These past months seem to have taken place over many years, with the hope of the end running farther and farther away from me. Ingrid has been showing Hunter and me all of the things we need to have in place for the attacks, shoving information down our throats as fast as we could understand it. A yellowish hue has stained everyone's skin after being under the artificial lights for so long. Some of the younger soldiers have been sent out of the compound to give us reports about the state of the city, others the farther edges of the country. Most of our city, Copucity, has been overrun by smaller terrorist groups, and the rest of the nation is doing even worse. The weight of each second passing by grows heavier and heavier as the suits are completed and the death count projected on the bulletin board climbs higher. A pact was made between Hunter, Ingrid, and I, if the drummer boys change their song to the Greys' anthem then we have truly lost. New compartments have been placed in the half masks made to hold liquid sarin capsules. Once the clasp is ripped off with the use of teeth, no one can get information out of you.

Everyone lined up in the wall's release center, waiting for the drummer boys to start the tune of the battle. Ingrid stood next to me, she was deep in conversation with Smith; both of them had tears in their eyes. Hunter nudged my shoulder, the old scars still ached. This was the time for final goodbyes. Ingrid had stationed us all away from each other, knowing that if it was visible that one was hurt, the others would abandon their tasks and rush to help, help wasn't affordable anymore. I made Hunter lean his head down so I could kiss the top of his head like we did when we were little. He squeezed my hand tight and let a tear fall freely down his cheek. The clock on the far left wall struck 0300, Hunter and I walked over to the departure platform to take our places.

"The time is now, we must take out as many as we can. The Electi are most vulnerable here, and the Council Office is sixteen kilometers away. If we can hit their Office, we have taken the head off of the monster. Avoid the children, but don't try to save them, our children were not saved." Hunter turned to me, already putting the mask up. Only in the dim backup light did I realize that it was really a muzzle.

"Once the Office has been hit, the Electi will be forced to surrender. Their submission will end the war, with Ingrid taking on her new role as leader. The Electi will also become part of our nation at this time. If they attempt to compromise get out of the arrangement, they will be burned to the ground." I put on my muzzle, the three snaps on the back secured my fate. I was going to pull the clasp whether we won or not.

"For The Fallen!" Ingrid screamed at the army, her long sword and stunner gun raised high above her. The group repeated the phrase back to her, making the walls tremble around us. The door started to open, and we all charged into the night. I stayed in the front middle of the pack, Hunter and Ingrid took opposing sides. Nothing came our way more for most of the way there, once we were 8 kilometers away from the city, the Electi forces started showing up.

I drew two daggers out from my side holsters, slashing at the opponents that came my way. Blood flew in arches around me as I paved my path to the Office, no amount of bloodshed tonight could make up for what was lost. A tall man tried shooting at me with an M4 Carbine, old weaponry, and it took too long for him to aim. I slid across the ground towards him, slicing his shins with blades. The man fell forward, I curled up and flipped back. The man was trying to stand up when the blade dug deep into his skull, splattering even more crimson all over my black and red suit. I pulled the blade out and continued. Zigzag pattern running, slash and dive, tuck and roll, stab and turn, moves repeated over and over as the early light of the morning started to fall over the battleground, illuminating the horrors being committed. The Electi had also gotten their hands on old grenades, much more destructive than our magnetic field warpers. Enough blood and body parts were spread over the terrain that trying to figure out which country the corpse belonged to was virtually impossible. I had just picked up a gun of my own to stow away when I saw him, the Black Ice.

"I'm going to have a fucking field day with you!" I screamed over the land, charging towards him. I took a few shots, but the weapon was too foreign, and the ammo ran out too soon. I hurled the gun at the agent, catching him in the knee, with his right knee on the ground, I brought up both daggers and slashed with my right hand, tucking the left in to make me spin away after I drew the blade back. I felt contact with his arm as I took a fighting stance again. Ice had a long spear with him and only used it to block my attacks. Slash. Parry. Stab. Parry. Spin. Stab. Swipe. Pure rage filled my veins as I stuck against him. An opening appeared when I kicked the spear up, followed by me stabbing the knife into his suit, tearing through the material. All of the Electi's suits were almost impermeable to regular blades, I fumbled the blade slightly in shock after seeing it pass through. A small red line started forming on the snowflake tattoo hidden beneath the material. Everything clicked together, and I dropped the blade.

I stumbled back in horror of what I had just done, gripping my hands through my sweaty ponytail. The light of the morning floating all around, but it was as dark as night to me. I heard a shout from far away when I was tackled. My head it the ground hard, making my dark night filled with stars. Something wet was growing on my stomach, I sat up and blinked some of the spots away. Janie was breathing raggedly on top of me, desperately trying to pull her face mask off. I heard a small click to my right and went for my stunner gun. The shooter missed, but I didn't. Once the shooter fell to the ground writhing in pain, I pulled the mask off of Janie's face. She was deathly pale, and red was dripping over her lips. I moved her to sit in my lap, cradling her head. Millions of thoughts were flying through my head faster than I could catch one and hold onto it. Janie was the Black Ice. Janie was here. Janie was dying. She coughed and more blood fell from her lips. I yanked on my own muzzle as hard as I could, the straps cut into the sides of my cheek as it came off.

"I'm so sorry. Janie, please don't go, it won't happen again, I won't let them hurt you. Just please stay with me." My own voice was cracking and warbly. Her sweet smile distorted in my tears. "I love you." A few tears were falling out of Janie's eyes too, bringing warmth to my cold hands. Time was standing still as she started to whisper.

"I love you too, Papercuts." It was raspy and hard to hear over the gunfire, but it was enough for me to understand. Janie took in one more deep breath. Her shaky hand reached up to touch my face, caressing my cheek. One of my tears rolled off of my face and onto her arm, dividing her snowflake tattoo into two sides.