"Number 362"

I took a deep sigh of relief and followed one of the officers into the entrance of the army base.

Although I itched to ask the officer what was going on, I decided to hold my tongue for the time being. My leader didn't seem to be the type of person that you would want to strike up conversation with. She was a tall woman, with too much red lipstick for anyone's liking, and dirty blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail.

I touched the stringy ends of my own hair with distaste. I was jealous of anyone who could pull their hair back and not look like a 12 year old boy.

I followed the woman into a room and she pointed at the chair in the middle of the small space, "Sit," she said.

I pursed my lips and sat down, taking a quick look at the contraption in front of me. It had a sort of lens that could be moved back and forth, and it was attached to the side of the chair.

"That's for later," the woman said, nodding to the machine.

She picked up a small metal gun from her table and slid a bit of metal into the top of it.

"This tracker will give us a signal to guarantee that we wont lose you," the woman said, injecting the tracker into the back of my neck.

I grimaced as pain seared through my neck and I brought my hand up to run my fingers over the bump in my skin.

"Now, What's your name?"

I quickly brought my hands down into my lap, "Lucy Morgan," I said.

Even saying my new last name made my heart sink. It was another reminder that I was the only Morgan still alive.

"Any family not know to be dead?"

I shook my head back and forth slowly, "No," I said softly.

The woman, whose name I still didn't know, turned back to the white table behind the chair and started recording my answers.

Something about the confining bright white room and stingy officer made me feel anxious- spreading an ounce of doubt to if this place was actually safe after all.

"You can trust me," the woman said, as if she had been reading my mind, "We're here to help you."

I simply nodded, rubbing my hands together in my lap. By habit, I started singing softly, in an effort to calm my nerves.

Bones are sinking like stones

All that we fall for

Although I had barely sung the words above a whisper, the woman turned away from the materials on the table and back towards me, "Ah, I see. We have a singer among our midst."

I instantly regretted letting my self sing in front of her. It wasn't something I liked doing in front of people to begin with.

"You're like a little canary, aren't you?" she asked, the corners of her lips turning up into a tight smile.

Something about the way she said 'canary' made me inclined to shake my head, "No," I said.

"Canary it is," the woman said, turning back to papers on the table.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What was this woman getting at? I didn't think during an alien invasion was the best time to come up with nicknames and make fun of the people you were supposed to be fighting with.

"Tell me about your family," she said.

My eyes widened in surprise at how quickly she had managed to change the subject to my dead family.

"They're gone," I said coldly, "My mother and stepfather died in the first two waves. My stepsister died in the third."

The woman nodded her head as if the news didn't come as a surprise (which I guess weren't a surprise, considering how many kids they had probably heard from already).

"Were you quarantined with your sister?" she asked.

I shook my head 'yes', "I escaped."

The woman raised her eyebrow questionably, "You left your sister?"

Her question took me by surprise and I suddenly felt my insides boiling with anger. Who did she think I was? Some selfish coward that left their dying sister to save themself?

"She was taken away," I said, "L-lizbeth wanted me to leave- to survive."

"Well lucky you- you survived. Now you get to avenge her death."

She thrust machine I had been looking at earlier towards me and pushed a button, showing a young boy on the other side of the wall.

He was hooked up to a different kind of machine, wires coming up from his back, attaching to a control panel next to him. There was a bag of water, and more tubes running down to his arm. The boy appeared to be in a state between 'awake' and 'asleep'; his eyes were open, but his body, including his eyelids, remained 'powered off'.

"What do you see?" she asked.

I slowly turned my head to face her, "A boy," I said, my voice confident and unwavering.

I wasn't sure of much nowadays but I did know that.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked.

"He's an Other," she said, her tone biting as she said their name.

Not for the first time that day, my face wrinkled into a look of pure confusion, "What?"

From what the bus driver had said, I knew that the fourth wave had already started: the Others had begun taking form as humans. But the thought of being so close to one- close enough to see the look of death reeking in the boy's eyes, unnerved me.

"I know its impossible to tell. Look through here," she said, swinging the lens towards my face.

I took the lens cautiously and straightened my back so I could see clearly.

There, harvesting on the boy's brain, was a terrorizing green...creature.

The creature could not be explained by anything other than a parasite... a monster.

"That's its true form. They take on human hosts and infest them like some sort of parasite. There isn't much more we know. But in order to destroy the Other, its host must be killed."

The woman passed me a device. It was a box with a red button in its center.

"Push the button. Get revenge for your family's death. For Lizbeth's death. They took them away from you. They took everything."

I pushed the lens away from my face, closing my eyes momentarily. I couldn't bear to look at it any longer. The officer was right...They had taken everything away from me. They had taken my family, my friends, my home, my life from me.

"Look again," she said coldly, pushing the lens back to me, "If you're going to stay here; If you're going to be on my squad, I need to know that you will do whatever it takes-"

Everything I had felt since the Others had arrived: the pain, fear, and anger, hit me all at once. Before I could think about the innocent human whose life would be lost, I slammed my hand down on the button.

The lights went off in the boy's eyes and the tortuous creature struggled, as if gasping for air, before falling into a defeated heap.

"Welcome to the fight."

I took a shaky breath, my hand still trembling over the button as my gaze lingered on the thing I had just killed.

Pushing that button had made me feel good. Somehow it had made me feel stronger. I was no longer a lost girl running helplessly through the woods as death loomed behind her. Now, I was found and life could be seen at the end of the tunnel.

"Follow me, Canary. You will be in Barracks 10 apart of Squad 53," the officer said, walking out of the room without another word.

I scrambled up from my chair and rushed to follow her out. She was already halfway down the hall by the time I had spotted her among the crowd of other children being escorted by officers.

Being called 'Canary', surprising as it may seem, did not bother me. Sure, I would've liked a more personalized nickname like 'Basket case' or 'Coffee addict', but the overall idea of leaving our real names (and therefor our pasts) behind was relieving.

I walked behind the officer, still incredibly annoyed that she still hadn't introduced herself.

You would've thought, with all the personal questions she had asked me, that she would've deemed it necessary to give me a name I could curse later.

She stopped abruptly in front of a door and threw it open, barging right in, "Squad 53," she said, barking out the name to the kids in the room.

I heard feet rustle and peaked in quickly to see the kids fall into line, clasping their hands behind their backs. They were wearing dark green cargo pants with a long sleeved navy t-shirt tucked in. Their eyes stared straight ahead, and their feet were all stanced in the same way.

I quickly looked away, leaning against the wall heavily. Was it necessary to have such a formal introduction? The last thing I wanted to do was to draw attention to myself.

"At ease," the woman said, folding her hands behind her back, "You have a new member."

I took that as my cue to step in next to the officer. I mimicked her behavior by moving my hands behind me and giving the room a blank look.

Show no sign of weakness. You killed an Other; you are strong.

"This is Canary," she said, gesturing to me.

I gave the room a small, almost grim, smile, still refusing to look at any of the kids' faces. I feared that as soon as my eyes met theirs, they would be able to see right through the tough facade and into what I truly was: a scared girl.

"Private Zombie, as squad leader, you have full responsibility in making sure Canary is ready for tomorrow's training."

Zombie?

'Zombie' stepped out from the line, "Sir, yes, sir."

My breath locked in my throat, and my eyes widened in what I figured was either disbelief or excitement (I couldn't decide which, but probably more of the former).

There, with sunken eyes and hair (still) perfectly swept across his forehead, stood none other than Ben Parish.

<><><>

Finally, Lucy meets Ben (am I right or am I right?)!

Much more exciting things to come in Perish, so hold tight!

I love you all and thanks in advance for your support!