Barricade

• Anna

They had been cooped inside their room for a few hours already, and each hour proved worse than the previous one.

They had taken precautions, at Anna's urging. Left the window closed, but the curtains open to make it seem nobody was in. They now stayed away from the window as much as possible. The door was locked and they had, as quietly as they could, moved some furniture in front of the door to block it

And now they were both sitting on the floor and staring at the door while they whispered to each other. Anna surfed the internet relentlessly for any scrap of information, but there was nothing from any official source, leaving only a deluge of speculation and panicked fear.
'The claim day is real! Everybody stay safe!'
'Gettng claimed is the only way to stay safe. Sorry girlz, iz what it iz.'
'Don't trust the pigs! Nobody's coming to save you!!!! Arm yourselves, stay free!'
'If anyone is near Midwitch Street, please save my wife! I promise I'll give you money, whatever you want, no questions asked, in return for her safety! She's more worth to you unclaimed than claimed! I will be there in half an hour!'
'RULE OF THE STRONGEST, BABY!!!! THE BETAS AND THE CUCKS ARE GONNA LEARN TODAY WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MAN!!!!!'
'fkc, they're braking th door to women's bathroom five of us here!!! anyone help us pleas!'
'DON'T TRUST WOMEN! They're using clam bitches to lure free women out and claim them! Fuck all men and fuck claim women!'
'Claiming even works long distance, through sound, so staying inside doesn't matter. You may as well go outside and accept your fate, imo.'
'Can anyone tell me if being claimed hurts? My friend might have to claim me, but I'm so scared!'
'Lol rip'

Zarina had called her parents, but got no reply. Anna's call went far worse.

"Anna! My daughter, are you good? Are you safe?"

"I'm fine, mom!" She whispered back, holding the phone as close to her mouth as possible. "I'm hiding in my dorm though, things are so scary here."

"Oh my god, querida! Please stay in and don't let anyone find you! Your father is coming home soon and we'll find a way to - " but Anna's mother was interrupted by a loud bang, followed by a scream.

"Mom? Mom!" Anna raised her voice, despite herself, but from the other line she heard another scream, her mom's voice. She pleaded for her mother to reply, but heard nothing but a muted scuffle from the other side. Brief, followed by an ominous silence. "Mom...?" Asked Anna again, her voice small, terrified.

"Hey, querida. Sorry about that. I just dropped something," said her mother, her voice calm, so unlike her scream only moments ago. "Is there any way you can come to our house?"

"What?" Anna felt a deep dread down her throat, which felt suddenly dry and painful. "N-no? There's guys roaming all over the campus looking for women to claim. Are... Are you ok? Did something happen?" But Anna left unsaid what truly bothered her. The sudden shift in tone, from that terrified scream to... this. It reminded her too much of what she had seen multiple times, outside. But still, she hoped against all hope...

"Of course I'm fine, querida. I'm so sorry to scare you like that." It was her voice, her mannerisms. That is how she spoke when she wanted to soothe Anna when she was scared and her heart broke a little. Her mother couldn't be claimed. She couldn't believe it. "Can you tell me where you are in the campus then? I can come and get you then."

"What? No, you can't come by yourself!" Hissed Anna. "It's too dangerous. Is dad home yet?"

A pause, and at the edge of her hearing Anna heard a whisper, too low to make out the words but it was still audible. And it wasn't her mothers.

"There's someone else that can help us. Are you still in the same dorm as before, with that Arab girl?" Another pause. "Are you with her, or are you alone?"

Her mouth felt dry, she tried to speak, to say something meaningful, something that would make this horrifying situation right... But nothing came out. But her suspicions grew too grave for her to ignore. Too serious. She hated herself for even suspecting her mother, she hated this whole day, she wanted it to be nothing but a big nightmare. She felt herself cry, and even then it didn't feel real.

"I have to go. Bye, mom," she mustered eventually before ending the call. She then cried more on Zarina's shoulder and when her phone rang again, her mother's number, she sobbed harder, but refused to pick it up. The other woman soothed her as best she could, but this wound was too much. She could not even believe this had happened to her mother. It was too horrible a thought to dwell on. Denial was better than acceptance, pain was better, anything was better than facing that reality.

Now Zarina sat beside her, with the largest knife they had in her hand while glaring at the door. Anna couldn't understand how she could be so strong in this situation. Anna felt like she was going to break down any moment, she almost looked forward to men finally breaking down the door just so this horrifying situation would end somehow. But Zarina? The woman seemed ready to take on half the world rather than let them take her.

A sudden **** banging on their door startled them. "Anyone there?" Asked a terrified female voice from the other side. "Ohmygosh, if anyone's there please, please, please open up! They're looking for me, and if they find me I'll become like... One of them. Oh god, if anyone's there please open..."

Zarina gripped her knife firmly, but Anna could see her waver, considering it. Anna shook her head furiously, afraid to even speak.

'W h a t i f i t ' s t r u e ?' Mouthed Zarina, concern and fear in her face. She glanced again at the door, as someone on the other side knocked again desperately.

Anna shook her head again. 'T o o d a n g e r o u s !' She mouthed back.

"Please! If anyone's there, have a heart! Oh my god, they're almost here, pleeeeease!" The voice was ****. Zarina's knuckles where white where she gripped the blade. But she did not move or say another word.

Both of them were completely quiet, waiting for the door knocking to die down while feeling utterly miserable, when from beyond the door they barely heard a male voice, speaking so low it was barely audible. "Alright, try the next door." Then they heard footsteps moving away, too many to be one or two people. Zarina's face fell when she realized that she had almost opened the door to a trap.

They stayed quiet when they heard another man shout outside that any unclaimed women could come out of their rooms, and that they would be protected. All of this was punctuated by screams and loud noise all around them and outside. Fights, break-ins and all kinds of chaos. She hear a car screech and crash into something, somewhere on the parking lot. And disturbingly there was another noise that betrayed their current situation more than any other. Moaning. Some muffled, other disturbingly loud. But all around them as the day progressed they were more and more surrounded by sounds of sex.

The implication of those noises were not lost on the two women who huddled together in that hot room. And Anna was glad that Zarina was here with her. If she had been alone, she might have lost heart and given up after that horrifying call from her mother.

So when Zarina's phone buzzed with a call, it surprised the two of them. She glanced at the number and frowned before picking it up.

"Kaitlyn?" She asked, her voice hesitant.

"Hey Zarina," came the voice from the other side, ice cold and commanding. "Answer quick, you still free? Or are you now a **** to a gross dude?"

"What? Free! I... Nobody claimed me yet," Replied Zarina, before letting out a nervous giggle and adding, "inshallah, bitch."

There was a chuckle from the other side of the line, as the two shared some kind of private joke Anna was not privy to. But when this other woman replied, her voice was serious, although lowered to a hushed whisper. "Look, I'm still free, along with a group. We're trying to make it out of the campus... Wanna come with?"

Anna's eyes widened and she shook her head. ' T r a p !' She mouthed.

"How do we know you're not leading us into a trap?" Asked Zarina. "Wouldn't be the first time we saw this trick today."

"Yeah, we heard..." Kaitlyn's voice was low, angry. "We'll make our way to you and you can hear us out? I mean... Unless you're in a safe place. Then you're probably better off staying put. It's scary out here."

"... It's scary here too..." Confessed Zarina, much to the frustration of Anna, who made cutting gestures with her hands. 'D o n ' t t e l l h e r a n y t h i n g!'

"We'll protect you then," replied Kaitlyn with her tone brooking no dissent. "We'll go through this in more detail through text, ok? Stay safe until we get there. text me where you're hiding!"

The phone call was immediately cut short, only for Anna to shake her head furiously. "Do not trust them!" She whispered. "I bet it's another fucking trap! We can't trust anyone except, maybe, a guy that is trustworthy. Maybe."

Zarina looked less certain. "Do you have a better alternative? We can't hide in our dorm room forever!"

"Still better that risk getting caught by -"

But their arguing was stopped by a booming noise, coming from somewhere inside the building. It came from the first floor below them, a loud noise of something hard hitting wood. After a moment there was another boom, accompanied by the sound of wood splintering.

"Ca~an't hide in the~ere forever~!" Announced a sing-song male voice, also from the floor below, followed by laughter.

"Oh fuck..." Muttered Anna. "Oh no... They're breaking down someone's door."

Zarina and her looked at each other, the unspoken implication hanging over them ominously. What would they do if someone came to break down their door?