Year 18

Chapter 38

"I need you to come with me." I jump when I hear Amy's voice behind me. "Both of you."

I'm on my feet before Kane has even acknowledged her presence. He surprises me when instead of standing, he continues to sit, acting as though he hasn't heard her.

"Come on!" She kicks at his shin, but he doesn't budge.

I watch the exchange, as Kane finally stands, though he doesn't seem to be in any hurry. Is this part of something? I wonder. I find that I'm less and less sure about what to believe. Is this part something more?

As we're being escorted to the Leader's office, Kane takes measures to be subtly defiant. The way his feet drag, the way he stops occasionally to take in the art on the walls. Amy grows increasingly more frustrated, her nostrils flaring as she yanks on his arm, pulling a gun out of a holster near her hip. She presses it against his back, propelling him forward.

Terror grips me as I take in the tarnished metal of her weapon. Still, it's not the gun itself that has planted that fear into my gut. It's the unknown. Would Amy really use her gun to harm Kane? Is he intentionally upsetting her? What does the Leader need from us?

As we walk into the office, the gun still pressed to Kane's back, Agents attempt to follow us in.

"I've got it handled," Amy says, her tone dripping with a deep-rooted anger. It's not the sort of frustrated tone she's used with Kane. This is older; festered, and raw.

The Leader is standing, resting against his desk. A humored look dances in his eyes as he takes in the gun pressed to Kane's back.

"It looks like you've been causing trouble," the man sighs, shaking his head. "So early in the day too? My, my, Porter, you and your tenacity for turmoil."

"Something we share in," Kane mutters, earning a jab in the back from Amy's gun.

"I think there's more we share in than you would know," the Leader's smile could imply kindness if it belonged to anyone else. On him it looks forced, unnerving.

I hear the shuffle before I see it.

In one moment, the air in the room shifts.

In a matter of seconds, the gun that had prodded Kane through the halls, the gun that had been shoved into his back, is now grasped in his hand.

Just as quickly, the gun that's been ripped from Amy's palm is forced against her temple, her back now pressed to Kane's chest as he pins her to him.

"Kane." I don't know what to say, fear thundering in my chest, "Kane, what are you doing?"

The Leader's easy smile falls at hearing my question.

Tentatively it takes hold once more, as he laughs.

"Be reasonable," the Leader sighs. "What would killing my daughter do?"

Kane's hand doesn't shake as he presses the gun deeper into Amy's temple, causing her to flinch.

"It should do something," Kane says, his voice even. "Your daughter's life is in my hands. You haven't called for help, you haven't pleaded with me. All you've done is question what effect it would have."

The Leader's eye twitches, but he doesn't move toward Kane. He doesn't make an effort to plead for his daughter's life. It's almost like a game to him. Who will hold out the longest?

"I know you, Porter." The Leader's voice is as calm as Kane's. "You're not the sort to—"

There's a bloom of red on the Leader's chest before I have registered the gunshot.

Another follows before I've registered that the gunshot hasn't come from Kane's weapon. Instead, it's a different gun, shaking in Amy's hands.

She fires once more. Then twice more before Kane's hands cover hers on the gun, helping her to lower it as it falls with a thud to the ground. Amy's eyes are red, her face forming a scowl as the room falls silent apart from her father's gasps for air.

Then, there's nothing.

My knees buckle beneath me, the Leader's blood warm and confronting against my palms.

I look to Kane, to Amy.

Amy's eyes are brimming with tears as the room fills with her screams.

She screams out her sadness and frustration. She hurls all of her anger toward the man we all knew as a corrupt figurehead, and still, a man she viewed as her father.

Despite the shock, as she crosses to him—her screams turning to anguished cries—I am able to begin to piece together what I've just witnessed.

The Leader is dead.

And it was his Amy who killed him.

A/N ~ Well, I don't have much to say given the ending there. More chapters to come! Reminder, we're counting down to the 27th, where Year 18 will be officially completed.

One more reminder, if you haven't already, please fill out the Google Form I have linked in the comments. It will really help me know what you guys would like to see in the future on this account!

Until next time, Year Movement.

-Sarah