A few hours later, John was in his room, finally able to actually hold his mate and children, for the first time in ten years.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," he said, as he held them close. "You have no idea how much I wanted to escape, but I didn't want to lead them back to you."
"Is there a way we can escape?" Bella asked.
John nodded. "Problem is, it would only work once. After the attempt, they'd fix the issue."
"So, could we do it now?" Tobias asked.
"Not unless the others were left behind," said John.
"Are you talking about the other humans that live here?" Bella asked.
John nodded. "I've been planning it for ten years - get all the livestock out of here, and get them to escape to freedom."
"What's the hold up?" Tobias asked.
"Got to get past Step Zero, and break the Conditioning they are under," said John. "The others here trust the Wolfes, and see them as Friends, Family even. Most have no issues agree to be a Meal for Big Meal Day, and thus get eaten by the Wolfes. Even I've been through something similar, their Taming Process."
"What do you mean?" Bella asked.
John sighed. "I can't intentionally harm the Wolfes. Also, anyone that comes up with a plan to escape, or rebel, that I feel won't work, I'm compelled to report it to Robert. Make of that what you will."
"Have you figured out a way to break it?" Tobias asked.
"I know of only two methods, but I doubt they'd work," said John. "If the Wolfes got Aggressive around me or other Tamed Ferals, we'd be able to react in self-defense. The Wolfes are always calm though, even if they catch you doing something foolish. So, while I can't harm them, they can't harm me."
"What's the other method?" Bella asked.
"Expose a fundamental lie in what they've been telling us," said John. "Wolfes are Honest - the livestock know that they will be bred, sold, eaten, or some combination of all three. Heard of a Free Range Village Farm that had drugged their starting herd into thinking that they were free - fast forward twenty years, Ferals exposed the truth, and the Marked Livestock pulled off a large Decoy operation, five thousand strong, and rebelled. When it was crushed, they were reduced to D and F Grade, the farm had to pay a huge fine, and the family was unable to farm humans anymore. However, the biggest thing was the disappearance of three thousand unmarked underaged livestock - heard that the Ferals either took them, or killed them."
Bella chuckled. "I can confirm the truth of the story. We actually hosted some of them shortly after their escape."
"Don't say where they are now," said John, as he went to get food from the dispenser. "There's cameras and microphones in every room, picking up everything we say and watching most everything we do. The bathroom section is the only blind spot that I know of, but it isn't deaf."
"So, where is the camera?" Tobias asked.
"I'm right in front of it," John said, as he pressed a button on the food dispenser. Food came out onto a plate he'd set up. "Pretty good view of the room, table, bed, and so on, except the bathroom. Even if they aren't watching it live, everything is recorded, and they can watch it later."
"So, what do we do?" Sally asked, as John passed the plate of food to her.
"Try to behave, and don't cause too much trouble," said John. He looked at Bella and Tobias. "I've read the papers on all three of you, and I can guess their plans. Sally's age means it's possible to Tame her, even to the point of being Conditioned. She's also an A Minus, with the potential to be an A Plus - means she'll be very useful for breeding high quality livestock, and that's if she isn't turned into a Pet, which is a bit better than being livestock, as they can stay inside of the house, once paperwork and the Pet Training is done."
"What about me?" Tobias asked.
"You're Prime Grade, same as me," said John. "If you don't qualify as a Pet, they'll want you as a Breeder. Prime Grade has the potential to bring the lines of other livestock up by one full letter grade, if not more. As is, you're worth five million dollars, possibly more."
"What about me?" Bella asked.
"Genetically, you're a B Plus, which is a pretty good grade," said John. "However, your age of over thirty years reduces you by one, and your aggressiveness could reduce you by another, to D Plus, that's Dog Food."
"Dog Food?" Bella asked.
John nodded. "That's why I strongly advise that you don't cause trouble. Do so, and they might feed you to Millie - nice Champion Sheepdog normally, very friendly, and very gentle, even to her Meals - or worse yet, if you cause serious trouble, they'll feed you to the pigs - the pigs are not nice or gentle where humans are concerned."
"I see," said Bella. "So, what role do you have here?"
"One role is that of Protector, and I handle threats to the rest of the herd, like wild predators, livestock thieves, and problematic livestock," said John. He then lowered his eyes. "The other role is that of Breeder. They have me breed with females whose lines they want to improve. They don't force me or the females, but, after a while, one does get lonely."
Bella walked up to him. "How many?"
"I've fathered forty-eight offspring while I've been here," John said. "Over two dozen females have carried my offspring."
"Are any of those females alive?" Bella asked.
"At the moment, five of them, and two are expecting some more," said John. He looked Bella in the eyes. "I never loved any of them, at least, not in the way that I've loved you. At best, we were, or are, friends."
"What about the children?" Tobias asked.
"Oldest is eight years, youngest is five months," said John. "When I can, I try to spend time with them, but I know their fates - bred, sold, and eaten.... granted, they are Protected, so the one doing the Eating would need to Ask them, but the Wolfes tend to ask anyways.... I've never seen anyone they've Asked say No."
"Alright," said Bella. "I think I understand. What do you want me to do?"
"For now, behave your self, and gain the Wolfes' trust," said John. "If you can, see about getting a position to look after the children, and teach them skills they'd need to survive in the wild. I mean, suppose they got abducted, escaped from their captors, and had to survive as they made their way back to the farm."
"You have a point," said Bella.
"Now, we won't be able to all fit in the same room - bed's only good for two anyways," said John. "But, we can still meet up here for supper each night. So, like I've said, behave, and we'll be able to spend time together."
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