Elimination (The Mind Breaker Book 1)

by Marina Epley

  “Frank!” Wheeler yells. “Is that you? Are you really with those pigs now?”

  Frank bares his teeth and fires a round in Wheeler’s direction. The guards open up in return, and for a few moments I can hear nothing but the rattling of rifles. It becomes nearly impossible for me to concentrate.

  “Hey, breakers!” Wheeler yells when the guards cease firing. “I have a gift for you!”

  Lena screams and dashes franticly for the cell door. Jessie grabs her shirt at the last moment and pulls her back inside.

  “Come on out little girl!” Wheeler taunts. “Come out or I’ll put one between your mommy’s eyes.”

  I can’t see what’s happening out there in the open area. I don’t dare to take a glance because I know the guards will be ready to blow my head off the first chance they get. But I have to find out what Lena sees in her mind that’s making her so anxious. I shut my eyes and wait, reaching for Lena mentally. I stop hearing gunfire and the images come to me almost instantly, making me dizzy. Probably the intensity of a life threatening situation sharpens my abilities, forcing my mind to work faster. I see everything through Lena’s eyes. Her fear and anxiety are overwhelming. Wheeler’s holding a short petite woman, pressing a gun barrel against her head. She’s wearing inmate clothing and has a blocking collar around her neck. I’ve never met her before, but I know this is Lena’s mother.

  “Her last thoughts are about to be splattered across the wall unless you surrender immediately.” Wheeler slams the gun into the woman’s head.

  I experience Lena’s jolt of panic. I know she’s losing the ability to think straight. She reverts back to being a scared eight-year-old, desperate to save her mother. I already know what Lena’s going to do.

  “Lena, no!” I yell.

  “Don’t!” her mother cries at the same time.

  While Frank and Jessie are busy firing their rifles at the guards, Lena slips by them and steps into the open area.

  “Come back!” I shout, jumping toward her and risking a bullet.

  I’m too late. I hear a gunshot and Lena collapses onto the floor. A sharp pain explodes inside my stomach and everything blackens for a moment. I stumble and almost fall. I realize Wheeler has shot Lena. We’re still connected telepathically and I can feel she’s dying. Jessie and Frank open fire, covering me. I grab Lena with one arm and drag her back inside the cell, keeping low to avoid bullets. I lay her on the floor, not knowing what to do. She’s bleeding heavily. My pulse becomes uneven and I kneel down and take a deep breath, trying to overcome the false sensations. I wasn’t wounded, I tell myself, it’s Lena who’s been shot. I put pressure on her stomach wound to slow the bleeding.

  Jessie fires her gun at Wheeler. I hope she kills him. It’s very hard to aim well in the dim lighting, but Jessie is a great shot.

  Lena’s eyes are still open, but I know she doesn’t see me. My hands are covered in her warm blood.

  “I’m so sorry, Lena,” I say.

  I put my fingers on Lena’s neck, checking for a pulse. I don’t find one. Her heart has stopped beating. I look at her in a stupor. I’m aware of gunfire, but can’t react. I can’t project my thoughts toward the officers at the moment. That’s probably just what Wheeler had in mind. He shot Lena because he knew it would have a demoralizing effect on me.

  I force myself to pick up the rifle. I’ll have to wait to mourn Lena’s death. Now it’s time to fight.

  I rejoin Kitty, Jessie and Frank in their gunfight with the officers. They’re falling back, carrying an unconscious Wheeler away. Without their captain, they lose their taste for the fight. We follow, then suddenly a group of inmates step out of the darkness. Bulldog’s gang. They stand between us and the officers and fire their weapons in our direction.

  Taking cover inside another open cell, I project my thoughts toward the gang. They block me. I feel strong resistance. They’re really skilled breakers. I see Bulldog coming closer. I aim the rifle at him and pull the trigger. It’s empty.

  “Drop your gun,” I say, concentrating.

  Bulldog stops for a moment, seemingly confused. I use his moment of hesitation to charge into him. Bulldog snaps out from the light hypnosis and defends the attack. We fall to the ground, grappling. He’s much stronger and more skilled than me. I miss with an elbow and Bulldog slams his fist into my jaw. I wind up on the bottom with Bulldog on top of me. He rains down punches as I try to cover. Everything fades and I know I’m about to pass out. I realize I can’t win this fight. Bulldog is a much superior fighter.

  I project my thoughts. It’s my only chance. I have to hypnotize him.

  I remember the crimes he and his gang committed. I imagine the burnt bodies and rows of black body bags. I let the desire for revenge and fierce determination to see justice consume me. No headache distracts me this time. I know I want to kill Bulldog and I have no doubts I’ll kill him.

  Bulldog freezes. I open my eyes and see he has his balled up fist ready, but he can’t understand what to do. His face becomes silly.

  I push him away. Bulldog doesn’t resist. I pick up the rifle and slam it hard against his head. A crunching sound, then Bulldog sprawls on the floor. I don’t stop, slamming the butt of the rifle into his head again and again.

  Then I concentrate on hypnotizing the other members of Bulldog’s gang. I direct them to cease fire and drop their rifles. Frank and Jessie step out from their cover, holding guns on the criminals.

  I’m too exhausted to continue the hypnosis any longer. The criminals awaken from their stupor, looking around in confusion.

  “On your knees!” Jessie commands. “Hands behind your head!”

  They obey, kneeling down.

  “Don’t shoot,” one of them says. “Bulldog forced us to help Elimination.”

  “Wait,” I say to Jessie. “Don’t shoot them.”

  “What?” she exclaims in surprise.

  “They’re mine,” I explain.

  I approach and pick up a rifle. The inmates stare in horror, realizing my intentions.

  “No, please,” one criminal pleads in a trembling voice. He’s no longer that tough, arrogant guy who nearly beat me to death only a few days ago.

  I remember the acts of terror from the news and I know I have no mercy left in me.

  “Please, let us go,” another begs. “Browning put us up to all of this. We’re victims, just like you. We didn’t have any choice.”

  “I don’t negotiate with terrorists,” I answer calmly, press the barrel of my rifle against his forehead and pull the trigger. His body drops on the floor. I feel nothing, but numbness. I know what I have to do and I don’t hesitate. I approach the next one and shoot him too.

  “Sweet,” Kitty whispers.

  I kill all of them one by one. I’m not angry and don’t even hate them at the moment. I just can’t find a reason to let them live. Then I return to Bulldog’s body and put a control shot into his brain. Jessie gives me a lingering stare, seemingly impressed. I can’t read Frank’s face but don’t really care what he’s thinking.

  I walk back inside the cell to take a last glance at Lena. Her mother is sitting on the floor, holding the lifeless little body and crying silently.

  I want to explain how much Lena meant to me. We shared the same visions and could see through each other’s eyes. Lena has become part of me. She saved my and Kitty’s lives. Now, she’s dead and I’m to blame. I didn’t pull the trigger of the gun that killed her, but I put her in harm’s way by bringing her here. I should never have let her step out of Holtzmann’s lab. But it’s too late to change anything now.

  “We should get going,” is all I can say. “Above all else, Lena wanted to save you. You need to stay alive for her.”

  Lena’s mother doesn’t react to my words and I doubt she can even hear me, being buried so deeply in her grief. I have to physically pull her away from her dead daughter. Finally, she lets her go.

  Kitty, Jessie and Frank approach us.

  “You think Wheeler’s d
ead?” Jessie asks. “I hit him for sure, but where I can’t say.”

  “I don’t know,” I answer. “Hopefully, you’ve killed him. If not, we’ll come back for him. I can’t let Wheeler live.”

  I think of Wheeler, trying to induce a vision. Love connected me with Kitty telepathically, maybe my hatred can connect me with Wheeler? I wait. Nothing. No idea whether Wheeler is dead or just injured.

  Kitty is listening in on the radio of a downed Elimination officer.

  “Elimination support troops will be arriving from other prisons in about an hour,” Kitty reports. “We have to hurry.”

  Chapter 28

  “Where are we going?” Kitty asks, jogging beside me. She’s breathing hard. The rifle she carries is too big and heavy for her, but Kitty doesn’t want to give it up. Now, after Lena’s death, I’m suffering a heightened sense of fear for losing Kitty as well.

  “Most breakers are down on the first floor,” I answer. “Holtzmann is trying to open the main doors.”

  “How do you know that? Have you had a vision?”

  “Sort of,” I answer curtly. I don’t really feel like trying to describe what I’ve seen. It was a momentary vision, a blur of fighting and chaos. I glimpsed many breakers and Elimination officers bleeding and dying and the intensity was startling. As soon as I saw where we needed to go, I shook myself out of the telepathic trance.

  A shadow moves across the wall ahead. I slow down, raising the rifle. An officer is standing along our path in the darkness, arms raised in the air. His expression is something between despair and shock. He stares at us for an instant, then says, “I surrender, please don’t shoot me.”

  He must have run out of ammo, I realize. The officer turns to face the wall, giving us room to pass.

  I hesitate. I’ve never seen this officer before and don’t know who he is. He might be one of those who were killing unarmed inmates, following Browning’s order.

  “Let’s move,” I command to my group and we pass by the officer, leaving him behind.

  “Why don’t we cap this guy first?” Jessie asks.

  “He surrendered,” I answer.

  “What’s the difference between this guy and Bulldog’s gang?”

  “I don’t know,” I growl. “Stop asking!”

  It’s true. I can’t understand why I let him live. Maybe because he looked scared and it was obvious he had no fight left in him. Maybe I just wanted to show him that not all breakers are blood thirsty killers.

  As we descend the stairs, I hear a cacophony of gunfire and muffled cries. We arrive to the first floor, a central desk surrounded by a large open space with the main exit doors in the background. Elimination officers and inmates are fighting below. The floor is stained by fresh blood. The inmates appear to outnumber the officers, but many of them aren’t capable of firing a weapon or protecting themselves. A lot of them are just kids and a few surviving relatives of breakers. I can almost sense their fear. They’re sticking close to the exit doors, trying desperately to keep out of the main line of fire.

  Holtzmann, Rebecca and Victor are at the doors doing something with the locks. I’m really surprised to find Holtzmann here. I expected him to remain inside the lab. I see a bloody bandage around his knee. Holtzmann can barely keep on his feet. Rebecca supports him, holding his arm around her neck. Victor is firing his rifle in the general direction of the officers, but above their heads. Drake, Hammer and the remaining breakers from Retaliation are right in the middle of the floor, shooting it out with the guards and trying to win some time for Holtzmann to get the doors open.

  I project my thoughts toward the officers. It doesn’t work too well. I’m exhausted and the remaining officers are the toughest and the most resistant ones. I can’t hypnotize them, but manage to slow their fire for a few moments. Kitty and Jessie are helping, focusing suggestions toward the guards as well. Frank fires his rifle, bringing down a guard. The officers are receding slowly. My eyes are blurry and I can’t aim well. I just point the rifle into their direction and pull the trigger till I run out of ammo. Then I concentrate again, lying on the floor and projecting my thoughts. I don’t pay attention to the splitting headache and don’t let the bullets flying by distract me. I don’t care if I get shot. I just have to keep the officers away. If they break through our line, they’ll waste all those kids and innocent people who can’t even fight.

  I’m getting dizzy. The officers are backing off. I have to keep the hypnosis up for a few more minutes. I believe Holtzmann will figure out the locks and then we can all get out of here. I hope the messenger didn’t lie about his sending aircraft for evacuation. Otherwise, we’re goners.

  I don’t have time to think about all that. Hopefully those guardians are watching and know that we need help. We don’t really have any choice, but to trust them.

  An Elimination guard is moving in closer, attempting to flank our position. Instinctively, I grab my weapon, but it’s unloaded. I focus harder, but can’t stop the officer. He aims his rifle at me.

  The same instant, somebody jumps in front of me, taking my bullet. Jimmy, I realize. He manages to fire his handgun, scoring a headshot. The guard falls down, dead before he hits the floor. Jimmy collapses to his knees. Blood pulses from his mouth. Panicking, I lay him on the floor.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” I ask with bitterness. “Why didn’t you stay with Holtzmann and Rebecca?”

  Jimmy’s still alive. He’s looking at me, but can’t speak. Blood oozes from his chest wound. His smiling eyes become hazy and he stops breathing.

  One more innocent breaker is dead because of me. I stare at Jimmy, not accepting the fact that he’s dead. I wait for him to cough or move, but I know it’s not happening.

  He caught my bullet, saving my life. Why would he do that? Jimmy was not brave and courageous. Now, I owe him my life and have no way to repay the debt.

  Too many dead, I think in frustration. Lena, Jimmy, all those breaker’s relatives, inmates, the officers… Too many.

  I grab Jimmy’s gun and fire toward the guards. When it’s empty, I continue projecting my thoughts.

  Again, no time for mourning. I have to do what I can to protect those still alive.

  The doors to the outer world suddenly open and daylight flows inside the prison. My first impulse is to run, leaving everybody behind. I remain in my spot, hypnotizing the officers. Victor joins me, while Rebecca and Kitty are leading the inmates out. Frank and the breakers from Retaliation are firing toward the officers, holding them back.

  It seems to last forever. I’ve no idea when the support troops of Elimination may arrive. Hopefully later, rather than sooner.

  Together with Victor, we force most of the officers to drop their weapons. Drake and Hammer continue firing away, taking headshots at the mesmerized guards. The most resistant flee. Drake along with a few other Retaliation breakers pursue them. I grab a rifle off the floor and join Drake’s group, stepping over the bodies lying around.

  We wind up at a dead end. The cornered officers turn and fire their rifles at us desperately. They fan out, taking cover inside some empty cells. We do the same, firing our weapons on the go while trying not to get hit. The incoming fire slows as the officers run low on ammo. I recognize Chase among them, shooting a handgun and yelling commands. His injured arm hangs limply at his side.

  How the heck he managed to get out of the office where I’d locked him, I think angrily. Somebody must have broken the door and let him out. Why couldn’t he just stay where I left him?

  “Officer Chase!” I shout. “Enough already! Surrender!”

  “Hold your fire,” Chase commands and the officers stop shooting.

  “Don’t shoot,” I yell and walk a few steps toward them, keeping the rifle at ready. Chase is holding his handgun on me, watching with obvious distrust. I don’t know what he’s waiting for and why he doesn’t just shoot me. I’m a very easy target at the moment.

  “Enough killing,” I say. “Surrender and I guarant
ee your lives will be spared.”

  Chase looks me over carefully, thinking. “How can we trust you, breaker?”

  “You don’t have much of a choice,” I answer. “But you must remember I could have killed you and I didn’t.”

  My finger is on the trigger. Just surrender, I think, don’t make me kill you. I know my hypnosis can’t pierce Chase’s mind.

  Chase waits, hesitating. I notice that I’m holding my breath, waiting for his decision. I truly don’t want to kill him or the other guards. I’m sick with killing.

  “All right, breaker,” Chase says and throws his handgun on the floor, “we surrender.”

  The officers stare at him in disbelief, but follow his lead, dropping their rifles.

  Thank God, I think, it’s all over now.

  “Nice job,” Drake says. “You got these fools to believe you.”

  I don’t understand what he means by that remark. I don’t really care.

  Hammer, Frank and other breakers leave to help evacuate the survivors, while Drake and I direct the officers into a large cell. I lock the door.

  “Thanks,” I say quietly. Chase glances at me through the bars, but doesn’t say anything.

  “Well, it’s time to put these losers out of their misery,” Drake says, smiling. He walks toward the cell, carrying his handgun.

  “No,” I protest. “We’re not shooting them. I promised to spare their lives.”

  Drake rolls his eyes, “Who really cares about promises? They sure don’t.”

  “I do,” I answer.

  “Just whose side are you on?” Drake asks. “I thought you were with us now.”

  “I am. But these guards have surrendered. If we kill them now, we won’t be any better than Elimination.”

  Drake laughs, saying, “Why do you think we have to be better? Elimination has killed hundreds of breakers, many today. Now it’s our turn to kill as many ordinary people as we can. You have to get used to it, boy. This is only the beginning.”

  His callous remarks remind me of Wheeler and Browning somehow. I realize there’s really no difference between them. Drake didn’t send his breakers to commit acts of terror, but he’s capable of doing that. He doesn’t care who he kills as long as they’re ordinary humans.