We have been sitting in this room for a while now, ever since they gave us all hospital robes to wear a few hours ago, and it is becoming unnerving. The room gives off a fake sense of calm, the walls a cream color with pictures of families smiling. The happiness of the families in the photos clash with the tension in the room, all of us sitting on edge.

Delaney is the only one who seems to not be on high alert, sitting back in a chair and reading an outdated magazine that had been stacked on the table in front of him. The brothers are whispering to each other, their eyes flitting around the room as they try to take everything in. Finn keeps me close to his side, his arm wrapped around my waist and Viola sleeping against his chest.

Delaney eventually looks up from the magazine he is reading, eyes looking in between all of us. With a long sigh, he sets the magazine down, not speaking until all of us are focused on him.

"The way this works is that they will take us into an exam room, where they will draw some blood. Using these samples, they will determine which group you belong in: helpers or fertiles."

"What's the difference between the two?" I ask, already dreading his answer.

Delaney sits back in his chair. "The thing with this disease is that almost everyone has been affected by it. It spread fast, and anyone not immune became infected within a week of it reaching their area. Now, the only people alive are those who are completely immune to the disease, or those who are only carriers of the gene that makes them unaffected."

"What's the difference?" Jacob asks.

"It's like the genes for eye color," I say, shifting so that I am in a more comfortable position. "If you have a parent with blue eyes and a parent with brown eyes, you are more than likely to have brown eyes, since it is a dominant trait. But, you are also a carrier for blue eyes, even if you don't have them.

"So, some people are completely immune to the disease, meaning they got the trait from both parents. But, some people are just carriers, meaning they got the trait from only one parent."

"Exactly," Delaney says, looking impressed.

"Nursing student," I say, answering his silent question.

"So, what you're saying is that everyone who is still alive has some combination of traits that make them immune to this disease that is wiping most of us out."

Delaney nods his head. "Exactly."

"Does this have anything to do with why we were captured?" Danny asks.

"It has everything to do with it," Delaney answers. "They are trying to develop a cure and have been ever since this disease broke out more than a year ago somewhere on the other side of the globe.

"They have tried all different types of techniques, probably more than I know of, but they seem to be set on gathering a certain type of stem cell."

"Oh no," Finn grumbles, and I whole heartedly agree. Stem cells are very rare in adult bodies, being most prominent in younger bodies, seeing as they are undifferentiated cells.

Delaney gives Finn a stiff smile, his face one of disgust. "Yeah."

"Someone explain, please," Danny says, looking in between the three of us with wide eyes.

We exchange looks before Finn lets out a long sigh. "It means that they are more than likely trying to collect the most useful and abundant type of stem cells: perinatal stem cells."

"Perinatal?" Jacob says, eyebrows scrunched together. "Does that mean they have something to do with babies?"

I nod my head. "Exactly. Perinatal stem cells are the ones found in the umbilical cord blood and the amniotic fluid. That's why some people save their baby's cord blood, just incase they have some type of serious illness where they might need their stem cells."

Danny shakes his head, the confusion clear on his face. "So what does this have to do with why they captured us?"

"Remember how I said that they separate us into two groups?" Delaney asks. We all nod our heads. "Well, the helpers are those who are only carriers of the immunity gene, so they are responsible for the upkeep of this place. The fertiles, though, are the ones that really excite the people here. They make two people who are fertiles reproduce to create a fetus, and then they will wait until the baby is born so that they can collect the stem cells."

"They make two people have sex together?" I ask, horror in my voice. "Isn't that rape?"

Delaney nods his head. "Yes, and at first they didn't care. But since that failed, they now take the sperm of a male, still against his will, and use it to impregnate a woman, against her will as well. Before I left, they only had one person who had managed to become pregnant, the others had miscarried at only a few weeks."

"Do you know which one you are?" I ask, and Delaney gives me a brittle smile.

"Yes," he says. "I'm a fertile, that's why they were so adamant about getting me back. There aren't that many of us here."

All of us sit in silence, not knowing what to say about his revelation. The silence is soon interrupted, though, by the opening of the door in front of us. A tall woman, with her hair pulled back in a tight bun and thin lips pursed, walks into the room. She looks at all of us before clicking her pen and scribbling something down on her clipboard.

"Delaney," she says, looking over at the man. "Nice to have you back. Let's get you to the back."

"You already know what I am Mable, why am I still here?" he says, standing up from his seat.

Her lip twitches at his words, and her fingers curl around the clipboard in irritation. "It's Dr. Thomas. And since you were outside of our safe haven, you were exposed to the sickness and other biological threats. We have to make sure you still have a clean bill of health."

Delaney doesn't argue any further, looking like he is barely restraining himself as he follows behind her, the door closing as they leave the room.

"That was weird," I mumble, and Finn lets out a hum of agreement.

The door opens again a few minutes later, two people coming out this time. They are both wearing pristine white lab coats, but that is where their similarities end. The woman is beautiful, her olive skin tone making her golden eyes pop. The man standing beside her though is a sore on my eyes. He looks like he is barely holding himself together, his orange hair greasy as the tendrils fall into his face. The scowl of disgust on his face as he looks at me and Finn does nothing to brighten his appearance, either.

"You take the fags, Alena, I don't want them rubbing off on me." He does nothing to lower his voice, obviously not afraid to let his opinion be heard.

Finn's arm tightens around me, and when I peak up at his face, I see that he is glaring at the other redhead.

The girl- Alena- just gives a small shake pf her head, rolling her eyes at her coworker's words. "God, Murphey, you're such an asshole."

Murphey doesn't even bother to refute her, instead, walking over to the brothers. Alena moves away from the man, coming to stand next to me and Finn. She has a warm smile on her face, and something tells me that she is different than the others, but I have no reason to trust her.

"If you two can follow me, please," she says, hugging the clipboard to her chest. "I'll get you through this as fast as I can."

Seeing that Finn isn't budging, I nudge his shoulder before standing up. It takes a minute for him to do the same, slowly rising to his feet while readjusting Viola into a more comfortable position.

"Right this way," Alena says, turning around.

We follow her through the same door she had come through, leading us around many turns until we finally stop in front of a room. She opens the door for us, waiting for us to step inside before coming in as well. Once she snaps on a pair of gloves, she steps over to the small counter in the room, pulling out a vial as well as a needle connected to a tube.

"Alright," she says, turning back around. "Let's get this started so we can get the two of you out of here."

She pulls a pen out of a small container on the counter, scribbling something on the vial she got out before setting it down. Satisfied, she sits in the rolling chair in front of us, setting the clipboard on her lap.

"This is just going to be like a regular physical. I take some measurements, collect some samples, and then the two of you can be out of here." Her smile drops slightly. "I know this place... isn't the best, but we all have to deal with it." It seems like it is hard for her to smile again but she manages.

"Okay," I murmur, and this makes her smile grow.

"How about we start with you," she says. "Can you tell me your name?"

Finn and I exchange looks, but when he nods his head, I look back over at the woman. "Alden."

"Alright," she murmurs, writing something on the clipboard. "Any family history of heart disease or cancers?"

"Um, well, my grandfather died of prostate cancer," I say, and she nods her head.

"Okay," she says standing up, handing me the clipboard. She grabs another one off the counter, handing it to Finn. "Why don't you two fill these out, and I will get started on the rest of your exam."

Finn and I both take the clipboards, silent as we fill them out. Alena manages to work around us, listening to our hearts and taking our blood pressure. The last thing she does is take our blood samples and placing them on a tray.

Viola wakes up then, letting out a small grumble but being rather quiet overall. Finn hands her over to me, and I happily take her.

"Oh, wow, she's beautiful," Alena says, looking at Viola with a soft smile. "What's her name?"

"Viola," Finn says, finally breaking his silence.

"Beautiful name," she says, looking up at him. "Is she yours?"

"Ours," I say, bracing myself for a hard rebuttal.

But none of that comes. Alena's smile just widens. "My aunts were trying for a baby before the sickness spread." She looks over at me. "Would you mind if I did a quick exam on her? Make sure she is in the right percentiles?"

Before I can think better of it, I nod my head. Honestly, I have been dying to know if Viola is healthy enough. I know that she isn't underweight, but I haven't had the supplies to do anything more advanced then estimate her weight.

Alena does a full exam on Viola, listening to her heart, taking her blood pressure, weighing her, and testing her reflexes.

After scribbling everything down, she comes back over to us. "She is perfectly healthy. A little on the smaller side, but that is to be expected with how hard it is to come across food." Immediately guilt floods through me, but Finn pulls me close to him, trying to reassure me. "Don't worry, she is fine and is growing normally."

She motions for us to stand up. "Follow me," she says, opening the door. "I just have to drop these samples off and then I will show you where you will be staying."

We follow behind her, watching as she knocks on a door and hands our blood samples to the person who opens the door. After that, she leads us through the hospital, up a few flights of stairs until we are on the fifth floor.

"So this is the residence area," she says, holding the door open for us. "You will be staying here until the blood work comes back. More than likely you will not be moved anywhere, seeing as we don't have much space, so don't worry too much about it."

She stops at a desk, talking to the woman sitting behind it. They check us in and then assign us a room. Twenty minutes later, we are being led down a long hallway, stopping at the last door to the right.

"This is your room," Alena says, opening the door. "I know it isn't much, but resources are being devoted elsewhere at this place."

Taking in the room, I see that there is a small bed, most likely a full, and a dresser. The rest of the room is bare. We walk in, me sitting on the bed while Finn goes over to look out the window.

"I'll have someone bring up a crib for Viola," she says, going to leave the room. "Dinner is at six o'clock. Don't be late or else you won't be fed." She has a grimace on her face but gives us a tight smile before closing the door behind her.

"This place is confusing," I say, and Finn nods his head. "At least we are inside, though. I am happy we aren't in that storm out there."

The wind is blowing hard and rain is pelting the windows. Combined with the darkness of the night, it is starting to make me feel more trapped than I already am.

"Let's just hope they aren't as bad as Delaney says," Finn says, coming to sit beside me on the bed. "But despite how nice Alena was, I have a feeling that he is right."

Thunder rumbles outside, the sound becoming louder as the storm rolls closer. "Just what we need, crazy scientists in an already fucked up world."

"Hey," Finn says, sounding mock offended. "We're scientists."

With wide eyes, I pat his leg, fighting back a smile. "Yes, but we're only partially crazy."