The Infected

Chapter 2

We stayed at the farmhouse for four whole days until something happened. We had been following the outbreak on the news, and we discovered that the infection could also be spread by biting. But we thought we were safe there. We thought we could keep on living normally. We were wrong.

On the fourth day Sam deemed it safe enough to go out to find some food. She told me to stay with Emma, and even though I didn’t agree with it, I stayed because she insisted. After about half an hour, I was starting to get worried. An hour passed and Emma was noticing that something could be wrong. Two hours and Sam still hadn’t returned, and now I couldn’t contain how worried I was. I was pacing around the living room and Emma was sitting in a corner rocking back and forth. Suddenly the door banged open and Sam ran into the room, her hair was flying and her eyes had a slightly insane look to them,

“Infected. Everywhere.” She whispered. It was then that I noticed the blood seeping through a large hole in her shirt sleeve. She had been bitten.

“Sam,” I whispered, all life leaving my voice, “you…you’ve been bitten,” my voice had gone completely monotone and my face was blank. She looked horrified, she shook her head and her eyes started to fill with tears. Emma was staring horrified at Sam, tears were already streaming down her face,

“Mum?” she said, concern filling her voice. She slowly and shakily stood up and walked towards Sam and I. her eyes filled with terror but she kept walking towards us. She stopped less than a metre in front of us and stretched out her hand. She slowly pushed up Sam’s sleeve to reveal the mangled flesh of her forearm. The look on her face was heartbreaking. When she looked up into Sam’s eyes it was obvious. She didn’t look at her the same anymore. She wasn’t looking at her with adoration like she used to. She was looking at her with disgust. Pure, uncovered disgust. It killed me to see that look on her face. Emma quickly let go of Sam’s arm and ran out of the room, her arms wrapped around her own waist. Sam looked devastated. Devastated and lost. She sank to the ground and started sobbing with her head in her hands. I was wracking my brain, thinking of any possible way to keep her alive. But there wasn’t. it was either leave her behind to become one of them or kill her and put her out of her misery. I chose the latter. The thought of Sam becoming a monster was disgusting. I didn’t want to do to her what I did to Bren. I still regret leaving him behind, I should have just killed him. I shouldn’t have let him suffer through this. My poor boy. My poor scared boy. I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna kill her. I moved closer to her,

“Sammy? Honey?...You know what I have to do right?...I have to kill you. I don’t want you to be one of those things.” She looked up at me with fear in her eyes, and she slowly nodded her head. She stood up again, still shaking. Her face was red with fever and her eyes were glassy. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife in there. The butcher’s knife. She walked back out and handed it to me, squeezed her eyes shut and waited. I took a deep breath and slowly raised the knife. I held it aloft in my shaking hands and in one swift movement, brought it down and plunged it into the heart of the woman I loved. Her blood and my tears were covering my hands as I pulled her to my chest and sobbed. Ems came down and saw us and fell to the ground sobbing as well. That day was probably worse than when we left Bren. It left Ems and I broken. And alone. She needed her mum, and now all she had was me. I didn’t know how to do it alone. I needed Sam. But I would never have her again.