Vampire Civilization Ch. 11

"This was never home, I never fit in anywhere," Ali Tibur said aloud, and the tall, dark-skinned young man shrugged his massive shoulders. Even from a distance of a few kilometers, his undead senses could feel the heat, and he could smell the blood. Standing a short distance from what remained of Melbourne, Australia, Tibur could see the beautiful metropolis in flames. Tibur walked away, vowing never to return. What had Melbourne, and Australia done for him? As a mortal, he'd spent his life there. As a newbie vampire, Tibur intended to head for greener pastures, thank you very much. The sun would rise in an hour, and Tibur needed to be in darkness long before then...

"Let's go," came a female voice, and Ali Tibur looked at Mikaela Tilahun. Short and curvy, with dark brown skin and short, curly dark hair, Mikaela looked lovely in a black tank top and blue jeans. When she spoke, Ali Tibur could still hear faint traces of her lovely Ethiopian accent. Mikaela, like most vampires, had roamed the earth for a long time. Mikaela had come to Australia shortly before the War, and when the conflict came to Australia's shores, she and Ali Tibur found themselves on opposite sides. Mikaela infected Ali Tibur, turning him into one of the undead. The rest is merely details at this point.

The conflict pitting humans against vampires is truly global, and not even distant and beautiful Australia has remained untouched. In the United States of America and Canada, humans and vampires are fighting over nearly every square inch of North American real estate. Mexico seems to have its vampire problem contained. Elsewhere, in the Arab world and Africa, the local humans have a policy of appeasement with the undead, leading to a surprisingly lasting peace. Not much is known about the situation in Latin America or the Caribbean, though Asian nations are also experiencing skirmishes with the undead.

Australia was one of a few nations to hold out against the undead hordes that stalked the globe following the nuclear war. Of course, the undead came to Australia, and one of the world's hardiest nations found itself in danger of losing a war to the undead. Tibur was one of many young people who volunteered for the A.D.M. or Australian Defense Militia. They were on the frontlines when the Australian armed forces and the police failed to contain the undead, and everyone involved paid the consequences.

Ali Tibur had experienced much conflict in his life long before the war between humans and vampires became a thing. In many ways, the conflict between human and inhuman reflected the wars raging inside Ali Tibur's soul even before he became one of the undead. The young Aboriginal Australian was destined for a life of conflict and adventure. Fate is a cruel mistress and she doesn't care about the needs and wants of individuals, after all.

Ali Tibur was born in the environs of Gosford, in the New South Wales area, to a white Australian mother, Elisabeth Crooner, and an Aboriginal Australian father, Wilson Tibur of the Eora people of New South Wales. Ali Tibur has lived all over the world, since his mother Elisabeth Crooner worked for the United Nations. Living in the City of Atlanta, Georgia, Ali Tibur was often mistaken for a biracial man or a fair-skinned African American man. Ali Tibur at first resented the assumptions, but later, learned not to mind. Most people living outside Australia knew next to nothing about the indigenous people of Australia.

Ali Tibur had seen much of the world, and fell in love with its diversity and myriad cultures. There is nothing wrong with that. Of course, Ali Tibur's father Wilson Tibur worried that his only son might lose his unique culture while living abroad with his mother. Wilson's fears proved to be well-founded, especially after Ali began to rebel against all things Australian following the couple's divorce. When Elisabeth Crooner divorced Wilson Tibur and took their son away, it was the end of the old man's world.

"My son, you must be proud of your people, we the Eora are among the most resilient of Aboriginal Australians, scientists proved that we've been in the coastal basin of New South Wales for thirty thousand years, and in spite of European colonialism, we are still here," said Wilson Tibur, speaking to his son. Ali Tibur had come back to Australia after a long sojourn in Atlanta, Georgia. He'd adopted the cool attitude and swagger common to African American artists and celebrities, and liked black American culture. Well, considering Ali Tibur had a business degree from Morehouse College, this made sense...

"Dad, I know," Ali Tibur replied, and his father Wilson, a tall, gaunt, dark-skinned, wizened old man shook his head. Father and son found themselves changing, and dealing with a changing world in different ways. The two sought to reconnect with one another when Ali moved back to New South Wales permanently. Of course, mere months after Ali Tibur's homecoming, the world discovered the existence of vampires. The undead are real, and they are hostile to mankind and damn hard to kill. That's all that humanity knew about its enemy in the early days of the war.

Ali Tibur went against both of his parents wishes when he enlisted in the Australian Defense Militia. Elisabeth Crooner and Wilson Tibur tried to deter their son Ali from joining the militia but to no avail. Ali saw it as his sacred duty to defend his homeland of Australia from the undead. Global news showed that the humans were losing the war against the vampires, and nowhere was this more evident than in North America. With the skies blackened by the nuclear fallout, the undead emerged en masse, terrorizing the humans and swelling their ranks by infecting their enemies.

"Ali, for once listen to your father and listen to me, the militia is not ready for the undead," Elisabeth Crooner pleaded with her son. Ali Tibur smiled at his mother and nodded at his father. Wilson Tibur looked at his son with a mixture of worry, exasperation and grudging admiration. Ali Tibur had made up his mind, and his parents couldn't override his judgement. He hugged them both, and then, over their vehement protests, he left their home in quiet, peaceful suburban Gosford and headed for Melbourne, where he would begin basic training. Australia was going to war with the undead, and every son and daughter of Oz needed to be ready. It's the Australian way.

Yeah, Ali Tibur was naïve, which is understandable for a young man in his twenties, fresh out of college. He joined the militia, and was part of that first chaotic battle with the undead on the streets of Melbourne. Ali shot a few vampires, and then one of them snuck up on him. The monster in question happened to be a centuries-old blood sucker disguised as a short, pretty-faced female immigrant from the Horn of Africa. The vampire known as Mikaela Tilahun got the drop on Ali Tibur and infected him before snatching him away. Ali passed out, and when he woke up, three days later, he was...changed.

Upon becoming a vampire, Ali Tibur reveled in the powers of the undead. Mikaela Tilahun became his lover and his teacher. She taught him how to control his sharp senses, his superhuman speed and enhanced strength, along with the rules of the hunt. Vampires are creatures of forever, and they don't die unless decapitated, burned to ash by fire or direct sunlight, or staked through the heart. Ali Tibur left the mortal world behind and embraced the existence of the undead. He looked for his parents, to offer them the gift of immortality, but they'd fled Australia, like so many people did after the armed forces failed...

"We must go where there are no people, lest we get hunted down and slaughtered," Mikaela said, her soft yet firm voice snatching Ali Tibur out of his little trip down memory lane. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. They walked away from the burning remnants of Melbourne, and found a place to sleep away the daytime hours. When night fell, Ali Tibur and Mikaela Tilahun left New South Wales and headed for the Great Victoria Desert, a largely uninhabited region that covers much of Western Australia and South Australia. They'd be safe there, since there were few people, and they could survive on animal blood until their situation improved...

"You're going to love the Great Victoria Desert, we'll hunt rock wallabies and feral camels, and the odd human of course," Ali Tibur said, smiling, as he and Mikaela Tilahun stood at the desert's edge. They'd gotten there after bribing an unscrupulous pilot, and fed upon him after reaching their destination. Mikaela smiled at Ali, her lover and fellow predator as well as her new guide in this strange, wonderful land. Hand in hand, the vampire couple ventured into the nighttime desert. There was so much to see and explore, so much wildlife, and no pesky humans to get in their way. It's a paradise for the undead...