It has been weeks since Finn was taken. Summer is in full force now, the bright sun beckoning us outside, yet I still find it hard to force myself to leave the house. It seems wrong to enjoy the nice weather that has come, since Finn and the others are being held prisoner, tortured for daring to defy their capturers.

We have all been feeling his loss, but especially our little family. Remy has always been the closest with Finn, the little boy finding comfort from my boyfriend. It is easy to see that he was neglected by his other family, maybe especially his father. Now that he has us, he clings as tightly as he can, as if afraid we might slip between his fingers. And despite his protests at first, it is easy to see that Finn loves the little boy just as much, always patient with Remy, even when he asks him to read the same book for the fifth time.

Now, Viola, she has reverted back to her clingy phase as well. We had just gotten her back to sleeping in her crib again, but now that Finn is gone, she has been refusing to be apart from me. The two of them have been sleeping in our room since they scream if I try to put them in their own beds. It is the one comfort I allow myself right now.

"Alden," my sister calls, her voice soft.

Lifting my head from the pillow, I look in the direction of my sister. She is biting her lip, looking as if she is debating with herself, before purposefully striding over to the window and pulling open the blinds. The bright light has me wincing, pulling the covers over my head, but she just rips those away too.

"It's time to get up, Ally," she says, squeezing my leg. "The final meeting is in an hour, and I have dinner ready. Come eat before you have to leave."

"Not hungry," I mumble, arm flailing around for the blanket. It has the faintest scent of Finn, offering me some solace.

"Too bad." Her hand tightens around my leg, giving it a harsh jerk until I am fumbling around, gripping onto the sheets so I am not pulled completely off the bed. "You barely ate any breakfast this morning, and you have stayed in here all day. Enough moping and get your ass in gear."

"Jesus, Anna," I say, pushing myself up from the bed once she lets me go. "I'm up."

"Good." She drops the blanket, walking over to my dresser to pull out some clothes before throwing them at my chest. "Take a shower, put those on, and come downstairs. Your children have been asking about you all day, and they deserve to have at least one parent with them."

Her words are biting, and she knows it. She just raises an eyebrow when my mouth drops open, daring me to argue with her. My hands tighten around the clothes, but instead of letting the harsh words in my mind slip out, I grit my teeth and walk over to the bathroom.

Anna lets out a satisfactory sound, but I slam the door behind me, not wanting to see her smirk. She has always been this way, overbearing in a way that verges on annoying. Maybe it is an older sister thing.

Slipping off my briefs, I climb under the stream of hot water. One of the benefits of this community was that it prided itself on running almost entirely on renewable energy. It was one of the first towns in America to become almost entirely independent of nonrenewable energy. Thank god the residents here had been so determined, or else we would be without hot water, electricity, and other goods that we use on a daily basis.

My shower is quick, and stepping out, I look into the mirror that sits directly in front of the shower. The towel drops from my hand and I take myself in.

Anna had been right. I am letting the stress and worry get to me too much. It is obvious in the weight that I have lost and the dark bags underneath my eyes. Shame floods through me at how low I have allowed myself to sink. I am acting as if I was the one kidnapped.

Picking the towel back up, I scrub it harshly against my scalp, deserving the bite of pain from the ministrations. The clothes I slip on are cool against my skin, hanging a bit looser than before.

Once I am decent, I make my way back to the bedroom, peeking out the now open window. Anna must have pushed it open before she left, and I will never tell her, but I appreciate it. The room had been stuffy from me being in there all the time, so the fresh air is a nice change.

A few kids are playing outside with their parents, running away from the waves and laughing maddeningly. The sight makes the ache in my chest grow, so I push away from the window, choosing to leave the room altogether.

The scent of dinner greets me in the hallway, making my stomach gurgle. The orange I had this morning for breakfast had not been nearly enough.

Crying is coming from the living room, causing me to speed up my steps. I recognize one of those cries, and I don't hesitate to push into the living room.

Viola is laying on the ground, her hands covering her eyes as she screams her displeasure. The twins are sitting around her, going on with their playing, not in the least bit disturbed with Viola's crying.

"Oh Viola," I coo, hastily picking her up. "What's wrong?"

She curls up against my chest, just like she used to do when she was a newborn, her screams turning into hiccups before she stops completely. Her hands are clenched into my shirt, not allowing me to move her.

"Da Da Da," she says, voice coming out warbled from her crying.

Kissing the top of her head, I close my eyes against the overwhelming guilt. "Dada's here."

She stays pressed up against my chest for the next few minutes, crying if I try to put her down so she can play with her toys. When it is time to go in for dinner, I bypass the high chair completely. I don't want to make her even more upset, so I sit with her in my lap, feeding her some food from my plate.

Remy is just as excited to see me, babbling about the game him and Olivia made up that involves dinosaurs and wizards, which are completely different, he emphasizes. It brings a smile to my face, seeing that he is still able to get along okay while I was working out my own issues.

Anna looks at her watch near the end of dinner, letting out a surprised noise. "The meeting starts in five minutes. You better leave now so you won't be late."

Standing up, I go to hand Viola over to Anna, but the baby just cries, tears streaming down her face. The sight makes me ache, so I decide to just take her with me, knowing that she will pass out soon enough anyway.

"Thanks," I mumble to my sister, giving her a tight hug. She returns the gesture, hand ruffling my hair before pulling away.

"Family takes care of one another," she says, and I nod my head. Our family is not as big as it once was, so it is even more important that we watch out for each other. We can't survive any more losses.

Grabbing the diaper bag, I hurry down the stairs and out the front door. Viola is already getting tired, despite it only being a little before six. She usually doesn't go down for bed until eight. It must have been a hard day for her. She rests her head on my shoulder, her thumb in her mouth as she fights to stay awake. Hopefully, she will be good for the entire meeting. It will be hard enough to understand what the plan is. I don't want to be having to deal with a crying baby, too.

The meeting is just getting started when we get there, the room full of people. It is held in the community center, where there is a large room that used to be used for town hall meetings. I guess this isn't too different than what it was intended for.

"Alden, over here!" a familiar voice calls.

Alena is sitting in in the second row, next to her boyfriend. It takes a few minutes to maneuver around everyone, trying not to hit anyone with my bag or let anyone accidentally knock into Viola, but we eventually make it.

"Saved you a spot," Alena says, patting the chair next to her.

Giving her a quick smile, I lower myself onto the chair, settling the diaper bag between my legs.

"Oh, look at her!" Alena coos, brushing a few wisps of hair away from Viola's face. The baby just blinks at the doctor, not moving an inch away from me. "How is she doing?"

"Alright," I answer, rubbing my hand along her back. "She's had a long day, so I just decided to bring her with me. She should be passing out here soon, anyway."

Alena nods her head in understanding before her boyfriend calls her name, catching her attention.

My attention turns to the front of the room, where Derek is standing behind a podium, discussing something with a few other guards who are gathered around him. A few minutes later, he turns away, shaking his head in exasperation before going to stand in front of the podium, letting out a loud whistle to silence all the conversations taking place

"Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight," he says, looking around the room. "After spending the last few weeks discussing the best plan of action with the other community leaders, we have finally figured it out."

My eyes widen when he goes through the entire plan, introducing other community leaders to further discuss certain aspects. The whole thing sounds crazy, but by the end of the conversation, it is clear that this may be the only thing that will work. Crazy is all we have left in this world, and this is one of the times we are just going to have to embrace it.

"We leave first thing tomorrow morning," Derek says. "Everyone is to meet at the front gate at 5:30, where they will divide into their assigned groups. We leave no later than 6:00, so don't be late." He pauses for a second, looking around the room until he meets my eyes. "We are getting our people back and taking out those monsters so they can never bother us again."

People start clapping at his words, a few whistles ringing around the room. We lost a lot of people when they had attacked us, people being kidnapped but even more being killed.

All of us are invested in this fight, and that is a powerful thing. Sometimes being the strongest isn't enough to win the fight. Sometimes you just have to be willing to not give up, fighting until you win anyway.