"Fight," the colonel yelled, and I was struck with a sense of déjà vu, but it was perverted due to Colonel Baxter's speech.

Jace started running to his pile, but I didn't move. I couldn't believe the words that I had just heard. I was cast as an enemy.

Jace was the one who had threatened me. I had been chased by him and the team. Every day I had been lied to about the purpose of Camp Walker. The cadre had killed my family and imprisoned me. Still, I was the enemy that needed to be eliminated. Then, to amplify the disgrace being heaped on me, they chose Jace as their executioner.

As Jace ran to his pile, and I thought about the words of Colonel Baxter, I was struck with overwhelming exhaustion. From my first day in that pseudo-military camp to that exact moment, I was tired of it all. I was tired of being lied to by the people I thought were there to protect me and assumed I could trust. I was tired of being in that prison for the last five years because that's what it really was.

Being back after I escaped amplified the sentiment that much more. I was done with being forced to fight and work and scrape by for nothing. The only future I had in that place was one with more suffering.

Jace reached his pile, and metal started to cover his whole body.

It seemed he was going with the usual Welder tactics to deal with me. I was definitely tired of Jace. He had known all along about the true nature of this place and hadn't told anyone. He was by far the worst person there. I thought of how he said to me that he knew about the camp's misaligned practices for procuring cadets.

The seeds of those words blossomed from my stomach into an incendiary rose. As bad as he was, I thought he was still one of us. But no, he betrayed us all from the beginning.

Heat boiled my blood. I knew I couldn't live in a condition like that any longer. Also, I couldn't allow a place like that to continue existing.

Jace made a sword protrude from his wrist.

I realized he wasn't going to use the same exact tactics. The fire burning my blood overtook my exhaustion. There was no more hiding behind my friends and my own lies. There were no other paths I could see to take, no more open doors except for the one I was about to step through.

Jace lumbered toward me as fast as he was able.

He didn't seem to care that I hadn't moved. He probably hoped that I would continue so he could kill me easily. Jace said he knew the truth about everything, but he was wrong. He didn't know the truth about me. He still thought I was a Carpenter.

The arena exploded with people yelling. There were two opposing sides, the Carpenters and the Welders. Those like me who were tired but hoped for change and those who thought I was a traitor for abandoning them. One side was yelling for me to take action, the other yelling for my death.

Jace was upon me.

He raised his arm in preparation for a strike, and the blade gleamed off the overhead lights. Before he could bring the sword down, I sprang forward and slammed my fist into his chest. As my fist impacted the thin coat of metal covering his torso, I manipulated it to spike away from the hit.

Jace slumped against my body, and his arm fell limply to his side. He vomited a mouthful of blood that splattered on my shoulder and arm. Before his head could fall, I pivoted to let him plummet to the ground.

The crowd was silent. They were probably horrified at what they had just witnessed. I, too, was horrified. Too horrorstruck to see what I did. So, I didn't look at what I knew was Jace's prostrate form on the ground, with a bloodied metal spike sticking through his back like a snow-capped mountain.

"Now!" I yelled to the group of Carpenters.

I began sprinting in the opposite direction of the colonel and most of the cadre. All those who cheered for me to take action also started running in the same direction. We all met up at the door that exited the gym. In many ways, that was precisely the opposite of when we arrived there.

I led the way out and knew exactly where we were going. Even though the base wasn't that large, it still took us a few minutes of running through twisting and turning hallways to reach our destination. It was the path we had all taken countless times before. The route led to the only place we could ever have a shred of meaning and pride.

We busted into the garden, and I continued to lead the way toward the far wall. The garden's walls were all stone, but that was the only place in the base that got direct sunlight, so I knew it was close to the ground.

On top of that, during my escapades while they assumed I was locked up, I made a quick detour to check the place out. I found that there wasn't actually any dirt on the other side of the wall. I glanced around as we ran toward the barrier, and I could see the beginnings of doubt on the faces of the others. But with my display in the arena, I knew they didn't want to say anything. As we reached the wall, I slammed my hands against the rough surface and focused my eyes on the grey material.

"I need a few minutes. Make sure no one bothers me," I said.

A few people broke off to guard our flank. Carpenters may not be the best at combat, but we still went through all the training and drills as everyone else. I knew that they could at least buy me the few minutes I needed.

Apparently, the chaos was too much for the cadre to handle because no one arrived in the time it took to make a large hole in the wall. Using my power, I broke down the stone bit by bit, turning it into dust, pebbles, and small stones before falling to the ground. As the wall crumbled away, sunlight poured in, and everyone around me gawked wide-eyed.

"Let's go," I yelled, waving for everyone to move to the hole. "Run to the tree line and set up a perimeter defense."

I started pushing people through the hole. I stood outside of the hole and counted everyone who went through. Sarah positioned herself on the other side and did the same. As the last person left, my count was thirty-three. I looked at her, and she looked at me.

"Thirty-three, let's go," she said.

"I have a few more things to do," I replied. "Leave a trail if you can, and I'll catch up with you."

"Are you going to get Claire?" she asked.

"Yes," I said forlornly. "I didn't know you knew her name."

Sarah smirked. "This place isn't that big, Aidren. I think I know everyone." She stepped into the hole. "Besides, I watch out for my kids." Of course, Sarah knew that we referred to her as our mother. She turned around to look at me sternly. "Are you sure you can do it alone?"

"I'm not sure," I said truthfully. "But everyone else needs you, and if I don't make it out, no one will miss me."

“Aidren,” she consoled. "It's clear you have some different kind of power, but you're one of us. We would all miss you. Be careful."

Sarah turned, sprinted out of the hole, across the open ground, and to the trees and waiting Carpenters who needed her leadership.