Page 31 of Afflicted

I clutch on to Matt’s hand, and his eyes are wide with panic as he looks at me.

“Why aren’t they shooting?” He asks. “Why the fuck-“

The dorm doors fly open, and Afflicted pour in.

I can’t scream, I can’t make any noise at all. I shuffle backwards from the shrieking, groaning figures. They descend on the people closest to the door. They don’t stand a chance. It’s all over for them.

Matt’s scrambling alongside me, and I look around frantically for Gina. The Afflicted are tearing through those poor people, and the screaming is fucking awful. Something hot is running down my cheeks, and I figure it’s tears, but I’m too fucking terrified by what’s going on in front of me to even register whether I’m crying.

We’re going to die.

This is it.

I turn to Matt and grab on to his hands. We’re about to die. I don’t know what else to say to him. He strokes my cheek, wiping away the tears.

“I love you,” I blurt out. I don’t even know if I do, but right now it feels like the best thing to say, the only thing to say.

“I love you too.” He puts his arms around me. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

We hold on to each other, knowing those will be the last words we say to each other. I don’t even feel anything. It’s like I floated away already. I clench my eyes shut as I nuzzle into Matt’s chest, wondering what it will feel like to die.

It can’t be that bad, right? Warmth and white light. It’ll be OK.

All of a sudden the sounds around us change, and the dorm is lit up with an explosion of flames. The Afflicted shriek and wail, and I peek over Matt’s shoulder to see the dorm doors burning. People scramble across the floor towards us, coughing and retching as the room fills with smoke.

Bullets ping off the walls and ceiling, and I cower against the bed next to me, terrified of being hit by a ricochet.

The Afflicted become quieter and quieter, and then feeders are advancing, killing every last Afflicted as they move into the dorm. My heart does a weird little flip as I spot Silas, handgun drawn and pointed at the screeching creatures on the floor. He fires without compunction, and finally all that’s left is the sound of flames crackling and the folks around us crying.

“Are you OK?” Matt asks, holding my face in his hands.

I nod, clutching on to his arms, and suddenly I’m sobbing as all the adrenaline wears off. I can’t stop shaking, I’m so scared. He helps me to my feet as the feeders direct us out of the dorm. Outside, a large part of the compound is burning, and feeders are running around with guns and flamethrowers, dealing with the last of the Afflicted as they lie on the ground.

Smoke grazes down my throat, and I cough. Matt is at my back, rubbing me soothingly.

“It’s OK, we’re OK.” He keeps saying it over and over, and then suddenly hands are on us, shoving us towards the yard.

“Line up!” A feeder yells, and we all form a shivering, coughing, sobbing line on the grass. The flames illuminate wide, terrified eyes, faces covered in soot. My jaw is chattering, and I can't control my hands, so I jam them against my body with my arms.

Feeders begin to make their way down the line, looking us over. I’m too numb to realize what the fuck they’re doing, until one of them steps back, raises a gun and fires. I jump back from my place in the line, and now I’m shaking so violently I can barely stand.

They move down the line again, pulling out someone’s arm. I hear protests, garbled insistence of “It’s fine! It’s just a -” The words are cut off as another gunshot rings across the lawn.

Some of us were bitten. They’re Afflicted now, carrying this horrible fucking disease that would kill them slowly, that would infect their blood and make them useless to the vamps. I try to tell myself that it’s mercy, it’s kindness. If they didn’t kill them now, they’d be choking on their blood as it filled their lungs.

This is a good thing.

But as another shot echoes through the night, only a few people away from me, I’m so terrified I can’t think. I’m going to faint.

The feeders stop in front of me, and a hand reaches out, unclenching my arms from across my chest.

“Come on now,” a voice says, and I look up into a pair of rusty red eyes.

It’s Silas. His hands are warm, and his face is soft as he gazes at me.

“It’s alright,” he says quietly. “Let me look you over.”

I shake my head. “They didn’t get anywhere near me, it-it was -th-they were… They weren’t…”

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