Project Ami by Emiel Sleegers Page B

from now on, she will do everything she can to protect him. He thanks her and smiles, and they both head back to the car.
    Ryan puts the gun in his backpack and then takes out another pistol that he took from one of the resistance fighters. He gives it to Ami and tells her to put it in her backpack. ‘Now, let’s do this,’ he says, and throws his backpack in the car. Ami also lays her backpack carefully in the car and gets into the passenger seat.
    Ryan takes off the branches that cover the back of the car and gets in. He starts the engine and reverses backwards before driving out of the forest. Soon they are on the main road once again, and begin driving in the direction of the city.
     

Chapter 8
The City
    They drive towards the city, and already they can see the skyline. The sun is hanging low, and it is a beautiful sight. They drive for only a few more hours, and soon then arrive at the city border.
    Ryan and Ami drive over one of the main roads and, when they get closer to the city blocks, they see that there are KBs hanging around, watching the streets. Ryan had expected this and, luckily, there are not as many as he thought there would be—at least, not as far as he can see.
    He stops the car and looks around him.
    ‘So what are we going to do now?’ asks Ami
    ‘Wait, I have an idea,’ says Ryan, and he starts to drive down a quiet street within the distance of a small train station. He drives the car on to the tracks and starts to follow them.
    Ami and Ryan start to laugh as the car bumps over the tracks. Ryan keeps looking out of the window to make sure that he is still going in the right direction. There is a large skyscraper he can look at to pinpoint where the shopping centre is located.
    After a while, they are only a few blocks away from the shopping centre, and they will not be able to drive any further without being noticed. Ryan parks the car next to the train tracks in-between some construction equipment to make sure no one sees the car. They both get out of the car and grab their backpacks.
    ‘We will need to walk from here,’ says Ryan, and he pulls out a map that Ami found in the car dashboard. He places the map on the hood of the car and shows Ami where they need to walk.
    They are approximately four blocks away from the shopping centre, but there are a number of alleyways in the city that they can use to move around without being noticed by any KBs.
    ‘Okay, when we start to move, I need you to stay very close to me,’ instructs Ryan.
    Ami agrees, and they prepare to walk over to the shopping centre.
    ‘I would like you to keep your gun out at all time, just in case,’ says Ryan.
    Ami takes the gun from her backpack and they start to walk towards a back alley that leads into the resident areas of the city. They find themselves at a fence, and Ryan helps Ami to climb over it. He then throws his backpack over, and takes a run and jump. With some effort, he climbs over the fence and then picks up his backpack again. They start to walk towards the alley and around the corner—and that is when they see two KBs standing at the end of the alley, leading into the street.
    Ryan quickly drags Ami behind a trash container and tells her to get her gun ready. ‘Okay, this is the plan: you aim your gun at the left KB. I will count to three and then you will shoot. I will do the same for the KB on the right.’
    Ami starts to aim her gun at the left KB and Ryan does the same for the right KB.
    He starts to count. ‘Three, two, one… Shoot!’ he says, and they both fire two rounds into the KBs. The KBs go down nice and easy, and Ryan tells Ami to stay behind the container until he calls her. He silently walks to the downed KBs and looks around the corner and into the street to make sure no other KBs have noticed them.
    In the city, it’s common to hear shooting in the distance, but most of the time it will be the KBs that are shooting. Luckily, because of this, the KBs don’t come to investigate