Deadlocked by A. R. Wise

Pony backpack filled with medical supplies and pulled a bag full of canned fruit along the dock behind her. Annie was too small to help out much, but she proudly hoisted a bag with two loaves of bread in it. She turned to smile at me and then dropped the loaves to wave.
    I waved back and she blew me a kiss. She picked the loaves back up and ran to catch up with her sister. Laura looked over her shoulder to see where I was. She cried out in panic for me to watch out as she tossed her bags into the boat.
    I looked back up the hill and saw what she was yelling about. Four zombies had crawled through the break in the fence that the thugs made when they crashed their truck.
    “Get to the boat,” Willia Fup, ieight="0"m said as he let me go.
    William and his son stood defiantly before the approaching zombies. Billy looked like he was facing down a major league pitcher as he stood there, holding his oar an inch over his shoulder in a stance he must have practiced a thousand times. William picked up a short piece of rebar and looked like an officer carrying a baton, ready to face off against a riot.
    The zombies rushed down the hill. They moaned and growled with hunger and were met with swift strikes by the father and son team. I moved forward to help, but William chastised me.
    “Get on the fucking boat you dumbass,” he said.
    I wordlessly complied and limped down the dock. I heard William speak to his son and realized he'd been yelling at him, not me.
    “I said get on the God damned boat, Billy.”
    “Me? What the…” Billy stammered as he fought along side his dad.
    “Get your ass on that boat.”
    “What about you?” asked Billy.
    “I’ll be there in a minute. You get that boat started and get these people out of here.”
    “God damn it, Dad. You’d better make it onto that fucking boat.”
    They bashed in the zombies' skulls as they yelled at each other. I struggled to get down the dock and Billy ran up behind me to help.
    “I love you,” said William.
    As Billy grabbed my arm and wrapped it over his shoulder I saw that he was crying. At that moment I understood what was happening. William wasn’t getting on the boat.
    “What’s he doing?” I asked.
    Billy shook his head and growled when he answered, “Trying to be a hero. The boat has to be running to move. We're sitting ducks if I can't get the engine started.”
    I looked back as we got onto the boat and saw William had positioned himself at the base of the dock.   At the top of the hill, the fence shook as more zombies climbed through the hole left by the thug’s truck. Five, six, seven, then ten, then fifteen zombies crawled through. William stood stoically at the base of the dock, his rebar held high, ready to do everything he could to make sure his son survived.
    Billy ran to the cabin at the front of the boat and tried to get the engine to turn over. He yelled at the machine and kicked at it as he struggled to get it going.
    I tried to push the boat away from the dock, but I didn’t have the strength. Laura ran over to help, but we couldn't get the vessel to budge.
    “The boat’s too damn heavy to push off without the motor going,” said B Nfontface="Tiilly as he watched from inside the boat's cabin. “That’s why Dad’s up there.”
    We looked up at William. He was losing the fight. The only question was how quick he would die.
    I felt the crushing weight of responsibility bear down on me. I saw William protecting his son, his family, and I knew what I had to do.
    Laura, Kim, and Annie stood in the center of the boat. I knelt down and pulled Annie close. Her tiny hands wrapped around my neck and I ran my fingers through her curly red hair. Then I reached out for Kim, who sobbed in fear. I pulled her cheek next to mine and kissed her over and over. I promised everything would be okay.
    I stood up and reached out to hold Laura’s hand. She was crying, as was I, and we gazed into each other’s eyes. I ran my thumb over the wedding band on