Annihilation: A YA dystopian adventure (The Mind Breaker Series Book 3)

by Marina Epley

  “Damn it!” a soldier cusses, charging at me.

  I turn to face them, swinging the piece of pipe around. I slam a sharp, jagged end into the face of the closest soldier. He cries out in surprise, backpedaling and covering his gouged bloody face. The other two quickly close the distance. I hardly manage to cover before they begin raining punches.

  One soldier steps around and grabs me from behind, squeezing me in a bear hug. The second lunges for my throat, pressing his face close to mine. I head-butt him. He stumbles backward and I deliver a hard kick to his thigh as he goes. He falls, landing on his back beside Marcus. Marcus instantly grabs him around the neck with his free hand, choking him violently. The guy grabbing me raises me into the air and slams me heavily onto the floor. I roll to my back as he throws a heavy punch at my head I just manage to slip. I reach for his face and dig my fingers deeply into his eye sockets. He screams out, flinching backward. I punch him in the jaw, knocking him off. He scrambles to his feet, moving a step away. I lunge for the guy, but the soldier with the pipe wound comes at me again. His face is a bloody mess, but he’s apparently still not out of the fight. I sidestep and back away. They now come for me together, grabbing and punching. As we move past Jessie, she kicks one of the criminals in the knee, knocking him off balance. He stumbles and falls, landing in front of her. Jessie kicks him solidly into the head, knocking him out cold. The last soldier tackles me to the floor. I land on my back with the guy on top. I’m now too exhausted and beaten up to continue fighting well. All I can do is cover, trying to block the punches raining down, as he relentlessly pounds away at my head. Jessie and Marcus begin yelling encouragement.

  I hear a door slam, quickly approaching footsteps and then a gunshot. The soldier’s head jerks forward, a bloody hole appearing on his forehead. He falls on top of me, limp and unmoving. I shove his body off and sit up, trying to regain my senses. Kitty stands before me, panting and holding a handgun. Her entire face is covered in fresh blood. I’m disoriented and can’t fully understand what’s just happened.

  “Rex, honey! Are you all right?” she exclaims, kneeling down beside me. “Did they hurt you? I’m sorry it took me so long. I came as fast as I could.”

  “You’re bleeding,” I mutter, wiping at her face.

  “Stop that!” Kitty exclaims, pushing away my hand. “I’m fine. It’s not my blood.”

  “Where’s the guy?” I ask, slowly rising to my feet. “Where’s the one who carried you off?”

  “Snake? I left him upstairs,” she answers. “Dead.”

  I stare at her in astonishment. She didn’t even have a weapon.

  “I hate to interrupt your lovely reunion,” Jessie says, “but could somebody please free us?”

  “Oh darn!” Kitty blurts out. “I forgot to search him for keys.”

  Kitty and I run upstairs, entering the living room. Snake lies on his back in a large puddle of blood, his eyes still wide open. A large chunk of flesh has been ripped from his neck. I can’t believe my eyes. It looks like a wild animal attacked him.

  “I guess I tore an artery or something,” Kitty says innocently, as I hurriedly search his pockets. “I enjoyed watching him squirm and groan as he was dying.”

  I shiver, getting a mental image of the shocking scene. Kitty smiles at my reaction. We suddenly hear a truck engine outside. I realize Butcher and his squad are returning to the house. Kitty and I gather the three handguns left in the living room, and hurry back to the basement. We uncuff Jessie and Marcus, handing over the weapons. We rush outside, leaving the house through the back and head toward the woods. Butcher’s men notice us and begin giving chase.

  I get a sense of déjà vu. Here we go, running through the rain again, trying to avoid capture. I only hope our pursuers have used all their canisters with gas. Nobody will care to spare our lives a second time, should we be recaptured.

  Entering the woods, we split up, heading off in different directions. Kitty and I run together, aimlessly returning fire as we go. There’s simply no time to take aim. A thick white veil of fog greatly limits visibility. Everything looks surreal, as if we’re in some kind of dream world. We quickly run out of ammo.

  Butcher along with two soldiers suddenly emerge from the fog directly ahead. I realize we’re surrounded.

  “Freeze!” I yell, pointing the now empty gun at Butcher.

  He raises his handgun.

  “Go!” I direct Kitty.

  She rushes off into the fog, as two of Butcher’s soldiers give chase. I leap forward, charging into Butcher. He pulls the trigger, and the bullet slams into my vest. Off balance, I grab his arm with the gun. He lands a haymaker to my temple. I fall into a puddle, still tightly gripping his arm. He drops down on top of me, sticking his gun into my face. I jerk his arm away from my head. He hammers at my head with his free fist, while simultaneously pulling the trigger. The bullets slam into the mud inches away. He finally manages to muscle the barrel back onto my forehead. He pulls the trigger again, but the gun only makes a clicking sound. Empty. I release his arm, punching him into his ribs. Snarling, Butcher slams the gun at my head. I realize he’s the better fighter. I’m losing, taking too many blows. By the time I finally manage to dislodge the gun, my head is swirling and I’m close to blacking out.

  Butcher transitions smoothly, now pulling his knife. He stabs at my throat, but I cover. I feel his long sharp blade slicing deeply into my arm. I cry out in pain, blood flowing freely from the fresh wound. Butcher stabs again, this time at my face. But I manage to catch his arm, trying to grab hold of the deadly flashing steel. He grips my throat with his free hand. I begin choking. He leans in, bringing the blade a couple inches closer to my face. I can’t breathe, again feeling myself losing consciousness, still pushing his knife away from me.

  “I promised you I was gonna slice you up,” he growls.

  Kitty suddenly springs from the fog onto his back, fish-hooking Butcher and pulling him backward. He releases my throat, swinging an arm around at Kitty. His hard punch knocks her off as if she’s a rag doll. I suck in a precious breath of air while slamming a fist into Butcher’s chin. He falls back, releasing the blade. I grab the knife and begin stabbing Butcher in the neck. He emits gulping sounds from his throat as he stares at me in wide-eyed shock. I quickly stab him in the chest a couple of times, then finish the job of cutting his throat. Butcher’s body twitches a few times and becomes still. I roll onto my back to try and catch my breath. My head is woozy. Blood still gushes from my wounded arm. Kitty lies unconscious on her back in a puddle of mud.

  A dozen soldiers in camo suddenly emerge from the fog, taking us in a circle. I understand Kitty and I are about to be executed.

  I dive on top of Kitty, shielding her and closing my eyes.

  Chapter 18

  I hear the sound of an approaching helicopter slicing through the air. Gunfire and angry voices fill the space around us.

  “Freeze!” somebody shouts from a speaker above. “This is Elimination!”

  A couple of bullets slam into the back of my vest, but I remain unmoving. I can’t chance rising up.

  “What’s happening?” Kitty utters, finally waking and trying to look around.

  I place a hand on her forehead, pushing her head back down.

  “Keep still,” I whisper. “Don’t move.”

  “Get them all!” a firm voice commands. “Don’t let anyone slip away!”

  I lie motionless, waiting for the situation to resolve one way or another. It seems like an eternity passes before somebody asks, “Are you all right?”

  I realize it’s relatively quiet now. Only a few random gunshots still sound in the distance. I raise my head, staring around in a daze, and see Chase kneeling down beside us. Several officers in black run past. I never thought I would be so happy to see Elimination.

  “Chase!” Kitty blurts out, sitting up. “You’ve found us!”

  “Damn!” Chase exclaims, looking us over. “You two are really messed up.”

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nbsp; I sit on the ground, gazing off into space. I feel weak and worn out.

  “You’re bleeding,” Chase states, checking the knife wound on my arm.

  “It’s just a scratch,” I answer as I pass out, falling back down into the puddle.

  When I come to, Chase and Dave are carrying me.

  “I can walk,” I mutter.

  “The hell you can,” Chase says angrily.

  “How did you find us?” I ask.

  “Our team of telepaths received Kitty’s message a few hours ago,” he explains. “We didn’t know your exact location and located Holtzmann, Victor and Dave first.”

  I ask Chase if the professor is okay, and he assures me that Holtzmann and Victor are safe and sound. They must already be back at headquarters.

  “I refused to return with them,” Dave says. “I wanted to help put a stop to Butcher’s breakers. I believe we’ve killed all of them!”

  “Look what I found!” Kitty exclaims, walking beside us and stabbing Butcher’s knife at the air. “A trophy! Like to have it?”

  “I don’t want his knife,” I answer.

  “C’mon, it’s a really good blade,” she protests. “I always wanted it.”

  Chase and Dave deliver me to a waiting Elimination helicopter perched along the edge of the woods. I see Jessie and Marcus standing nearby, grinning and speaking to the officers. I feel a huge sense of relief.

  “You just can’t stay away from trouble, can you?” Chase asks, patching up my wounded arm during liftoff.

  I ignore his grumbling. Kitty sits beside me, pressing a pack of dry ice to her face while still admiring the knife. I look over at Jessie and Marcus. I think of them helping me bring down the three criminals during the fight in the basement. I recall Jessie demanding that Snake leave me alone. I think of Kitty diverting his attention in a reckless attempt to protect me. I suddenly realize why we all managed to survive and escape. We all worked as a team, each one selfless and offering ourselves as a target. And it’s not me, Kitty or anyone else in particular who saved us back there. It was friendship and teamwork that got us through, something completely foreign to guys like Butcher and his gang.

  I smile, it almost feels like we’re a family. Then I look at Jessie and my cheery mood disappears. I recall another image from that basement: Jessie cuffed to the rusty pipe and Snake grabbing her by the hair with bad intentions.

  “What are you staring at?” she asks upon noticing my prolonged gaze.

  “I was worried for you, Jess,” I answer. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m not the one with the cut veins here,” she reminds.

  “Jess, you knew I was bluffing with the comments back there, right?” I suddenly ask. “Please, tell me you knew what I was doing.”

  “Don’t be so dense!” she exclaims. “You couldn’t even convince those stupid criminals. Do you really think you could fool me?”

  “Thanks Jess,” I say. I move in closer and hug her gingerly. She rolls her eyes, but doesn’t protest. I’ve long thought of Jessie as my trusted friend, but this is the first hug we’ve shared.

  “All right, enough!” Jessie finally demands, pushing me away. “What’s going on? Why is everybody trying to hug and kiss on me today?”

  She shoots an angry look Dave’s direction. His face reddens and he turns away, embarrassed. Kitty begins chuckling and also scoots down to hug Jessie, causing her to groan. She obviously appreciates her personal space.

  A couple hours later the helicopter lands in front of the Elimination prison. Holtzmann, Vogel and a squad of officers are waiting anxiously for our arrival. The professor almost throws a fit upon seeing my and Kitty’s faces.

  “Look what those monsters did to my subjects!” he cries out.

  Vogel commands Chase and Dave to take us to the hospital. Kitty and I are subjected to multiple x-rays to make sure our skulls weren’t fractured. Luckily, we haven’t sustained any severe injuries. A doctor injects anesthetic before stitching my arm along with the nasty cut on my chin.

  “I thought you ran out of anesthetic,” I comment.

  The doctor assures me that they’ve put back a little for emergencies. I argue that my case is no emergency. Chase reminds me that Kitty and I will be participating in Holtzmann’s experiment, so special treatment has been authorized. I sigh heavily, giving up. Although I realize somebody with more severe injuries could have used that shot, a more selfish part of me is thankful for the anesthetic.

  It’s already getting dark when we return to our quarters. I fall flat onto the bed, too tired even to turn. The painkiller has stopped working and my arm begins to throb. My entire body feels sore and I’m suffering a worsening headache.

  Kitty lies beside me, unmoving. Her black eye has already swollen shut. She looks battered and exhausted.

  “My face hurts,” she complains. “My stomach hurts as well. And my back doesn’t feel right. How about you, honey?”

  “About the same,” I answer.

  She crawls toward me and wraps her arms around my neck.

  “My poor Rex,” Kitty sobs. “They’ve beaten you up so badly.”

  Kitty tries to kiss me, but instantly yanks her head backwards.

  “Gosh, that hurts!” she exclaims, touching the stitches on her lips. “All right then. Let’s just go to sleep.”

  “I think that’s a wonderful idea,” I admit.

  But we can’t just go to sleep. Regardless of her level of exhaustion, Kitty is still too wired. She suddenly sits up and says, “I was so terrified! I knew you wouldn’t be able to sit tight and wait for me to return and shoot down those guys. I knew you’d find a way to start fighting all of them. I was so afraid they’d kill you before I could make it back and rescue everybody.”

  “Is it what you were worried about?” I ask.

  “What else would I worry about?” Kitty says, laughing.

  “Goodness, Kitty!” I exclaim. “Don’t you know? He could have killed you.”

  “Snake? No way. He was too stupid. I knew I could take him. It was actually my plan all along.”

  “What?!”

  “Didn’t you catch me winking at you?” Kitty wonders. “You see, I knew I had to do something to get us out of that basement. I needed to free my arms and then get hold of a weapon. So how could I accomplish all that? I decided to separate Snake from the others and then kill him.” She pauses, chuckling. “It was really kind of brilliant, wasn’t it?”

  “It was stupid,” I say. “You shouldn’t have done something like that.”

  “Snake would have beaten you to death,” Kitty says. “I should have done him much earlier, while we were still in the Retaliation camp.” She pauses, frowning. “He was trying really hard to be friendly with me back then. But I always knew he was a jerk. Sometimes he would say some really dirty things to me.”

  “What?!” I exclaim. This conversation is becoming crazy. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Why would I?” She smirks.

  Of course. She always prefers to deal with her problems on her own. I don’t know what I can do about that. Although I have no doubts in her fighting and killing abilities, I sure wish she’d exercise a little more caution.

  “C’mon” she sighs. “Snake was an easy kill. It wasn’t hard to manipulate him. He did everything exactly as I expected him to.” Kitty grins, gazing off into space now. “He brought me into the living room and threw me on the floor. He didn’t even beat me, which was stupid of course. Instead, Snake went ahead and got on top of me. And it was exactly where I needed him to be. I had to be really close for the plan to work. So I locked my feet behind his back and tightly wrapped my arms around his neck, so he wouldn’t get away. And then I began biting at his throat like a pit-bull!”

  She snarls, growling and shaking her head in a not too shabby imitation of a vicious dog.

  “Quit that,” I say, barely recognizing her. “You’re freaking me out.”

  She smiles again, shrugging her shoulders.


  “I’m a good biter,” Kitty states. “But don’t worry, I’ll never bite you.”

  Come to think of it, she has bit me on a few occasions during arguments. Those attacks were apparently just child’s play.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asks. “Do you think Snake didn’t deserve what he got? He had it coming. Nobody can be so ignorant and mean, and expect to live for too long.”

  “I have no problem with your killing him,” I answer. “I’m just worried for you. You’re too reckless. What if he simply shot you? Or what if all of them came after you?”

  “I’d figure something out,” Kitty insists.

  She lies down beside me, gazing at the ceiling. I don’t know what else I might say. No matter what I tell her, Kitty will do as she pleases.

  “Do you want to know the biggest difference between you and me?” she asks. “I enjoy hurting and killing those who are deserving. I learned very early in life that we live in a world where you have to kill or be killed, and I’m fine with that. But you are a little different. You’re too kind and nice. That’s one reason why everybody comes after you. And that’s also why I have to protect you from those who may hurt you.”

  I remember relentlessly stabbing Butcher, even after he’d already died. I don’t know why Kitty believes I’m so nice.

  “You’re just tired,” I say. “You’re talking nonsense.”

  “You don’t understand!” she exclaims. “Why are you bringing me into trouble for what I did? Why can’t you simply be grateful that I rescued you? You always say how I shouldn’t risk my life, but what other choice did I really have? Snake was beating you and wouldn’t have stopped until he’d killed you!”

  I don’t know how to answer. My head still aches and I just want to sleep. Unfortunately, I know only too well that this conversation will continue as long as Kitty wishes.