by Robert Brown
“We put them all together,” a voice calmly states in the silence of her question. “We tried to be nice, we tried to do the right thing, but it isn’t working. You all know it isn’t working. The attacks against us are increasing. Each time a group of us is killed, it emboldens more humans to try their hand at killing vampires.”
“Brian? I can’t believe you are suggesting this. You were with me from the beginning. You were the one that suggested to me and Lloyd that we should fight to free the people.”
“And I am now telling you I was wrong.” His tone is sad yet defiant. “The human race is going extinct. The president knows this. All of his advisors have told us so in our meetings with them. Why should we allow them to kill us off when they are dying out? They know their days are numbered and are trying to take us down with their sinking ship.”
“We can’t just enslave them. I will not live in a society that treats humans as cattle or pets. If that is what you have in mind, then it will mean war.” Her stance and the tightened grip on her sword tells the group the seriousness of her statement more than her commanding tone.
“I don’t want slaves, Cora. None of us do. I want to sleep during the day without fearing for my family’s lives. I don’t want the people I care about slaughtered simply because they love me and won’t leave my side to join some anti-vampire human brigade. I don’t think we should enslave the humans, I think we should kick them out.”
“Kick them out? Kick them out of what, the country?”
“Yes. We should remove them from part of it. We should claim certain territories for vampires and expel non-family humans. Only allow those people with a vampire relative or with children that can still turn remain in our chosen territory and kick everyone else out of our lands.”
“There are a lot of humans that won’t want to leave. Many have families that lived in the same states and towns for generations.”
“And those are exactly the kind of people that are burning the buildings around us and killing us all. In their minds, this is their planet, it is their state or their town, and they are defending their territory against us invading vampires. I have read some of their minds, and I know you have too. It doesn’t matter that we come from the same towns or even have distant relatives in common in some cases. They see us as an aberration that must be destroyed. Our only two choices remaining are to kill them or move them somewhere else before they kill us.”
“We could move.”
“We could move where? No matter where we decide to go, the end result is the same. Humans are everywhere, and we have to remove them from the territory we choose as our own. Their willingness to relocate will determine their survival.”
The Angel stands and gazes at the assembled group. She is searching each mind as she looks for the best possible answer as they sit quietly and wait. Unlike some, her psychic abilities have grown since the blue haze departed. She is able to peer into minds from quite a distance now when she chooses. For her interactions with the president and other humans, she still places a hand on individuals to give them the impression she needs physical contact to read their thoughts. It has helped assuage some of their fears of privacy.
The Angel stretches her wings and nods her head. “It feels wrong, but I know you are right. We saved the humans lives and set them free, we have earned a right to have a territory of our own where we won’t have to live in fear. If we don’t do this, it will only be a short matter of time before even I am pushed to the breaking point and start seeking revenge for the vampires they have killed.
“The coasts of our nation would be most suitable locations for humans to survive in comfort. They will have access to fishing, ample farmlands, and we can move the nation’s cattle stocks closer to the coastal states as well to ensure they have enough food to provide for themselves. We could take the heartland and spread out from there as their numbers continue to diminish over time.”
“And what do we do about a food supply?” another voice asks.
“Dr. Usachova and other scientists are working on cloning programs that will grow human tissue and blood in laboratories. We should ensure the technical expertise necessary for such work is absorbed and transferred to as many of us as possible. Moving humans out of the territory we claim or allowing them to stay will do nothing to help us with long-term survival. The doctor explained to me a day will come when humans will be gone, and the only humans the runners can find to drink from would be our own children before they mutate. There won’t be enough children born which will lead to the potential for starvation as well as war and conflict among ourselves. It is better that we live separately from the humans now and put all of our energy toward cloning research and development.”
*
“Where the hell is she? Where are her people?”
“Mr. President, I’m not sure what you expect.”
“The vampires are starting to kill civilians, and she is their damned leader! I expect her to keep me informed of what is happening. Has anyone heard anything from them?”
“All of the vampires left Washington after the biggest fire in Wichita over a week ago. No one has had direct contact with them except for the police and firefighters on the scenes of the latest attacks.”
“How many humans have been killed?”
“Not nearly as many as the vampires, sir.”
“How many?”
“One hundred and twelve as of the second attack last night. I should remind you that nearly ten thousand humans and vampires have been killed in the fire bombings of their homes. You know their response to those murders has been expected.”
“What I expected was some information, to be kept in the loop. That’s what I was expecting.”
And I was expecting you to address the nation condemning the attacks against my people.
The Angel’s voice echoes in the president’s mind as if it was shouted in the room, yet she is nowhere to be seen.
“Did you hear that?” he asks his secretary.
“Hear what, sir?”
Turning to the others in the room, “Did any of you hear that?”
The looks returned to him cause him to question his own sanity.
You aren’t going crazy, Mr. President. I am just outside and would like to come in.
“Mr. President, The Angel is out on the White House lawn.”
“Don’t call her that! Her name is Cora. Let her in, but I want everyone to stay and hear what she has to say for the actions of her people.”
Bewildered expressions are shared at his anger for the leader of the vampires.
“You no longer want to call my vampires your people or the nation’s children, I see,” the Angel says as she walks through the doors. “Is that why you said nothing to the nation to condemn the attacks against my vampires?”
“I spoke to people to remain calm and not act out of anger or revenge.”
“You said nothing!” The Angel’s voice explodes with force through the room. Her anger turns her words into a physical manifestation which tweaks the nerve endings of everyone present. They recoil in pain and fear from the assault; the Secret Service agents draw their weapons against her, but she raises her hand and silently forces them to drop their firearms to the ground.
“For weeks, my people have been slaughtered in their sleep by humans, and you said nothing about how it was evil. You said nothing about bringing those that were doing the killings to justice. You said nothing that would make a difference in the minds that chose to do us harm and in your empty rhetoric, I saw that you, too, are bitter and angry that your race will go extinct and ours will live on.
“Me and my vampires could do exactly what you fear, we could enslave you. We could murder you out of some misguided belief in revenge the way you have done to us, but we aren’t the evil ones. We won’t stand idly by while innocent lives are being destroyed as you and your people have. We will take action that will ensure the continued survival of human and mutant kind.”
The pres
ident raises his hand to block the bright light The Angel is beginning to emit. “What are you going to do?”
“We are splitting up the nation.”
President Thomas drops heavily into his chair and The Angel’s light begins to diminish.
“Vampires will be moving to the center of the country and removing humans to the coasts. We will no longer allow your kind to murder us or our families. Any human that remains in the central states will do so only with our authorization, they will be subject to our rule, and anyone that attempts to fight us will be killed.”
“You can’t split up this nation!”
“You are the one that has split up this nation, Mr. President. You have allowed humans to slaughter my people and their families. It has taken every bit of my power and influence to prevent a wholesale extermination of the humans in the areas in which we were attacked. You are fortunate there are more examples of your betrayal from the past. I was able to draw on them so my vampires don’t feel they are being specifically targeted because of our mutation.”
“What examples are those?”
“We aren’t just the nation’s children anymore. Lloyd died for you! I chose to fight for you, and in Washington, I chose to die for you and all of the humans in order to keep you safe, to give you another chance to live. Me, my vampires, and the other mutants are the veterans of our nation’s most recent war and our government and people have a long history of betraying its veterans.
“I gave my soldiers examples of how the Vietnam veterans were spit on and allowed to starve, homeless in the streets. They were able to read and watch examples of how veterans were left to die by injury or suicide because the V.A. did nothing for them. And now we have a ‘President’ that allows us, the veterans that sacrificed their lives to free this nation, to be burned in their sleep without so much as a statement of solidarity from their commander-in-chief.
“What do you have to say for yourself? Tell these people why you wouldn’t condemn the attacks.”
“I didn’t realize I hadn’t condemned what was going on. It truly didn’t occur to me.” He reflexively touches the digital cap on his head while he speaks.
“And yet you were ready to make a national speech tonight to condemn my people for the counter-attack that killed only a hundred humans. That should tell you everything you need to know about your level of concern for us.
“Go ahead and make your appearance on television tonight. Go tell your people that the personal failings of their president has led to the fracturing of our once great nation. Tell them how your inaction has allowed ten thousand of the people that freed humanity from the bonds of slavery to be murdered. Here is a list of the states we will be taking as our own. Tell your humans they are no longer welcome to remain there and to get out!”
The paper containing the list slowly drifts to the table as The Angel’s body has already left the room. The people remaining are shaken by the encounter, some are visibly pale as a result of the energy she was emitting. There is no doubt that her words were sincere and her meaning was clear. On the paper laying in front of the president, two simple sentences are written above the list of states.
All humans with no vampire family connections are ordered to leave the states listed below. Failure to leave the area will result in removal by force or death.
Montana
Wyoming
Colorado
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas
Minnesota
Iowa
Missouri
Wisconsin
Illinois
Michigan
and Indiana
The coastal states will be the allowed human territory as those are the regions which are best suited for your survival. Any further actions against vampires or their families will be dealt with immediately and harshly.
Cora Taylor
*
“You know he was lying right?” The Angel’s guard asks as they fly away.
“I knew weeks ago that the president was advised to let our people be slaughtered for national unity. Their digital caps no longer work against my ability to read their minds.”
“Did you let them kill our people? Were you able to stop this from happening?”
“No, there wasn’t anything I could have done to change the outcome. The president isn’t directing the attacks against us, none of his people are. What’s happening out there is the real manifestation of humans’ hatred against our kind. The only thing I could have done was force the president to declare outrage against the attacks, but the attacks would have continued. I was hoping the president would come around and show his support for us, but that didn’t happen. The humans are tired of sharing their cities and towns with mutants and what we are doing now is the best solution for all, although I am sure they won’t see it that way at first. We have to separate our races so that each may live out their lives in some form of peace.”
“About our future, isn’t it dangerous placing all vampires in one specific region? They could target us all without fear of harming humankind.”
“We have made plans for that.”
*
“Mr. President, The Angel might have given us the perfect opportunity to remove the mutants as a threat,” Admiral Pembroke suggests after the vampire delegation has left. “If we allow them to remove humans from the central U.S. and only have mutants and those loyal to them in that area, we won’t have to worry about human casualties if we attack.”
“Attack with what?” he snaps back at his director of intelligence. “We don’t have anything that will affect them.”
“We have nukes, sir. Nuclear weapons can take them out.”
Three secret service agents and the admiral’s secretary draw their weapons and fire at the admiral’s head, killing him. In unison, the four men speak with a pre-programmed message.
“We have anticipated the possibility of you choosing to use nuclear weapons and have taken steps to ensure this choice of action is not carried out. Any recommendation of nuclear weapons against the mutants will result in death. Any attempts to use nuclear weapons against us will result in the wholesale slaughter of the human race. The choice is yours, live in peace or die.”
The four men drop their weapons and begin looking around the room unsure of what they have done or how they moved from their original positions.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Annihilation
Six Months Post Haze
Washington D.C.
Tensions are strung to their breaking point as the crowd makes a path for President Thomas to enter the situation room.
“How long has this been taking place?”
“The video feeds started this morning. The mutants wanted us to see it, so they unlocked the satellite channels. I know you have resigned, but we felt we should bring you back to the White House to see what is taking place.”
The video screens in the room have images from multiple sources. Satellite coverage is showing bloodshed in multiple cities and news footage is being broadcast as well. The footage in every screen and from all angles is showing vampires killing humans. Their heads are being cut or ripped from their torsos, and the bodies are being allowed to bleed out.
“How many people are they killing?”
“From what we can tell, they are killing every human that is too old to mutate. It is a complete slaughter of humankind.”
“Is this retaliation for something a human group did?”
“This isn’t retaliation, sir. As you can see, they are letting the blood spill. We received word the mutants have perfected a blood-cloning system and are removing humans as the only obstacle and threat they have.”
“How long do we have before they make it here?”
“I don’t understand, sir?”
“Damn it! Look at the screens, they’re killing all of us! How long before they reach Washington?”
“I’m sorry, sir, I thought some
one told you, these feeds are from Europe.”
“Is any of it on our shores yet?”
“No sir, none of this is happening here yet. The resettlement of humans from the interior states is nearly completed, and while there are continued instances of resistance, they are put down quickly and quite harshly by the vampires. There will likely be several million casualties once the process is complete.”
“Have you heard anything from The Angel?”
“No sir, nothing from her directly. We only get the news broadcasts they show as warnings of what is done to those who attack them. Perhaps if you sent word to the vampires, they might respond. We have been trying to communicate daily and have had no reply.”
“I can’t. I’m the one that caused all of this. She knew I was lying when I told her I didn’t know I wasn’t defending them. Did you know that? She knew from the first day Pembroke suggested it that I wasn’t going to defend them.”
“We know, sir; that might be why you are the only one that can open a discussion with them. You made it a point to remind us constantly that the mutants are only children. Their silence could be nothing more than anger at you for your betrayal.”
“What could I say?”
“You could apologize. It is impossibly simple, sir, but I think an apology is all Cora and her people want. It won’t change the situation our nation is in, but it could help prevent what is happening in Europe from coming over here.”
“What about Asia and Africa, how are they holding up?”
“Asia is a dead continent. As you know, all of the Asian territories rose up to destroy their mutants once the haze dissipated. Communications went dark so we didn’t hear the result, but satellite scans show few signs of life remaining. Whole cities were burned to the ground to prevent vampires from having places of refuge from the sun. At night, the remaining mutants worked to destroy what was left of the humans. I’m sure the animosity was amplified by the fact that the mind-controlling mutants in those areas were dominated by those who favored enslaving humans.
“Africa is in the stone age. The cities are gone as well, but the humans seem to have won the war in most parts of the continent. How long they survive is anyone’s guess since they murdered all of their children to prevent future mutations from occurring.”