for storage and livestock. I found Camina jogging around a stubborn goat, munching on dry, colorless grass.
I grabbed her arm as she passed to slow her down.
“Hey,” I said. “We need to talk.”
“About what?” she smiled. The dark bags under her eyes were gone, and she seemed fresh and alert. I wondered if she’d truly forgotten last night, but there was no way she hadn’t seen me.
“Look I get it, I’ve felt the thirst before, but it’s wrong. We can’t do it like that.”
“Whatever. I know she was your friend but that thing in there is gone. She’s barely conscious. She doesn’t even notice.”
“I don’t care. You can’t just do what you like.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” Camina said, putting her hands on her hips. “You’re not champion, we’re not even chosen anymore. You don’t have some elevated status over me. And let me remind you, I didn’t ask to be here. You could have left me in the capital.”
“You were dying!”
“They would have saved me. They have more elixir in the capital than they know what to do with. If I was still there, I’d get two drops a day like the other chosen, not to mention hot showers, cold beer and real food. I’m just taking what’s mine.”
I tried to tell myself it was just the elixir talking. I knew it made you reckless and removed your filter. But I’d always considered Camina the steady, reliable counterpart to Jazmine’s fiery personality. I knew she was strong, but her newfound aggression startled me.
“I won’t let you keep feeding from her,” I said, squeezing my fists.
“You think you can stop me?” she said, leaning closer. “Where I grew up, life was cold, hard, tough – we survived by any means necessary. I’ve been training most of my life. You’re soft.”
She tore her arm away and flicked back her short blond hair.
“See you at dinner,” she said, shoving passed me.
I stormed back towards the cafeteria, frustrated. Camina was a warrior, trained for duty and honor. There had to be a way to make her see reason. Maybe Jazmine could get through to her. I didn’t like violating her trust like that, but she needed help. And it wasn’t just about Penelope; the thirst made people violent and unpredictable. I barely recognized her anymore.
I was so distracted I didn’t see Trevor and Luke until they were right in front of me.
“What is it?” I asked, seeing the tension on their faces.
We gathered in the makeshift underground laboratory. Technically, it was the health center, where med supplies were gathered, but someone had also lugged some large machines with blinking lights from an abandoned hospital a mile away, along with a rolling bed with built-in pads. Leather straps had been fashioned to the sides, and Penelope was already tied down when I arrived. Her eyes were wild, like a wounded animal, but she was calm – until she saw the syringe. Then she jerked back and let out a pained shriek that hurt my ears.
Trevor and Frank held her down. I reached for her hand, trying to calm her, but her nails dug into my skin, drawing blood.
“Shhh...” I said. “We aren’t going to hurt you. We just want to make you better.”
A tear slipped down her eye, and I wasn’t paying attention until Steve filled up the third vial with her blood. She shot me a look of angry accusation.
“What the hell! I just told her to trust us.”
“It was your idea,” Steve said. “We don’t know what this will do with our elixir supply, but it makes sense that, even if we save her, her blood will no longer retain its regenerative powers.”
“Fuck you,” I said. “She’s a person, not the fountain of youth.”
“At the moment,” Jacob interrupted, “she’s only the latter. If this works, she’ll be only the former. We’re just taking precautions.”
April tucked the vials away and held up a larger syringe, filled with shiny pink liquid that looked like dish soap. She looked at Jacob and he nodded.
Four of us had to hold her down, careful to avoid the snapping maw of her fanged mouth. She was starving, and being this close to so many warm-blooded humans must have been overwhelming. April found a vein and drove the needle deep under her skin. A discharge of black fluid crept up the chamber, before she emptied the vial slowly into Penelope’s blood.