Year 18

-Chapter 31-

It takes little time for the commotion to turn heads and garner attention.

Agents who before had been unmoving in the still night are scaling down the walls of the barricade, others coming on foot.

Kane fires at the Agents, hitting some, more to injure than to kill.

A few fall, yet there are enough in the area that it does little to create a dent in the oncoming swarm.

We move, our feet pounding against the ground, never straying back out into the shadows. We are running, but our goal isn't to run away. Not this time. Instead, we draw Agents in, toward us. We create a scene.

Kane refills his gun, reaching for another beneath his shirt. "It's yours if you're ready," he says, passing it to me.

The gun feels heavy in my hands. I'm not ready, not in the ways I should be. Regardless, I ready the weapon, firing as Agents begin to round in front of us. My aim is true, hitting some in the shoulder, others in the leg. Some shells dive into the ground, missing entirely.

I focus on the pop of the gun, the feel of Kane's back against mine as we fire shells at the Agents.

The area has become brighter, lights from nearby homes having switched on, additional lights from the tops of the barricade illuminating the ground below.

There are only two of us.

We're in the open.

It takes little time for the Agents to close in, ripping the gun from my hands before taking Kane's.

We kick and struggle knowing its futile; relying on its futility.

We are only buying time. That much I have gathered.

One Agents steps forward, a red wound apparent on their bicep, though it looks like a surface wound. This Agent's physique is notably smaller than that of those around them. As their helmet is taken off, I don't hide my surprise. I hope this is Kane's intent, that all of this is exactly as he had planned. I hope for this as I see Amy's face, her teeth gritting in pain as she steps toward me.

Her hand strikes me, causing my vision to grow fuzzy and my teeth to clatter together. Kane lunges toward her, but there are too many Agents standing nearby, too many arms to confine him.

Tight restraints click into place around my wrist, and I hear a similar click behind me where Kane has stilled.

"All this trouble," Amy's voice holds a similar timbre to her father's as her eyes grow dark and her lips pull tight over her teeth, her voice a growl as she spits, "all of this, for what? What did you ever hope to achieve?"

I know it's a rhetorical question. Still, answers burn against my tongue. Disbelief and doubt keep me quiet. Is this what you planned? I want to ask Kane, my skulls throbbing from the force of Amy's armored hand. Is she truly on our side?

It's Amy who drags us to a truck, insisting that she's the one who needs to bring "these terrorists" to her father.

It's Amy who forcefully pushes us into the truck, adding restraints to our feet. Just like those Agents used in the past, any attempt to struggle tightens the metal's hold, biting into the skin.

Yet, it's Kane who lets out a nearly inaudible, relieved sigh as the doors close and the truck rumbles to life.

A/N ~ Hey everyone! Sorry that this chapter was a bit delayed getting posted. A family member of mine had surgery recently, and I have been spending a lot of time helping them get back into the swing of things. And then I ended up catching some bug, so that wasn't helpful!

It's a bit of a shorter chapter, but it's definitely setting up the end of Year 18. It's weird to think about this book and series coming to an end, for sure. I have spent a lot of years on these books!

As you look over the following questions, I would love some feedback specifically on question #3 :)

Questions:

1.) What do you think it going on with Amy?

2.) What do you predict happening in upcoming chapters?

3.) As stated, this is really of the beginning of the end for Year 18. I am always working on other projects, but never know about continuing to share them here on Wattpad. For some projects, I don't plan to as I am in the process of editing in hopes of beginning my publication journey. Still, I don't want to abandon this account and all of you that have spent so much time supporting me and my writing. What do you hope to see once Year 18 wraps up? New stories? Revisiting existing ones? Other ideas?

Thank you for any and all feedback! Until next time :)

- Sarah