Awakening: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction by Norman Christof Page B

lives any easier.  You know darn well there’s no reason for you to kill humans now.  You can survive on regular food just as well as they can.  Better actually with your improved biology.”
    “Improved biology?  What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It just means you’re different.  You can do some things better than most people.”
    “So, it’s true.  We’re better than everyone else.”
    “I didn’t say you were better, I said you could do some things better.  That’s all.  It doesn’t make you a better person.  In your case, I’d say you’re a little worse than average.”
    Ignoring Christa’s last remark, Andreas nudged Leekasha awake and asked Christa, “So, if we’re so much better than the rest of them, why have you been hiding out in the swamps in a hole for all these years?”
    “I’m not hiding, and it’s not a hole.”
    “It’s a sinkhole, isn’t it?  It swallowed up that entire swamp and all the buildings around it.  Sounds like a hole to me.”
    “It’s an entire network of underground caves.  It goes on for miles, and has plenty of nice spots to live in.  The water drained from the upper sections years ago, and it’s perfectly dry where I built my shelter.  It seemed a shame to let all those building materials from the homes that were wrecked go to waste.  It’ll be a little crowded with the three of us there, but we’ll be able to lay low for a while.  No one has been there since it formed.  Just me.”
    Leekasha spoke up.  “Anything that keeps me away from the bastards that tortured me all these years is fine with me.  I’ll do anything not to go back to that.”
    Andreas smirked. “Don’t worry, honey, I’ll keep you safe.” He slid over next to her.  “Just stick close to me and you’ll be fine.”  Leekasha offered him a half smile.  “Don’t listen to the driver either.  She’s not as smart as she may seem.  All these years she’s been living in some hole instead of some big mansion somewhere.  You’ve seen how she controls all those people.  She could have anything she wanted but she chooses to live like a rat.”
    Christa nearly swerved the car off the road.  “I do not live like a rodent!  I told you, my place is nice.  I’m just there for privacy and security.  Those caverns stretch for miles.  I’ve already found lots of spots where I can make it to the surface and no one would ever find me.  There are hundreds more I haven’t even explored.”
    Leekasha spoke up.  “I really wish you two would stop the bickering.  It’s all you’ve done since we got off that damn boat.  It’s almost as bad as being locked up in my own head all those years.  We’re all in this together, why can’t you two just figure out a way to agree on something?”
    “Oh, that’s easy, honey,” Andreas answered.  “We both agree that this whole country is screwed up.”
    “Stop calling me honey,” Leekasha replied.  “That’s not who I am.”
    “We do agree that something has to be done about the drug and how it controls everyone,” Christa said.  “We just need to find a peaceful way to change things.  We can’t be killing humans every time one of us comes out of the drug’s control.”
    Andreas laughed.  “We already have a way to do it, and it doesn’t have to be peaceful.  It just has to happen.”
    “You trying to start a war, Andreas?  That’s where you’re headed with that kind of thinking.  Do you remember what happened last time?  Do you?  Does your brain go back that far?”  Andreas and Leekasha never answered.  “I’ll tell you what happened.  We lost.  All of us that were different lost.  We ended up a bunch of drugged-out freaks under the control of our masters.  This country has reverted back to slavery days, and if we don’t do anything about it, this is going to spread around the world.  You have no idea what’s going on.  I’ve been very aware of what’s happened the last six years.