14. Juliet

Since the attack,things have been different. Everyone is much quieter, more aloof, less smiley. Not even sunshine can cheer us up.

The feeders have been busy laying new alarm lines, rigging up new security cameras, putting reinforced metal bar locks on the dorm doors. There are bars on all the windows now, not just the dorms. The doors are locked while we eat. Armed guards stand at the door while we shower. I feel less and less like that free range chicken, and more like a battery hen. It's only a matter of time before they won't let us out anymore.

I stare at the bowl of ice cream on the table in front of me, watching as it melts slowly. They're giving us better food, trying to distract us and cheer us up. Like we're toddlers who'll be sated with a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

Matt puts a hand on my leg, and when I look up at him, he smiles at me.

"You OK?" He asks.

I nod, shoving my spoon into my bowl and pushing it away. "Yeah, just not hungry,"

Gina eyes me from across the table with all the concern of a worried mother. "Sweetie, you've barely eaten in days."

I shrug. "I'm not hungry."

I can practically feel that she and Matt exchange a glance, but I don't lift my gaze until I sense movement at the door. I look up, and Silas walks into the cafeteria. His eyes land on me straight away, and where a few months ago I'd have hated that he's looking at me, the way his face melts as he looks at me just makes me want to cry. He looks so worried. He looks like he really cares.

Matt's arm is instantly around my shoulders, and I drop my eyes back to the table. He told me he didn't want Silas around me, and I need to respect that. I know that.

"That fucking guy," Matt mumbles.

"He's just worried," I say quietly.

Suddenly there's a shout, and something smashes at the other end of the room. We all crane our necks to see what's going on, and two of the men at the far table have gotten to their feet and are hurling the bowls of ice cream against the walls.

The feeders are yelling at them to stop, but the men keep going.

"You think you can buy us off with fucking ice cream?" One of them yells, throwing another bowl at the window, which smashes around the metal bars that now sit against it. "We're all here at the mercy of those fucking zombies and you're here feeding us fucking ice cream?"

Silas approaches them with out-stretched hands as more feeders rush into the cafeteria behind him.

"Hey man," Silas says, "I know you're frightened, but we're doing everything we can."

Matt scoffs, rising to his feet. "Fuck you, you fucking freak!"

Gina eyes him with alarm, and I try to pull him back down onto the bench.

"Matt, shut up," I say urgently, but Matt shakes me off, rounding the table to join the men who are throwing bowls.

"You fucking freaks are leaving us out here like lambs to the slaughter," Matt says, and more people get up from their tables, agreeing and sweeping bowls off the tables.

Silas watches Matt approach, and his gaze is lethal.

"Everyone needs to calm down!" The red-headed feeder climbs up on a chair, her hands held up. "We told you all, we're going to protect you!"

Someone hurls a bowl directly at her, and she jerks out of the way. Suddenly it's like the room explodes, and everyone is throwing everything they can at the feeders. Everyone is yelling at the same time, a symphony of fury and anguish that's so loud I cover my ears with my hands.

Matt rushes at Silas, who bares his fangs.

He's going to fucking kill him.

I try to fight my way across the room, feeders grabbing humans and wrestling them to the ground. By the time I reach Matt and Silas, Matt is against the wall with Silas's arm pressed against his throat.

I grab Silas's shoulder, and his head snaps around to look at me.

"Stop!" I plead. "Please stop! Don't hurt him!"

Silas's eyes are blazing red, but his face changes as he looks at me. I wrap my hands around his arm, trying to pull him away from Matt.

"Please, Silas." I shake my head. "Please, don't hurt him."

He sucks in a breath when I say his name.

Matt looks back and forth from Silas to me, then gunshots have us all ducking. A feeder has an assault rifle in their hands, and is firing at the ceiling. They're probably blanks, but the sound has me instantly on the floor with my hands over my head. Someone is over me, shielding me with their body, and I turn my head, expecting to see Matt's face.

But it's Silas, covering me, arms caging me in as he looks around the room. "Stay down," he barks at me as the gunfire continues.

I huddle underneath him, clutching my hands to my mouth to stop myself from screaming.

Finally the gunfire stops. There's shouted commands of "get up" and "move", and I peer out from underneath Silas to see feeders hauling people to their feet, shoving them out the door. The two men who started it all are being held against the wall next to the doors.

Silas gets up into a crouch and pulls me into a sitting position. He clutches my face in his hands and looks me over.

"Are you OK? Did I hurt you?" He runs a hand over my head.

"I'm fine, you didn't hurt me."

He gives me a weak smile, stroking my cheek gently. "Good."

He's thrown to the ground and away from me as Matt starts pounding his fists into him. "I told you to stay the fuck away from her!" Matt's voice is shrill with fury, his fists flying.

"Matt, stop!" I try to pull him away, even though I know Silas doesn't need any help. But one of Matt's punches misses, and his elbow smashes into my cheek bone as he pulls his arm back to lay into Silas again. I'm thrown flat on my back, cloudy white stars floating in my vision.

I'm aware of Matt over me, asking if I'm OK, saying sorry over and over again. I blink rapidly, trying to focus through the throbbing pain in my face.

"I'm OK," I murmur, letting him help me up. "I'm OK, I'm fine."

"I never meant to hurt you," Matt says, clutching me to his chest. "I'm so sorry."

I lean into him, my head feeling fuzzy. "It's OK, really."

Silas is standing next to us, his face dark with anger. He wants to kill Matt, I can see it in his eyes. But he says nothing, backing away from us as other feeders herd us out of the cafeteria and into the yard.

It's getting dark, and we're all ordered to stay there on the grass.

The red-headed vamp stands at the cafeteria doors, pulling a handgun from her waistband. The two men who started the mini riot are dragged out and thrown to their knees in front of her.

"You all want to riot?" She asks loudly. "You all want to start throwing things and acting like fucking barbarians? When we're doing everything we can to protect you?" She's livid. She's so angry, she's shaking. "So you all know, this is how we deal with rioters."

The crowd cries out as she points her gun at the back of the head of one of the men. I want to cover my face, I don't want to see it, but I'm frozen in place.

The man's face explodes in a shower of blood and bones, brain matter flinging across the ground. The gunshot is drowned out by the screams around me.

The other man is on his back, crawling away from her, his lips moving as he probably begs for his life and promises to never do it again. The vamp advances on him, and shoots him square in the forehead. He goes limp, stretched out on the dusty ground.

The red-head turns to us, pointing her gun in the air. "Anyone else?" She shouts.

We all fall silent but for the soft sounds of people crying. She looks at us all, eyebrows raised, red eyes blazing.

"This is how we treat rioters." She points the gun at the bloody corpse at her feet. "If you want to end up like them, then you do what they just did. We will not tolerate any unrest. Do I make myself clear?"

She's answered with nothing but silence. She exhales heavily, tucking her gun away, and waves a hand towards us. "Get them into the dorms," she orders.

"See?" Matt whispers to me as we walk. "I told you. They're monsters. These feeders are all fucking monsters."