Our Wrong Choice

How Did This Happen?

As William thinks about everything that has been taking place in Westport, he wonders if it is something that is happening all over the world. It has already been a week since he and his battalion have been stationed in Westport. The government, including Madam President Rachael Haversfeild herself, thought at first that our military could kill off the dead, thus staving off and controlling a nation-wide epidemic that could turn the whole damn world into some kind zombieland.           

Whatever this epidemic is hadn't yet gotten a foothold. There is just one problem with that. How can you control something if you don't know how it stated to begin with or even how it works? Simply put, it could be very hard but not impossible.There has not been any significant change in the situation here in Westport. William and his fellow troops are killing off as many as fifty of the dead on a daily basis. As many as ten to fifteen people die in Westport every day. That means that for every fifty of the dead that is killed off, ten or fifteen take their place. It is kind of like Russian Roulette when it comes to if a dead body is going to reanimate itself.  There have been a few instances of someone dying and the person staying dead. That is one of the reasons that the CDC has gotten involved. After the third time that someone died and the body stayed dead, Lieutenant Colonel Johnson took it upon himself to report that significant change to whoever is in charge of the CDC.

Lieutenant Colonel Johnson has made up a schedule of who is on guard duty to ensure the safety of the people who are inside the prison. He sends a group of men from the platoon  outside the prison to protect the residents of Westport everyday during normal business hours which are usually from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday since the town as a whole is still functioning. The army is there to keep life as normal as possible, even with the United States Army present at every turn. That means that the stores, the two fire stations, the police department and the schools, including the medical university, are running as they normally would except on federal holidays. As a precaution, there are armed members of the U.S Army stationed at different locations in Westport in case anything was to happen. As a precaution, the teachers at the grade school aren't allowed to let the children go outside for recess. To remedy this issue, the principal has allowed the children to spend their recess time in the gymnasium. The fact that the medical university has to shut down at seven o'clock sharp means that the night classes that are usually held there have to be held during the day. There are been other things that have changed around town since the start of the outbreak. The military has put a mandatory city-wide curfew in place as a precaution for the residents of Westport.

Lieutenant Colonel Johnson has put together a schedule for a group of men to go outside the prison and gather supplies once a week. He figures that if he gets the troops to bring some things into the prison that will bring a little comfort to everyone that it would make people feel a lot better. Not to mention that going outside the prison keeps the guys on their toes. William had come to Sergeant Johnson with a very good idea one day. He told him it would be a good idea if all the adults knew how to safely shoot a gun and asked if it would be a bad idea to have a shooting range setup somewhere on the prison grounds. Much to William's surprise, only a few hours after William asked about the shooting range, Sergeant Johnson told him that the range was being constructed as they spoke. After that day, there was a schedule of the people who use the shooting range for practice. Sergeant Johnson implemented a rule the day the range was completed that if you stay in the prison, you are required to practice your marksmanship at least four hours a day. It's a good thing that the rule is in place because at first, a lot of people couldn't hit a stationary target much less a moving one. There were quite a few other rules were also put into place. Most of them are to keep everyone safe. But a couple of them are for security reasons. They are all in a prison after all. One of the biggest rules that Sergeant Johnson is a stickler about is there is to not intermingling with the prison inmates. If a resident is caught intermingling with the inmates, that person will be punished. If the same person is caught breaking that particular rule on numerous occasions, that person may be asked to leave the prison indefinitely.
                                                 William knows that any person who is in the prison could die at a moment's notice, that fact poses a threat to every living person who is inside the prison. Not only do the troops have to figure out a strategy to deal with the dead who keep coming back to life, they also have to stay alert for any trouble that may arise inside the prison. That trouble can be anything from an argument to an outright riot. It is a normal fact of life that we all will die one day for one reason or another. The factor that is making it difficult for everyone in Westport is the dead that keep coming back to life. It has been that way for a week now. But the CDC and the government are not even close to finding out what is going on in Westport or how to stop whatever this thing is. Until someone figures out why this keeps happening, everyone who is in Westport is in danger.

When William first hears what was going on in Westport, he thinks that it is some kind of sick joke. That is what most of the people in Westport thought when they first saw the news reports of what was taking place. He thinks maybe it is some kind of game. He doesn't know what to think or what to make of what is going on in Westport. All he knew a week ago is that there was no way in hell that this could be real. How can anybody believe that someone can just get up and walk around after being killed in a fatal car crash? It logically just did not make sense. As he sits and thinks about what is taking place in Westport, he still can't believe what it is happening. Nonetheless, it is happening and it will continue to happening until someone figures out what is causing it to happen. That's the reason he is sitting a tent that is to be his living quarters for the foreseeable future. In order to stop whatever the hell this thing is here, he and his platoon has to get ahead of the situation and cut it off at the knees. But when William first found out about what was going on in Westport, he knew that his platoon would be stationed there immediately. There is no way in hell that the residents of Westport could possibly be able to defend themselves from the dead, not without help. That was the thought that ran through his mind as soon the news came through to his platoon about the dead coming back to life. Most of the people in Westport probably didn't even know what was going on right outside their front doors when this shit really started hitting the fan. The government probably started covering up what was going on in Westport from the start. The government has to be right in the middle of covering up the situation or worse, acting as if there isn't a situation at all, since it first took off. Our government has always thought that it is best to keep the public from knowing how bad a situation really is. But the main question that should be on somebody's mind is this: how are you supposed to be able to protect your friends and family from something if you don't know what you're protecting them from and you're not sure how to go about protecting them? There are so many things that can go wrong, especially when something this catastrophic happens anywhere. How do you control something that you don't understand? Simply put, you can't.

When everybody is moved to the prison, Sergeant Johnson quickly finds out that there is are numerous solar panels on the roof of the prison that are keeping the lights on in the prison and the prison produces its own propane so that they will have an infinite supply of hot water and other creature comforts that make life easier. To say the least, things easier for everyone inside the prison than it would be outside the prison walls. Some people spend their entire life trying to get out of prison.  William never thought that he would ever want to spend a night in a prison and yet, he spends every night in a prison cell.