Finnick Hazel Marshal had been the first one to wake up. Looking around, he quickly realized with a remorseful sigh that he was the oldest--by at least two years.

Around the room, several small children were still asleep. The youngest one was probably 5? 6? The second oldest was probably 12.

At first, he had assumed they were all dead, but then heard one of snoring quietly in the corner and knew... he wasn't quite that lucky.

Finnick realized that he could've started screaming and waking them all up and demanding they answered his questions, but he came to the conclusion that wouldn't help anything at all.

He doubted any of the children knew anything about how they had gotten there. Unfortunately, the sleeping children were already proving to be completely useless. He could only imagine that it would get worse when they woke; they would actually be able to talk then, after all. He certainly couldn't remember why they were, or what had happened... anything for that matter.

Except maybe... one... certain, incident that he definitely didn't WANT to remember because it still sent a shiver down his spine and made his heart race every time he thought about it but he wasn't going to think about it--

A small sigh to Finnick's left distracted him--for now, anyway. Someone else was awake.

A little girl sat up hazily and swept some stray blonde hair out of her face.

Finnick pretended not to even notice her, staring at the monitor that had been implanted in the wall just in front of him. It was blank, but...

Out of the corner of his eye, Finnick saw the girl--probably 7 or 8 years old--sit up and glance around the room, a deep look of concern in her dark brown eyes. Her eyes locked onto him, and she leaped to her feet and dashed over to him. Finnick saw her put in the extra care to not step on anyone else.

"H-Hi...?" the little girl said, nervously staring up at him. He was probably a foot taller than her. 

He completely ignored her, not even glancing down to look her in the face.

"E-Excuse me??" the little girl would not leave him alone, "My name is Summer... Do you know what we're doing here?"

She hadn't figured it out. Finnick didn't fight back his sigh. He guessed her any longer.

"No. Can you leave me alone now?" He didn't wait for a response as he turned around and walked to the other side of the room, "Thanks."

"B-But!" Summer wasted no time following him. "Everyone else is asleep--Sorry!" She then cried out as she stepped on a sleeping person's finger and immediately woke them up as well.

"Oh Lord..." Finnick muttered under his breath.

"Language, please!" Summer chirped.

The third person to wake up was another girl--Finnick realized bitterly that most of the kids were girls--but this time with long, brown hair and pale greenish grey eyes. Finnick almost cracked a grin at the confused look that appeared on her face once she realized where she was, but then realized that he had most likely done the exact same thing.

"Why don't you just wake up everyone, then?" Finnick growled sarcastically.

However...

"Of course!"

Summer then went around the room, quietly waking up... Every. Single. Child.

Finnick couldn't deal with the one child, how was he supposed to work with 9?

Once everyone had been woken up, Finnick was completely bombarded with questions. Why, oh why, had Summer told everyone that he had been awake first?

"Why are we down here?"

"What's your name? I'm--"

"How did we get here?"

"Why can't I remember anything?"

However, after shrugging off every question he got, Finnick noticed there had been some kids that hadn't asked him anything.

Two boys--both with brown hair, one about 8 and one about 9--sat in a corner. Neither of them were saying anything at all. Finnick didn't want to question, but he was.

One girl with blonde hair was sitting on the floor with her knees tucked tight to her chest and her eyes clenched shut. She was panicking, constantly murmuring about it being too loud. Summer was directly beside her, trying to calm her down.

A third child, a girl about 10 with black hair, wasn't asking any questions either. But she was watching. Intently staring at Finnick, listening avidly to every word he said.

How had he gotten himself into this mess?

Summer abruptly stood up from where she had calmed down the Panic-Girl, and loudly announced to catch everyone's attention, "I think we should all sit in a circle and introduce ourselves! Say our names, y'know..."

Finnick was firmly against this idea. However, a part of him did feel that you had to know a person's name before you could properly hate them.

So what did Finnick do in that moment?

He swallowed his pride, and sat in the circle.

"I'll start!" Summer said cheerfully. "My name is Summer, and I am eight years old!"

Summer then turned to the people beside her. It was the two boys that Finnick had seen sitting awkwardly in the corner earlier.

Neither of them said anything, instead nervously glancing at each other.

At least they weren't completely obnoxious, unlike a certain child...

Summer hesitated for not even a second before dropping down beside them.

Suddenly, one of the boys leaned over and whispered something in her ear.

Summer nodded slightly before standing back up.

"This--" she pointed at one of the boys, "--is Quinn. He's eight, too! Eight... also?"

Are you serious? 

Are you actually... serious?

"And this--" she then pointed at the second, "-is Olly. He's nine."

Summer then smiled at the two boys, before returning to her own spot in the circle.

Next was the girl that Summer had stepped on. Holding her finger against her chest she said, "My name is Bernie, I'm ten years old."

A 7-year-old girl with blonde hair scrunched up her nose. "Isn't that a boy's name?"

"No..." Bernie said, "It's my name, and I'm a girl!"

The blonde girl hesitated, before settling back down.

The youngest child in the entire group was next. She put a thumb on her chest and declared, "I'm Lea! And I'm six!"

The little blondie that had accused Bernie of having a boy's name proudly announced, "I'm Sapphire Australia Martinez! Seven years old!"

A girl with long, brown hair and a blank expression said, "Naomi. Nine."

Then, unfortunately, it was Finnick's turn.

"Finnick," he said slowly, drawing out both the syllables, "And... older than all of you."

"Wow..." Lea gasped, completely in awe, "You must be like... 70 years old!"

Finnick just shook his head, not even going to try to reason with her whatsoever.

To Finnick's left was the slightly creepy girl that had watched everyone very closely since she'd been woken up.

"My name... is... Regina. I... am eleven."

Then, the final girl was to the right of Summer. The girl that had had a total meltdown earlier.

Summer tapped her gently on the back, whispering, "It's your turn."

The girl lifted her head, and Finnick finally saw her eyes were clouded. Oh Go--

"My name is Sawyer. I am twelve... and completely blind."

"What does that mean?" Sapphire asked.

"She doesn't see anything," Summer said quietly. 

"Ever?"

"Ever."

It explained a lot, if Finnick was being honest.

Finnick stood up, ready to get out of this circle-of-shame for good.

However, the monitor that he had noticed earlier suddenly flickered to life. And he wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Guys, look!" Lea shouted, pointing at the screen. A woman appeared. Her face landed her age  at about her mid thirties, but the gray hairs that littered her fiery mane spoke differently. Her dark green eyes were blank. Her face was empty, devoid of all soul.

When she spoke, her voice was flat and monotonous. 

"Hello. If you're seeing this, it means our mission was successful. Our mission to get to all to safety, that is."

Her voice cracked as she said 'safety', and Finnick had a feeling her lifeless eyes were hiding more than he could ever know.

Suddenly, the woman looked away from the camera. When she turned back, the lifeless woman they'd seen before was gone, replaced by a woman whose eyes were wild with fear and distress.

"My baby... I know you're in there, listening to me. They won't let me say your name, for security reasons. But... I love you."

She paused, collecting herself.

"It's not safe out here. It hasn't truly been for quite some time. I've sold my soul to get you to safety. All of your parents have. Trust me. They've built a safe haven, just for you all. The bunker will be your new home. If you truly wish to leave, you can go outside. There is a door behind you. It is not locked. However..."

"It's scorching desert, devoid of all human life. There are many dangerous creatures out there. But you're all strong. You wouldn't have survived the trip here otherwise. You will eventually have to go outside. There is not many resources in here. You are smart enough to make a living here."

"The desert does not go on forever. I must only ask you all one thing. That you do not leave the desert. You will die if you leave. The desert is the only place in the world that has been left unaffected. It is the only place that is safe."

"So d-do not leave..."

The woman had broken into tears at this point, but managed to slip out one last plea.

"Just... it's for your own safety... Please.... Stay safe."

The screen faded to black. A moment later a series of green 1's and 0's  appeared on the screen, flashing rapidly.

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