The man and angel shuffled without a word down the desolated road, cars and debris littering their path. Dean found a baseball bat from one of the trunks, somewhat hoping to use it for some tasteful retribution. Faintly, he whistled a Led Zeppelin song attracting only Cas' attention to which the angel desperately tried to stop. He resorted to silencing him with the sound of his true form, gloating at his success with a smug smile. Dean shot him a peeved look and whistled the last bit of the song before giving it up. He grinned at the angel, acknowledging his annoyance by elbowing him in the ribs. "Dean, sometimes… you make me feel like… I'm friends… with a five year old," he wheezed. But Cas returned Dean's mischievous grin with one of his own. He stared down at his loafers which were scuffed and worn and bloody, unable to renew from the lack of power. He refused to tell Dean the reason he couldn't just 'zap' him back to camp was because he used all of the power he had saved up healing him from the bite. It was going to be a long walk home, and he prayed hard for any kind of help from Heaven so they wouldn't have to walk down the dangerous roads, especially at night.
The sun was starting to set and soon they would be consumed by the dark, unable to see the looming threat that awaited. They found a tree with branches low enough for them to climb up, far away from the ground and away from grabbing hands and flesh eating teeth. Staying on the ground and building a fire would only attract the walkers and who knows how many where wandering around in the woods. The silence of the night was disconcerting with all the crickets and frogs gone, replaced only by the distant sounds of gurgled moans. The temperature was dropping rapidly, making Dean's teeth clatter—his body unable to retain any heat except for what his leather jacket provided him, which wasn't much. He refused when Cas offered his jacket, because even though he couldn't see much, he could still see the battered angel shivering just as badly as he was. Dean moved clumsily down to the branch where Cas sat and huddled in close next to him. "I swear if you say anything about this, I'll hurt you where the sun don't shine. Got it?" Cas only nodded his head, grateful for any warmth he could get, instead pulling Dean even closer to him. Dean drifted off, his head leaning against the angel's shoulder, exhausted from the hell he'd been through the last few days.
Cas watched the sun rise slowly, anxious for the warmth it would bring. Even with Dean's body pressed against his own, the warmth wasn't enough for either of them and by morning, they were stiff and numb all over and barely able to move. Dean dropped to the ground with a thick thud, unable to hang on to the branches as they worked their way down the tree. Cas quickly jumped down after him and weakly picked him up, pulling an arm around his shoulders to help him walk. It had been a few hours of supporting Dean as they travelled on and it began to worry Cas. He should have been able to stand on his own by now, but every time Cas let his weight down even a little, he stumbled to his knees. Checking that they were momentarily safe from the walkers, he set Dean down gently, wiping the sweat beading on his forehead. "You're burning up." Dean's head lolled forward, any strength he had left in him disappeared. He was feeling flush and lightheaded and all he wanted to do was go to sleep. He didn't even have the energy to tell Cas something was definitely wrong. Cas held his head up, looking over his glassy eyes and flushed, glistening skin. He smoothed his hand over his head before heaving his body up, cradling him in his arms and set in for the long journey ahead. He cursed Heaven for leaving him here like this. He didn't have enough power heal whatever was affecting Dean and he was afraid it would be too late by the time he got him back to camp.
Time went by slower than Castiel had ever experienced. His body ached with pain from the weight of the limp body he carried in his arms. It concerned him on numerous occasions that he wouldn't be able to go much further, but he pressed on knowing in the back of his mind that was all he could do to keep his longtime friend from dying. He thought of all he could as to why Dean fell so ill. He didn't understand. Dean was cured of any possibility of infection and he was perfectly fine the day before. It just didn't make any sense. He thought it was his powers, and maybe the infection was still there and it was just taking longer to set in but that didn't fit either. He was still very much human and very much alive, yet he could see the life draining from him as his fever rose dangerously. Everything made him want to scream at the top of his lungs. His attention pricked at the sound of an engine far off in the distance. It gave him a flicker of hope from the despair that threatened to ruin him and his chance to save Dean. Cas forced himself to walk quicker than his ragged, torn body could muster, anxiously awaiting the moment when he would see a moving vehicle in the distance. He hoped even more that it was someone he knew.