, I sprinted back towards Zeno as fast as I could and dragged him outside. My heart was thumping loudly. He wasn't moving and I couldn't even pause to check if he was breathing as I ran towards the parking lot.

Cali still looking terrified brought out the car and all of us clambered in. There were only four guards at the gate. The rest of them must be inside. They made to stop us but Cali drove straight ahead. Gunshots followed us as we raced back towards the deserted roads. Cali drove ruthlessly and I was glad we had left one of our jeeps behind. This one wouldn't make it out without huge dents and scratches.

My attention turned to Zeno. I was still in shock because my hands were shaking.

I put a hand on to Zeno's neck. To my relief, I could still feel a faint pulse. I told as much to Ana and Cali, making both of them smile.

However, I bit my lip as I felt the warm blood seeping from Zeno's side all over my jeans. He probably still had the bullet inside him. We had around a month's journey left to make and zombies could attack us any moment attracted by the scent of his blood.

He might not be able to make it. And I hated myself for even thinking about such things.

'Of course, he's going to make it.' I chided myself.

Cali looked at me.

"Axel, we have to stop soon. Zeno's already lost a lot of blood."

I nodded.

"But those guys from the lab could be following us." piped in Ana with a worried look on her face.

"What else can we do?"

"Treat him in the car?" I suggested dubiously.

Cali snorted.

"And when did you get a medical degree, pretty boy? That is a very serious wound and we could do more harm than good trying to heal him."

"We have to at least staunch the bleeding." reasoned Ana. "Axel can drive while you do it."

I saw Cali's hands trembling on the wheel.

"Fine," she said. And then all of us were quiet for a while. I was worried about Zeno. He couldn't die, not like this. But where would we get the medical attention he needed?

We stopped for a short while as I traded places with Cali. Ana fished around in the car truck for clean clothes to tie around the wound.

It was night by the time we finally stopped. I was still terribly worried. We had the cure. But Zeno was wounded badly. I sighed as I remembered all the times he'd been kind to me, taught me how to use Bad Baby. I plucked the gun gently from his side and lay it on the car seat.

Cali and Ana were sitting quietly, leaning against the wall. None of them spoke a single word through the night. And neither did I.