Tw: violence

-America-

The camp was in chaos.

People scrambled over each other trying to flee. Fires, once contained, now tore hungrily through the makeshift lean-tos. Bullets flew freely through the air, and in the dim light, several fell at the hands of their own comrades. Screams mixed with the sound of gun fire and the roar of the ever encroaching flames, to create one of the most terrifying sounds I had ever heard.

And all the while, the soldiers lurked through the camp like shadows. They were as silent and lethal as death.

"Mer!" Aspen shouted from somewhere to my left. I turned to see him aiming a handgun at the nearest soldier. He stooped down for a moment to scoop up a backpack, and tossed it to me then stood again. "Get out of here!"

I started backing away hesitantly. My gaze swept over our once happy encampment, and fell on the shape of Kel. She was on the ground. A Soldier wasn't far off; his gun was aimed at her. Then at the last minute he fell to the ground, blood beginning to blossom from his torso.

I darted to her, carefully stepping over the Soldier's body. "Kel, are you okay?" I had to almost scream to be heard, over the cacophony.

She looked shaken, but took my hand when I offered it to her and pulled herself up. "I'm fine," she answered.

"We have to get out of here." I said by this time I was willing to leave without hesitation.

"Right," she said, even though her eyes still scanned the area around the still burning fire that only minutes ago we had sat around contentedly. "I have to get my bag, it has food in it!"

I nodded in agreement, my eyes spotting the familiar shape of it. "I think I see it over there," I said pointing to a place not far from where she had been sitting during the Special Report.

"Okay, I'll get it. Meet me at the tree line," she said walking off to get the bag.

I watched her leave for a moment, and then I saw a bullet go through the cloth wall of a lean-to, and finally started running to the relative safety of the forest.

The instant I entered the forest, I was swathed in cool darkness. It was calming, in spite of the fact that I could still see the camp from where I had collapsed in the underbrush.

I waited for what felt like hours for Kel to come. When I finally heard the sounds of someone crunching through the underbrush, I sighed in relief. I quickly came out of my hiding place, discretion tossed to the wind. "What took you so long Kel?" I asked.

But when I looked, it wasn't Kel standing there; it was a soldier.

He looked to be just as surprised to find me here as I was to see him. All of my muscles were coiled and ready to spring. But instead of charging him, I took off in the opposite direction at full speed.

The distant crunch distant of dead leaves and snapping branches alerted me to the fact that he was chasing me. I tried to run faster, but my lungs were beginning to burn and my knees were already aching. For just a moment, I thought that I could out run him. Then I felt something pulling on my hair and then I was falling onto the forest floor.

"Where do you think you're going?" He growled at me. I clawed at his face, but he was too far for me to reach.

I fought him but to no avail. He pulled me up to my feet by my hair, and pointed his gun at me. "Get moving," He said releasing my hair, and jabbing me in the back with the barrel of his gun.

Hanging my head, I began the trek back to whatever remained of the camp. I blinked back tears; I knew that going back meant death.

Every fiber of my being wanted to fight back, but fighting meant death too. Even now when were now only yards from the tree line, and the light from several fires shined through the dense shadows of the forest, the soldiers gun hovered near the small of my back. He wouldn't hesitate to shoot, that was quite obvious.

My gaze swept over my immediate area; I had to find some way to get away. I'd almost given up when I heard something moving the bushes, and then with a dull bang, the soldier fell forward onto me.

I quickly pushed him off of me and scrambled to my feet. Kel stood where seconds before the soldier had been holding a frying pan in both of her hands, with two bags slung over her shoulder.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, leaning against a tree.

"Then let's keep moving," she said turning to leave.

"Kel?"

"Yes?"

"A frying pan? Really?"

She threw her hands up exasperatedly, "it was all I could find!"

"mmhm," I said, crossing my arms.

She narrowed her eyes and tossed me one of the bags on her shoulder. "Here!" she said as the bag sailed through the air in a wide arc.

I caught it with a grunt. It was so heavy!

"What is this?"

"It's the bag you dropped back when the soldier grabbed you."

I hitched it up on my shoulder.

"What now?" I asked

"We have to go help them." She answered, and I nodded in agreement.

We reached the area where they were holding the rest of us, not too long after that, but we were too late.

Most of them were far beyond our help. The bodies lay discarded on the ground, blood pooled around them. Sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, brothers, and sisters: all dead.

Kel sobbed silently, as the soldiers descended upon the remaining captives. They had tied their hand behind their backs and lined them up shoulder to shoulder. No one resisted, though a few of them cried.

The soldiers went down the line, quickly dispatching their victim and moving on the next. It was savagery.

I scanned the faces of the people in line until my eyes fell on Aspen, and my blood ran cold. It wasn't because he had a large gash on his forehead, or that there was blood on his shirt from some undetectable injury, no.

He was next in line.

I almost stood, but Kel's hand clamped onto my arm and held me down. Tears stared gushing down my cheeks. It was like the floodgates had been opened and now it seemed like they would never close again.

Our eyes met for the slightest moment, and what I saw there made me all the sadder. It was a lifetime of regret mixed with love, the kind of love that burns so bright it hurts.

Then he closed his eyes and the soldier moved behind him.

The shot rang out louder than the previous ones, and it took all the strength I had to keep still as his body slumped to the ground.

I was trembling with rage. I hated the soldiers for coming into our camp and doing this. I hated my father for telling us to camp so closely to Angeles. I hated Gregory Illéa for founding this country. I hated myself for being such a coward.

But most of all, I hated that stupid prince for doing this. It was his fault, all his fault that Aspen would never be able to tell me that he loved me, his fault that thousands of other innocent people would die.

In that moment, I knew what I was going to do.

I began to slowly move away from the massacre that the camp had become. Kel followed suit.

"We're going to Angeles." I said determination steeling my voice.

Kel looked mystified at my statement. "What? That's the worst place to be right now."

Turning towards the city's general direction, I started to walk. "I'm going."

"Why?"

I turned to look at her, feeling colder and emptier than I ever had before.

"I'm going to kill the prince."

AN: I'm really proud of this chapter; I love it so much, and I hope you guys love it too. I'm changing the plot that I had originally envisioned, but don't worry there'll still be plenty of Maxon/America shipping later on! Ok, so, go review guys. Try and guess what you think will happen next!