Year 12 (First Draft)

-Chapter 20-

  Paul pulls up a new hacking software, his fingers pounding relentlessly at his keyboard. "This should be working," He says, groaning as another error message pops up on his screen. We've been at this for hours, with no signs of success.

  "Paul," I put my hand on his shoulder, and I can feel just how tense he is, "you should take a break."

  Paul shakes his head, bringing up yet one more software. "No, I'll be fine. You should go get some dinner."

  I nod, knowing he's right. We've been in here for three hours, exhausting all of our resources to try and crack the code between us and my brother's safety.

  "Would you like me to bring something back for you?" I ask. Paul looks up long enough to shake his head no, then tears back to the screen in front of him.

  I walk slowly down to the dining room, letting my mind wander through the events of the day. I've never once doubted Paul's abilities, but these past three hours have been eye-opening. The Government really is more technologically powerful that I've given them credit for. I have hope Paul will still be able to defeat them, but will it be in time to save my brother?

  "Felisha?" I turn around, Andrew walking up behind me. "Has Paul found a way to hack the skin patch?"

  I sigh, and that's answer enough.

  "I'm sorry," He says, and I noticed he's changed. My heart squeezes. He's wearing Kane's clothes. He notices my stare and shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would matter-"

  "It's fine," I say, the smell of Kane's cologne surrounding me. I have to close my eyes, trying my best to ignore the swell of sadness I feel. "I just miss him."

  Andrew nods, and we continue to walk down the hall toward the dining room. "I know it's none of my business," Andrew says, "but what's the deal with you and my brother?"

  I feel ice crawl over my skin, my heart pounding against my ribcage. "I don't know really."

  Andrew smiles as though he knows something I don't, and we walk into the dining room. I take a seat next to Mrs. Porter, and Andrew sits across from me. Anya takes a seat next to me, giving me a quick hug. "I hope that everything works out for your brother," She says, sending me a sad smile.

  "Thank you," I say, pulling her in for a hug of my own, "same to you," I whisper, and she nods.

  "There's something I should tell you," Andrew says, taking a seat next to me on the ground. It seems outside is my safe haven as of late. I turn to face Andrew, waiting to see what news he has for me. "I may not have been the most forthcoming about why I came."

  Fear grasps my heart, sending warning signals throughout my whole body. "What do you mean?"

  "It's nothing bad," Andrew says, chuckling at my anxious expression. "I didn't mean to scare you."

  Andrew pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to me. The writing scrawled across its surface is gibberish. I try to make sense of it, but it looks like a bunch of odd symbols and random letters. "That's the code Kane and I made up," Andrew explains, pointing to a section of the text. "That's your name."

  I look at the writing, and even knowing it's my name, I can't tell that it says Felisha.

  "He had Andrea send this to me," He says, "he wrote it in case.... Well, in case anything went wrong."

  I pull the paper out of his hands and stare at it. "Can you tell me what it says?"

  Andrew smiles, pulling another piece of paper out of his pocket. "I decided to translate it earlier for you."