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Waiting It Out. Facing The Future.
Who’d have thought a year down the line, we’d be doing this? Then again, I never could have imagined something like this. Good thing guys like Josef are the planning type.
When we first had to run, there was no time for planning. That first night, I took Beth and headed into the mountains with the Cleaners. Josef told us what to do, and we did it. It was what kept us alive, if you know what I mean.
A few weeks into the evacuation, the system was up and running. As the old blood stocks ran down, the people, friends and companions that we’d bought with us, were put on a schedule. Each donating a set amount of blood. Feeding fresh was outlawed. The Council wanted things under control. And we began the patrols to look for the living among the walking dead.
Don’t get me wrong, we started to find them pretty quickly. Sooner or later they had to come out in the open. Head out and find food, fresh water. And once you knew the signs, you could spot ‘em even in a crowd of zombies. Man, it must have been crazy for them. Mixing with people who weren’t people any more. Just shells.
When we found them, pretty much each time the reaction was different. Surprise, disbelief, fear. Sometimes relief. And that was just the beginning. How do you explain to somebody… that you want to help them, but it’s going to come at a price?
A few decided to take their chances on their own. The world was a strange place to them now. Bad enough that they were surrounded by these unreal creatures. But when they ‘met’ us, they had to come to terms with the fact that Vampires were out there too. And while they could tell that we weren’t the indiscriminate killers they might have expected us to be – ‘almost civilised,’ I think one guy called us…Josef kinda liked that – what we needed from them? Well, it wasn’t something they were willing to give. And so we took them back out to the highway and let ‘em go. All the rules we had before? The secrecy of the community? I guess they became more of a guideline. A request. ‘Don’t tell anyone that you met us.’ I wonder if any of ‘em lasted long enough to tell anybody anything.
And then there were the ones who stayed. Decided, pretty much correctly, that the safest place in the world right then, was inside the compound. Within a couple of weeks the Council realised that we’d have to make it self-sufficient around here. For humans as well as Vampires. And they took care of it… organised missions to garner supplies and equipment, rescued a few cattle and horses, some chickens. Started up crop and food rotations. Water purifiers, powered by in-house solar and wind generators. I guess it gave us something to do, too. I mean we couldn’t go anywhere except under escort, not even to hunt. I guess knowing that we were helping a race carry on gave us a little bit of that warm fuzzy feeling we like so much. (Josef’s words.) And for a few months, the Council sat back. Kind of congratulating themselves on everything they’d done. You know, the way God did on a Sunday?
It only took that short while before they realised that the people we had…? They weren’t going to last forever. If we were going to continue, we had to think of a way to make sure that we could survive too. That was when the Council began talking about the program. And Beth…? Beth became part of treatment set number three. Every month, they begin a new batch. I guess we’re just lucky Guillermo’s in charge.
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Lucky, because at least I got to wait outside the medic’s center while she was treated. Listen to the tone of her voice while it happened. Man, she was nervous… but I could tell G was doing everything he could to put her at ease. Make it as quick as he could. Still, she was in there for over an hour… going through her procedure, and when she finally came out? She had tears in her eyes. It was everything I could do to stop myself from crushing her. Holding her until there was no breath. She slipped her fingers into mine, her free hand resting against her belly.
‘Walk with me…?’
‘Not too much, Beth. You need to rest.’
Guillermo’s appearance in the doorway woke us both up. And I glanced at him, understanding what he meant.
‘I’ll take her back, G. No more walking today.’
He nodded, and I caught that little furrow that she gives as she looked at her feet. Resting my fingers below her chin, I lifted it softly back towards me.
‘Tomorrow, I promise. I’ll take you out to the fence. Bring you something special.’
And she nodded, a sigh escaping.
‘Okay…. I just… just wanted to be away from here….’
Her head dropped again as I led her from the office, and we walked in silence to her room.
When we got there, she settled on her side on the bed, knees bent and one arm tucked up beneath her head. She watched my movements as I found a song on my phone and slipped it into the dock…. the soft music filling the smallness of the area.
Are the stars out tonight… I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright….
Slipping onto the bed behind her, I gently pulled her back against me, speaking softly.
‘Close your eyes… where are we…?’
For I only have eyes, for you, dear…..
‘We’re on the roof of your building…. The stars are coming out….’
And I could hear her breath slowing… her voice getting quieter. It had all taken more out of her than she knew. Of all the places she wanted to go back to, it broke my heart that that was where she was thinking of right then. The times we’d danced on that rooftop. Shared secrets. And that was where she would think of while this new life was waiting inside of her. Somewhere that she was completely safe.
But they all disappear, from view….
‘And we’re dancing, underneath the stars…’
I could picture her lips softening into a smile. She chuckled sleepily.
‘And you’re putting the moves on me again…..’
And I hugged her to me… feeling her drift off in my arms.
‘Hey, they were excellent moves…’
‘Mmmm…..’
As she slept, I listened to her heartbeat. Felt its strength and steadiness carrying her blood around that fragile body. If there was any way that life was taking hold in there that very second? I knew that I would do everything I could to help her. I knew that it would be helping the Council, too… helping my kind survive. But she was my Beth. And she came first. She came before everything.
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So I’m sitting here listening. It’s been three weeks, and I’m waiting for changes.
She’s sleeping now. Breathing softly while I watch her. And she looks so peaceful. Guillermo just gave her a second vitamin shot. Said he’ll see us again in a few days. But already we can hear her blood moving faster, smell the increased hormones. See the flush in her cheeks as she waits for news. That time of the month is coming up for her, but we already know that it’s worked. My new title of ‘Daddy hen’ is beginning to stick. Not sure that I like it. It’s not as if I could ever be the daddy.
She asked me the other day, if she’d ever be told who the male donor was. But Guillermo’s already said no. He’s the only vamp with access to the files. Has done all of the suitability tests to make sure that things will work out right, genetically. G has really come into his own since we’ve come here. I guess we never know what a situation will bring out in us. But with G? It’s been his thirst for knowledge. The knowledge of what we all need to survive. Still, I’ll guess he never thought that gynaecology would be something he’d require in his line of work.
But now that there’s no telling what the future will bring? We have to make our own. Some of the older vamps are wanting these babies to be brought up as nothing more than a means to an end. And we’re fighting to make them see that it just can’t be that way. We need to make a community of willing helpers if we’re ever going to last this out. All of the humans know that in exchange for safety, all we need is a little of their blood. And for the most part, it’s working out. I guess now that we’re introducing babies into the equation, things will get a little harder for a while. But even Beth knows how necessary a renewed blood supply will eventually be for the Vampires here. That’s why she volunteered. This is our best bet, at least until we can think of another way. Guillermo has two more batches of treatments to perform on the females of the group. Not all of the earlier procedures have been a success, so the women have gone back into rotation for a while. But we’ve got new life going on within these walls. Plans being made for their arrival. New rules being thrashed out that will come into force as the children reach adulthood.
Will we still be here in 16 years? Man, I hope not… but at least we can try to be. Keep the day to day going while planning for the future. Maybe this way we’ll all have one. Maybe this way we can all survive.
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