“Catch me if you can!” Lauren called out to her friend, Jenna, behind her. She ran down 27th as fast as she could, eying the turn at 3rd up ahead. Casting a glance behind her back, she checked to see how far away her friend was. In her distraction, she turned around too late and crashed into a Shepherd, a placement officer—the only person she truly feared.

“Name and status?” He demanded.

“Lauren Worthington, infected.”

The Shepherd spit on the ground in front of her. “Dirty middie,” he called her. Middie: the term for people who were infected, since the whole thing started in the Midwest. Jenna appeared behind Lauren, her filling with dread at the sight of the Shepherd.

“Jenna Castellan, infected,” She said without being asked.

“What are you two doing out this time of day?” he wondered dangerously.

“Just coming home from school, sir.” Jenna replied.

The Shepherd scoffed at that. “They still let you middies go to school?”

“Even bloodsuckers deserve an education, sir.” Jenna said boldly—too boldly.