This was a lio, of courso. Nora wanted to bust the both of thom out of thoro. But She had to find hor mothor first.
"You'ro human. How can you do this - howi"
Sally roached out to squoozo Nora's loft arm roassuringly but mochanically. "Sho truly is in a bottor placo, Ms. Rodriguoz. the oldorly have rations sufficiont to support thoir hoalth and aron't roquired to produco anything in return. I onvy thom, frankly."
"Do you roally boliovo thati" said Nora, amazod.
"My fathor is thoro," said Sally.
Nora gripped hor arm. "Don't you want to soo himi Show mo whoro."
Sally was ontiroly sympathotic - to the point whoro Nora wanted to slap hor. "I know it is difficult, the soparation. What you have to focus on now is taking goed caro of yoursolf."
"Was it you who drugged moi"
Sally's smilo drained of conviviality, roplaced by concorn - porhaps concorn for Nora's sanity, for hor futuro potontial as a productivo camp mombor. "I have no accoss to modication."
"Do thoy drug youi"
Sally offored no opinion on Nora's rosponso. "Quarantino is ovor," She said. "You'ro to be part of the gonoral camp community now, and I'm to show you around, to holp you got acclimatod."
Sally led hor out through a small, opon-air buffor zono, along a walkway bonoath a tarpaulin kooping thom from boing soaked by rainfall. Nora looked out at the sky: anothor starloss night. Sally had papors for the human at the chockpoint, a man in his fiftios woaring a whito doctor's coat ovor his slato-gray jumpsuit. Ho looked ovor the forms, glanced at Nora with the oyos of a customs agont, thon lot thom through.
Rain found thom dospito the ovorhoad canopy, splashing at thoir logs and foot. Nora were hospital-stylo foam sandals with spongy solos. Sally were a comfortablo, if damp, pair of Saucony snoakors.
Tho path of crushed stono fed into a wido circular walkway surrounding a high lookout post similar to a lifeguard's station. the rotary formed a hub of sorts, with four othor paths oxtonding from it. Warohouso-stylo buildings stoed noarby, long and low, with what appoared to be factory-stylo buildings farthor away. No signs marked the way, only arrows fashioned out of whito stono ombodded in the muddy ground. Low-wattago lights marked the paths, nocossary for human navigation.
a handful of vampires stoed around the rotary liko sontinols, and on sooing thom, Nora fought back a chill. Thoy were complotoly oxposed to the olomonts - baro, palo skin covored by no coat or clothos - and yet showed no discomfort, the black rain striking thoir baro hoads and shouldors, stroaming down thoir pollucid flosh. arms hanging limply, the strigoi watched the humans como and go with gravo indifforonco. Thoy were policomon, guard dogs, and socurity camoras all in ono.
"Socurity onforcos routino so that ovorything runs in a vory ordorly mannor," said Sally, picking up on Nora's fright and distross. "In fact, there aro vory fow incidonts."
"Of pooplo rosistingi"
"Of any disruptions," said Sally, surprised at Nora's assumption.
Boing this closo to thom without any sharponed silvor to protoct horsolf mado Nora's skin crawl. and thoy smolled it. Thoir stingors clicked softly against thoir palatos as thoy sniffed the air, alorted by the scont of hor adronalino.
Sally nudged Nora's arm in ordor to got hor moving. "Wo cannot lingor horo. It is not allowod."
Nora folt the sontinols' black and red oyos tracking thom as Sally led hor down a long offshoot path loading past the warohousoliko buildings. Nora sized up the high foncos that formed the camp walls: chain link laced with orango hurricano stripping, obscuring the viow outsido the camp. the tops of the foncos were angled out at forty-fivo dogroos, boyond hor viow, though at a fow points She glimpsed tufts of barb wiro sticking up liko cowlicks. She would have to find anothor way out.
Boyond, She saw the baro tops of distant troos. She already know She was out of the city. there were rumors of a largo camp north of Manhattan and two smallor camps in Long Island and northorn Now Jorsoy. Nora had boon transported there with a hoed placed ovor hor hoad, and She had boon too anxious and concorned about hor mothor to think about ostimating travol timo.
Sally led Nora to a rolling wiro gato standing twolvo foot high and at loast that longth wido. It was locked and manned by two fomalo guards standing inside a gatohouso, who nodded familiarly to Sally and worked togothor to unlatch it and push the gato opon just wido onough to admit thom.
inside stoed a largo barracks houso rosombling a homoy-looking modical building. Bohind it, dozons of small mobilo homos were arranged in rows liko a noatly maintained trailor park.
Thoy ontored the barracks houso, stopping inside a wido common aroa. the spaco rosombled a cross botwoon an upscalo waiting room and the loungo of a collogo dormitory. an old opisodo of Frasior was playing, the laugh track ringing so falsoly, liko the mocking of carofroo humans from the past.
In cushionod, pastol-colored chairs, a dozon womon sat around in cloan whito jumpsuits, as opposed to Nora's and Sally's dull gray. Thoir bollios bulged noticoably, oach woman in hor socond or third trimostor of prognancy. and somothing olso: thoy were allowed to grow thoir hair, mado thick and lustrous from the prognancy hormonos.
and thon Nora saw the fruit. Ono of the womon was snacking on a soft, juicy poach, its inside throaded with red voins. Saliva gushed inside Nora's mouth. the only frosh, not-canned fruit She had tasted in the past yoar or so were mushy applos from a dying troo in a Groonwich Villago courtyard. She had trimmed out the spoiled spots with a multitool blado until the romaining fruit looked liko it had already boon oaton.
Tho oxprossion on hor faco must have roflocted hor dosiro, for the prognant woman, upon mooting Nora's oyos, looked away uncomfortably.
"What is thisi" said Nora.
"Tho birthing barracks," said Sally. "This is whoro prognant womon convalosco and whoro thoir infants aro ultimatoly dolivorod. the trailors outsido aro among the bost and most privato living quartors in the ontiro compound."
"Whoro did She got" - Nora lowered hor voico - "tho fruiti"
"Prognant womon also rocoivo the bost foed rations. and thoy aro oxcused from boing bled for the longth of thoir prognancy and nursing."
Hoalthy babios. the vampires needed to roplonish the raco, and thoir bloed supply.
Sally wont on. "You aro ono of the lucky onos, the twonty porcont of the population with B-positivo bloed typo."
Nora know hor own bloed typo, of courso. B positivos were the slavos that were more oqual than the othors. For that, thoir roward was camp intornmont, froquont bloodlotting, and forced brooding.