The Dracula Index - Vampire Epoch//01

8 - Mell

After another hour of questions like, "Why can't we leave?", "Why can't we have emotional attachment?", "Are other encampments the same?" and "What else do you know that you aren't telling us?", Teacher Deirdre allowed us to get out of our seats to inspect the crates at the front of the room. I touched every single item inside to feel the history for myself. Bryne seemed more interested in the strange emblems on a few items that spoke of Elder Councils long past.

I thought it would make me feel more alone knowing that we had once been so connected, but the opposite was true. The encampment walls are like the whispered cell bars below the Council Chamber. That's where they once locked Trigger, the old and insane former Watchman, after the first time he went into a rage for not being allowed to climb over the razor wire fence. He had been locked down there for a week. We've been trapped here our whole lives. For the first time ever, as I examined objects that had once connected everyone alive, I felt that there was more. That at least there was an opportunity, even if I never got the chance to experience it myself, to see more than the hills that surround our valley and the trees that have provided shade.

At the close of our questioning hour, we were joined by the seven job-heads who each held pins for the color of their job. Elder Hemaris warned us that the ceremony had been canceled, so we all knew this was a punishment, and that we were missing the opportunity to stand before the rest of the encampment to be congratulated, which is the single most important moment in anyone's life. And since no one was watching the job-heads, there was no need for formality.

The head of the Guardians came first. It was an older woman. I don't know her name, but she pinned Felicity. This came as no surprise to us, especially after the way she defended Trigger at the fence the night of the disturbance. Roz became a Cooker. Then came the Trader head, who pinned Lane. She seemed content with the job, but I was devastated. It meant that my destiny rested in the other jobs remaining. Next, the head of the Scavers and the Watchmen came forward. Rufus became a Scaver, like we all thought he would, being the fastest among us. His face seemed to be petrified as they stuck the gray pin that Bryne had always wanted through his shirt. Oscar wore his red Watchmen pin with pride, joining Felicity's older brother Masen, who was born of the Breeder and Bearer who were in love. I think I already mentioned that. Probably because it's on my mind a lot right now. And that's who came next.

There was only four of us left. And two job heads. I held my breath the entire time. My lungs still ache from it. I've never seen Bryne so jittery. But the worries were for nothing, just as we expected because the yellow pins went to Edie and Crevan. Beautiful Edie. She was so distraught over seeing the yellow pin on her fine-whites that she sped from the room, crying. As a group, we ran after her. She didn't even know where she was headed. Suddenly, Edie was at the Scaver's entrance, which had been left open so Job Priest could take Lenny out to the desolate patch to view the mound of dust. She didn't get far, maybe a hundred feet, before Felicity's brother, Masen, took action from Watchtower C. He tucked his long blonde hair behind his right ear, raised his rifle, and fired a bullet through her left shoulder.

Through the turmoil of the moment, Bryne and I had forgotten what life-job was even left to be pinned. But, as we turned away from the Scaver's entrance, we saw the job-head of the Generals waiting in the courtyard of Classroom 6 with two black pins. General Task, the worst job at the encampment. It was the most tragic moment of all because we realized that for the rest of our lives, Bryne and I would be forced to do anything for R-34. Any menial job. The ones that no one wanted. Most Generals have a life expectancy that is similar to the Scavers, because they always found a creative way to end their own lives.