For some inexplicable reason, I'm overcome with an urge to protect this stranger. Maybe because he reminds me of my little brother. I walk quickly toward Liam and point to the wall behind them.
"Hey! Have you guys seen the crossbows yet?" I call out. They all turn around and look at the wall of weapons with obvious interest. I venture a quick glance back and catch a glimpse of the boy running off to a room in the far corner of the Coliseum. I turn back to the group, who are ogling some sort of spear. They're all pretty involved in examining the weapons, so I'm left to my own thoughts, wondering for the second time this week if I've done the right thing.
Chapter 11
We stand in a sloppy semicircle around Talina and Justin, who are giving final instructions and warnings. I've been distracted throughout the whole tour of the Coliseum and explanation of weapons, half expecting that boy to appear again. But if he's managed to stay on the barge undetected this long, he's probably got a good hiding place.
"Justin will be assisting with weapons, should you need supervision," Talina explains. "If you were never shown one or more of these exercises in school, or have simply forgotten, a collection of Adhesives covering every defense can be found in the room to my right." Talina looks around at everyone. "You may begin."
When nobody moves, Justin furrows his eyebrows and yells, "Go!"
The trainees disperse in a dozen different directions, a handful heading off toward the Adhesives for a refresher, or perhaps to postpone actually having to do anything. I really want to try out the hover chamber, but I notice Tristan heading that way, so instead I follow Justin over to the wall of weapons. I see Joby there, staring in awe at some very large guns.
"Can you believe all this stuff?" Joby exclaims when he sees me. "I don't even think I could lift half of these, much less carry them!"
"Maybe you could bring a little wagon into battle with you for your guns," I respond jokingly.
"But then I'd still have to pull something," Joby muses.
I chuckle at his conundrum as I watch Justin walk over and flip on a switch that says: "Training Mode."
"All right," Justin barks, "who's first?"
The dozen or so people who have gathered by the weapons shrink back or look at their feet. Who's first for what? I wonder. Talina made it sound like this was a free for all, I didn't think there'd be any formalities. Maybe Justin does things a little differently. I don't want to look like I'm displaying any kind of abnormal bravery, but the lack of participation is killing me.
"I'll go," I announce, walking forward.
"Figures," Justin mutters sarcastically, although I think I see a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. "The procedure is simple, just take any weapon off the wall and be prepared to think," he explains. Confused, I move toward a pair of swords. I look back at Justin and all the others watching me, then tentatively lift the two swords away from the wall.
With a screeching sound, the wall splits open and a large figure comes at me, wielding similar swords. I'm frozen in fear. My enemy charges, swords slashing in the air. I start swinging my swords wildly while cowering and trying to protect my face. I'm able to deliver a few good blows to my opponent, but I'm severely outmatched. Over the clanging of metal on metal, I hear Justin yelling:
"Use your Amplifier!"
Of course! What was I thinking? Well, clearly, I wasn't. I back up a few steps and give myself a command.
"Mari, attack the contender using the dual sword technique until he is incapacitated."
The command takes effect immediately. My body runs forward, the swords now moving fluidly through the air. It's almost as if I'm observing myself from somewhere else. I clash with my opponent, attacking and defending like I've done this my whole life. With my fear gone, I'm able to see that I'm fighting against a very lifelike mechanical manikin, the deception only evident in the abnormal facial movements and tell-tale lines at the neck and joints. I find myself face to face with the manikin, struggling against it with our swords locked together in front of us. Suddenly, I fall to the floor, causing the manikin to fall forward and stumble over me. I quickly jump up, spin around, and thrust both of my swords into the manikin's back. The manikin goes still and I regain control of my body.
"Apart from some panicking at the start, she did all right," Justin states to the group behind him, bringing me fully back to reality. "Now you all know more or less what's in store, so get going."
The others step forward and choose weapons, causing the wall to split open in about a dozen different places. They each command themselves and overtake the manikins, some more swiftly than others. One girl takes down her manikin with one fatal throw of an axe, while down the line, a boy with a bow and arrows struggles to hit his mark as he dodges the arrows the dummy is shooting at him. Joby is repeatedly firing a revolver at his advancing manikin, but it does not go down until he shoots it squarely in the head. Apparently, it was wearing a bullet proof vest.
I try out the throwing stars and a massive machine gun that sends jolts through my body when it fires, but I'm intrigued by the bow staffs. Every person that chooses that weapon performs the exact same routine against the opposing manikin. There is no variation. It seems that the Amplifier only has one course of attack with this particular weapon. When it's my turn, I try to change things up a little.
"Mari, attack the opponent with the bow staff and basic acrobatics until he is defeated."
The staff spins flawlessly between my hands as I advance, but right before making contact with the manikin, I dig one end of the staff into the floor and propel myself over the robotic dummy, knocking it soundly on the head as I sail over. Landing on the other side, I do a series of backflips to distance myself, then come at the manikin again, this time planting the staff on his foot and swinging my body around to knock him over. While the manikin tries to reorient itself, I run toward it and once again use the staff to hoist myself into the air, spinning and twisting as I go, and land directly on top of the manikin, plunging the staff into its chest.
That was interesting, I think, standing and pulling the staff out of my fake victim. I'm considering trying another variation, but then I look out and see that everyone in the weapons area is staring at me. Justin is walking briskly in my direction, looking grim. I hurry to return the bow staff to its place, but before I can get there, Justin is grabbing my arm and spitting angry words into my face.
"What was that?" He hisses. His face is so close to mine that a few strands of his long hair brush my cheek.
"I - I'm sorry, I was just experimenting ... just trying something different."
"Different is not equal!" He growls, emphasizing each word by shaking my arm. "Don't ever do anything like that again!"
He releases me and stomps away. People give him a wide berth as he passes. I stand there dumbfounded, massaging the sore spots he left in my arm. I've never been punished for curiosity. It's starting to feel like every aspect of my personality does not belong here.
Chapter 12
The recording room is hidden away in the most remote corner of the barge. It took me almost 45 minutes to find the faded red sign that marked the small enclosure. No wonder families hardly ever hear from their trainees and soldiers.
It's been 3 and a half weeks. I'm already behind on my promise to Daniel. It's not that I haven't had time, we have free hours every now and then and Alia's been spending most of her time with that jerk, Jaren. I guess I just don't have much good news to send home. But I've put it off long enough, so I take a deep breath, sit in the chair, and press the start button. A red light comes on, indicating that I'm being recorded. I have to be convincing, otherwise my mother will know something is wrong.
"Hi mom! Hi Daniel! How are you two?" I start, making an effort to smile. "Sorry I didn't send one of these sooner, I've just been so busy! Training is great and I love being Amplified! We've been learning so many new things, I can hardly keep up! But it's still so exciting! I've made a bunch of new friends and things are go
ing really well. Daniel, I hope you're enjoying school, and mom, I hope everything is going well at the farm. I miss you guys so much and I hope to hear from you soon! Love you!"
I press the stop button and sigh. I think I overdid it, that message was too generic and full of lies. I have made a couple friends, and I do enjoy learning and trying out new things with my Amplifier, but mainly I overanalyze all my behavior and try to stay out of the way. But I figure it's better than nothing, so I send 2 Adhesives of the recording to my mom, typing her name and compound number into the Conveyor.
I'm about to leave the recording room, but I feel like someone should know how I really feel, so I sit down again and start another recording.
"Hi Adrian. How are you liking your work rotation? What jobs have you done so far? I'd love to hear all about it." I pause. My older brother wasn't very helpful the last time I confided in him, but I feel like he might be the only person who would understand. "Training has been okay," I continue. "Amplification really is fantastic, but sometimes I feel like I don't fit in here. I keep making mistakes that I never knew were mistakes. Did that ever happen to you? Maybe I'm just being too sensitive. Anyway, I miss you and I hope everything is great. Love ya."
I send the recording off to my brother and smile at the stark difference between the messages. He may not respond, but at least it felt good to get my feelings out in the open.
_________
"Why are we doing this, again?"
"I don't know. They give the order, and I obey."
I listen, amused, at the conversation between two guys in my tagging group. I think their names are Todd and Derek. There are six of us all together; those two, myself, Liam, Joby, and another girl, Hannah, who I don't know very well.
This morning we parachuted from the air barge into the Preserve, a lush, thickly forested area where all the animals in the Community are kept. I can't get over how beautiful it is. I've never seen so much green. It almost makes me dizzy.
"We're tranquilizing and tagging the animals so the Community can keep track of them," Liam announces matter-of-factly, interrupting Todd and Derek's banter.
"Why do they need to keep track of them?" Derek asks, almost tripping over a tree root.
"For nutrition, mainly," Liam replies smoothly. "The Community needs to keep track of their health and reproduction so that our supply stays constant."
"Wait," Hannah interjects, "you mean the capsules are made from animals?"
"Sure, a few of them," Liam says simply. "But it's such a minuscule amount it really doesn't deplete the animal reserves by too much."
I shiver. I always knew the animals were used for capsules, and Liam talks about them nonchalantly enough, but knowing that I'm about to encounter something that I eat just makes me feel weird. Not that it should change anything, it just seems a little surreal.
"Gross," Hannah blurts, "I'm not eating those capsules ever again."
"Ah, you'll get over it soon enough," Liam counters.
We follow our maps to our designated tagging area. Todd had offered to do the navigating for the group, but we all ended up using our own Amplifiers to find our way instead. No need to work together when everyone is capable of doing it themselves. We climb over some large rocks and come to a clearing. Liam and Joby stop to take some Hydration capsules, so I check my supplies one more time. It's all still there: two loaded tranquilizer guns, a dozen metal ear tags, a scanner, some Nutrition and Hydration capsules, and a few flares in case of emergency.
We continue on through the trees, following a river and steadily climbing higher. I keep hearing Liam command himself to keep walking. I guess this hike would be pretty difficult for someone who isn't used to physical activity. Finally, we turn a corner and are facing the biggest waterfall I've ever seen. At least it looks bigger than any of the ones I've seen in pictures. And surrounding the pool at the base of the falls are a dozen different animals.
"Ok, ok, so wait," Joby sputters, almost hyperventilating, "do we scan the animal first and then tranquilize it? Or do we tag it and then scan it? Or do we — "
"Slow down, rookie," Derek cuts in, "don't worry about it — it's all in your head. Just use your Amplifier!"
"Oh, right," Joby says sheepishly, turning to focus on the animal nearest him.
I look over at something large with horns and give myself the command:
"Mari, tranquilize and tag the animal."
My hand goes to the gun almost robotically. I take aim and hit the beast just below its shoulder. It takes a few unsteady steps and then falls to the ground. I approach the furry heap. The scanner identifies it as a male Elk, and also lists its weight, age, and diet. I insert a metal tag into the scanner and it comes out engraved with this information. I remove the old tag from the elk's ear and clip the new one into its place.
We continue this process until all the animals are unconscious and newly tagged. I walk around to look at the animals; a couple more elk, some deer, an antelope, a moose, and two buffalo. I pause at the last buffalo, amazed at its huge head.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
For a split-second I think the buffalo is talking to me. Then I realize Joby is behind me. I look again at the buffalo and shrug.
"Yeah, I guess so. In a hairy, brutish kind of way..."
"No," Joby laughs, "I'm talking about this place! The trees, the sky, the waterfall ... it's kind of romantic."
I take a deep breath and admire the scenery. It really is stunning.
"It's gorgeous," I admit, trying to take in the magnitude of the waterfall all at once. I turn around and notice that Joby is uncomfortably close to me and that his eyes are oddly intense. I look around for everyone else and see that they're all far away on the other side of the pool. I start to panic.
"Mari," Joby says, leaning toward me, "we've been friends for a while, and lately I've just felt that-" he stops short, examining my face. "Mari, are you okay?"
I'm not okay. I was uneasy before, but now I am simply terrified. A massive animal with sharp teeth and giant claws has appeared behind Joby. I slowly lift the scanner in my hand to identify the beast. Black bear.
The bear charges before I have time to command myself or reach for my tranquilizer gun. I grab Joby and we dive sideways to the ground, out of the path of the attacking creature. The bear runs past us, but turns quickly and starts to pursue again. We get up and start running, but the bear is close behind and closing the gap. I'm frantically trying to get my tranquilizer gun, but it keeps getting jostled around in my pack.
"We've got to split up!" I yell to Joby. There's no use in both of us being killed. Joby nods his head, but looks worried. The trees are starting to thicken. "Ready?" I shout, taking a quick glance behind me at the bear a few feet away. "Now!"
We run in different directions, Joby goes into the trees while I scramble up some rocks. It seems the bear is momentarily confused, but then repositions and starts heading after me. I slow down to find my tranquilizer gun, thinking I've put enough distance between us, but when I twist around to shoot, the bear is nearly on top of me. It claws at my arm, knocking the gun to the ground and sending searing pain through my body. I stumble and try to get away, but the bear keeps swatting at me. I lose my balance and fall. I am completely vulnerable.
The bear hovers over me, snapping its jaws inches from my face. I can't breathe, I can't find my voice to try to command myself, so in desperation I start kicking the bear as hard and fast as I can. I feel flesh being torn from my leg, but I keep kicking. Aggravated, the bear backs away and rises up on its hind legs. I know it's going to come at me again, and I know this time it will probably kill me.
I take a deep breath. I guess a bear attack isn't the worst way to die. But then the bear stops and gives an odd growl. The fury leaves its eyes and a few seconds later it collapses forward onto my legs. Behind where the bear was standing is Liam, holding his tranquilizer gun aloft and looking victorious, although his hands are shaking slightly.
"Are y
ou all right?" He asks, rushing toward me. I'm struggling to free my legs and Liam shoves the bear back as much as he can so I can pull myself away. "We saw it come over the ridge but we were too far away to warn you guys," he explains quickly. "Luckily, you ran back in our direction. Otherwise, I would have never made it to you in time."
"That is lucky," I say weakly. I attempt to stand, but something is wrong with my left leg and it won't hold my weight. I stumble forward and Liam catches me.
"Wow, Mari, you're pretty beat up," Liam says, looking me over and draping my arm over his shoulders. "Let's get you back to the barge."
"Thanks, Liam," I mutter gratefully.
I let myself be half-dragged by Liam back to the waterfall. The rest of our group rushes forward when they see us nearing the pool. I'm glad to see that Joby is with them and safe, but he's looking at me with a strange expression. I feel something stinging. I look down at my leg and immediately wish I hadn't. Liam is using the water from the pool to clean a grotesque, bloody gash on my left thigh. I cringe and squeeze Liam's arm. He says something soothing, but I cant tell what it is.
Suddenly, the rest of the group erupts into laughter.
"Liam," Todd chokes out, "you weigh three-hundred and fifteen pounds?"
I manage to look back and see that they're all crowded around Joby's scanner, which is pointed at Liam. Liam turns bright red.
"Sorry," Joby mumbles, "it was an accident."
I'm nearly delirious, but I don't think it was an accident.
Chapter 13
I wake up to bright lights and a dozen pairs of eyes staring at me. I jerk to sit up, but something is restraining my body. From somewhere behind me I hear Talina's voice.
"Often victims can be confused or frantic when they regain consciousness, so it's usually a good idea to strap them down."
The Amplified Page 6
