The Letter on the Door Dear reader, I taped this letter to our door as a record of my undying love for my wife Sarah. I don’t have to much time to write a full detail account of things and my memory is getting a bit foggy on the details, maybe due to the lack of sleep or something else. I was working in the grocery store late Halloween night when I met Sarah. Stocking the shelves on the overnight shift you don’t usually get to see anyone unless they happen to walk down the isle your in or you get a glance of them walking by towards another isle, if your lucky they might need to ask you something. So imagine my surprise when a gorgeous woman wearing a sexy witches costume walked up and asked where the energy drinks were. As I showed her where they were I asked how the costume party went and before I knew it we spent some time talking. We found out we had a lot of things in common from movies, music, video games and even a lack of a love life. Guys like me don’t get this lucky very often. So I asked her out on a date and she accepted. We had our first date a few days later, a horror film and dinner, both were her choices. Seven months after that we were living together in her apartment and on our way to our wedding. The wedding was nerve wracking and blissful all at once. I was marrying my soul mate and the love of my life. I can remember how beautiful Sarah looked in her dress, the scent of her perfume as she stood next to me, hearing her lovely voice as she said her vows, touching her hand as we exchanged our rings and feeling time stop when we kissed. Everything else was a blur for me and it didn’t matter then. It was at the hotel where the reception was, when things went to hell. Our flower girl, Julie suddenly went nuts and bit Sarah on the hand while they were dancing. It wasn’t a serious bite but enough to draw blood. I gave Sarah my handkerchief to try and stop the bleeding as we watched in shock as Julie tried to bite her father as he carried her out of the room. Ashley, Julie’s mother, apologized and said they were going to take her to the hospital. One of Sarah’s friends had gotten a first aid kit and sprayed the bite with antiseptic and bandaged the wound. A few hours later, the reception had died out and we said our farewells and left. Since neither of us were financially well off, we planned to spend two nights of our honeymoon at home before heading to a small resort up north for a week. We headed home for some fun and rest. On the way home I could remember the radio had mentioned some reports of people getting infected by some virus and attacking others. Sarah didn’t want anything to dampen the mood of our day so she pressed play on the CD player and we were shortly singing along to Rob Zombie. When we got to the apartment, it didn’t take long before we were taking each others clothes off while heading into the bedroom. We made love like it was the end of the world. I woke up first and looked over at Sarah sleeping next to me for a few minutes before heading into the shower. When I came out, she was standing by the window looking outside, the sun shining off her skin like an angels glow. Before I could say anything she turned around and attacked me and knocking me to the floor. We somehow managed to get tangled in the bedding and clothing on the floor. As we struggled, I rolled her up in the blanket and dropped her onto the bed. Before she could get free I used the sheets and tied her to the bed frame, first her arms and then her legs, to keep her from attacking me. It was the best I could do at the time without hurting her or her hurting me. As I brushed her brown hair out of her face she quickly tried to bite my hand. What had happened to her to change her into this feral creature before me? She had acted just like Julie yesterday. Except now its more physically apparent. Most notably the color of her skin is pale and even cold to the touch and her once glowing blue eyes are now glazed and milky. I called 911 and when I got a busy signal for several minutes I tried the hospital and got the same result. Was this that virus they mentioned on the radio yesterday? I needed some answers and decided to check the TV for news. It was worse than I could have imagined. The reporter talked about how masses of people were killing people, ripping them apart and eating them. That getting bitten by an infected person would spread the virus. That’s when it hit me. Julie must have been infected and now Sarah is. Was I now? I will not leave the woman I love even in her condition. So now I have a hard choice to make. Do I stay here with Sarah, freeing her and knowing that she will kill me? Do I let her bite me, loosen her restraints and sit behind the bathroom door to join her in this infected state? Or do I kill us both putting us out of our misery, knowing we will never be together like we were except in death? I leave the morality of my final decision to you, whoever you may be, and ask that you not judge me and pray that you don’t enter this apartment and just leave us in peace. Sincerely, James and Sarah Carpenter. Word count: 992 (997 with title) Inspiration: My twisted imagination and the film Dawn of the Dead (2004).