Clutch grimaced at the daughter and then glared at the father. “Christ. Do I look like a pedophile to you? You’d sell your own fucking daughter for safety?”
The man winced but then stood firm. “I just want us to be safe. Take us with you. If you leave us behind, the zeds will get us for sure. You don’t understand. We barely made it this far.”
“Stop it!” Brenda cried out, her pale face twisted in pain. “All of you stop it!”
Everyone turned toward the dying woman. She turned to Don. “You must save Alana.”
Don shook his head. “I won’t leave you. I can’t.”
“Save Alana,” she said with more strength than I thought she’d be able to muster for how close to death she looked.
He sobbed and then buried his head in her neck. “I love you so much.”
“I love you.” She looked up to their daughter. “Come here, my little garden sprite.”
The young girl ran over to her mother with tears in her eyes. “Mommy!” Though she couldn’t have been older than five, she still clearly understood the severity of the situation.
Brenda released her husband and hugged her daughter. Don held both of them in his arms. They cried and kept repeating their love for one another. After several long minutes, Don held out his hand and motioned for the syringe.
Clutch handed it to him.
“Don’t do this, Don,” Maggie said. “It’s murder. Don’t let these devils lead you astray.”
“Maggie, I need you to look after Alana right now,” he said.
When she didn’t move, Don yelled, “Do it, Maggie!”
The old woman glowered, but she pulled the crying girl against her.
“You should go through the vein,” Clutch said. “It will go faster.”
Don’s hand shook like crazy. His wife watched him and tried to smile but it was all too quickly drowned by pain.
He’d nearly pierced the skin and then tore away. “I-I can’t.” He grasped his hair with one hand while the other hand holding the syringe fell limply at his side.
“Okay.” Clutch stepped forward.
“No. I’ll do it,” I said, stepping around him. Clutch had enough nightmares already. He didn’t need another one. To make it easier, I’d already figured I’d imagine her as a zed and that I wasn’t taking a life. At least, I figured if I did it quickly enough I wouldn’t think myself out of it.
He grabbed my wrist, gave me a sharp look, and then tugged me back. He cupped my cheek and shook his head. “I won’t let you do this.”
He turned, bent down, and took the syringe from Don. Clutch didn’t waste any time. He grabbed the woman’s arm and rubbed his thumb over the vein at her elbow.
As the needle pierced the skin, her eyes widened, and she tried to yank away. “No! I—”
Her eyes fell closed, and she never finished whatever it was she’d had to say.
“Brenda!” Don cried out and pulled her to him.
Clutch fell back on his heels, and I pulled him up and away from the pair. He stared at the syringe, gave it a look of disgust, and then threw it across the road.
We stood around, silently waiting as Don held his wife’s body. I held onto Clutch, knowing it had nearly killed him to do what he’d just done.
Maggie glared at us. “You committed murder. You are a sinner and will burn in hell.”
I glared right back. “We’re all sinners, lady. And if you don’t back off, we’re leaving your ass on this road.”
Did euthanasia feel wrong? Hell yeah, but the alternative was so much worse. That woman was going to die anyway. We simply took away a few hours of suffering. At least that’s what I told myself. I didn’t try to think of the few hours of life we also took.
A strange sound in the distance yanked my attention back. “What was that?”
Clutch, shook his head and looked around for the source. “Sounded almost like a jet.”
I looked to the sky but saw no trails. The ground…I bent down and put my hand on the pavement. The slightest sensation of a vibration. The noise, while distant, was becoming audible. There was no breeze today, yet the leaves began to tremble on the trees.
“No! They’re here!” Hali yelled.