If someone had been around to see us, it probably would have looked like a scene from one of those old zombie movies I watched with my dad as a kid. The mist around the small town was still thick in the air, and as we came out of it into the town, we were spread out haphazardly, some were limping, but we were all just slowly shuffling along.

Sarah and I took point, moving ahead of the group, each of us on either side of the road. I reached the buildings first since there was more on the right side of the road. I crept along the wall, looking through the windows on the opposite side of the street for any signs of movement. As I got to the edge of the large windowpane of the building I was at, I quickly peeked in. With the filth that covered the window, it was hard to get a good look, but it appeared that it was a small souvenir store. I kept low as I went past this store and on to the next one.

As I peeked into the second store, I found what we needed. This store was a convenience store before it was abandoned. I signaled Sarah, and she quickly crossed the street to give me cover as I checked the door. It was locked, but I focused on the door handle, and its outline turned hazy. I matched my hand's aura to the handle's, then just broke it off since I didn't want to take the time to learn how the locking mechanism worked. It fell away in pieces. I caught the parts that fell apart on my side of the door, but there was a slight clang of metal on the inside of the shop from the dropped components.

"What is your power anyway?" Sarah asked, looking stunned at my actions.

"Tell you later," I said as I walked into the building.

Sarah walked in behind me, and we started to scan the isles. Most of the items had long since expired, but I thought that some, especially the canned goods, might still be usable. There were even some cloth bags by the counter that we used to fill up with food.

"Even if this food is bad, we can just grow some later. Now we just need to find a place to rest," I said.

Sarah smiled, "I think the building right across the street is a small hotel."

We left the convenience store and quickly ran across the street. The area continued to look abandoned, but we didn't want to take any unnecessary precautions. Luckily, the door to the hotel wasn't locked. It actually had two doors; the first was a large sliding door that didn't work. A smaller door next to the sliding one was the one we used. A quick glance around the lobby and down to two hallways, and we knew this would be a decent place to rest.

Sarah and I made sure to do our due diligence as Sergeant Michel would say and checked each room to make sure they were clear. This was the first time I had thought of Sergeant Michel since we left, and I was glad to actually be doing something productive because I didn't think I could handle the emotional strain of dealing with everything that happened in the camp right at that moment.

It had just been a few hours, but it already felt like a distant memory, at least until I really thought about it. I went through all the rooms in the hallway I was clearing, luckily they were all unlocked, which must be a safety mechanism for when there is not power. Sarah returned to the lobby shortly after me and confirmed that the rooms in her hallway were also clear.

A short time later, everyone was safely inside the hotel room. Some of the kids were already in their rooms, asleep, or coping with the events of the last twenty-four hours however they could. A small group of us sat around some chairs that had been in the lobby, discussing our plans.

"Alright, Aidren, I've put a lot of faith in you, so I think now would be a good time to tell us everything," Sarah said.

"Okay, but I'm going to have to give you the abridged version, I think we need to figure out how to defend this area. I don't think we have long before they come for us." I said the last part while trying to look as serious as possible. They must have all realized the same thing because they all just looked down, lost in thought. "Sarah, do you remember our talk in the garden, the day I disappeared?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," she replied, "But they didn't tell us you were missing that day. It was the day after when they gathered us all together and said they believed you were KIA. If we hadn't had that conversation in the garden, I would have believed them too. I still wasn't sure you hadn't died, not until you came back. They didn't tell us about that either."

"Wait," John interjected. "You guys seemed to have a plan, and you weren't surprised like everyone else when you sew him at the arena. How did you know he was back? What did you two talk about in the garden?"

"Arena?" Melody asked me to the side. I nodded and was about to explain, but Sarah started talking.

"I was asleep, and I suddenly wake up to this shit," she pointed at me, "shaking me and whispering into my face. It scared the hell out of me."

"Now I'm really confused," John said, massaging the bridge of his nose. "I thought they captured you? Actually, I thought you were dead. But then they dragged you into the arena, said they captured you and that you were a traitor. Now I find out you were roaming the camp at night and you went to see Sarah? I thought we were friends?" He belted all that out in an unstopping stream of words that got higher pitched as he failed to take a breath.

I actually thought it was funny, but it was a serious question, and I knew he was hurt. John was my friend, one of the only people who had consistently been so, but I never tried to get too close with anyone except Claire. I realized then that I must have seriously misjudged our level of friendship, and it made me feel even worse.

"I'm sorry, John," I said. "We are friends, and I didn't mean to do that to you. Please let me explain?"

After John nodded, I began my story. I told everyone about the discussion Sarah and I had in the garden and about how the camp has only been getting Welders recently. I mentioned that I hadn’t trusted the cadre for a long time because of my power, how it was different from the other Carpenters, and how it didn't make sense compared to how they told me I killed my family.

I mentioned my plan to go on a mission and find out for myself what was out there, which was my whole reason for fighting. I told them how I was attacked in the hallway by Jace and his friends, but it gave me the opportunity to break in Sergeant Michel's office, but before I could find any information, I was almost caught. Then I told them about the mission, how we caught up with the scout, and when I got closer to subdue him, he cleared up my memories.

"How did he do that?" Sarah asked before I could get into my memories.

"From what I can tell, he had the same type of powers as me. I talked to the leader of the liberation group and from what he told me, the scout's powers were similar to mine."

"What are your powers?" John asked. "You took Jace out with one punch and through his armor."

The thought of Jace hit me like a hammer. I hadn't thought about it, but I killed him. I was so angry, and he was a part of the whole system.

"John?" Sarah scolded. "Don't be so insensitive. Continue your story Aidren."

I decided to deal with that mess of emotions once we were safe from the camp, and I was alone, so I continued my story. I told them how, after he touched my forehead, I could suddenly remember everything. How it had been the camp or cadre members that came to my home, how they attacked and killed my parents, and how I was captured and ultimately placed with the Carpenters.

"Damn," Randy said, and everyone else nodded.

"That's not even the craziest part of this whole thing," I said, bringing everyone's attention back to me. "When I mentioned to Jace about remembering everything and that the camp was taking advantage of us, he knew what was going on."

"What do you mean he knew?" Sarah asked.

"I knew the camp had been lying to us, but when all my memories came rushing back in, I was floored. I told him about it and thought that he would be on my side. But he just smiled and said they never lied to him. Then he killed the scout and tried to kill me. That's when I ran."

I told them how I escaped and was taken to the liberation and met the leader. "He told me that there were numerous groups that were going around military camps looking for their lost children. Melody can probably speak more on this, but I do know that they hadn't been in the area for long, and they sent out their scout to the area, which is the one I met. When I mentioned to the camp leader about how he cleared up my memory, he just nodded and told me about the scout's abilities. He said it was uncommon and that the scout was the only one he knew that could do it, and he could do a lot of other things. When he was telling me about him, it seemed like the same things I could do."

"The sergeant said our powers had something to do with genetics," John said.

"I mentioned the same thing, but the old man didn't know where the scout was from, only mentioning that he was on loan from another group for this mission. I didn't mention my powers to the old man, though; I didn't trust him enough to."

I continued the story after no one said anything. I told them about my week there and how Melody was assigned to show me around and her brother being a siren. Then I mentioned the attack on the camp, and how the Welders were there attacking indiscriminately and killing everyone. Eventually, I got to my capture and how I woke up in a cell.

"So they did capture you, but they didn't know about your power, and you broke out?"

"Exactly," I said.

"Then how did you get captured again?"

"I didn't get captured again, I went back to my cell. I was planning on breaking out the next night, which was last night, so I coordinated with Sarah to have everyone gather together in the garden, then I went to the garden to prepare our escape route. Unfortunately, Colonel Baxter decided to have a public execution. Since I didn't have much of a choice, I decided to not hide my abilities anymore. It was a good thing I talked to Sarah too, or else we wouldn't have been able to escape like we did."

"Speaking of escape," Sarah said. "You went back for Melody, her brother, and Claire." I could feel Melody's eyes bore into me at the mention of Claire. "What happened when you went back?"

I sighed, deep and heavy, "That is another really crazy part. I almost didn't make it. First off, Claire is the colonel's daughter." Everyone was surprised at that revelation. Even if they didn't know Claire, the fact that the colonel had a daughter and she was in the camp was astonishing, especially after the knowledge for how they were treating the kids.

I told them how she led me right to the colonel's office then turned on me. I mentioned how the colonel told me they were using the Sirens to erase our memories and how mine had been difficult, and Claire was the main person who had done it.

"So, they used the Sirens to erase our memories?" Sarah asked with a thoughtful look.

"And they kept erasing them if it was needed," I replied.

After that, I told them how Sergeant Michel walked in and how he’s basically the right hand of Colonel Baxter. This revelation really shocked them because we all knew him. We all knew that Sergeant Michel would display different aspects of his personality, but for the most part, he was fair and even seemed caring at times. "The caring person that he had shown us, is completely fake," I said.

I told them how they were about to kill me right there, but Claire stopped them with a single word. I didn't tell them how I still tried to get her to come with me, but she refused. I just mentioned that I left the room and went to rescue Melody and her brother, how we left the same way as the rest of the group, and we caught up to them.

Silence pressed down on the room as everyone tried to process all the information we just covered.

"So, what are your powers?" Sarah asked. "We need to know what you can do so we can prepare for the cadre coming after us."

"Well," I began, "I think the best way to explain it is through senses. You guys use touch, the Sirens use sound, and I use sight. I can pretty much manipulate anything, but I have to see it.

“You only need to look at something and you can manipulate it?” John asked. “Like, with your mind?”

I don’t think I can do it with just my mind, at least I’ve never tried,” I pondered aloud. “I still need to make physical contact with something to manipulate it. At least for now.” I shrugged after the last part. “I also can't manipulate it as quick, and I can't make things grow like you guys can. Plus, I don't have any innate defenses like you guys or the Welders."

"How did you win your fights then?" Randy asked.

"I can't take a hit like you guys, so I figured out a way to win without getting hit. If we have time tomorrow or later today, I think we should go over some fighting strategies, but the best advice I can give is, we are not in the arena, and we are not Welders. We’re in a forest, and we should use it to our advantage."

With those words, Sarah dictated that we should all get some rest if we could. Melody went to the room with her brother, and I went to my own place to deal with all the emotions threatening to overwhelm me.

Talking over everything helped me a lot more than I thought. While recounting my story and the chain of events over the past couple of weeks was stressful, I was expecting my emotions to come crashing down like a demolished building as soon as I got to my room. Expelling all the thoughts eased the pressure on my mind, and I fell asleep quickly in a dreamless sleep.