Zombie Story

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15- Whiskey (Day Five)

"What are you, mad? We've never attempted this!" Geoff argued instantly.

"Another reason to try." I replied. Although I kept my tone calm, I was starting to panic. This had the potential of going horribly wrong. And I was risking this all in memory of Ethan, and the ending he should've gotten.

Geoff placed a hand on my shoulder and I did my best not to instinctively shake it off, "Let's say this doesn't work, because let's be real, there's a good chance this won't work," his milky blue eyes bore into mine, "You would have put this poor boy under so much trauma and pain for nothing. Because of your own stubborness."

His words were shaking my own faith. I glanced around the room, Heather was in deep conversation with Leon. She must've went over to divert his attention from the conversation. I looked back at Geoff, "So, what do you suggest? We kill him? Are you volunteering?"

"W-what no of course not," Geoff stuttered out, "I couldn't kill him, no."

"If you won't kill him, then save him," I whispered. My mind was made up. I couldn't let Leon die without at least trying to save him.

I started to prepare a counter argument in my head when Geoff sighed, "Okay Josephina, you win."

I was genuinely surprised. He'd given in. I struggled with what words to say and instead settled with a simple "Thank you, Geoff." I gave him a final genuine smile before turning to Heather, "Heather, do we have alcohol? Beer, rum, anything?"

Heather nodded from where she was crouched next to Leon, "Yeah, there's a case of whiskey in the storage room. Here," she tossed me the thin key to the metal storage door. I caught it effortlessly, nodding my thanks, before exciting the room.

I was surprised to see everyone huddled around outside. Instantly I was bombarded by comments and questions.

"We need to kill him before he turns," Bill muttered solemnly, a few murmurs back him up.

"Are you killing him? Is he dead?" Belle asked frantically.

Berlin's eyes widened," No! You can't!"

"No we can't kill a child. I say we give him a fighting chance in the outside," George stated although even Carmen dissaproved his idea.

"We should cut his arm off and see from there," Colt butted in, another round of murmurs followed, showing their support.

I winked at Colt, "Bingo." I then turned to the rest of the group, "Everyone find something to do. Colt and Belle, we need more food so if you two could go on a run. Aspen, get Berlin and the other children out of here. Carmen, if you could do the laundry, we're behind on that. George and Bill, take out the bodies."

I heard an array of discussion break out as I walked away. I didn't bother turning around. If they insisted on staying there arguing by the time I got back from the storage, then I would deal with it then.

Once I went downstairs and unlocked the storage door, I frantically began to search for the whiskey. It was a time imperative task, we spent enough time arguing over how to handle the situation meaning that we didn't have too much time to actually go through with the procedure. I went from shelf to shelf in the storage until I made my way into the back corner and spotted a case of whiskey.

I grabbed a dusty bottle and wasted no time in locking the door before racing back to where Heather, Geoff, and Leon were. I was content to see that the crowd had dispersed.

Entering the room, I tossed the key back to Heather before pressing the bottle cap against the metal frame of one of the beds in the room in order to open it. The bottle popped open, I was quick to cover the opening with my hand so the whiskey wouldn't pour out. Maybe I should've grabbed two bottles.

I turned to Leon, making my voice go into a more child friendly pitch, "Take a few gulps. It might taste a little yucky."

"Wait." Geoff stopped me, grabbing the bottle. He took a long swig from the bottle before handing it back to me, "I'll need the liquid courage."

I nodded, it made sense. This would an intense procedure especially since he had limited experience. I was about to hand the bottle to Leon when I remembered we had to disinfect the equipment, "Do you guys have the knife?"

Heather nodded, "Grabbed it while you were gone. Here." The steel blade looked clean, she must have washed it already. Still, I poured a splash of whiskey onto the knife before finally handing the bottle to a confused and frightened looking Leon,

"Here sweetheart, just take few sips. It might be a little bitter."

"It tastes great," Geoff butted in, grabbing the knife and examining it, most likely trying to emotionally and mentally prepare.

Leon didn't answer and instead hesitantly took the bottle from my hand, "O-okay, just a few sips?" At my nod, he took a small gulp before taking a longer drink and handing the bottle back, "It doesn't taste like anything."

"W-what?" I asked unsure at what I had heard, "Geoff, didn't you say it tasted great?"

"He's already lost his sense of taste and probably smell, we have to hurry this up." Heather cut in. It was an obvious realization, but the speed that the disease was spreading shocked me. He lost his sense of taste already?

"She's right, the longer we wait the less of a chance this has of working." Geoff agreed, sounding a little more prepared now.

Despite not being able to taste the whiskey, the numbing effect seemed to work the same on the young boy who now looked a bit drowsy. We wouldn't have too much time to prepare Leon for what was to come.

I splashed the remainder of the whiskey onto the arm we were going to cut, hopefully this would numb it somewhat. Leon winced before looking frantically at all of us, "You're going to cut off my arm, right?"

Heather nodded nervously, "Only if you're okay with that, Leon." Her words confused me, were we supposed to kill him if he wasn't okay with having his arm chopped off? Knowing Heather, she would have stayed switch him until his last moments before the fever took him out before killing him. A peaceful death.

Leon took a deep breath before nodding, "Y-yeah." He seemed on the verge of tears. The boy shut his eyes tightly, "Just make it quick."

Heather sat down next to the boy, grasping his hand, "I'll be right here, okay?" She then turned to Geoff, "Well, what are you waiting for doc?"

Geoff glanced over at me, picking up the sharp blade, "Are you sure about this, Josephina?"

I looked over at Leon, who was almost choking on his tears. Heather's maternal instincts were kicked in and she was gripping his hand with her own. I've made so many mistakes and so many people have gotten hurt or died in the outcome. If I failed, I don't know what I would do. I don't know how I would carry the guilt. I finally turned back to Geoff,

"I'm sure."