by Marina Epley
I remain convinced Vogel plans to kill all of Oliver’s breakers right after Kitty and I assassinate Guardian. Vogel won’t have any reason to keep us alive afterward. I suspect she’s really no different from Wheeler or Browning. So we’ll have to take her out first. But I’m not certain how Jessie and I should go about doing so. We can’t just attack Vogel right out in the open. We’ll have to make it look like an accident, otherwise a thousand Elimination officers will immediately be after us.
Thoughts of killing Vogel constantly swirl in my mind. She catches my gaze and offers a gracious smile. I quickly return a grin, feigning friendliness.
A raging crowd of crazed journalists arrive outside the prison’s walls the same evening. Vogel and Oliver hold a long press-conference explaining the new relationship between Elimination and breakers. They smile and shake hands for the cameras. I remain inside the building, not willing to become the center of attention. I’m equally sick with being a public enemy as I am a national hero. All I want now is to restore my reputation, and then keep a low profile.
Unfortunately, the journalists outside don’t seem to care what I want. The next morning newspapers carry indignant articles about Vogel selling out the city to breakers. They predict the coming mass murders of innocent residents, and even come up with a few indecent caricatures of Vogel and myself. In most pictures she’s either sitting on my lap or passionately kissing me, while the ruins of the city burn in flames behind us. There’s no mention of Oliver in any article. The journalists have completely ignored him.
My jaw drops as I stare at one artist’s rendition of our relationship.
“I really don’t know what to say,” I finally mutter.
Kitty and Dave snicker, looking at the caricatures. They perceive everything as a joke, but I realize there’s nothing funny about the situation. Unfortunately, I soon happen to be proven correct.
Within an hour, a crowd of furious residents gather at the prison walls. Angry people demand all breakers to leave the city at once, shouting hateful slogans with some even throwing stones. I hear the sound of shattering glass. We have to back away from the windows. Vogel sends a squad of officers out to deal with the protestors. The officers set a perimeter between the crowd and prison entrance, and manage to calm people down a little. I can still hear some shouting, but at least no more stones are flying into the windows.
“Looks like we’ll also have to fight an informational war,” Vogel says. “Chase, you will form a special team to monitor the city media.”
Chase looks dumbfounded.
Vogel also instructs him to write a series of articles about me, describing my story from my first capture up to the current moment. It should help my reputation as well as hopefully begin to establish some trust between ordinary humans and breakers.
The next day Chase rages over her instructions for a solid ten minutes.
“She always gives me the strangest orders,” he complains. “Working with Wheeler was so much simpler. I just needed to capture breakers, follow commands and always answer “yes, sir.” That was good and fine, but Vogel doesn’t like things to be so simple. She makes me deal with a lot more paperwork. She always demands to know what I think about one thing or another, and then becomes angry if my opinion contradicts hers. As if it really matters to her what I think. I’m only a soldier and nobody pays me for thinking.” Chase pauses, frowning. “Well actually, I’m currently not getting any salary at all,” he adds. “And now Vogel wants me to write these stupid articles only because she somehow learned that I once wanted to obtain a degree in journalism. I think she just hates me. This must be her way of torturing me.”
I can’t help from laughing. Chase groans, opening a notebook. He came to my quarters to listen to my story, as if he hadn’t already heard enough during my interrogation.
“You’re like a real reporter,” I comment.
“I haven’t written anything since high school,” Chase sighs.
He still seems alerted in my presence, but his once hateful attitude has changed. Although Chase obviously doesn’t trust me too far, he has at least stopped with his accusations.
I patiently repeat my story, trying to separate truth from fiction. Chase listens attentively, taking notes without commenting. He remains quiet, thinking, long after I’m finished.
“All right, breaker,” he finally says. “I still don’t fully believe you, but let’s just consider the possibility that everything you say is true. How can you willingly cooperate with us, after all Elimination has done to you?”
“I just don’t see any other way,” I answer.
“You don’t really believe Holtzmann’s fairy tale about everybody living in peace and all that, do you?” Chase asks.
“I do happen to believe Holtzmann,” I say.
“You must be as insane as he is,” he concludes.
“Still better than being a hater,” I counter.
“I don’t hate breakers,” he protests. “I just don’t feel safe around them. Breakers will always represent a danger to ordinary humans.”
“So will other ordinary humans,” I answer. “There’s local police to deal with ordinary criminals. And so there should be Elimination to capture and prosecute criminal breakers. I’ve got no problem with that. I just think you shouldn’t bother innocent law abiding breakers.”
“Elimination no longer bothers any breakers at all,” Chase offers. “All we’re trying to do these days is protect the city. We have enough food and ammo for approximately four months. As soon as we run out of resources, this war will be over. I doubt we’ll be able to hold on till next spring.”
Chase’s facts about Elimination’s resources have me worried. I didn’t realize things had gotten so bad. I meet with Vogel to discuss the current situation.
“What are we going to do after we run out of food and ammo?” I ask directly.
“There won’t be any after,” she answers with a half-smile. “We have to defeat Guardian before next spring. We must recruit new soldiers. I’m sure there’s a good number of breakers concealing themselves in this city. They now have no reason to fear Elimination. We should recruit them, as well as any other resistant people. Request for Oliver to organize that. I’ll send some officers to assist him.”
“New recruits won’t have any combat skills,” I protest.
“We’ll organize a training center,” Vogel suggests.
“I don’t know, major,” I grumble. “We’ll have two or three thousand soldiers at best. And Guardian has breakers from all over the country.”
“Most breakers aren’t too eager to join his forces,” she says. “They’re leaving their homes and concealing themselves the same as ordinary citizens. I’m certain you’re well aware of this fact. So why continue to argue?”
I wonder about that myself. I secretly agree with all Vogel’s suggestions, but deep down feel hostile and aggressive toward her. I can’t stop thinking that soon one of us will have to kill the other. And perhaps Vogel will manage to succeed where Wheeler failed.
She remains calm during our entire conversation. Nothing seems to disturb this cold-blooded professional.
“We should also arrange to have some of Oliver’s breakers join Guardian’s force,” she offers. “We need eyes in the enemy’s camp. Can you suggest any candidates for this type of job?”
I can’t, but I certainly know someone who’d be able to select and train future spies.
The same day I approach Victor, announcing his promotion as director of our new intelligence group.
“I don’t believe I’m the best choice for the job,” he objects.
“C’mon Victor,” I say. “Nobody else knows how to switch sides and spy around as well as you.”
“Did you just call me a snitch?” Victor asks, grinning.
“You obviously have some unique talents for adapting to the situation and obtaining needed information,” I reply. “You should coach others here how to do that. We really need you to lead our intellige
nce department.”
“Elimination doesn’t even have such a department.”
“You will create one. Everybody believes in you.”
Victor thinks on my words and suddenly says, “I do want to help. I’m just not sure how wise it is to give me a lot of responsibility.”
I sense something different in his attitude, some guilt or unease in his expression.
“What’s that all about?” I ask.
“Remember when I told you I felt like somebody wiped my memories?” Victor asks. “Like something told me to join Elimination to spy on them? What if it was Guardian? What if I knew about him right from the beginning and joined his side of my own free will? He might have wiped my memories so that I couldn’t reveal any information about him. I can’t stop thinking that. I know I’m not exactly a good person. But could I really be that bad? What would it mean if everything I suspect about myself happened to be true?”
Victor glances at me in utter desperation. I’ve never seen him like this before.
“Well,” I say. “It would certainly mean that you have even more experience in spying than we originally thought. You need to become director of our intelligence.”
“Is that all you’ve got to say?” Victor asks.
“What more do you expect me to say?”
“Do you really think I can be ever forgiven for everything I’ve done?”
I realize Victor is going through some sort of personal crisis. Unfortunately, we have no time for that.
“You can’t even remember what all you’ve done,” I say. “But if you have to make amends, this is your big chance. Pull yourself together, Victor. We all have to do our best to have a chance to win this war.”
Victor seems unconvinced, but agrees to try organizing the spy department. I’m sure he’ll be a huge success.
The next several weeks Elimination along with Oliver’s breakers set up recruiting offices around the city. Chase’s squad comes up with a series of propaganda articles, encouraging all resistant people and concealed breakers to join the city defense. The effort lends to a surprising result, and Elimination manages to recruit more people than originally expected. The officers send them straight to our training center, where Jessie, Dave and Marcus along with other instructors teach marksmanship and basic combat skills.
We soon form city patrols consisting of Elimination officers, Oliver’s breakers and freshly recruited resistant residents of the city. Although I persist how doing so might lead to unavoidable conflicts, Vogel believes the mixed patrols will help develop trust between ordinary humans and breakers. I secretly agree with her.
Holtzmann offers to create a group of telepaths to monitor our enemies. Vogel gives her approval, and the professor begins testing all available breakers for telepathic abilities. He works day and night, organizing his new team and coaching his subjects. Rebecca assists in his work, although Holtzmann appears to be growing resentful of her care. She ultimately decides to find a new occupation.
“I’ve volunteered for work in the northeastern refugee center,” Rebecca tells me. “Plenty of residents in that section lost their homes during airstrikes. The center’s workers provide them with food and shelter. I will be working with the kids there. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” I say. “I’m sure you’ll be a great help.”
Holtzmann requests Kitty and I to join his team of telepaths, but we manage to always stay too busy to assist with that mess. Spending hours in a dark room making countless attempts to locate our enemies just seems plain boring. And I’m sure Holtzmann has enough telepaths without our help. Instead, we join the city patrols, walking along the city’s streets at night. Our squad consists of several Elimination soldiers and Dave. The first few nights the officers are somewhat standoffish toward us, but their attitudes soon change. Kitty is of course the one to break the ice. She’s simply too innocent-looking and sweet to be perceived as an enemy. The Elimination officers can’t help themselves from being friendly toward her. She asks them about the breakers they’ve fought and captured. The officers share a few stories, and I tell them about our battle against Roger’s gang in return. We come to agree that not all breakers are evil and not all Elimination officers are sadistic and mean. We soon become friends.
But I always keep in mind that everything can change in a moment’s notice. These same officers would quickly put a bullet in my head, should Vogel ever command.
Marian remains resentful towards me. She avoids me whenever she can. We don’t exchange a single word for days at a time. Whenever I enter her room, she always pretends to be asleep or reading. I don’t know what I should do about that. I’m hesitant to force any further interaction because doing so would almost certainly lead to an ugly fight. At the same time I’d like to establish a better relationship with my sister. And I refuse to believe Marian is actually scared of me.
One occasion Marian starts a fight with a recently recruited girl. She viciously scratches at her face, aiming for her eyes. The officers drag my sister away, taking her straight to me. We soon end up shouting at one another. I demand an explanation why she attacked that girl.
“I don’t have to explain anything to you!” she yells furiously.
I repeat my request, and Marian begins cussing at me. I’ve heard some rough talk before, but I’ve never heard anything so obscene and dirty coming from a fifteen-year-old girl. Marian takes a cautious step backward, gazing at me and waiting for my reaction. I’m not sure how to react. I take a deep breath and calmly say, “Marian, I don’t ever want to hear that kind of language from you again.”
“Or what?” she asks, grinning.
“Or I’ll wash out your mouth with soap.”
“I’m not a kid,” Marian says, frowning. “You wouldn’t dare do that with me.”
“Don’t try me,” I warn.
I expect my sister to scream something outrageous or even attack me, but she hesitates. There must be something in my voice or expression that prevents her from throwing further insults.
“Just leave me alone,” she utters tiredly.
I start losing hope of rebuilding any type of relationship with her. She is simply too violent and wild to deal with. Maybe I shouldn’t continue holding onto the past, and simply give up on her? But how can I leave her completely alone when I’m the only relative she has left?
On another occasion passing by her room, I hear girlish giggling and whispering. I can’t help from sneaking a glance through the half-opened door. I see Kitty sitting on the bed, a delighted smile spreading across her face. Marian is braiding Kitty’s hair, quietly telling her something. They look happy and act like best friends.
I suddenly feel gratitude toward my sister. Kitty never had anyone to braid her hair and do other girly stuff. So I’m really glad my sister chose to become Kitty’s friend. Maybe Marian isn’t as bad or mean tempered as she tries to come off?
The next evening our team along with Chase and Marcus meet for supper. We all reside in a separate section of the prison which used to serve as living quarters for high ranking officers. Although the rooms somehow remind me of my confinement at the Death Camp, they’re still larger and more comfortable than regular prison cells. We prefer to dine separately from the others.
Marian and Kitty sit together next to me. My sister seems to have a whole different attitude tonight. She winks at me, offering a slight smile.
Chuckling, Kitty says, “Marian and I know how to establish trust between Elimination and breakers. Are you guys ready to hear this?” She pauses, exchanging a sly glance with my sister. “Oliver and Vogel should get married and show everybody how to coexist in peace by example.”
Everybody bursts out laughing.
“No way!” Jessie groans. “We can’t condemn Oliver to a lifelong torture.”
“Everybody has to make sacrifices in this war,” Kitty protests.
“It’s too much of a sacrifice,” I say.
We joke and laugh for
a while, then Marcus suddenly says, “Vogel was previously married. She’s a widow.”
“What happened to her husband?” Kitty asks. “Did she bite off his head?”
“He died from cancer a year ago,” Marcus answers. I recall his mother also died from the same disease. “Vogel’s husband worked for Elimination, although he was just a regular officer,” Marcus continues. “I’ve heard they were happily married for more than twenty years.”
“That’s too bad,” Jessie says.
The room becomes uncomfortably quiet. Nobody feels like joking and laughing anymore. Although Vogel is at the core an enemy, I still feel some sympathy. We’ve all lost people we loved.
“Her son also died a few months back,” Marcus adds. “Breakers killed him when all this mess first began. He was about your age.” He motions toward me.
I don’t know what to say. I wonder how Vogel is even able to go on living. She doesn’t seem broken or even the slightest bit depressed.
“How about a change of subject?” Kitty exclaims. “I’ve been recently thinking about who I should become in the future. So, I wanted to hear your thoughts on the topic. Victor, who do you wanna become after the war?”
“Working in a drug store would be nice,” Victor answers.
“Very clever,” Kitty comments. “What about you, Jess?”
“A bartender,” Jessie answers. “That’s what I did before all this crazy stuff started.”
“Yeah, I remember,” Kitty says. “But it seems boring. You should remain a sniper.”
Jessie snorts. She must be getting fed up with all this fighting and killing.
“Who do you want to become when you grow up, Chase?” Kitty asks, smiling widely. “A journalist?”
“A nobody,” Chase answers tiredly. “But I’m afraid I won’t ever get the chance.”
“No way we’re letting you out,” Kitty mocks. “What about you two?” she asks Marcus and Dave. “Who do you want to be?”