Instinct set in real fast. I ran into my room and went to my closet. My window was still safe for the time being, but I knew I had to hurry. I heard my Dad calling, "Cameron! Sia!"

"I'm okay!" I yelled back to him. I never heard Cameron's response, but I hardly had time to notice. Adrenaline started rushing through my veins.

I threw open my closet door and grabbed a duffel bag from the bottom. My parents packed me a specific duffel bag in case of an emergency just like this. This is how all of my suspicions started because, this, this is my runaway bag. I have a week's worth of clothes in it, I have different bagged rations of food, I had an extra pair of shoes, and also a phone charger. I also had a lot of toiletries like soap, shampoo, a brush, and girl necessities. Then, I have other stuff like flashlights and first aid kits, you know basically everything. How the bag is still lightweight and I'm able to carry it will forever be a mystery to me.

I heard bullets still firing and wondering what the heck was happening and why was it happening? I heard the rest of our windows shatter at once downstairs. I saw my Dad run down the hall with a huge gun. He has a gun? My Dad never really seemed to be the type to have a gun. Until now.

I took Boomer's emergency collar out of the bag that has a tracking device on it and also my special necklace with a tracking device. My father always told me if I was escaping the house, chances were we wouldn't all be together, so we all had tracking device items to find each other after.

All of a sudden, I heard our front door burst open and I heard people rushing inside. I had to get out of this house. I quickly strapped Boomer into his emergency pack and I slipped in my bulletproof vest. Just then, I realized my Mom had stopped screaming. What had happened to her?

"Mom?"

I frantically headed down the hall and into their room. I saw her crouched by one of her broken windows, training a gun on something outside.

She saw me and whispered hoarsely, "Alessia! You're still here?! You have to get out of here immediately!"

"No, Mom I'm not leaving without you." I crouched by the window next to her.

"Alessia, you have to get out of here! I don't know if I will make it out or not. Here, take this and get out of here."

My eyes opened wide. She had next to her another gun and more ammo. She handed me the gun and I put some ammo in my bag leaving most of it for her. She kissed me on the head as she wrapped me in her arms for what she must have thought would be the last time.

"Now, get out of here, beautiful girl. Never forget that I love you."

"I love you too, Mom," I said, tears threatening to drown me.

"Now go, my Defending Warrior, go!"

"What?" Defending Warrior? What the heck is that supposed to mean?

"It will all make sense later, but never forget it. Now go! Or I will be forced to push you out myself!"

That was all I needed to hear. I started running, Boomer never leaving my side. My dad was at the bottom of the stairs, all out of ammunition and now fighting with his bare hands.

"Sia! Get out of here now!"

"But Dad-," I started. He turned and looked at me.

"Sia, look out!"

Suddenly, Boomer jumped at someone about to grab me and I heard a bloodcurdling scream and the smell of blood. After Boomer finished him he came over to me and started nudging me out the front door.

Then again, I started running. I thanked the God in Heaven my mom had forced me to run track for school last year. I heard some more gunshots go off. Mom. I almost turned around to look back, but I couldn't. I just kept running. And soon the only noise I could hear was the sound of my paced footfalls, the pounding of my heart, and the panting of Boomer running right next to me.

I started looking around frantically in the dark, wondering where I should go. I realized I was still holding the gun and knew I shouldn't carry that around in public. So, I set my duffel bag down and shoved the gun inside.

Boomer sat right next to me and I said to him, "Where do we go from here boy? I'm so confused right now."

As if he knew what I said, he put his paw on my arm as if saying 'listen to me'. He stood up and started walking around sniffing the ground. Then suddenly he found some kind of seemingly familiar scent. So, I decided to follow him. He seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on right now.

A few minutes later, I found out he was leading me towards the city. All of the lights were blinding at night. He started leading me towards an abandoned building on the outskirts with broken windows and some boarded over holes.

"Boomer, why did you bring me here?"

He didn't seem to hear me and just kept walking towards the building. Suddenly, when we were just a few feet from the building, some shadows melted away from one of the walls. The men were holding guns and I tried to stifle a scream rising in my throat.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" One of them demanded. I scanned the group. There were three men and two women advancing towards me. They were all wearing some kind of official uniform with special badges on them and they also had knives.

"I-I-," I stuttered, so scared of what they could do to me. Then, suddenly I noticed that Boomer wasn't barking or growling at them. He was sitting and staring at them with his head cocked.

"Boomer, come here!" What a guard dog.

He just sat there, looking at me then looking at them. So, I decided to stand up straight and act as though I wasn't scared of the people, just like Boomer.

"Who are you?" The man demanded again. "I get very impatient with kids over time so you better hurry up and answer."

"I could ask the same of you," I responded matter of factly.

"Oh, so we're gonna have a smart mouth on our hands aren't we?" The man smirked. "Well, I'm afraid, 'sweety', we can't give away that kind of information until we know who you are." He was being really sarcastic now. "And who's this you have with you?" He knelt down looking at Boomer. Then he saw the tracking collar and name tags. I saw his face fall.

"Oh, no."

"What is it?" One of the women walked up to him.

"Get away from my dog," I warned them. "C'mon Boomer, we have to run." But Boomer just sat there with the man. "Boomer c'mere." I was almost yelling now. Why wouldn't he listen to me?

"You're Luke Priore's kid, aren't you," said the man looking at me.

"Uh, yes, why?" I'm really scared now. How do these people know who I am?

"Well," the man started. "We," he said motioning to the others, "Are part of the Secure, Inoculate, and Attack force. In other words the S.I.A. Your father works with us."

I felt like I had just received all of the information in the world. Of course! My father's job. It was a secret. It was the S.I.A. My nickname made so much more sense now!

"My father's nickname for me was Sia," I told the man. He looked amazed as did the rest of the group.

"We have completed our mission. We have to get her back to base."

"But what about the rest of the family?" asked the women that still stood next to him. The man stood up now.

"Priore said the only survivors would be her and maybe her brother. It was a suicide mission and now the family's location was finally discovered. Priore knew that one day, because of what he was doing, that this would come and he was totally prepared," he said, looking at me. Suddenly, I felt a sick feeling inside as a thought came to me. I've been living a lie.