- A person of your choosing can walk up, with you see it coming, and shoot you in the head.
- A person of your choosing can walk up, without you seeing it coming, and shoot you in the head.
- You can wait to turn as a result of the virus and then be shot in the head.
- We can give you a pistol and you can handle the situation yourself.
Now, no one had to reveal their
choice. And truth be told, there is no right or wrong answer. Is it suicide to
take yourself out? If you have the virus, you are already dead. On the other
hand, what if we wait for you to turn and something goes wrong? What if a
person misses the shot and gets bit? Now, because we let you live to your last
breath, we have condemned someone else to the exact same fate. But don’t you
want every last breathing moment? Are you kidding? Who wants to go through the
unbearable pain that turned Keith into a fireball of fevered rage? But what if
you off yourself and five minutes later the CDC arrives in the parking lot with
a cure and a host of .50 caliber machine guns? Wouldn’t you rather the last
thing you see in this world to be a friend that is willing to end your
suffering? What if your transformation goes faster than anticipated? What if
you turn quick? How can you selfishly put my teenage son – and everyone in this
store! – in jeopardy?
Again, no real right or wrong answer.
So everyone had to decide what they wanted their final request to be. We then
locked the letters in the store office with the intention to only open them “in
the event of…” And I truly hope I never have to read a single letter.
And while these decisions have been
fairly tough, I cannot imagine the disagreements that could arise if we
encounter stranded refugees. Every extra person we bring in lessens our overall
resources and risks us to potential exposure of the virus. Then again, what is
the alternative? Leaving them outside to die?
I am afraid that this is a subject I
am going to have to bring up with the group…
