The Human Farm (The Human Farm Trilogy Book 1) (15 page)

35   

The girls went with Kev and Gar to work on getting the barn built so they would have a place to keep the cows when trying to get milk from them. Mal along with Bard went back to work on his water system, using some of the new tools and supplies they had acquired at the village and Reggie continued to make some renovations to the living area of the camp.   

Dawn headed out into the woods with one of the empty carts to start gathering some more wood for the fire, she noticed she had some company following along behind her. She smiled as she turned her head, “Come along little one, you can help me gather wood if you like.”    

Little Lili ran up alongside her grabbing small sticks and branches as they walked, tossing them into the cart. They walked for nearly half an hour filling the cart with wood, they had gotten a good distance from the camp and were turning back when the girl said, “Why do you and Reggie and Bard look different?”   

Dawn looked down at her, shocked that she had finally spoken. “So you do speak?” she said with a smile. “Well you see little one, Reggie, Bard, and I are Androids, or rather machines built by humans a long time ago. But somehow we were given a great gift, we have human souls which means we have feelings and emotions just like you. We can feel happy and sad or even angry, just like you can.”  

Little Lili looked up at her puzzled but smiled nonetheless, “I like it here in the woods. It’s better than my other home. They were mean to me there.”

“What other home little one? What did they do to you there?”

Little Lili shook her head with a frightened look on her face, she had tears forming in her eyes. “It is ok little one, you do not have to talk about it if you do not want to.” She wiped away her tears and they walked back to the camp in silence.

When they got back to the camp Reggie gave little Lili a doll he had made her, “Here you go little one, a little something for you to play with and keep you company. Something you can share all your secrets with.”

She smiled at him and said, “Thank you.”

He looked shocked, “You talk?”

“Yes she does at that,” said Dawn. She moved closer to Reggie whispering to him, “Just do not ask her about her home or about what happened to her there. She seems scared about it and refused to talk about it.” Reggie nodded and let it go at that. Dawn threw some wood on the fire and started preparing some food for the humans to eat while little Lili wandered off to play with her doll.

The girl had wandered off towards the area with the animals and the barn the others were constructing, she seemed interested in watching them work. She climbed up on the fencing and stood on the bottom rung watching them. They had built up a frame and had three sides of the barn almost completed and had started on the fourth side, they were fitting in a door when they spotted the girl watching. They all waved to her and smiled, she waved and smiled back. She jumped down from the fence and wandered closer to them, “What are you building?” she asked.   

They all seemed surprised and happy that she was finally able to talk. “We are building a barn, it’s for the cows over there so we can get milk from them and so they have shelter during bad weather,” said Sara.    

“What are those things over there?” little Lili asked pointing at the horses.   

“Those are called horses,” said Kev. “We use them to ride on, so when we have to travel long distances we can move faster.”

“Can I go for a ride on one?” she asked.   

“Tell you what, as soon as we finish working on the barn for the day I will take you riding myself,” said Kev.

Little Lili smiled, “Yay!” She ran off laughing and hugging her doll.  

She strolled over to the creek where Bard and Mal were working on the water system. “Well hello little one, what are you up to?” asked Mal, not expecting an answer, not knowing yet she had started talking.   

“I’m going to ride the horsies with Kev,” she said giggling.

Mal looked shocked at hearing her talk but smiled, “You are huh, that’s great. They look like they’ll be a lot of fun to ride.”  

“You can come with us,” she said.

“Well, I just might do that,” he said.

She giggled “Yay!” as she stomped off through the woods back into the camp.

When she arrived back at camp Dawn was cooking at the fireplace. “Are you hungry little one?”   

“Uh huh. Guess what?” she giggled, “Kev and Mal are gonna take me riding on the horsies later.”   

“They are? That is very good, I am sure you will enjoy that very much. The food will be ready very soon little one,” said Dawn.

Little Lili sat on her bed and played with her doll telling her all about how she was going to ride on the horsies, while Dawn watched over her and cooked the rest of the food. “Lili would you run and tell the others the food is ready?” Dawn asked.   

“Ok,” She said as she skipped out to get the others. She ran to the barn first telling everyone to come and eat and then over to the creek getting everyone together for the meal. Everyone sat around the fire eating and talking about the events of the day and chatting with little Lili. She was a sweet little girl once she had warmed up to everyone and really got along well with everyone.

Dawn had prepared the special meal for Lili who was still unconscious in her bed and went over to feed her. Little Lili came over to sit beside her and watched, “What is wrong with her Dawn, will she ever wake up?” she asked.   

“I am afraid I do not know little one, she lost a lot of blood when she was injured. She hurt herself saving the lives of Sara, Gwen and Gar. When she went to sleep she has not as of yet woken back up but she breaths and we must feed her. The color comes back to her more and more every day but she does not wake. There is nothing more we can do for her but wait and see what happens,” said Dawn.

“Why does she look like me?” she asked.   

“That is a very good question little one, I wish I knew the answer to that. Unfortunately it is a question that I have no clue how to answer,” said Dawn.

Everyone had finished eating and were cleaning everything up, there were several hours of daylight left and they wanted to try and get as much work done on the barn as they could. The girls, Gar and Bard went to work on the barn, Mal and Kev came over to join little Lili and Dawn.    

“So little one, you ready to go for a ride now?” asked Kev.   

“Yes,” she exclaimed loudly as she jumped up and down.

She was extremely excited and couldn’t wait to ride the horses. Mal and Dawn laughed as she raced off. Kev and Mal followed after her, Kev explained to Mal the basics of how to ride. They grabbed the rope that Mal and Reggie had found in the village figuring it would be better for the horses and much easier to handle.   

Kev climbed onto his horse and Mal helped little Lili up onto the front of the horse with Kev so she could hold onto the mane and Kev could hold tight to her and the rope. Mal jumped onto his horse and they kicked the horses into a slow walk into the forest and headed towards the edge, out towards the meadow where they drove the cows from earlier.   

Little Lili laughed and giggled the whole time as the wind blew her hair about. Kev kicked the horses into a trot, moving them along a bit faster and the girl shrieked with laughter. In no time they had come across the barn where they first found the horses. He swung the horses around to the front side of the barn and they found the cages stacked up where they had left them.    

They climbed down off the horses and Mal and Kev each strapped one of the cages to their backs and managed to get back onto their horses with the help of the other and headed off back to the camp. It was just starting to get dark as they got back and corralled the horses in the pen with the cows for the night. They put the cages with the rest of the supplies and joined the others in the living area.   

“Well everyone we should get some rest, the camp is well stocked and the barn is nearly finished, well enough to where the cows can be taken in and milked. I think we should head for D.C. in the morning,” said Kev.

“What about the girl?” asked Mal.   

“She should stay here with me,” said Gwen. “This trip is far too long and it will be way too dangerous for her to go on.”

Little Lili looked around at everyone with a sad look, “You are all leaving me?” she asked as tears started to form in her eyes.   

“No little one, it is not like that at all. We are going to a city far from here to see about freeing other humans like you and the others from the farms they are trapped in. It is a long and dangerous trip, we do not want to see you get hurt. Gwen is staying here in the camp with Big Lili to take care of her and she will need someone to help her. Can you be a brave girl and take care of Big Lili and Gwen, can you protect them for me while we are gone?” asked Reggie.   

“You promise you’ll come back?”

“I promise little one, we will all come back as soon as we can.”

“Ok,” she said with a sigh. “I will be brave and strong and make sure nothing happens to Big Lili and Gwen,” she said as she tried to put on a brave smile.

“That is a good girl,” he said as he hugged her tight. “Now why don’t you lie down and get some sleep?”   

It had been a long, tiring day and everyone went to their newly made up beds that Reggie had acquired for them, they were all very thankful for the vast improvements in comfort. It didn’t take long before everyone in the camp was asleep. The three guardians made sure they had plenty of spare batteries and Dawn put a fresh charged one in, as she had the laser arms she would need the power more than the others.   

36   

The next morning everyone was awake early and had a quick breakfast, they were eager to get things packed and start the long journey to free their people. Bard told them they would want to use some blankets to throw over the horses before they rode for so long, it would help save the horses from a sore back as well as the humans from a sore rear. They packed everything they would need for the trip, weapons and ammo as well as some water and food and medical supplies, being sure to leave plenty behind for the girls to use.   

Once they had everything ready to go all that was left was to say their goodbyes. Everyone took their turn hugging little Lili and saying goodbye to her, she tried to be brave as she wiped tears away. They hugged and said their goodbyes to Gwen as well. Kev and Dawn took a moment to sit by Lili holding her hand to say goodbye to her, not really knowing how long they would be gone or if they would even make it back.  

They were all ready to go now, “So how are we going to do this, there are only 4 horses?” Sara asked.   

“The four of you can ride the horses, Bard, Reggie and I can easily walk alongside the animals and keep pace with them,” said Dawn.

“Oh, ok then,” said Sara

The humans all climbed onto their horses and made sure their supply packs were tied down securely. They rode off towards the edge of the woods and the road, leaving the three girls behind. It was a long two hundred mile walk ahead of them but now they had horses for the humans to ride they could cut their travel time in half from three or four days to roughly two if they were lucky.   

They started out at a trot letting the horses go as fast as they could without wearing them out too quickly, it was interesting for the humans to watch their guardian friends walk at these speeds, they had never before had the opportunity to see them move this fast before. They went at this pace for about half an hour then slowed down to give the horses a break.   

They walked on in this manner for several hours until they came to a river, they decided they should stop and let the horses rest for a while, graze on some grass and drink from the river while they had a small bite from the food they had brought with them.

“We seem to have made really good time, how far have we traveled?” asked Kev.   

“I believe we have traveled about twenty five miles, if we had not had the horses we probably would have only made it about eight or ten miles by now,” said Dawn.

“Wow that is good then, I am glad we were able to find them and really pleased Bard was there and able to show us how to capture and tame them,” said Kev.   

“Yes they certainly come in handy,” said Dawn.

They had packed up all their gear and were about to gather their horses when Dawn heard the far off cry of a drone approaching, “quickly everyone under the bridge, a drone approaches.” Everyone grabbed their gear so no sign of them would remain, nothing could be done about the horses they could only hope they would not be scared off or noticed as anything other than wild animals to the drone. They quickly ran underneath the bridge and tucked themselves up into the edge nearest the bank where all the shadows were.

They waited and listened as the drone came nearer, it made a whirring noise as it hovered over the bridge, no doubt spotting the horses nearby and checking them out. It hovered a moment longer then zoomed up and shot off into the distance, the whirring of its engines grew silent. The group were now able to withdraw from the shadows and come out into the open.   

The horses had started to wander deeper into the fields away from the bridge, Bard and Reggie ran out to gather them up as the others finished organizing their supplies. “It’s a good thing those drones make so much noise when they’re approaching or we’d be in a lot of trouble,” said Sara.   

“Yes that is a good thing indeed, even better that you have one of us along that can hear them far enough off to give plenty of warning time,” said Reggie as they brought the horses back up.  

Everyone tied their packs back to the horses and climbed on, they still had plenty of daylight left and figured they could get another seventy five to one hundred miles before it got too dark outside to travel any more.  

They headed back out onto the road and started trotting the horses again, they kept at the pace they were doing earlier. Before long they came upon a small village they would have to pass through along the roadway. The village looked to be deserted and worn down from neglect but you never knew what could be lurking in the dark shadows around any corner.    

Mal took out one of the guns they’d been carrying, “I will ride on ahead and make sure the road is clear before everyone comes through, if it’s safe enough I’ll ride back and get you.”   

“Ok we will wait here for you, be careful and good luck,” said Dawn.

They all stood where they had stopped, waited and watched as Mal rode off down the road, heading into the shadowy rundown village. He went around a bend in the road and disappeared from their sights. They started to get worried after he’d been gone for more than ten minutes and were about to ride in after him when he appeared, riding back towards them again.  

“Everything is clear as far as I can see, all the way to the other end of town we should be good to go.”   

They all set off and slowly moved forward into the shadowy village, it was quiet and eerie, the shadows seemed to leap and dance as you moved through the streets. They knew it was just their minds playing tricks on them but that didn’t help make it any better for them. They kicked the horses into a faster trot so they could get through the village quicker and they were soon leaving the small ghost town behind them and the wide open road was looming out in front of them.  

They rode on in silence for hours, trotting and walking, trotting and walking, they would stop and rest then trot and walk again. Finally it was nightfall they’d traveled a hundred and twenty five miles in a day, they were all tired. They managed to find refuge several miles away from the road on an old abandoned farm Mal had scouted out for them. The barn was still intact and would be good to stable the horses and set up camp for the night.   

They ate a meager meal and lay down to sleep. The four humans were fast asleep in no time and the three guardians stood watch over their friends and their mounts as the darkening night wore on.

The morning came and everyone woke refreshed and ready for the last leg of the ride that would take them to their destination and to whatever fate lay beyond. They finished off what little food they had left for breakfast, packed up their gear and tied off their supplies to their horses. They mounted up ready to be gone from the safety and solitude of the farm and get back to the hard travel of the road that lie before them.   

They pushed hard the rest of the morning and on into the afternoon and they were soon rewarded with a clear sight of the glistening image of D.C. slowly getting bigger as they grew nearer. They stopped the horses five miles outside of the city and tied them off someplace near a stream where they would be able to get plenty of water as well as graze on grass. They knew now was the time they would have to split up and make their way into the city.

They decided to wait until nightfall when they would have a better chance of hiding in shadows and ducking for cover when they needed to. They sat and waited and went over the plans again for what they were going to do. Bard was going to go with Mal and Gar to the south side. Dawn would go with Sara to the north side and Reggie would go with Kev to the east side.  

They all knew they must stick to the shadows and stay as near to the buildings as they could so as not to be seen. They would meet up at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. the street where the Whitehouse was located and the Mainframe was now housed.  

It had started to grow dark and everyone grabbed their gear and loaded the weapons taking what they would need. They were ready to go, they headed out from their hiding spot, made their way back to the road and headed towards the town. Just as they were about to split up and head to the city they heard noises coming from all around them, before they could do anything they were surrounded by a dozen armed A.I. units.  

“Well done councilor Mal, you brought them to us just as you said you would,” said a familiar voice.

Kev looked up at the voice he heard, shocked to see councilor Tor standing before him. “Hello Kev, did you really think you had seen the last of me?” he asked.   

Kev looked at Mal who had an almost evil sneer on his face, “You betrayed us, how could you? After we saved your life, we took you in, after all we have done for you?” said Kev.  

“You, saved me?” he laughed. “You mean after I let you think you saved me from those guardians back in the tunnels. All part of the plan my boy.”   

Dawn raised her arm ready to blast a hole in Mal’s head with her laser, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you Red66, or is it Dawn you go by now?” said Counselor Tor. “You do that and all of your little friends here will die.” Dawn lowered her arm.   

“What do you want with us? Why do you want to keep your own people imprisoned on those farms when you could all live freely up here in this beautiful world? Why do you let the mainframe keep you imprisoned below?” she asked.    

The councilor laughed, “Foolish machine, you really think that it is the mainframe that is keeping the humans imprisoned in the farms? We select few, we councilors know all about the world above. We and we alone live up here and we will not see it tarnished and destroyed by letting all of humanity live in it.”

“So you would keep your own people as slaves, growing your food and doing your work? Keeping you fat while you live in this beautiful paradise doing nothing?” she said.   

“You are not worthy of being called human Tor, you are lower than the lowest form of life that walks the face of this Earth and I swear to you I will stop at nothing to free our people from the farms,” said Kev.

Tor laughed, “Well I don’t see how you’ll be able to do that when you’re dead. Better yet I think I will let you all rot away in a prison cell. As for you three guardians who have somehow managed to find humanity, well, let’s just see what happens to you and your humanity after your batteries run out hmm. Take them all to the basement and lock them away, and remove the lasers from that one’s arms,” he said pointing to Dawn.   

“Tor there are three other humans remaining back at their camp some two hundred miles from here. One is a small girl no more than five years old, another human female that is injured and has been unconscious for some time and another female who tends to them,” said Mal.   

“Send two A.I. units in to fetch them, they should be no match for two units,” he said.

“Damn you Mal, I swear I’ll see you pay for this,” said Kev  

“How pray tell, will you do this Kev, hmmm, locked in the basement?” he asked as he walked away laughing.  

  The guardian units grabbed the humans and their guardian friends and dragged them to the road where there was a transport truck parked nearby waiting for them. They were tossed into the back of the truck and locked into the built in cage. The engines roared to life and backfired several times from not being properly maintained. Off in the bushes the horses, hearing the noise and being frightened had yanked and pulled on the ropes and managed to free themselves. They came thundering from the spot they’d been tied to and went running back in the direction they’d come from.  

The companions watched as the animals ran off into the distance, disappearing into the horizon never to be seen again. They all sat forlorn as they awaited whatever fate they had in store for them when they got to their destination. They feared what would happen to their friends back at camp who would be helpless to defend themselves against the guardians that were coming for them, they worried about having no way of even letting them know they were coming for them.   

It only took several minutes until they reached their destination. The door to their cage opened and they stepped out, a huge white house loomed over them, a large dome sat atop the highest part of the large building. The width of the house was massive, spanning several hundred yards. They were taken into a small door along the side that was guarded by two guardian units, the door led to a basement level that was lit by lights much like what was found on the farms, dim and barely able to light anything. They walked for several feet before they turned a corner and were herded into an elevator, sent down several floors and into another dimly lit hall where they were separated and each shoved into a room and locked behind a door. The doors made of solid iron with a single slit near the top with bars running along it.    

There were no windows in the small room and only a small cot and one toilet to use when nature called. Dawn had the lasers removed from her arms so she had no way of cutting through the iron and even her A.I. strength was no match for the reinforced iron of these doors, so they were not going to be able to shove the doors open. There was no way they were going to escape from these rooms, there seemed to be no hope at all for any of them. She was a being of logic, she was built to be logical but at the same time she had feelings and emotions of humans and she felt afraid and alone and knew there was no way they were getting out of this, they were in fact trapped and doomed to die in this place.