Year 18

-Chapter 35 -

I must have fallen asleep at some point because I startle awake, both relieved and unsettled when I take in my surroundings. There's relief in having a comfortable place to sleep, and still there's the unnerving truth of the location. We're under the eyes and ears of the Leader, under the guise of hospitality and leisure.

Flipping onto my other side, I see Kane there, his eyes fixed to the ceiling.

"Did you sleep?" I ask, feeling I already know the answer.

"I don't think so."

I sense the nightmares that are only imagined to me playing over and over how they really happened for him.

"Thank you for trusting me," I clear my throat, watching as Kane takes a deep breath. "I know it couldn't have been easy to tell me what happened."

Kane closes his eyes, taking a few more measured breaths.

"I owed you the truth."

The truth is, Kane has never owed me a thing. I know that, and despite everything, I'm sure he knows too.

An hour later there's a knock on the door, followed by the ping of someone gaining access, a reminder that we've been locked in this whole time.

Instead of surprise there's only frustration when Paul walks into the room, throwing a gown and suit onto the bed. The man who had once provided us with clever disguises, now brings us a completely different sort of farce.

"Aren't you going to ask what these are for?" He jeers, seeming disappointed with our lack of a reaction.

"We know," I say.

If the Leader has us here, he'll want to parade us. Last time I attended a Social Gathering—not so long ago—I was auctioned off. I was meant to be used as an example to the Year Movement, to Kane.

"We leave in half an hour," Paul spits out, throwing a device atop the garments. "Watch that beforehand."

Kane picks up the device once Paul leaves, starting the video waiting for us.

It's been quite some time since I've seen the reporters on the News. We'd all become so disillusioned with their lies, I couldn't watch, but I couldn't look away.

The woman—hands shaking as she tests her microphone—looks toward the cameras with a twisted expression.

"We've just received these videos from outside the Government sector," she says. "This footage may be upsetting to some viewers."

Kane's shoulders are tense as the video rolls, showing our capture from the night before.

"Both Kane Porter and Felisha Martins were taken into custody last night," she says, "as were many of their closest accomplices."

The video cuts to a montage of terror in the outer sectors. Houses burning to the ground, children and families screaming as they frantically search for one another. One woman races toward a group of Agents, her body collapsing before she comes within arm's reach. A man follows suit, only to suffer the same fate.

I bite my tongue, keeping my breathing as even as I can.

That is until the couple that took us in flashes on screen.

Their home nothing more than ash, their hands cuffed as Agents force them into a truck.

Amy's grandmother, the Leader's mother, beaten and left lying in the grass as Agents tear through her home, uncovering the passages we'd taken.

Angry tears fill my eyes.

I've always known the Government lacked any true humanity, but now it seems even their most delicately crafted attempts at disguising that are forgotten, cast aside. Now, their ugliest, truest selves are on full display.

They are killing those who oppose them.

Scenes of death replay over and over.

The shaken look in the reporter's eyes should bring comfort to see a shred of humanity in the thickest vines of vile, poisonous hate. Instead, there's only anger. This isn't new, after all. It's just not being hidden anymore.

"Where is that savior?" The woman's voice is monotone, as though the words, her voice are not her own. "All of you are left to pay for his sins."

As the video ends and we put on the dress and suit left by Paul, there's a ringing silence in the air, a note of guilt felt deep in our chests.

A/N ~ Hey everyone! I don't have any true notes other than the same as last time, which involves any feedback you have for future projects here on this account. Let me know your thoughts through a comment, or if you wouldn't mind filling out the survey (see comments for link) that would be awesome!

-Sarah