Selfless

“I didn’t train for this!” police sergeant Sam Miller yelled to his partner over the sound of the raging river. He struggled to stay on their makeshift raft as the water tossed and turned below them.

“None of us were,” Tom Sanders yelled back as he tried to steer the raft away from the jagged rocks the loomed ahead. Escaping  down the river was their only hope, even if it was nothing short of suicidal.

“Did you see the bloodlust in their eyes? I didn’t even recognize Gina or Timmy,” Sam said as he tried to block out the image of his wife and their only child before he shot them in the head.

“It was horrid but you did what you had to do. Hopefully the plague hadn’t reached Jackson yet.”

Suddenly the river calmed.

“We just shot them then went on the run. I feel like a coward,” Sam confessed as they drifted along.

“You had to do it. It was them or you. They couldn’t be saved,” Tom replied grimly.

They fell silent. Tom looked at Sam and noticed fresh blood soaking his sleeve.

“How did you get cut?”

“Huh? Hell, I don’t know,” Sam answered as he glanced at the wound. “We can get it cleaned up when we get to Jackson.”

“Yeah, okay,” Tom replied as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again a few minutes later, Sam was leaning over him with a bloodlust in his eyes. “Oh hell man. Not you!”

Tom shoved Sam away, trying to push him off the raft with one hand and reaching for his gun with the other. They tousled on the raft and fell into the water. Sam clung to Tom, trying to bite him as they both tried to keep afloat.

“Get off me!” Tom screamed and shoved Sam off him. As he floated away from his friend and partner, he watched Sam’s lifeless body sink into the water.

The river spilled into the bay and Tom swam for the shore. He dragged himself onto the sand and collapsed, completely exhausted. He woke up to the sensation of his head being gnawed on.

He could see Sam’s body out of the corner of his eye. There was only one thing to do. He pulled out his revolver. “I love ya, man, but I have to do this,” Tom said then shot Sam in the head twice.

Beach goers gathered around the two, shocked looks on all their faces. “The zombies are coming ... save yourselves,” Tom warned then turned the gun on himself.