The Restrainers: Third Book in The Amplified Series

by Lauren M. Flauding

  "But I'm nothing without my Amplifier."

  "Adrian," I yell, "listen to yourself! You are so much more than a piece of technology in your neck!"

  "The Amplifiers are the best thing that ever happened to us!" Adrian yells back.

  "No, they're not! They've made us lazy and dependent and selfish! Think about it Adrian! What makes you more happy? Having your Amplifier or having people you love? Commanding your Amplifier to do something or doing it yourself? When was the last time you were really happy?"

  Adrian sits down and rubs his forehead. "I don't know, Mari, this is a lot to take in."

  "Well, this is your opportunity to take responsibility for yourself," I say, turning to go. "You can either live a full life now, or a fraction of one forever." I leave Adrian with his head in his hands. I can't waste any more time trying to convince him. He has to make his own choice.

  Chapter 24

  Alia and Liam are speechless as they stare at me. I've just finished telling them what I saw at the new building and the Hybrid designs. Juro looks up at Alia from his place on her lap, frowning at her scared expression.

  "Maybe they're using those designs for something else, like building new machinery or something," Liam says hopefully.

  "Do you really think the Governor's going to go to all this trouble for new machinery?" I respond.

  "No, this is the perfect way for him to control everybody," Alia admits fearfully. "What can we do?"

  "We can try to destroy all the instruments and surgical equipment on the ceiling," I suggest.

  "Yeah, but there are only three of us," Liam interjects. "We'll only get so far before they stop us."

  "We have to let more people know," I state. "If we tell everyone the Governor's plan, I'm sure we can get more people to resist."

  "Only Liam and I can do that," Alia says. "There's no way you'd be able to be out in the open talking to people, Mari. I still can't believe you made it all the way over here without getting caught."

  After I left Adrian's apartment, I slipped into the hospital to grab some bandages. I covered half of my face with them and walked over to the soldier's barracks on the east side of the Mall-cruiser station. Apparently, no one suspected anything.

  "Luck, I guess," I finally reply.

  Suddenly, the door to the small room is kicked open and four surly looking men rush in and grab me. Looks like my luck has just run out.

  "This is definitely her," one of them growls.

  I struggle to free myself and hear Alia and Liam command themselves.

  "Liam, kick the men unconscious."

  "Alia, get Mari out of their reach."

  But before their commands can take effect, all four of the men calmly release me and lay down on the floor. At first I'm confused, but then I recognize the action as another command to lie still from the Override. I'm suddenly nauseous. I know now why those in the Override Program have been given this command so often; to prepare for the operation.

  "Guys, it's happening now," I shout, turning around to face the others, but I only see Liam standing there. I look down and see Alia lying motionless on the floor, her eyes full of fear. Juro crouches next to her face, whimpering.

  "The Governor told her the only way she could keep Juro was to sign on with the Override Program," Liam explains nervously.

  I peer down at my friend. Her terrified eyes flit from Liam, to Juro, to me. I can't just let her be carried off and turned into a Hybrid.

  "Alia," I say quickly, "if you want me to remove your Amplifier, look at the door."

  Alia only hesitates a moment before she very deliberately looks toward the door. Liam looks apprehensive as he turns her on her side and fishes a small knife out of his pocket. I take the knife and carefully cut open the skin behind her ear, digging down until I find the small base of the Amplifier. I crush it and she spasms. Liam has to hold her still while I pull out the wires.

  "Dang it, Mari! Why didn't you tell me it was going to hurt so much?" She grumbles through a grim smile. I use the bandages I took from the hospital to cover her open wound. She gets up shakily and kisses Liam, then reaches down to take Juro in her arms.

  "We need to find a safe place for him," I state, gesturing to the little boy.

  "One of the sleeping pods on the Mall-cruiser?" Liam suggests. Alia looks doubtful, but no one else has any better suggestions, so we head over to the station.

  Everything is eerily quiet. We pass dozens of people lying on the ground and their eyes light up with recognition when they see me, but there's nothing they can do.

  Juro protests a bit about being left in a sleeping pod, but once Alia finds some Adhesives for him to watch he calms down. Back outside the Mall-cruiser, we try to figure out our best course of action.

  "Maybe we should just take out all of their Amplifiers," Alia proposes, looking out at everyone on the ground.

  "That would take way too long," I remark. "Plus, some of them might actually want to become Hybrids. We can't just make that decision for them."

  "What's a Hybrid?" Says a voice below us. I look down at our feet and see a girl propped up on her elbows. Liam yelps and jumps back.

  "Are you okay?" I ask.

  "Yeah. I'm a little uncomfortable, but otherwise, I'm fine," she answers casually.

  "Are you on the Override Program?"

  "Yes, but my Amplifier has been faulty ever since I took that tainted Euphorics pill. So now only half of my body obeys the Override commands," she explains, pointing at her lifeless legs.

  I scan the bodies strewn on the ground and every once in a while I notice a bit of movement; a head turning or a leg twitching. I want to ask the girl more about her situation, but all at once I hear loud rumbling coming from behind the Mall-cruiser. We turn around and see a dozen massive vehicles coming over the ridge. We run into the Mall-cruiser and watch the approaching vehicles through a small window.

  They stop a few feet away from the compartment we're in, so we have a clear view of them. About a hundred Restrainers emerge from the vehicles, each carrying a large sack. Clint is one of the last to appear, and I hear him instruct the other Restrainers.

  "Make sure you give a Euphorics pill to everyone, even if they're still moving."

  The Restrainers move forward, stopping whenever they come to a body to shove a Euphorics pill in their mouth.

  I'm wondering what the purpose of this procedure is when I remember something Adrian said about the Euphorics: "You could bash my knees in with a metal beam right now and I wouldn't feel a thing!" I think they might be administering the Euphorics so people don't feel anything during the operation, which actually seems pretty humane. Of course, they could also be ensuring that everyone is completely useless in case anything goes wrong with the Override.

  When the last wave of Restrainers has disappeared into the city, we creep back out of the Mall-cruiser.

  "If everyone is lying still, who's going to get all of these people to the new operation building?" Liam asks. "The Restrainers couldn't possibly handle that themselves."

  In answer to his question, the vehicles behind us start creaking. The sides of the transports burst open and reveal thousands of familiar entities. They pour out of the vehicles, walking with jerky, robot-like movements, their cold, beautiful faces devoid of expression.

  My stomach churns. The Governor has created a Hybrid army with all of the dead citizens of the East.

  Chapter 25

  I watch in horror as the gorgeous zombies methodically stoop down to pick people up and carry them in the direction of the operation building. Suddenly, one of them approaches us and its hand turns into a gun.

  "Mari, disarm the robot."

  I bring my leg up and kick the robot's gun, which causes its entire arm to detach, exposing a mess of metal and wires at its shoulder. Undeterred, it continues to advance, swiping at our heads with its other arm.

  "Alia, decapitate the machine.” Alia waits expectantly, but nothing happens. "Oh yeah, I don't have an A
mplifier," she laughs. She lashes her arm across the robot's neck, making its head pop off.

  "Did you see that guys?" She exclaims. "I did that by myself!"

  But we don't have time to celebrate. We've taken down one, but several others are coming for us.

  "What do we do?" Liam shouts. "We can't take on all of them!"

  "We could try pretending we're on the Override," I respond. "It might not work, but I think it's our best option."

  "What will we do when we get to the operation building?" Alia spouts frantically, eyeing three of the robots starting to close in.

  "No idea," I answer truthfully. "Hopefully one of us will think of something by then."

  We all collapse to the ground and lie still just as the robots are beginning to look menacing. They come near us and hesitate. I don't know if there's someone on the other end directing all these machines or if they were just programmed to do certain things in different situations. I hold my breath as the robots stand there, unmoving. Finally, their automatic arms reach down and lift us up. I try to stay as limp as possible as they carry us toward the new building.

  Once we're brought inside, we're all laid on tables next to other Overriden citizens. I look around as much as I can without moving my head. I spot Joby close by, his eyes glazed over from the effects of the Euphorics pill. A robot stands motionless next to each operating table. After a few minutes, the intimidating array of instruments on the ceiling begin to lower. Most of the instruments are large and sharp. I figure I can grab a couple of them to take out all the robots nearby and hope that Alia and Liam follow my lead.

  When the racks of instruments have almost reached us, a sudden scuffle breaks out in the middle of the room. I risk being found out and sit up to see what's going on. It's Adrian. My hearts soars as I watch him stand on top of his operating table, kicking off the heads of every robot that approaches him. I can see the blood marks on his neck from where he removed his Amplifier. I guess after all this time we still think alike.

  Liam, Alia and I join in the growing chaos, using the instruments or kicks and punches to incapacitate the beautiful machines surrounding us. We make a small dent in the robot ranks, but we're nowhere near stopping this demonic plan. Someone has to be controlling all of this. In between knocking out robots, I look around for some Restrainers, but I find them all in a far corner lying on tables waiting to have the operation done themselves.

  Then I see him. On the far wall near the ceiling is a small window where Clint's face peers anxiously out. He must be the one orchestrating everything in here.

  "Hey, I'm going to go check something out," I yell to Alia.

  "All right," she replies shakily as she twists off a robot's arm.

  I grab onto the nearest instrument hanging from the ceiling and propel myself in the direction of the window, swinging from one instrument to the next until I reach the wall and crash feet first through the glass. I stand up and face Clint. To my surprise, he's smiling.

  "I'm so glad you're here, Mari," he admits, reaching into a box next to him. "Here, tie me up with these bandages."

  "Are you serious?" I ask, thoroughly confused.

  "Absolutely," Clint responds. "Look, I knew something was going to go wrong with all this and frankly, I think this whole Hybrid thing is a bad idea. I don't want to go through with this, and I'd much rather have the Governor be angry at you than at me for thwarting his crazy plan."

  I roll my eyes and tie Clint's hands behind the chair he's sitting in.

  "Press the reset button after you're done," he instructs, nodding at a large button on the panel in front of him. I tie his legs to the chair and wrap a bandage around his mouth. I turn and push the reset button and watch the racks of instruments return to the ceiling, but the robots are still engaged with Adrian, Liam, and Alia, as well as a few others with faulty Amplifiers that are deliriously swinging their arms and legs at the machines. I look back at Clint. He just shrugs his shoulders. I growl in frustration and hastily find the stairs that will lead me back into the massive room.

  I see Alia, Liam, and Adrian are still fending off attacking robots, but they're exhausted, and a lot of people lying on the tables are getting injured. "Maybe if we leave the building, they'll follow us out," I suggest. Alia and Liam agree and I call over to Adrian to come with us. We run toward the doors and discover that the robots are much faster than we had expected. We're nearly outside when something small crashes through the window nearest to us and lands at our feet.

  "Bomb!" Liam yells, grabbing Alia and running for cover. But the small black device doesn't explode. Instead, all the lights shut off and the robots appear to shut down. I see their arms hanging limply at their sides in the dim light that filters through the window. Everyone on the operating tables sits up and looks around, laughing or screaming in their Euphoric hysteria.

  We walk outside and I see the most wonderful thing I could have imagined. Four trucks of Dissenters are parked in front of the building, with Miles on top of the closest one. I smile instinctively at him, the way I always used to when we were kids.

  Alia and Liam look terrified as the Dissenters start jumping out of the trucks.

  "They won't hurt us," I assure them, but their expressions don't change. Blaine emerges from a truck and runs up to us.

  "So it worked?" He asks.

  "Yeah," I reply. "What was that?"

  "An electromagnetic pulse was contained in that little device," he explains proudly. "We shot it out of our range so we wouldn't lose power in the trucks, but it should have wiped out all of the electricity in the city."

  I'm startled by a small figure that darts past me and embraces Adrian.

  "Daniel!" Adrian exclaims, lifting his little brother off the ground. Daniel then grabs his hand and takes him over to my mother, who's standing quietly at the back of the group of Dissenters.

  "Mari."

  I turn around and find myself face to face with Miles.

  "Look," I begin, trying to avoid his eyes, "I'm sorry that I escaped, but the thing is-"

  "Mari, I love you," he interrupts suddenly, fervently. "I don't care that you're Amplified. I've tried to get you out of my mind, but I can't because I don't want to. Mari, you're my world."

  Then he takes my face in his strong hands and kisses me. All I feel is fire. Fire behind my eyelids and spreading through my body to my toes and fingertips. I could burn like this forever, but the moment is shattered by the sounds of gunshots and screaming.

  We break apart and I try to make sense of what's going on.

  "Someone has reversed the EMP!" I hear Blaine yelling. Robots are surrounding the Dissenters, but the Dissenters are holding them off pretty well with their guns. I focus on a cluster of Dissenters and see something that makes my body go cold.

  Adrian has been shot.

  Chapter 26

  I run through the Dissenters to get to my brother. He's on the ground, surrounded by his own blood. I kneel down beside him.

  "What happened?" I ask frantically.

  "The robot came from behind and shot at mom, but Adrian jumped in front of her," Daniel chokes out. My mom is laying next to him and sobbing. I take Adrian's hand.

  "I'm so sorry," I cry, "this is all my fault. You would have been safe in there if you hadn't taken out your Amplifier."

  "No, Mari, you were right," he says softly. "The times when I was acting for myself, that's when I've been the most happy. This past hour has been a blast," he adds, smiling weakly. "I'd rather die like this than live forever as a slave." His eyes flutter and he tightens his grip on my hand. "I love you guys," he whispers. Then his eyes roll back and he exhales one last time.

  I feel a part of me slip away. Tears are streaming down my face and I want to stay here and cry with my family, but there's a battle raging around us. I look up and see an air barge taking off about 200 feet beyond the hospital. I know instinctively that the Governor is on it. I know he reversed the EMP. I know he's responsible for the death of my brother. I
t's time to carry out the last part of my plan.

  I get up and start running toward the air barge.

  "Where are you going?" Miles asks, catching me by the arm.

  Looking into his honey-colored eyes I momentarily forget everything, but then a decapitated robot staggers in between us and brings me back to my sense of purpose.

  "Do you have any of those micro parachutes Blaine developed?" I ask him.

  "I have one."

  "Great, come with me."

  I tell him the Governor is on the air barge as we run to it, but other than that I really don't have a plan. He doesn't seem to mind.

  The air barge is already 60 feet in the air, and we immediately start climbing the cables up to it. I climb slightly faster than Miles and just barely beat him to the top. I can't help but notice that he's a little disgruntled about it.

  "If you didn't have an Amplifier..." he grumbles. I smile to myself.

  I look across the expansive deck of the structure and realize this is the training barge. I see the buildings that house the classrooms and dorms, the Coliseum, the Nutrition Hall, the recording room on the far side. The recording room! Suddenly, I have a plan.

  "This way," I tell Miles. "I need you to help me make an Adhesive."

  "Mari, is this really the time?"

  "Absolutely."

  ———

  We peer out from behind a wall in the urban obstacle course. I'm guessing the Governor is here somewhere in the Coliseum. I have the Adhesive we just made in the pocket of my jacket, I'm just hoping I'll be able to use it.

  "My best guess is that he's in there," Miles whispers, pointing across the Coliseum to the electrocution room.

  I swallow hard as I recall the demonic jungle of electrically charged cables that are impossible to get through unless the electricity is turned off. We keep close to the walls as we cross to the room. We approach the entrance and I can hear the buzz of the live wires.

  "We should turn off the electricity," I say quietly.

  "If we do, Governor Plenaris will know that we're here," Miles responds.