4. Juliet

Rain drumsagainst the tin roof above me, and for once a cool breeze moves through the dorm. Everyone is at lunch but I've been put on bed rest for some dumb reason. I'm not going to question it because I'm alone and I'm so happy. I've been able to just lie here and read while the rain drums down, and it's blissful.

After I collapsed yesterday the rest of my draining was canceled for this week, and I'm on an extended break. Thank god for that. Bruises are blooming on my skin from the botch job the feeder did, and I don't even want to think about how bad they would be by the end of the week.

I glance over at Larry's bed and feel a pang. I can't believe they just killed him. I should be more upset about it, but I guess the feeders' blase attitude is fueling my own. You care less and less about the sanctity of life when the whole world's gone to shit and everyone's dead.

A breeze blows a sheet of rain against the glass behind me, and I tilt my head to catch a glimpse of the overcast sky. I wonder what the rest of the world looks like now. I know the big cities are all destroyed. The Affliction traveled so fast there, wiping out whole populations in months.

My parents took Kaden and I to Paris once, when we were 12. It was beautiful. I remember making myself sick eating macarons, the green ones were my favorite. It's all gone now, I bet. I wonder if there's some colonies out in the French countryside, like this one, where they farm free range humans for the feeders. There has to be, right?

The door at the end of the dorm opens, and a feeder walks in, gesturing for someone to follow him. A young man walks in, messy dark brown hair hanging over his forehead. He ambles along behind the feeder, a sports bag slung over his shoulder.

I sit up in bed, and the man smiles at me as he approaches.

"Hey, I'm the new arrival," he says jovially. The feeder stops at the bed next to mine, Larry's old bed, and the man throws his bag down. They really didn't waste any time replacing Larry as quickly as possible.

"This will be your bed," the feeder says, "there's a locker underneath for your things."

"Yeah, thanks," the man says, sitting down on the bed and leaning back on his hands. He smiles at the feeder. "You can go now."

The feeder glares at him, then shakes his head and leaves quickly. The man looks back at me and shakes his head, grinning.

"I'm Matt."

"I'm Juliet." I extend my hand. He takes it and smiles, revealing a mouth full of white teeth that glow against his tanned skin.

God, he's fucking gorgeous. His shoulders are broad and his hand is strong and warm. He looks to be about 30 or so.

And he's going to be sleeping next to me. Jesus shitting christ.

"You been here long?" Matt asks, releasing my hand to slouch back on his bed.

I sigh, nodding. "Yeah, almost 5 years now."

Matt raises his eyebrows. "Holy shit."

"Where did you come from?"

"Breeding farm, over near Charleston."

My jaw drops. "A breeding farm?" I"ve never met anyone from one of those places. The feeders' barbaric program to keep a steady supply of humans. I've spent many nights thanking my lucky stars that I didn't end up in one of those places.

Matt nods, rising to his feet to unzip his sports bag. "Yeah, it was fucking weird. I have like 25 kids and don't know any of them."

My skin crawls. "That's awful, I'm so sorry."

He shrugs as he starts unpacking his things. "I'm out of there now. If I never see another viagra in my lifetime I'll be happy." He grins at me. "And now I get to sleep next to you every night, so, everyone wins, right?"

I give a little awkward laugh. "I don't snore from what I'm told, so lucky you."

"If you tell me you sleep naked my life will be complete." He laughs, then looks at me sheepishly. "Sorry, I don't mean to be creepy. I'll stop."

I shake my head and smile. I'm enjoying the flirting, because Matt is so handsome and I'm also feeling lonely as fuck all of a sudden. "No, it's fine. We have to do what we have to do to get along, right?"

"I guess so." He dumps his things into the locker and sends it back under the bed with a kick. "Are you sick? Is that why you're in here alone during the day?"

I pull my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. "I collapsed after draining yesterday, so I got written off for the week."

"Did they take too much?"

I shrug. "They dragged off the guy whose bed you have now, took him out back and shot him like he was an old horse or something. It got me a little worked up."

Matt scoffs. "Jesus, that's fucked up. I'm sorry." He leans forward and rubs my arm. "That's awful."

"I guess it's just part of life around here, huh?"

"Still fucked up." Matt replies, rubbing the back of his neck and tipping his head back. "It's so hot here."

"Yeah get used to it, this dorm is like an oven during the night."

Matt looks around the room and shakes his head. "Breeding farm is like a five star hotel compared to this."

I give a cynical laugh. "Think I'd take this over being forced to do… that."

"Yeah that"s for damn sure," he replies, and his expression darkens for a second. He gives himself a shake and rises to his feet. "I guess I should let you rest and see if they need me somewhere else."

I reach out for him without thinking, suddenly not wanting to be alone so badly after all. "Hey, no, you can rest for a while, you just had a long drive here, right?"

The dorm door flies open and we both look to see the feeder who wouldn't stop staring at me walk in. I feel a flush rise in my cheeks as a faint memory washes through my mind, of him carrying me to my bed yesterday, sweeping me up in his arms like I weighed nothing.

He walks towards us, his hands in his pockets, he always looks so fucking casual, like he's strolling into a coffee shop or something. He looks Matt up and down when he stops at the end of my bed, then looks down at me. "You feeling better?" He asks.

I shrug. "I guess so."

"I've told them to give you extra supplements for the next week."

"Great. Thanks."

His rusty red eyes stay fixed on me, flickering for a millisecond to my bare legs. "Your donation has been canceled for tomorrow."

"I know, they told me." I just want him to go away and stop staring at me. When he doesn't move, I raise my eyebrows. "I'm fine, thanks."

His lips move, as though he's dragging them against his fangs, then he turns abruptly and heads back out of the dorm, the door falling closed behind him.

"Friend of yours?" Matt asks with a chuckle.

I roll my eyes. "That guy freaks me out. He keeps staring at me."

"Maybe he's hungry?"

"Oh shut up," I say, and I can't help but smile as Matt bursts out laughing.

"Hey, maybe he thinks you're hot." Matt shrugs. "I mean, you are, so…"

I flush again and shake my head. "I'm a mess, are you kidding?" I run my blonde hair self-consciously through my hands. It used to be lighter, back when I could go to a salon and get highlights, now it's just a sandy kind of color, and way too long.

"Nah, you're cute," Matt says, grinning. "I mean it, those freckles." He gestures across his own face, over his nose, indicating the freckles that stray there on my face. "They're real cute. Very girl-next-door."

I scoff. "Yeah, OK. You can stay. You're going to be good for my ego."

"I hope so." He smiles. "I guess I'd better go. I'll see you at bedtime then?"

"I'll be right here," I reply. And then I remember he and I will be scheduled to shower in the same shift tonight because we're not up for draining, and I think I'm going to cringe myself into oblivion.

He leaves the dorm with a wave, and I throw myself back on the bed. The ceiling fan spins around and around. My eyes get heavy, and I drift off as thunder rumbles outside.

* * *

The siren sounds justas we're being ushered into the bathroom block. The high-pitched wail sends chills down my spine, and everyone begins to murmur in collective panic. Gina grabs on to my hand.

"I was wondering when this was going to happen," she says, her eyes flickering from the feeders back to my face. "There hasn't been an attack in a while."

"Yeah, like 6 months now right?" I just hope this horde is smaller than the last one.

Gina nods, opening her mouth to speak but she's interrupted as the feeders start barking commands, telling us to move out into the yard. The siren drones on overhead as we're herded back to the dorms, and feeders are running towards the gates, guns slung over their shoulders.

I look up into the observation tower, and there's a flurry of activity up there too. A chill runs through me, and Gina grasps my hand tighter like a concerned mother as she no doubt feels me trembling.

Fucking Afflicted. These attacks scare the shit out of me. Last time they nearly made it in, I think one of them actually did, because the next day a few feeders were gone and we never saw them again. I'm guessing they got infected, but no one ever tells us anything.

We're unceremoniously shoved into the dorm, and then the door is closed behind us, the heavy metallic lock falling into place. Gina and I go to our beds, putting our things back into the lockers. Gina must be scared too, because she sits beside me on my bed, holding my hand.

Matt sits down opposite us. "This happen a lot?"

I shrug. "Last couple of years it's been a lot less frequent, the first two years it happened nearly every week."

Gunfire sounds in the distance, and Gina flinches. A few people cry out in surprise, and someone sobs softly nearby. If the Afflicted make it in, we all die. The feeders can survive an infection, even though they'll be outcasts, roaming around just like the horde attacking us now. But we'll all be dead. Either the virus will take us out, or the crazed feeders will kill us before it gets a chance.

Heavy footfalls sound right outside the window, and we can hear shouted commands. The siren stops blaring, and the eerie silence that falls suddenly is somehow worse. We all just sit and wait - what else can we do?

"This ever happen at the farm?" I ask Matt quietly.

He nods, a pained expression on his face. "They only made it in one time, but it was bad. They got to the maternity ward and…" He trails off as Gina gasps, and shakes his head. "Never mind."

Without thinking I reach across and take his hand, which he grasps tightly. We all need comfort right now.

The fact that the attacks aren't happening as often should probably comfort me. The Afflicted are probably dying off, starving to death slowly. They'll all die out eventually, right? But in the meantime, are they getting more desperate?

There's an explosion somewhere nearby, and a collective shriek goes up in the dorm. Fuck, fuck, fuck. They're trying to blow open the gate, that has to be it. Gina throws an arm around my shoulders, clutching me to her to comfort herself as much as me.

We're so fucked.

I should want to die, right? Why would I want to keep living like this? This sucks. It's not a life. It's an existence.

But I don't want to die. I don't want to end my life in agony, suffocating on my own blood as my lungs fill with it. Like my mom, my dad, like my poor brother who fucking died alone on our kitchen floor, the phone clutched to his mouth as he begged me to help him. All I could do was tell him I loved him. All I could do was listen to him die.

Tears bite at my eyes, and I turn my face into Gina's shoulder. I'm scared. I'm fucking terrified.

There's another explosion, and the ground beneath us quakes. Gina and I sink to the floor, Matt joining us quickly. And the others all follow suit, as though being lower to the ground will somehow help us.

There's gunfire right outside the dorm, and there's a sound, a bloodcurdling groaning sound, like something from a zombie movie. Afflicted. They're in the compound. We're thin metal walls away from them. We're going to die. Fuck, we're going to die.

Bullets ping off the outer walls of the dorm and I press my hand to my mouth to stop myself from screaming. Gina is crying now, silent tears rolling down her cheeks as she clutches on to me.

"It's OK," Matt whispers, moving closer to us, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's going to be OK."

I nod. I know it's not going to be OK. We're fucked. But I nod anyway.

There's a sharp pinging sound, followed by another explosion, but this one is smaller, maybe it's further away? There's a chorus of sharp cries outside, and I can smell something, like bug spray almost, sharp and sweet and deeply unpleasant. It burns my throat and makes me cough, coating my tongue in a furry layer.

Something starts banging and clawing on the door, shrieking wildly. We're all silent but the room is so taut with terror we may as well all be screaming. I clasp Matt's hand on my shoulder, and we keep our eyes fixed on the door.

They're here. They're right here, trying to get in. They know where we are. They've found us. Maybe the feeders have abandoned us now, too worried about themselves. They'll make more humans. They can just breed them, they don't need us. They left us to preserve themselves.

Bullets slam into the door, and I can't help but cry out. There's shouting, so much shouting and so many heavy footsteps outside. More bullets fly, and one of the windows cracks from side to side.

And then suddenly, the shrieking stops. Everything goes quiet, well, as quiet as it can considering what's just happened. The air becomes lighter, and I try to breathe normally, to stop the air rasping into my lungs in a panic. I begin to shiver violently as the adrenaline of the moment floods my body, and Gina hugs me tight.

"Is it over?" She asks after a few minutes.

There are voices outside. Feeders talking. I strain to hear what they're saying, to get any hint of detail, to try and glean what's fucking happening. I swear one of them says "eliminated".

Matt rises tentatively to his feet, creeping up the wall underneath the window, angling his head to peer out. He looks left, then right, then drops back down to the ground. He crawls over to us and shakes his head.

"I think they got them all," he whispers. "There's feeders out there, and they seem pretty relaxed."

The speaker mounted on the wall overhead crackles to life. "Please remain in the dorms and remain calm," the voices announces robotically. "Lockdown conditions will remain until morning." There's a high-pitched whir as the announcement ends, and the speaker falls silent.

We all climb slowly onto our beds, fear etched into the faces around me.

"Shit." Matt sits down heavily, his eyes still widened with mild shock. "What a first day."

"Yeah," I say with a nervous laugh, "welcome to Hell."