Only Human (17 page)

Looking at the remainder of my small group, I can see that my feeling of security is not shared by all. Lupe, having instantly bonded with Zak, has already adapted
, and is comfortably shovelling this meat dish down her throat with enthusiasm. Zak is dozing in mother’s crude pit, and Lupe is watching him as she eats. Anne was with father, but I can’t see her now; she must be behind where I am sitting. Orianna and Sebastian look like they are sitting in the waiting room at the dentist. They are waiting for some monster to come at them with a needle full of lidocaine! I wish I could reassure them somehow. I guess the new Vampires that we are meeting, will be waiting a long time before they will have earned my friends’ trust.

The
Vampires are clearing things up and making their way to their pits. I didn’t notice it, but they have a wooden room divider which separates their sleeping area from the room. I was wondering how each species managed with the other’s opposite sleeping pattern. It sounds odd calling us, ‘species,’ but essentially, that’s what we are, two different species. Having said that, I want to join in with this morning’s sleeping arrangement and so do my group. We are full of food, exhausted, and our yawning is infectious.

‘
Uncle, can we go to bed now too? We’re all so tired and emotionally drained. We have been awake all day and all night you know.’

‘
You don’t have to ask dear. This is your home for now. I was always going to bring you here, but events accelerated somewhat didn’t they? We have a lot to talk about when you wake up. Just you and I, you understand?’

‘
Yeah, goodnight or good morning.’

30.1.3012

I have just woken up Amica and I presume it is morning. Why didn’t anyone think to put a big clock in this place so that we had a clue what time of day it was? There is no way to guess as we haven’t seen the sun for as long as we’ve been here. I was just getting to grips with telling the time via the sun’s position in the sky. I’m sorry friend that I have been so busy, I haven’t even had time to talk to you like I usually do. This is the first time I have woken up first, and I’m so pleased to be able to put pen to paper again and record everything that has been happening.

Uncle
has finally told me about The Rebellion, and what they are trying to achieve. Their Prime Directive is a Coalition, I think he called it, a government of Vampires and rehabilitated Clones, working together to write laws that consider the needs of both species. That is there ultimate goal and it is a long way off. Uncle predicts many battles will have to be won before the majority of the Vampires see Clones as anything other than food. They have been conditioned to think that way, my Uncle says, they cannot help it. They have to be re-conditioned, and educated with regard to the treatment of the Clones, the fact that they are not dumb creatures, and suffer everything that is done to them. Incidentally, I can see a difference already, in the way that Jonah and Teras (our vamp cooks on the first evening) are treating my own friends from the Clone farm. Lupe, Orianna and Sebastian are communicating more clearly each day, and it is obvious to all that they are intelligent, and not, ‘dumb animals.’

Uncle
knows the identity of our friend,
‘disembodied voice,’
Amica. That, he won’t tell me, except to say that he works at The Ordinatio and is a useful contact and a faithful friend. Between you and me Amica, I think I might have a bit of a crush on this voice, if that’s possible. I’ve been having some weird dreams about velvet-voiced heroes saving me from falling off cliffs. Something is broken in my 14 year old head! I have distracted myself again Amica, what was I saying? Oh yes, Uncle’s re-education solution. The first step is to contact those Vampires in this Sector that are sympathetic to the cause. This can be done with leaflets distributed through the letterbox, newspaper articles on the subject, and questionnaires. It is illegal to take photographs of working Clone farms and distribute this material. This risk will have to be taken though, so that enough Vampires can see the truth for themselves. My friends are the only Clones rescued so far as far as I know, and even now, they are proving that Humans are intelligent, emotional people. They have rights, and they should be treated with respect. There are many more raids planned on Clone farms all over the Sector. The Rebellion needs absolute proof that Clones can be educated, and are capable of becoming valuable assets to any community.

The punishment for committing these crimes is severe Amica, a public execution at dawn.  I have found out that
Vampires are not immediately reduced to a pile of ash by the sunlight, as I had previously believed. Uncle says it can take hours, depending on the severity of the sun, or if it is an execution, the severity of the crime will determine how long the victim will suffer. He wouldn’t give me any more detail than that, but my own mind is well able to provide me with graphic pictures of Vampires being cooked! I know I’m digressing again Amica, but this is how this head works! I have to get it out when it comes in, or I will lose it! I don’t know how I feel about Vamps anymore, that’s what I had to get out! I can’t possibly hate them all after the things Uncle has explained to me, and anyway I never really hated my own kin. If I were faced with the Vamps that strung me up, or that Elder, Kasen, hate would be oozing from my very pores, and I could easily kill them without remorse. Is this what mother meant when she said, ‘a million shades of grey?’

I have asked
Uncle about the Sanguis and the critters that live in the barren lands, and he appears to know little about them. He has never even seen one of them in his entire life. There are legends and myths about such creatures hiding in the forest, and that’s all Uncle thought they were, myths. I am surprised and disappointed about that, because I hoped Uncle would have known a miraculous antidote for the critter poison that has recently invaded Garok’s body and soul. I’m not giving up on him yet friend, but I have only a tiny morsel of hope. I have always been cursed with a vivid and explosive imagination, and the scenarios that present themselves to me in my dreams are horrific! Garok is being eaten slowly by the Sanguis, or vice versa! The critters are sacrificing him to some cruel, white, she god in the sky (this one has Simone’s face, yuk, traumatic). The latest dream includes Garok biting a chunk out of me, and I turn into a Sanguis, and eat everyone here in the haven, starting with little Zak. You see? And those are just the tip of the iceberg friend! I know one thing for sure; I have to find out what happened to him either way. My mind will torture me forever if I don’t!

There is another raid on the
Clone farm in The Capital, very soon. I want to be trained up to be part of it. My three best friends (apart from you) have a right to be part of it too. They are communicating superbly, and could be trained to defend themselves in a very short space of time. The speed in which they learn, surpasses any expectations that my Uncle had when he rescued them. The illness that they suffered has been cured, and Uncle’s immunisation injections will protect them from further bacterial infections. We are ready to be part of The Rebellion, and be on the front line. The adults in my clan will have to accept that I am not a child anymore; the experiences I have had in my short life-span, have driven the ignorance of childhood from me.

I haven
’t mentioned Anne much have I? She is the boil on my bottom! I don’t see her very much but I’m damn sure she’s there, and boy does she irritate me! She has attached herself to my uncle as an extra limb, and is constantly beckoning him into corners to speak privately with him. He is captivated, the big buffoon! I think, unconsciously, somewhere in his mind, their relationship is part of the Vampire-Human Coalition he yearns for so badly. What an example it would be to the rest of the Rebellion, and the entire world, if they were united in a mixed marriage. Trust me Amica; their marriage would not be a good foundation on which to build such a massive and ground-breaking principal. Don’t think that I’m just being bitchy and jealous (ok, possibly a little of the latter) but it is more than that. I remember her face when Garok and the Sanguis were viciously fighting, her obvious enjoyment of their pain, she is selfish and manipulative, and the final nail in her coffin (an unfortunate way to put it) is, my mother doesn’t trust her either! Having said all this, my Uncle hasn’t exactly said he is even in a relationship with her, let alone marriage, but what did I tell you about the curse of having my imagination?

I
’ve been writing for quite a while now friend, so I reckon the human gang will be surfacing soon. I’ll sign off then, but will you stay with me today, as I fight with Uncle until he agrees to train me up? Just one strange thing about here that I haven’t sussed out yet; the blood for our Vampire rebels, I haven’t a clue whether it is still partly Clone blood, animal blood or synthesised blood.  It would be obscene if there was even 0.11111111 % of Clone blood in it at all. They have the wisdom and courtesy of not drinking any kind of blood in front of us, and for that I am thankful. I don’t think I’m even going to ask which kind of blood it is at the moment; I might not like the answer. Uncle has told me that animal blood requires hunting in the Barren lands, and a lot of animals are extinct as you know. Synthesised blood is liquid gold in the sense that very little is produced, and it is disgustingly expensive. That will have to go into mass production if The Rebellion’s goal is ever achieved. Hey up, Lupe is cantering over to me! Stay close Amica. XXX

‘
We learn fighting today Aecia, not alphabet?’

Ha, Lupe is too cool! How I would have loved to use that sentence on Mrs Greko!

‘Yes we do, if I have any say in it! We’ll have to do some writing though, first Lupe, Uncle won’t be available for a while yet.’

She is nodding vigorously; Lupe does everything vigorously and enthusiastically
, now that she is well. Now she is rubbing her tummy and pointing to the kitchen area.’

‘
Food?’

‘
Absolutely, but we call it breakfast in the morning Lupe.’

‘
Breakfast.’

‘
Spot on! I’ll get the others up and you put on the hot water for tea.’

There is a small box room in the farthest left corner of the gigantic steel room and it contains the loo. I use this room regularly for obvious reasons, but also for having five minutes to myself if I feel too trapped or overwhelmed.
Uncle has made the mistake of leaving his briefcase under the table in the kitchen, when he retired this morning (he’s sleeping here today). All morals aside, I am taking that case into the loo, and I’m going to find out more about this upcoming raid. The way I figure it, is, if I know the exact details then his, ‘need to know,’ rule will be breached. He can’t leave me here with that knowledge because if I was captured, it would be extracted and the whole operation would fail. Don’t look at me like that Amica, desperate times require desperate measures! You know he will fob me off with some nonsense to keep me here. He will cosset me until I am ninety, and I’m not having it!

Someone is knocking on the door, I forgot, there
’s always a queue in the morning. Bladders and bowels are a pain in the neck! ‘Coming.’ It’s Orianna; better not look annoyed, she is too sensitive.

‘
Sorry, stomach ache, I’ll go back in after you ok?’

‘
okaay, we are fighting today?’

Blooming Lupe has got them all fired up. Good,
Uncle needs to see that we mean it. I can’t wait for her to come out; I’m going to get a look in this case. I’ll go back to my mattress and pretend I am writing to you. Oh this is brilliant! There is a map of the Clone farm showing their entrance and their exit. There is someone called a ‘Vume,’ guarding the entrance in the DAYTIME! A Vume must be human if it’s outside the farm in the daytime; a human guarding Clones? Have the Vamps brainwashed some Clones or something, and then trained them as guards?  It has a collar on, that is sickening! There are two more at the exit; very little security around this place, the Vamps are arrogant enough to presume that nobody will think Clones are worth rescuing. They must have thought my rescue was an emotional crime executed by my family, and they can’t see the big picture yet. I reckon their security will increase tenfold after we rescue the whole farm. 407 Clones are currently being savaged in this farm, and they will all have to be disconnected, lowered down and carried to transport, by twelve, just twelve, rebels. Uncle needs us badly; he must be able to reason that. The rescue is scheduled for 11 a.m. in two days’ time, and now I am wondering what protection the rebels will have against the daylight. Surely they would be nursing burns and in terrible pain, unless Uncle has protective suits or a miraculous vaccine against sunlight. They are not stupid, something has been arranged. There are only five trucks available according to this, so they must be packing the Clones in tightly, or making two trips. I can’t see how they would have time for two trips, wouldn’t the place be alarmed?

‘
Aecia, breakfast!’

They are calling me.
I better hide this case under the mattress until I’ve eaten. Don’t get up Uncle, for God’s sake!

I
’ve left my friends with some writing work at the table, and I’m having another look at this plan of the actual farm building. It is massive, but relatively simple, there are two main sections. Three quarters of it houses the Clones, who are raised high, and attached to a draining drip on one side, and a feeding drip on the other. Each Clone is cocooned in plastic, with oxygen being pumped in as well, and they are strapped to thin, rectangular sheets of titanium, to support their limbs. These are all connected to one another, and to the supports on the ceiling. The fourth quarter of the room is where the blood is collected, and the liquid food is distributed to each Clone. This area is cordoned off from the rest in a steel room, which serves as a firewall, because the contents are so explosive. It is full of storage containers for the blood, liquid food and oxygen tanks, and it is where the finale of the rescue will take place. In fact this area will serve as a decoy in the first part of the plan, and a resounding message in the completion. I don’t need to tell you Amica do I? Yes, we get to blow it up! Outstanding!