WORLD
2000
November 2000, the flooding started. The Seven, Thames and Trent, all burst their banks along with many other rivers now all washed away with time. It flooded higher than those little, now common, fords that when you drove through created a splash that rose above the roof of your car.
Swallowed by muddy waters, villages, towns and cities were submerged for more than the expected two days. From that year onwards there was an evident transition in the continental maps re-published annualy.
Millions died as a result of the storms; drowned, crushed by trees and falling debris, or from the fever. Twenty years later and what was known as the Midlands, the Pennines and most of Scotland and Wales (though Wales was always used to torrential amounts of rain,) is now all that's left of the United Kingdom, though no longer so united anymore.
Of course the government, blind as it always had been, including to the Fuel Crisis, Millennium Dome and Environmental situation that year, didn't notice anything significant about the death toll. The emergency services and army, sickened with the sight of water, didn't notice its red tinge. In truth though most of the blood came from those smashed into their own constructions by the murky depths, all the other blood tended to be drained from victims.
The government, not only was disabled to notice the redness of the sea but notice the presence of the supernatural; vampires and werewolves. Of course vampires and werewolves don't exist and neither does the threat of the demising environment, thank you certain unnamed polititians.
I doubt it was, but it could always have been an accident that diseased blood entered the flood water. The problem is that twenty years after we are still suffering from the fever of the floods. Disabilities and mutations occur as both vampire and werewolf blood fight for dominance in the human body. Luckily for some the diseased waters' effects were neutralised by the presence of the werewolf blood. However, the worst case known is that of a vampire that is immune to sunlight, crosses, silver, anything along those hollywood-mythological lines, that turns into a werevamp on semi-controlled occasions and is immune to disease. Maybe that's a good thing, but not for my allegiance.
Of course it wasn't just the United Kingdom where the effects of global warming became apparent. The effects of the fever and flooding spread quickly. This caused an extravagant and abrupt drop in human population, from six billion to approximately six million. Vampires were driven to drink the blood of their own kind (what they had of it anyway), the blood of those who suffered worst from the fever and that of my own kind, causing more mutations and feuds between the four factions.
Not that many people know that this is how it all began. I was swallowed by the murky waters and found barely alive. I was fourteen and now, twenty years on I'm a werewolf with a slow ageing process and strong immune system but high intolerance to silver.
It's painful going through the effects of the fever. It's like being torn apart right down the middle. The sensations of piping hot and freezing cold course through your veins. The final outcome of the conflict between light and dark being the grey void of the various mutations created, every one unique and individual.
The four factions, werewolf, human, challenged and vampire all have declarations of war against each other. Really all the names for the factions are self-explanatory, though you would have thought that the human and challenged (those with disabilities mostly from the fever) faction would be one. As much as humans portrayed themselves as good and caring, when the fever set in and factions started to form the humans quickly discarded anyone who could be a burden.
We constantly are dividing our fronts as we fight for the remaining debris, our homes. The daily presences that we all saw as our rights as human beings, demised. Education is driven towards combat and loyalty to your faction, health care is only for those who have been injured fighting and for the immunity of future soldiers, no general check ups if you've got a sore throat, and transport is a shear military operation.
I lead the third pack of elite wolves within the Birmingham diocese. Our last successful mission along with about five other lower ranked packs was that of an arson attack on all the known opposing camps within a ten-thousand mile radius of our own. Not even with the various mutations can anyone survive the effects of fire.
We completed the mission successfully killing off many of the impurities within range. Too bad it didn't wipe them out all together. A known ten-thousand humans are speculated to be within the diocese but that can never be accurate, the constant skirmishes reduce these numbers and there are always the ones who get away.
We attacked in human form, although not the stereotypical ravenous beasts that Hollywood portrayed, animal instincts can still be very overwhelming. We are more the skillful hunters, that nature had created and at 2020 we still exist. 'Survival of the fittest' seems to make so much more practical sense now than it ever did in any Science lesson.
The final known establishment of the humans within Birmingham was known to be underground but we believe that it has recently been destroyed by the vampires.
I closed the report and pulled my hair back. When will this ever end? "Cap'in?"
I let my chair fall back with a 'clank' to the floor from having tilted it on its back legs in the way teachers used to warn that if you slipped you could crack your head open, and looked at the soldier who had entered my tent and disrupted my thoughts depite recognising him by sound. "What Neph?"
Neph's a wolf from one of the younger generations, "There's a human on campus," Kill it "Site wanted to get you to come and talk to it."
"Site." I sighed, I disliked him, but as elite second, him and his squad have authority over mine. "I'm coming."
"Cap'in."
I wondered what happened to Neph's syllables as he retreated out the two worn flaps of cloth pretending to be a door. Following him I trudged through the thick mud and debris of the barracks. I sighed deeply to myself. When this is all over I'm going to have a long, hot bath. I pulled my hair back again. Eventually Site came into view, four others standing beside him and someone on the floor, probably the human. "What Site, can't you handle this yourself?"
He stepped aside to reveal my best friend from primary school, Kaleigh. "It asked for you."
"What does it matter?"
If she knew I was here then someone leaked information, I made sure my pack's tracks were covered and this back entrance was supposed to be very well guarded, who had let her get in so far? "Sara?"
"It says that it will only talk to you regarding another underground base."
I rolled my eyes back into my head, lids closed. Not another one "Why would you want to help us, you're human, where and how many?" Quick fire round, I don't want this to last all day.
"I don't want to be, you know my motto 'If you can't beat them, join them', your faction is clearly superior to any other?"
"I though your motto was 'dump your closest friends for anyone who seemed better?' You can save the flattery to someone who needs to hear it Kaleigh."
Again, I guess survival of the fittest comes into play, I'd like to see where the others all are now. "Sara," Site growled, tone indicating that I not let personal problems from a long burried past cloud my judgement now.
"Fine, kill her."
Samuel, the youngest in the fouth disciplined pack, started easing forward, eager to get himself something out of this little scrap. Kaleigh whimpered scrambling forward on all fours to tug on my combats pleading. I shook my leg out of her grasp. "She has information" Site said and it sounded as if he was trying to play it cool despite also sounding that he was shocked with my desision.
"Aren't you meant to be better than me at this 2nd? Can't you handle it? We'll find it eventually," I said changing my tone to a more explanatory one, "it's too insignificant anyway, or we could ask Aphryl." I added as an after thought.
Site was always trying to prove himself to Aphryl, showing lack of decision making skills would not do good for him. I chuckled to myself, this might actually end this senseless conversation, the sewer rats must die.
"No way, you know what he's like."
I sighed, partially in annoyance at Site, partially at how pathetic that comment made him seem.
I nodded to Samuel who eagerly stepped forward. I turned and Site grunted following me back to our tents, the sounds of gnawing bones and tearing flesh faded into all the rest of the military garble.
-=-=-=-
"At ease." Aphryl had summoned Site and I, and now we obediently stood before him. "2nd, 3rd, what do you intend to do when this is all over?"
"Ah," Site sighed "I'm going to settle down with a wife, maybe have a few pups and know that they can go out and safely play in the front garden." Site replied, I never figured him to be much of a sentimental person.
"3rd?"
The thought had been playing across my mind all day so I had no hesitation to answer "When this is all over I'm going to have a long, hot bath."
The thought, dream, actually played across my mind most days, and everyone knew it too; I had a habit of saying it to break awkward silences and to show my frustration and despair at certain situations. "Hmm." Aphryl paused, sighed and rose his head "3rd, I heard that it was you who dismissed the source of information?"
"'Sir."
"2nd you backed it?"
"'s Sir."
Suddenly Aphryl snapped "Don't ''s Sir' me, either of you!"
"Do you realise just how much that information was vital to our cause? What if we were to suffer a major underground attack from their forces? We have been forced to surrender."
It took a while for the outburst to register in my head, but eventually I made sense of it. "What?" Site and I exclaimed in unison.
"Dismissed." Aphryl said as if the matter could be dropped by his mere command.
Site turned to leave, considering that that he wasn't likely to get more out of 1st, not now anyway, to dwell on his fault. Aphryl turned to his desk and leant on it. "Dismissed, 3rd." he repeated, insistance in his tone.
"Why Sir?"
There was a prolonged silence until I heard him start to break down into tears. Small sobs coming from him. "War is such a futile thing. You know what it was like before this all started. This country, especially here in the Midlands, was multi-cultural, everybody seemed to be getting along, the occasional conflicts but nothing too drastic too often. War is worthless, all it causes is suffering and heart-ache. The only way to resolve this, to return the World back to its formal stability, is to stop the war. The other factions will follow. After all the result of war is peace and that is what we all strive for."
"Sir, war is not futile, the outcome may be peace but the world is a better place. It brings out the good qualities in people, determination, loyalty, logic."
"I wouldn't expect you to understand, actually I doubt anyone but maybe the other faction leaders would." He paused again rising his head and took a deep breath lifting himself from his stance supported by the desk. "I am going to announce the surrender, will you support me?"
I didn't want to, I knew that the last fifteen years had me brain washed and so I was brought up to fight and to believe in war as the only solution. Still, my loyalty lied with Aphryl and then, as much as I screamed at myself that I didn't like it, to Site. Aphryl was wise and if it was he who was making this decision then it probably would be for the best "Yes Sir", I hoped.
He gave me his thanks and then started preparing what he was going to say while I gathered the population. Everyone was gathered and a couple of soldiers were placed strategically among the crowd to settle any rebel behaviour, like mine. It was announced that we were to surrender. Not to anyone in particular, the alternate faction leaders were informed, 'Just send an invitation for invasion why don't you? They don't really care if we surrender, they just care that they can conquer another opponent.' Most people weren't happy about the decision. In fact there was a lot more violence than anticipated. We were all brought up told that war was the only solution to wipe out the inferior vampires, challenged and mere humans. Aphryl made a hasty exit and I followed behind to prevent any serious retaliation, not that I could fight off more than three on my own, seven maybe with Aphryl's help.
We made our way to his tent and he resumed his earlier position of standing, back to me with his hands supporting him on the desk. "They aren't going to accept it."
Always wise and knowing. "No, sir. They were brought up that way, just like you, just like me."
He didn't seem happy about that, there was silence for a while. Maybe because he didn't feel that way. It was his predecessor who had formed this faction for Birmingham, Aphryl saw very little in the way of brainwashing. Maybe he felt left out, isolated from the rest of us who suffered those effects. "I'm going to stand down."
Site had just entered the tent after calming down some of the population and upon hearing what Aphryl said we both cried "What?" in outraged unison. D�-ja-vu.
I continued. "You can't stand down, your the leader. No one has more experience here than you." I reasoned against this move reeling off anything that came into my head. "You're in this position because you worked for it and you have the right characteristics, no one can match up to that."
I started to sound like I was just soothing his ego, but I genuinely believed what I was saying. "Site, you are to take my position backed by Sara. Both of you have more experience than me and I wouldn't put you in this position if you hadn't worked for it or had the right qualities. My advisors will work with you and inform you of the ongoing situation."
I sighed. This was going to be tough, I only got into this seriously when I was twenty-five. I've only really understood the situation from the last eleven years, this is too much I can't handle this. "Dismissed."
For the last time. Site put his hand on my shoulder and guided me out, he probably was going through the same thoughts as I was only he was stronger and able to mask it better.
-=-=-=-
The last five years have been a nightmare, too much for anyone not to change a bit. Despite the destruction of many industries from the floods the waters have drowned out even more locations. Aphryl passed away not long after he stood down. Somehow I believe that he died happily, knowing that everything he had done had been for the best. If only he could have truly stopped the war.
Our numbers have decreased. At the announcement of surrender all other factions mobilised their troops to invade, but with the change of command Site and I re-mobilised our own troops and barely stood our ground against their soldiers.
Obviously every faction was reduced in numbers but with declining population we were not getting any new recruits, werewolves don't breed too well, but neither do vampires, still the two factions do fine. I've began to understand the futility of war, I guess I'm starting to understand what Aphryl was going through, but still, we had to prevail, too full of pride to roll over and give in. I had grown to at least agree with Site who isn't going through a particularly good patch right now. Seeming to kind of going through the same thing Aphryl was, the population, given the dire circumstances were heading more towards Aphryl's idea of surrender. Site and I have a mission with our packs. Moral has been obliterated, order has demised, this mission is solely go in, destroy, come out. No tactics, if anyone happens to turn on the � moon, deal with it, kill the humans (whose population has shamefully increased along with the conquering of the other factions in the majority of world wide situations).
We broke into their base, dragging back the heavy corrugated steel, siding door that marked their border, and let loose. Most of them were killed, I stood in all the chaos behind Site. You could hear the gnawing of flesh and bone, absolute chaos, gunfire exchanged, one on one combat, futile. Site dropped his head, drew a deep breath and announced. "Our Faction surrenders, humas!" He couldn't help but keep the distaste outof his tone.
My mind cried out against it but I had had enough. We all were quite taken aback, but agreed. Enough was enough, there was nothing left to fight for. One final shot echoed the building.
On instinct I had leapt forward unknowingly and felt a sharp impact and burst of pain in the centre of my chest. I kind of felt myself turning slightly, the impact probably hitting more to one side than the other, I saw Site's face, kind of blurrily that seemed to hold no emotion, or maybe held one too many which his face could never settle on. I think I felt my knees buckle and the impact as they hit solid concrete, the rest of my body following. Site had his arm around my shoulder and seemed to have caught my head, resting it softly back so it didn't crash with the floor. "Thank you." I heard him mutter.
-=-=-=-
"Don't mention... it" she faltered.
I kissed her softly on her forehead, if only I had told her sooner, not afraid of her response. She smiled and her eyes fluttered shut. We both knew she was dying and respecting her request I spent the next week, while she was in hospital, looking for a place to carry it out. "When this is all over I'm going to have a long hot bath" I recalled.
Sometimes I think I attach too much sentimental value to what she says.
I got a luxury flat borrowed for the day, how it survived I'll probably never know. It was owned by an old soldier who had great respect for those who fought and their last wishes. I was reluctant to go in, I didn't want this to be the end but somehow I knew it was, every step having an air of finality rush in behind it. In the white garments the hospital provided Neph and I lowered her in. I was afraid it would be too hot but she sighed. She looked up at me "Site," my eyes were burning "thanks." she sighed her last breath with a smile on her face.
I folded my arms on the edge of the bath and rested my head in them, tears streaming down my cheeks, sobbing in short gasps. "No," my breath would hardly let me shout "Sara, no!"
Could there be anything less futile than war?
They say that self-sacrifice is the most powerful sacrifice of all. Soldiers, civilians, livelihoods, Sara, rest in peace. Let us learn from our mistakes and build a new world, where people can live in harmony, that there is enough peace that we don't have to fight for more. Despite all the pain and heart-ache, we must go on. For the future they gave us, rest in peace.
Compiled from the diary of Sara K. Lamington, the recorded events of the time and the recollections of Site T. Openhagen and various other members from the Werewolf Faction.
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