Farrell gave another sad nod and said “The disease is very fast acting and once it gets into your bloodstream you have no chance of amputation being effective. Well unless you were to sever the limb as soon as the romero bites into it since it takes less than a minute or so for your blood to travel completely around your body. But we are long past that option here. The only recourse to prevent another outbreak and to prevent the victim to succumbing to it is to destroy the brain.”

Another outburst from Mikey was forestalled by Paul as he glared at him as he said “So you're saying we can’t save our friend from death and that the only way to save him from becoming some kind of zombie is to destroy his brain? And there’s nothing we can do to change that then?” Farrell shook his head “Sadly no the only recourse is to end the suffering of the victim before they turn into a romero.”

The civilians were all shaking with barely controlled anger and Paul again addressed Farrell “Fine but at least let us do it. He’s our friend and we would want him to do it for us. So we will do it for him.” They remained tense as they waited for the response from Farrell who looked back to see what Murphy would say. Murphy simply nodded his head in accent to their request. Farrell then drew his weapon to the surprise of the civilians who jumped back into a defensive stance. Then turned it around so the handle faced Paul.

Before Paul could grab it. Mikey reached out and snatched it away from Farrell. “I’ll do it myself he’s my cousin it has be me and only me.” He started to walk with determination to Holt who was now lying unconscious in the back of the disabled vehicle. After only a few steps he came to a sudden stop and in a soft voice asked Farrell “how much time do we have until he changes?” Farrell, in turn, looked over to Saunders who walked over to check on Holt in the back of the disabled vehicle

He checked his pulse which was slow and steady but a cold sweat had broken out on his forehead. “Judging from his symptoms, maybe 3 hours. Could be more could be less. Every person is a bit different depending on the strength of the immunities in their bodies.” Mikey’s head drooped and he stared at the ground for a moment then spoke softly “Is it okay if we wake him up and see if he wants to wait to change or have it taken care of right away?”

Murphy chose to step forward and introduce himself to answer the question. “Hello gentlemen my name is Murphy I am the team leader and the on the ground commander of this operation. I checked with base command and they let me know we have about 5 hours until we have specialists coming to complete the clean up. We need to remain here until then. So if he wants to wait until the change that’s fine but only so long as it’s before the arrival of the specialists. They won’t care about trying to help you guys out and will force us to eliminate any infected.” Mikey grit his teeth but nodded in acknowledgement.

He walked over to wake up Holt and speak with him. Repeating the explanation that was given to him and what had been said. Holt decided to wait until the last moment before the change to let them end it.

Paul, who had remained near the squad asked them “So are you guys like some sort of government organization that kills zombies or some shit?” Chuckling Connall was the one to respond knowing whatever he told the civilian wouldn’t matter after the specialists got there. “Yeah something like that. Although we take out more than just these romeros.” Paul’s eyes widened slightly at this “So there’s other monsters out there aside from just these romeros as you call em?” Connall laughed again “Yeah there’s a whole lot more than just these out there. In fact these are some of the easier ones to take care of as long as they don’t get elevated into a class 4.”

Their conversation lasted for several hours. Charlie squad arrived during this time having taken care of any remaining romeros. They also checked with command through murphy to make sure satellite imagery showed no further movements of the undead. Everything was clear so they were simply waiting for the specialists to arrive.

The 5 hour deadline was quickly approaching when Holt started convulsing. Thick sweat covered his body and his skin was a pallid grey. Saunders who had stayed nearby caught sight of this and approached the convulsing young man. “This is the final stage before he dies and reanimates as an undead. We have maybe 5 to 10 minutes. I would say your goodbyes if you haven’t already”

The mood grew increasingly somber and Mikey who still held the gun that Farrell had loaned him moved next to Holt and softly said a few words that only they could hear. He was followed by Paul who did the same. Again saying a few quiet words only they could hear. Then finally the third surviving civilian walked up. He was nearly forgotten as he had remained in the background quietly without saying anything to anyone. He was a light skinned young man of average height and size with long dark hair. He also quietly said a few words then went to stand next to Paul with his eyes glued to the ground and his hair covering his face.

Everyone having said their goodbyes knew it was time to end it. Holt’s convulsions had stopped and he had lost the last semblance of consciousness. His breathing had slowed to the point where if you didn’t look closely you couldn’t tell that he was still living. They moved him out of the back of the vehicle and onto a blanket that they placed on the ground as Holt had asked of them.

Mikey walked up, his grip on the borrowed pistol causing his fingers to turn white while it shook uncontrollably. He put the barrel of the weapon onto his friend and cousin’s temple as tears escaped his eyes. He said goodbye one final time and told his friend he was sorry then pulled the trigger. The report deafening in the silence. Gray matter and blood spraying from the wound. The gun fell from Mikey’s hand as he turned away from his cousin and running away from the group. They watched him leave and allowed him to be alone.

The sound of a helicopter grew louder and louder as it approached from the distance. Connall who was standing next to Murphy said to him “Looks like the specialists are here. Should we gather the civilians for their debriefing?” Murphy nodded saying “Go ahead and gather them together.” Connall was stopped as he started to walk away by Murphy’s voice. “You know I kinda feel jealous of the kids. Their friends just died but they won’t remember everything that happened today. The terrible memories that were made will be gone. It would be kinda nice to forget some things. Especially these kinds of things.” Connall gave a sad smile and nodded as he walked away his voice trailing with him. “Yeah wouldn’t that be nice to be so ignorant again.”