The Regulator (Complete First Draft)

Chapter 22: Andrew - On a Pale Horse

Andrew walked into the back of the Nurse’s office. It was very dimly lit, just a single lightbulb in the corner of the room. Zach was laying on his side, seemingly sleeping, under several blankets. Andrew walked over to get a look at him. He was sweating, a lot, and his face was very red. The nurse had warned Andrew that he was already very sick, but Andrew was shocked at just how sick he was. Suddenly, Zach’s eyes fluttered open.

“Hello?” He said, weakly and groggily.

“Sup, kid.” Andrew responded, smiling. He wasn’t sure how to handle this, but he decided to try and be upbeat.

“Hi, Andrew.” Zach said, he looked around the dark room a little bit, “Why are you here?”

Andrew’s smile dropped, he tried to keep it up but he just couldn’t. Andrew walked over to the side of the room, grabbed a chair, brought it over, and sat down near Zach. “We have stuff to talk about.”

“What kid of stuff?” Zach asked.

“Has the nurse told you, what exactly is happening to you? Do you know what is happening to you?” Andrew asked. He was worried, he had a feeling that no one had told Zach what was wrong.

“I remember getting bit by one of the monsters in the cabin, right on my shoulder, see?” Zach shifted so Andrew could see his bandage, a surprisingly clean one too. “But no, no one told me anything else.” Zach quickly collapsed back into his sleeping position. “Sorry, it hurts to move a bit.” He said.

Andrew took a deep breath, he didn’t know what to do, he was completely lost. He never once in his life thought he would be in a situation like this. But he had to do it, he had to let Zach know what was happening. No sugar-coating. “Zach, the bite you got gave you an infection. A really, really bad infection. That’s why you have a fever and are so sweaty.” Zach looked at Andrew with obvious concern. Andrew took another deep breath, “The infection you have is the same one that created all these monsters. I don’t know if you know, but each monster was once just a person like you or me. They all died, and became the monsters that attacked camp.” Zach closed his eyes, and Andrew saw a tear slowly roll down his cheek. “Zach, this infection is likely going to kill you. Brad doesn’t think there is a cure, and we don’t have very much medicine. I wish there was a better way to put this, but Zach, there is a very good chance you’re going to pass away. Soon.” Andrew said. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. Zach was already crying, tears streaming down his cheeks and landing in the mattress.

“How long?” Zach managed to quietly mutter.

“We really don’t know. It could be hours, days... maybe a week.” Andrew said. Zach buried his face in his pillow. Andrew moved closer, to make sure Zach understood him. “Zach, I came here tonight because you have two options.” As Andrew said this, Zach turned his head back to face him. “The first one is you could try to ride it out. In the best case scenario, your body fights off the infection and you’ll be back to full strength in no time. But as I said, we don’t know anyone who has managed to do that even with medicine, and it might be extremely painful for you... and you might not make it.” Andrew said.

“What’s the other option?” Zach asked. Andrew gulped.

“I kill you. I shoot you in the head. It’s quick and it’s painless. Chances are you won’t even know it happened. But the consequence is you will be dead. There’s no coming back from that, there is no chance. You will be dead.” Andrew managed to say. He was trying to stay strong, even as he felt tears rolling down his face. Andrew watched Zach contemplate his options.

“Do I have to choose now.” Zach asked.

“You have too.” Andrew said, sadly.

“Which one... means there is no chance at all that i’ll become... a monster. Means I won’t be able to hurt anyone.” Zach said, weakly. His tears seemed to stop though, as he tilted his head to look into Andrew’s eyes.

Andrew sighed, he was still crying, but he kept his voice steady. “The first option leaves a very slim window of opportunity that you could die, unsupervised, and come back as a... monster. The second option leaves no chance. Brain damage kills Monsters.” Andrew could already tell what Zach’s decision was, and he didn’t like it.

“Kill me.” Zach whispered.

“Are you... sure? Completely sure?” Andrew asked, He didn’t want to do it, why couldn’t Zach choose the other option.

“I don’t want to risk coming back and hurting other people. And you told me Brad says there’s no cure, little chance I get better... please Andrew.” Zach begged. Andrew tried to block it out. And then Zach said the words that stuck out, and rang through Andrew’s head. “Please, Andrew, it’s mercy, not murder.”

Andrew suddenly felt the tears stop. He knew what Zach wanted, and he knew he had to deal with it. “Let’s go outside.” Andrew said, “You deserve one last breath of fresh air.” Andrew stood up, “Do you think you can walk at this point.” Zach shook his head no, and Andrew could see in his face that it was true. Andrew leaned down, picked him up, and brought him outside.

The moon was high overhead as Andrew brought Zach out in front of the nurses office, looking out on to the main field. Andrew sat Zach down and then sat next to him as the two gazed over the field, the forest, the lake, and the moon.

“It’s nice.” Zach said. Andrew laughed a bit.

“It is.” He said. The two sat in silence. “Do you have any requests?” Andrew asked.

“Tell Ivan it wasn’t his fault, I don’t blame him. He tried his best, and it just didn’t work. I don’t blame you or Brandon or Annaliese or anyone either. But make sure you tell Ivan, okay?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, I’ll make sure.” Andrew said. The two sat in silence once again, looking over the landscape. “It really is a beautiful moon.” Andrew said. The tears started again, running down his face. He sniffled a little.

“Mmhmm” Zach muttered. Tears were streaming down his face too, but he was still looking out over the field and lake. The two sat there in silence. Then Andrew stood up.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

Zach didn’t say anything. He just shook his head “no”. Andrew drew his pistol, turned off the safety, aimed it, and fired. Zach’s body slumped over, and Andrew fell to his knee’s and began to cry. But not the soft, composed cry he had been crying earlier. It was a hard, bad cry. A sad cry. A destroyed cry.