Cassie watched as the others divided themselves among the crowd, leaving only her, Marc, and Irene behind to take on Lynch. A group of their soldiers were heading their way. One soldier's eyes fell on Cassie in the midst of the chaos.

"To Lynch?" he asked, pointing to the large building in the distance where Lynch's office stood.

Cassie nodded, beginning to follow the group of soldiers headed toward the tower. Both Marc and Irene stood on either side of her in an effort to protect her. She wanted to push them away and tell them to defend themselves as well, but she knew they could not be persuaded, no matter how hard she tried.

The Preservers were beginning to send out armies of their own in retaliation. Cassie could still hear the rumbling of missile fire in the background as both sides clashed. She had worried for a few moments that they were trapped in the headquarters when the gates first shut, but as soon as their soldiers had made entry, she felt ready to fight again.

Bullets replaced the sound of cannonfire and bombs. Marc protectively wrapped an arm around her body as they ducked, continuing to march forward. She pushed his arm away as the soon as the fire ceased, afraid he would get the hit. She already was witnessing bodies dropping left and right in the distance, and the last thing she wanted was for one of her close friends or her fiancé to drop down with them.

Cassie's heart felt as if it were about to explode with each block they managed to make it through. She eyed Lynch's tall tower in the distance, wondering what her fate would be when they made it up there. Would they stand a chance? Would she be killed on the spot? She barely wanted to think about it.

As they turned the corner, a solder suddenly shouted, "Ambush!"

A group of Preserver tanks and soldiers had been quietly waiting for them at the corner. As soon as the first soldiers turned the corner, all weapons fired, and soldiers ran amuck, turning their formation into chaos. There were still civilians evacuating that were caught in the distress, and they were fleeing rapidly, tripping over those who had fallen to the ground injured or dead.

A line of shots began coming their way. Cassie yelped as Irene grasped her arm and pulled her to the side, away from the line of fire. Cassie reached out to Marc, their fingertips just barely touching before he got lost in the crowd. She called out for him, but she had lost him in the sea of people. Soldiers were darting left and right, avoiding gunfire.

"This way," Irene hissed, dragging Cassie to the left, away from the ambush. She led her quickly up the side streets, where it was eerily calm besides the sound of battle in the distance.

"But Marc—the others!" Cassie shouted, already beginning to feel the emotional turmoil that came with war. What if Marc had managed to get caught in the gunfire? What if he had been shot in the few minutes they were apart? Her body began to tremble.

"Listen to me," Irene snapped, grabbing Cassie by the shoulders. "Snap out of it for a second! We're still in battle, remember? Marc will be fine, but you were going to get shot if I didn't pull you out of the way."

"But the other soldiers! We're off track!" Cassie exclaimed, beginning to feel her breaths increase rapidly.

"I know where we're going. We can cut through these blocks here to get back on track with the others," Irene promised Cassie. She had loosened her grip on Cassie's shoulder, leaving a slight sting behind. Not that Cassie minded; it had broken her out of her fit for a second.

"Take a deep breath," Irene told Cassie.

She slowly inhaled and exhaled, beginning to focus again. Irene was right. Marc knew what he was doing. Some of the soldiers must have made it out of chaos and were heading back on track. If not, there were more soldiers headed toward Lynch anyway. They could still meet up with them.

"Are you good?" Irene asked, grabbing onto her gun again.

Cassie nodded and began to follow Irene up the deserted streets. She tried to look away from the spots of blood and discarded belongings that civilians had dropped as they fled. Just staring at some of the destruction made her sick to her stomach, but she knew this was the only way they were able to take down the Preservers. The fight had to occur here.

Irene was quiet as Cassie followed her up a few blocks. A few bits of trash and sheets of paper rolled through the icy streets. Cassie watched her breath come out in puffs as the tall tower of Lynch's building came into view again. Irene knew where she was going after all. Cassie was thankful Irene had been a part of her unit. If she and Marc had been separated from Irene, she wasn't sure how they would have gotten back on track besides following soldiers into more ambushes.

"To the right now," Irene said, turning her body. "We'll reach the main street soon enough. Hopefully the soldiers are still heading up that way."

Cassie nodded, keeping a careful eye up as they continued. The air had gotten too silent, more than she was comfortable with. It was strange that she craved the sound of war. Walking in the quiet was almost more frightening.

The two of them came to the end of a building, about ready to cross the street, when the sound of a gun firing filled the air. Cassie let out a screech and covered her ears, realizing the bullet had not touched her. Instead, Irene began to crumble to the ground beside her.

Cassie turned her head, noticing a Preserver civilian hidden in the alley. Before he could aim at Cassie once more, she fired the gun, watching it pierce his torso. He let out a groan, blood beginning to soak into his clothes. She had no time to mourn him. Instead, she quickly knelt down next to Irene, beginning to tear off her top layers to inspect the wound.

"Any...more?" Irene groaned.

"No...no, he was it," Cassie said, quickly looking around as she tore Irene's sweatshirt off. She gasped as the blood that had already gathered around Irene's center. Slowly, she lifted Irene's shirt, immediately despising what she saw. The bullet had clearly hit a few major organs, and Irene's blood was shedding rapidly. Cassie tried to remain calm, fumbling in her pockets for something to stop the bleeding, even though she knew Irene's fate. She was reaching down to rip off part of her shirt when Irene's hand grasped onto hers, squeezing tight.

She knew, Cassie realized.

"It'll be okay," Cassie promised. "I'll grab my radio, and we'll call a medic, and—" She was beginning to choke on her tears. The medics were all in line to the prison and other areas. Even if one managed to get here quickly, it would still be too...

Irene was letting out noises of discomfort, and Cassie noticed the tears beginning to glimmer in the girl's own eyes. She didn't deserve this, Cassie thought. Cassie slowly rearranged her body so she could cradle Irene's head and shoulders in her lap. Cassie interlaced her fingers with Irene as she quietly cried.

"C-Cassie," Irene grunted, her eyes focusing on her deeply. "G-give Lynch hell for me."

Cassie nodded her head vigorously, but Irene kept speaking, clearly determined to get out all she desired to say.

"Th-thank you...for raising my son," she said, letting out a big exhale. "P-please keep taking care of him."

"Of course I will. I love him," Cassie promised the girl. She faintly thought of Elijah, knowing he was tucked safe away in another part of the woods. She wasn't sure how she would break the news to him.

"And..." Irene continued, still not finished. "Tell Lillian I'm sorry, and that I love her."

"She knows that, Irene. She knows," Cassie promised, squeezing the girl's hand even tighter.

"Tell her one more time," Irene whispered, her voice beginning to lose its power.

"Irene, I have to tell you something," Cassie said, staring down at her. "Your son...he's a human-spirit. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. That's mostly why I came and rescued him years ago because I was afraid of what the Preservers would do to him. It's not a myth, Irene. I could really tell."

"I figured," Irene breathed, painfully breathing. "But thank you."

"Irene, I'm sorry," Cassie cried out, tears rolling down her cheeks as her body shook with sobs. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Irene said, her eyes daring to focus on Cassie's once more. "I thought I'd die alone, but..."

Cassie squeezed her hand as tight as she could. The faintest bit of a smile appeared on Irene's face before she took in one last shaky breath. Irene's grasp on Cassie's hand grew limp, and her eyes became dull with lifelessness.

Cassie muffled a scream with her hand and brought Irene's body closer to hers. Warm, sticky blood from Irene's injuries had stained Cassie's hands and clothes. She slowly moved Irene's eyelids shut with her fingers and sobbed harder, not wanting to let go of the girl's body.

Three years ago, she had hated Irene, and now she was clutching her dead body with the hope that if she squeezed it long enough, she could somehow will Irene back alive. Rage surged through Cassie as she thought of the unfairness of such a death. Lynch had done this. He had caused all this suffering. And she was going to give him hell for it.

Not yet ready to stand, Cassie pressed her cold lips against Irene's still-warm forehead and let her sobs overcome her once more.

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I am...so sorry...(but also please know this death was planned when I first conceived this book 7+ years ago)