Only Human (10 page)

Uncle
has the opposite opinion, he thinks she is amazing, selfless, and a tower of strength we should all cling to in these difficult times. I hope his admiration doesn’t inspire him to form a romantic attachment with her. He has never married, and it would change him. I like him just the way he is, thank you very much!

I haven
’t seen Garok for days either, but I am glad about that. How can I say ‘I’m sorry for your losses,’ whilst still wanting to smack him in the mouth? No Garok, stay away and help me avoid having to deal with our relationship forever. Blimey, am I talking to Garok as if he was here now?  I’m going to have to keep a close eye on my marbles if I am going to get through this friend!

Orianna has fallen asleep with her head resting on my shoulder. That
’s my cue to make her comfortable next to Lupe, who is miraculously asleep already! I’m snuggling up with both of them and I’ll speak with you tomorrow. X

25.01.3012

Leandra is ill! She has been rolling around during the night holding her stomach. She doesn’t need words to show us where the pain is. That isn’t the only concern we have, there is Lupe. We have been trying to prevent her from leaving the cave all night, since Leandra first woke us.

The
Vampires have been patrolling the barren lands since we first escaped, and though our cave is one of many hidden tunnels throughout this mountainside; we are always in danger of discovery.

Lupe is the
sharpest and quickest learner out of all of the Clones, but she is also the most impulsive. She has no fear, and is very determined to accomplish whatever task she has decided to do. In this case, she wishes to get help, and in order to do that, she must leave. She had already managed to maneuver the makeshift door (the huge rock put in place by us all at night for camouflage) slightly, by herself, before we realised what she was doing.

She is with
Sebastian and Baran now, and each one has a firm hold of each arm. We hate to restrain her but she just doesn’t understand what is out there, just waiting to haul us back to the farm, and drain us until we are dead.

I am kneeling next to Leandra and holding her hand
, while I bathe her forehead with a damp rag soaked in water. She is red hot, and I can’t seem to cool her no matter what I do. She didn’t eat much today, but she never really did, I don’t think she has ever really settled here at all.

I love her though, we all do and she is family to us.  In fact
, part of me agrees with Lupe, and wants to rush out into the night, screaming my uncle’s name to get him to come and help her.

She is moaning in pain and we are all helpless to relieve it. What is
it that is wrong with her? I have no experience with illness, except when I was forced to drink too much blood, or I had my first period. Wait, could it be that? Could it be a period? I must speak with Anne, and tell the lads to look the other way while we examine her.

No, I was wrong, there was no blood. We have been able to wash her all over though now and she seems slightly calmer. I can hear the birds beginning to announce the sun
, which means we are safe from the marauding Vampire patrols of the night for a while.

Anne has told me that Garok is the only person who knows where
Uncle is hiding out. Fancy not even telling me; his niece Amica! He reckons we are safer not knowing. He quotes the same excuse when I ask him about the Rebellion among some of the Vampires. I will always be an infant in his eyes.

Anyway,
Uncle is not due until dusk, and that may be too late for Leandra so the only option is for Anne to ask Garok where Uncle is. I am strong now and I will go to him if Garok can’t. I just need to know the quickest and quietest way to get to him.

I know that Garok is in one of the honeycomb caves further down but I have never been to it. That is what we have decided to call this rough sanctuary we live in Amica
, because the caves are connected tunnels, in and out of the mountain and somehow remind of us honeycomb. Anne’s idea really, I have never seen honeycomb, but she has studied everything she could about nature when she was in her basement. It was the only way that she could fill the time for all those years. The Vampires have a lot to answer for.

Here she is but she has brought him with her. I was hoping he would give her instructions to tell me the way
, or go straight away himself.

‘
You need to stop being so selfish and get on with this task. This isn’t about you!’

‘
Yes I know Amica, I see you and I understand.’

‘
Aecia.’ It is Garok speaking to me now, ‘I can’t get hold of your uncle at the moment. He is visiting some people and he would be two hours’ drive away if we had a car, and a whole day away if we travelled on foot. By the time we arrived, he would be coming back.’

‘
Then Leandra will have to suffer all day like this.’

‘
What on earth do you think it is?’

‘
If I knew that Garok, I would have been able to help her myself.’

Amica
, will you stop wagging your finger at me! I can’t help but snap at him, he’s a pig! I do know that you are right though friend, Leandra is the one who is important. We are all distraught about what is happening to her. Lupe is lying next to her and is quietly crying, while the boys are hovering around looking bewildered. Orianna and Anne are by my side at the mouth of the cave with Garok.

‘
Anne, did my Uncle leave any paracetamol or ibuprofen tablets here on one of his visits?’

‘
You know, he just might have, there is a bottle of tablets he gave me when I first arrived here. I have never even opened it, I was too interested in the food and clothes, and then when all of you arrived I forgot all about it! I’m an idiot!’

Uncle
visits us every evening when the sun goes down and brings bedding, old clothes, food and bottles of water. When I was living in Vampire world, he always carried mild pain medication on him when he visited. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this last night.

‘
Yes, it is paracetamol Aecia. Baran hand me that bottle of water, and Aecia, will you and Lupe hold up Leandra’s head while I get her to swallow a couple of these pills?’

The heat from Leandra
’s body is radiating through my hands as I hold her head; she is on fire. Her hair is not just damp; it is wet, and matted to her skin along with the thin cotton of her nightdress. She is delirious and muttering animal sounds as she rolls from side to side. It is horrible to see and not be able to help more.

‘
Should I take the lads hunting to get something for dinner, and keep them occupied?’ Garok is asking Anne and not me, which I am grateful for.

‘
Yes, please do and Lupe as well. She has never been properly taught how we set the traps.’

That is actually a brilliant idea; much as I love Lupe
, she will drive herself and the rest of us mad, bouncing around the cave all day. She needs to be distracted and hopefully tired out enough that she will be able to sit still when she returns.

‘
Don’t let her use a bow and arrow yet Garok, she’s liable to kill someone!’

I can manage to smile at Anne
’s remark; the whirlwind that is Lupe, is not safe with a weapon.

I think Leandra is falling asleep at last; she has stopped rolling from side to side and moaning. Maybe the paracetamol has eased the pain a little or it could be just outright exhaustion.

I could sleep this minute myself, and Anne and Orianna mirror my exhaustion. I daren’t though, in case Leandra needs me for something. We all have no miracle cure, no remedy whatsoever, but at least we are here for her. She has always been alone. Orianna is lying with her and I can see her eyes closing too. Their bond is as strong as all of ours, even though Leandra separates herself sometimes; she is our sister and friend.

I
’m going to boil some water for tea, (yes, we have teabags occasionally friend).

And I
’ll see what bread, if any, we have left from supper last night. Distraction is a marvelous tool against time! We will be willing it to pass quickly until my Uncle arrives at dusk.

We do live like the cavemen of old at the moment. It is as though we were in a capsule of history
, pretending to be the inhabitants to see if we could have survived. Believe me, this is very very real!

The cave itself is about the size of an average lounge, 250 square feet
, although it is not square in any way shape or form. Uncle thinks this isn’t a natural network of caves; it is too organised, with each one eventually linking into the next. Maybe during the Great War, Humans bore them out of the mountainside to use as hiding places or storage facilities. I’m not sure, but I am grateful to them and to my Uncle, for rediscovering them for our use.

We have a small wood fire
, contained in a meshed metal container, which we light each day, to heat water and cook any food brought to us by Uncle, or gathered from outside. He has brought us simple utensils to use, and our beds are made from bunched up old clothes in a sack, smoothed down and leveled as much as possible. More comfortable than you would think, especially if you had the misfortune of sleeping in a pit, or hanging, strapped to a metal base, in a Clone warehouse, for most of your life.

It takes about five minutes to weave through the tunnels and reach the outside
, and the gradient is upwards, so it can be a bit of a climb. The entrance to the whole network is one small hole, large enough for one person to crawl through it, and the various leaves, brushwood and dirt, to eventually emerge into daylight.

The first time I left the mountain I was speechless. There is so much wild beauty and space, filled with life
, and fresh, sweet smelling air. How can the Vamps call this the
barren
lands? I wonder if they lived their life during the daytime, would they have the same opinion?

The cloak of night
-time steals the magnificence, and the detailed design of the earth and the creatures that exist here. A piece of film, or a photograph, is barely a glimpse of the true nature and wonder that is all around. You have to be here, and experience the humility it provokes. I will never tire of exploring it, never!

My only regret is having to set traps
, and kill some of the small animals to supplement our diet. I haven’t had the stomach to do that yet, but Uncle assures me they are killed as quickly and as painlessly as possible. At least this is done for food, and not to make a piece of clothing for fashion and vanity. It is survival, and I know that some animals kill one another, for the same reason.

Garok has bows and arrows, ropes and wire to make snares
, and has become quite the expert, according to Uncle. I hope he is quick and merciful in his use of these things, and I don’t wish to know any more detail than that.

We are fortunate in our position, as we are within ten minutes of
a gurgling, bubbling river, which eventually fans out and merges into a lake, which must be over a mile in length. This is also teeming with life, both in and out of the water. I have seen big, fat frogs, with goggling eyes, and bulbous toads, with forked tongues and hairy backs. I swear I’ve never seen those in any history lesson before now.

Enormous hovering insects
, glide over the water, attacking small fish and shell creatures beneath.  These can kill you if they sting you, so we give them a wide birth.

There are some larger fish that are safe for eating
, and Garok is making a fishing rod from various branches, and some wire thread from Uncle. If he wants us to collect worms for bait I’ll pretend I’m deaf! I am kidding, survival isn’t always pretty, and I’ll just have to dig in and get on with it!

On the whole, if Leandra wasn
’t ill, Garok wasn’t here, and my family was, I would be happier than I’ve ever been. I am among my own kind, eating food I was built to eat, and have days filled with the purpose of living and teaching my companions.

I have just mentioned my family
, and that is one agony I purposely try not to think about yet. I don’t know if Uncle is shielding me from the truth, or really doesn’t know what has happened to them. I am wise enough to know, that we are not organised, or strong enough, to do anything about that yet. I do know though, that this is but a brief respite for us, we cannot simply stay here indefinitely.

Uncle
will tell me eventually about this rebellion, and change is inevitable. I want to be strong enough and capable enough, to be part of it.

‘
Aeesha.’

My god, Orianna is speaking my name! She has just said my name friend!
She is bringing me to Leandra. She looks better, ‘Anne, I think the fever has gone, feel her head, she is cooler and she’s not moaning anymore.’

This is brilliant, she must have got over the worst of it Amica, she looks peaceful
, and in a deep sleep. Her body is probably recovering from whatever it was. What’s up with Anne now? Why doesn’t she look happy?