DEVIL, DEVIL (Michael Langdon)

iv.

Eighteen months passed.

The song was bullshit, it seemed. Judas thought he was going to go insane every time he entered the sitting room, surrounded by the sound of Maureen McGovern's voice. Today was no different, the room dead silent as the song reached its chorus. Judas leaned back into his seat, letting out a sigh. "Maybe it's time to eat somebody," Gallant spoke up from beside Judas, the suggestion more out of boredom than any real hunger. Cabin fever was certainly real, and they were all experiencing it.

"Been there," Judas whispered. "Done that."

"Even just, like, an arm," Coco said.

"Can we please not talk about this?" Judas begged when even Andre said nothing. The memory of the bones in the stew had left a standing impact on him.

In the year that passed of them being stuck, a lot happened in some ways, even if the days passed the exact same with no change. Emily and Timothy, even if they never told anyone, had certainly started to develop feelings for each other. Judas wasn't sure if they had slept together, but he was sure that, when they did, somehow, Venable would find out. She had a way of knowing everything that happened in Outpost Three.

Judas and Gallant had disregarded that rule entirely. It was stupid of them, but they had needs, and they were going crazy, trapped there in the outpost with no other way to entertain themselves. Judas didn't even like Gallant that much, but he was the only other gay guy in the outpost, besides Andre, and there was no way in hell Judas was getting through to him. At least Gallant was hot. But it was only a matter of time until they were found out.

One morning, they received only half a cube for their meal. "I have an announcement," Ms. Venable said. "This will be our last breakfast. We're cutting back to one meal a day."

"You can't be serious," Coco stated.

"An effective dieting technique," Evie said with a shrug.

"Yeah, so is starving to death!" Coco replied.

"How are we supposed to survive on half a cube?" Gallant demanded.

Ms. Venable managed to stay calm despite their annoyance. "It's not optimal, but also not impossible. Either way, we have no choice. Not if we want to keep eating at all."

Judas let out a sigh, resigning himself to take a small bite of the cube in front of him. As he brought the fork to his mouth, Gallant suddenly slammed his hands on the table. "I fucking can't do this anymore!" he cried. Judas caught him by the wrist, giving him a pointed look.

"We don't know how strong we are until we face adversity," Dinah spoke up with her damn ever-calm voice. "This could be an opportunity for all of us to grow."

The sound of Gallant's chair scraping across the floor made Judas wince. "Finish that bumper sticker shit you used to say on your show, and I'm strong enough to shove this fork in your neck!" Gallant snapped, brandishing the utensil at Dinah with a fire in his eyes.

"Oh, calm down," Evie said.

Coco joined the conversation. "What is the point of all of this?" she demanded. "Starving, killing each other, getting shot? All we're doing is waiting around to find out how we die."

"I say we take our chances outside," Mallory spoke up from her station at the door.

Gallant nodded at that. "She's right. We have to get out of here."

"Nobody's going anywhere," Ms. Mead stated, her voice firm and cold.

For a moment, Judas was sure Gallant was going to sit back down. Instead, the other man took hold of his plate, throwing it at the wall as if it were a Frisbee. It shattered as it hit the floor. "What are you gonna do?!" Gallant cried, backing away as a guard began to advance on him. "Shoot us all? Huh?! What are you gonna do?"

Ms. Venable rose from her seat, a dark look in her eyes as she opened her mouth to answer Gallant's question.

She didn't get to speak, because suddenly an alarm began to blare, making Judas want to cover his ears as the room was cast in red light. In the entrance hall, Gallant and his pursuer stopped. "Perimeter alert. There's been a breach," one of the guards said.

Ms. Mead rose from her seat, quickly following the guard toward the doors. Judas got to his feet slowly, moving to take Gallant by the arm. "You're a fucking idiot," he whispered, but Gallant had no reply.

Judas held onto him. He couldn't help but be afraid of what might have been outside the gates.