There is a possibility that we could obtain resources from elsewhere, but who knows if the other communities would be friendly to us, or if they're even in a position to help us. The North might have taken out their food supplies as well. It still makes me uneasy to think about other people beyond our own Community, information of which I was unaware until the attacks from the North and my brief encounter with Miles Paxton.
Even now, standing in the ruins of the farm, I feel my cheeks flush at the thought of Miles. It seems like it was much longer than just a year ago when he showed up with the Dissenters during their invasion of the training barge. It was the first time I'd seen him in three years, and I still have trouble working through the range of emotions I felt that night. Our reunion was cut short when I was instructed by the Override to kill him. Luckily, I was able to resist long enough to let Miles get away, but I still shot him in the shoulder.
I'm a little frustrated that I haven't seen him since I've been home. Although, I don't really know what I would say if I did. "Hey, I think about you all the time and oh, by the way, sorry I tried to kill you." In all honesty, I don't know if my mandated assault has anything to do with his absence, but I can't imagine anything from our last meeting is encouraging him to come seek me out. I thought about asking my mom for information about Miles, knowing that she hid him at the farm last year, but for some reason I don't want her to know that I'm interested in finding out where he is. I suppose if I find the Dissenters, I'll find Miles. Only problem is, the Dissenter base is so well hidden that the Restrainers, even with all their enhanced abilities, have yet to discover its location.
I snap out of my thoughts of Miles when I see my mother stumbling toward me. She's being led by an ancient-looking woman with a surprisingly spry step.
"Mari," she calls out as she grabs my hands, "I just heard from the school and Daniel is fine."
I exhale in relief. I was fairly certain that he'd be all right, but it's still good to get confirmation.
"Thanks for letting me know, mom, I really hope — "
"And Adrian is safe too," my mom interjects.
"Oh, good," I reply feebly. My heart sinks as I realize that I'd completely forgotten about my older brother during this crisis. I've only seen him once since I returned from training, and it was a pretty tense meeting. No matter what I said, I couldn't make him understand why I had my Amplifier removed. He kept telling me I was narrow-minded and behind the times, that I was betraying my potential. Those accusations tore at my resolve. By the time I stomped out of his office at the hospital, I was really starting to question why I had denied Amplification.
I push aside the memory of that meeting and instead focus back on my mother. She appears to be unharmed, but her left leg is shaking.
"How are you, mom? Is everything all right?"
"Oh, I'm fine," she responds. But the old woman at her side apparently disagrees.
"Fine?" She spouts incredulously, "Felicia, you were in the storage center when it got blown to bits!" The woman turns and addresses me. "She was buried underneath pounds of debris and it took 3 of us to dig her out!"
My mom smiles at me. "Yes, Evelyn was very helpful and I'm grateful that she found me! But considering everything, I'm really not feeling much pain."
My eyes widen. I step forward and pull up my mom's pant leg. Her knee is twisted and swollen.
"Mom, we need to get you to the hospital!" I tell her in alarm.
"No, really, it's not that bad. I can wait until after we've accounted for all the salvageable crops."
I stare at her in disbelief. This is one of the times I wish she wasn't blind, so she could actually see the concern on my face and maybe take her situation more seriously.
"Actually, Mari," she continues, "how about you help me walk back to the storage center so I can give Evelyn some relief."
I share a look of exasperation with Evelyn as I take her place by my mother's side. We both know she shouldn't be walking on that leg, but sometimes my mom is as stubborn as I am, so I dutifully begin to lead her to the remains of the storage area. Plus, it's nice to help her out for a change - I still feel indebted to her for all the time she spent taking care of me.
When I first came back from Training, I was completely despondent. I laid in my bed all day and wouldn't get up for anything. Without my Amplifier, I felt useless, incapable of doing anything. So I did nothing. My mother would bring me nutrition and hydration capsules and force me to eat them. She would try to encourage me with stories, love, and ingenuity. She even gave me sponge baths. This went on for three weeks until one day, my mother disappeared. Daniel wasn't anywhere in the house either.
I laid in bed unattended and unmoving for 2 days, until my hunger overcame my apathy and I stumbled down the hall to the nutrition cabinet. That act of desperation was what I needed to finally wake up and start pulling myself back together. My mom and Daniel came back a few days later.
When I asked her why she left me all alone, my mother responded:
"Sometimes the best way to help a person is to give them no other option than to help themselves."
She was right.
I shiver at the thought of how pathetic I was during that time and pull my mom closer to me so she can walk more securely.
"Honey, what's wet on your shoulder?" My mom asks after we've walked a few feet. I glance over and see that my shirt sleeve is soaked in blood. Somehow, with everything else going on, I must have forgotten that I was shot when I was running to the shelter.
"Oh, it's nothing," I reply. "A bullet grazed my shoulder during the attack earlier."
"What?" My mother exclaims, "You need medical attention immediately!"
"No, mom, we're going to wait until all the crops are accounted for, remember?"
"We need to get you to the hospital right away!"
I sigh and turn to face my mom. She stumbles a little at the abrupt stop.
"I'll go if you go."
She furrows her brows at this ultimatum, but then, she starts to grin. For some reason, I start to laugh. We really are ridiculous; two people too obstinate to take care of our injuries.
Soon we're both laughing so hard that we can no longer stand up. We fall to the ground, likely making our wounds worse, and yet we still can't seem to get control of our unexplainable giddiness. We're in range of the exploded storage center, and there are bits of shredded crops and chunks of cement on the ground around us. We must be a bizarre sight. Sitting in the dirt, bruised and bloody, surrounded by the wreckage of a brutal attack, and laughing at the top of our lungs.
The Amplified Page 16