"-den?"

Something presses against my shoulder, drawing me out of unconsciousness. My eyelids are heavy as I try to blink them open, having to squint at the brightness of the sun. It is late afternoon, when the sun is the brightest and hottest. My shirt is plastered to my chest, soaked in sweat.

Confusion sets over me as I push my self up into a sitting position, arms trembling from the effort. Derek is crouched in front of me, his brows scrunched in worry. A cut is across his forehead, blood slowly trickling out of the wound. He either doesn't notice it or doesn't seem to care, his attention on me.

Looking around, I see that people are milling around. Most of them seem to be focused on the hole in the fence, trying to temporarily patch it up before anything else can try to get in. Some people lay unmoving on the ground, dispersed between the dead bodies of the monsters. It would be too optimistic to think that they are all alive, not just unconscious like I was just moments ago.

And then it all hits me at once, the realization of what just happened.

Derek must see the terror on my face because he pulls me into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, Alden."

"No, they-they couldn't have taken him," I mumble, throat tight as I try to fight back the tears.

Derek gives me a tight squeeze before pulling away slightly. "We'll get him back. Don't you worry."

He pulls me to my feet, his arm coming around my waist when I almost tip over completely. His words ring loud in my head, a constant loop. No matter how badly I want to go after Finn, I know I can't leave our children without both of their parents. It would be too hard on them, and quite frankly, too hard on me. Finn has already been taken away from me, I don't want to risk the same happening to Viola and Remy.

It is obvious that everyone in town is suffering. A few people are weeping over slain bodies, while others look like they are seconds from slipping into shock. I know that most of the people here have been here since the beginning, never experiencing the beasts or the humans that live outside these walls.

Others are running around, frantically calling names of people, seeming to get more upset with every second that goes by without finding them. Derek gets stopped a few times, directing guards to different tasks and having someone organize a checklist of people, to see who is missing and who has passed.

"I just don't even know why those people decided to attack us. It isn't like we have anything valuable here or attacked them first." Derek shakes his head, readjusting his grip on me as I start to list to the side again. "It just doesn't make any sense."

"They are insane," I say, words coming out slightly muddled. My tongue feels like it weighs ten pounds, making it difficult for me to get my words out. "They captured us before, thinking they could come up with a cure if they could extract the stem cells from a baby who had the DNA of two completely immune parents."

"That does sound crazy." He pauses for a second, opening the door to the small clinic at the end of main street. It is the one where Alena works, and she is frantically pacing in the lobby, jumping into action when she sees us.

"Danny told them where to find us."

Alena ushers us into the back room, having Derek set me down on the table. "Danny was the one who sold us out?" she asks, shining a light in my eyes before looking over the place where I was hit with the gun.

"Yeah. Did it to find his brother."

Derek's radio crackles, a voice coming over. The person on the other side is looking for Derek, wanting to know what they should do with all the bodies. Derek lets out a long sigh, giving my shoulder a slight squeeze before stepping out of the room to answer the call.

"Are Remy and Viola alright?" I ask, wanting nothing more to find them and hold them close.

"They're fine," Alena says, pulling away so that she can grab a sterilized pad and some hydrogen peroxide. "Pretty shaken up, but the creatures weren't able to reach us once we bunkered down in the basement."

I try to push myself up from the table, but with barely any effort at all, Alena pushes me back down, giving me a hard look as she goes back to cleaning out my wound. "I need to see them. They shouldn't be alone right now."

The alcohol burns as she flushes out the cut, but I know it is necessary. Besides, I have been through much worse in the past year alone. Alena places a fresh bandage on the wound before sitting back.

"You need to go home and relax. No concussion, thank god, but you are about to keel over."

Shaking my head, I try to push back the rising panic. "No, I- I need them with me, Alena. You don't understand."

She lets out a long sigh, sitting back in her chair. "I do, and that's why I sent a call up to Anna, telling her to have everyone go ahead and head home. They should be there by the time you get home."

The front door to the clinic slams open, voices and sobs filling the room. Alena stands up from her chair, motioning for me to follow her. "Better get you home before everyone starts to descend."

And descend they do. The front door is propped open, multiple people waiting in line with their families. Alena makes a call over the radio, asking for all available medical personnel to come to the clinic. She waves me away when I open my mouth to offer, not even bothering to listen as she passes out the sign in sheet and taking back the first person.

The walk back to the house is slow, no matter how quickly I try to walk. The world is still a bit tipsy, mostly from sheer exhaustion, so it takes longer than usual to make my way up the path to the house. A lot of people are walking around, some trying to get back to their homes, while most are focusing on getting the town secure again.

A few people ask me how I am doing when I pass by, and I just shake my head, not wanting to risk breaking down in the middle of the path.

My heart is aching, thinking of everything those monsters could be doing to Finn, and even Mary. She is seven months pregnant, far enough along where the baby might have a chance of surviving if they are born but mostly would not. It is impossible to know how desperate the scientists are. Sure, they broke in here and kidnapped a van load of people. But I don't know if they would risk killing the baby just to get the stem cells. They would get so much more if they just waiting until the baby reached full term and Mary went into labor naturally.

The door to the house flies open when I reach it, Anna letting out a shaky sob when she sees me.

"Thank fucking God, Ally," she says, reverting back to the name she used to call me when we were kids. "When you didn't come back, I thought you had died." She pulls me into a tight hug, her hand coming up to run over my hair in comfort.

"No, not dead," I whisper. "But they got Finn. And Mary."

Her arms tighten around me, pulling me into the house and locking the door once it is closed. "Why would they even do that? I don't understand."

"The had rare genetics, something that makes them immune to the virus going around. The people who broke in, they caught us before we got here, forced Mary to be pregnant with Finn's child so that they could get stem cells that were perfectly immune from the virus."

"This sounds like a damn sci-fi movie," she says, pulling me up the stairs.

"This past year has been a sci-fi movie."

She doesn't say anything else, choosing to pull me into the living room. Remy is staring off into space, not noticing when I come in. It is only when Viola starts to hysterically cry when she sees me that he turns around.

"Ally!" he screams, running over to me. He wraps his arms around my legs, arms tighter than I thought possible for a little boy. "I though' you left us fore'er."

"Never, Remy," I say, picking him up. He comes easily into my arms, wrapping himself tightly around me and ducking his face into my neck.

Viola is bawling by the time I reach her. She clings to me when I pick her up, tiny hands fisted in my shirt and face pressed against my chest. "Da da da," she cries, and I don't even have the mentality to be happy about her saying my name for the first time.

Instead, I just hold them close, listening as Anna putters around the kitchen, making something for dinner. All I want to do is close my eyes and sleep, but I find it impossible to relax knowing that Finn is being held captive out there by those monsters. I don't think I will ever truly be able to relax until I know that the man I love is back here safe.

The doorbell rings, startling Viola slightly. She whines but settles when I rub her back, just rubbing her face against my chest. Anna is the one who goes to answer the door, the familiar sound of Derek's deep timbre floating up the stairs.

He mutters something to my sister, and I can hear my name, but they are still too far away for me to make out their words. It is only when they come upstairs that I open my eyes, watching as my sister sends me a tense smile while Derek walks into the living room, sitting down on the loveseat next to me.

A somber look is on his face, and he has to clear his throat before speaking. "They ended up taking five adults and seven children. A few of our guards were able to follow their trail for a ways and think they know where they are staying. They look like they have a pretty advanced set-up, some electrical fences, and even guard towers. We think they hijacked the old asylum- the one that got shut down years ago- a few hours away."

He reaches over, setting his hand on my knee and giving it a brief squeeze. "We are going to get them all back, Alden. We have already started talking to some of the other encampments near us. We have only talked with them a few times before, but it looks like our attackers have invaded their homes, as well. A plan is coming together. We'll get them back."

His face is still tense, despite the news he just told me, and I know that there must be something that he isn't telling me. "What is it?" I ask, voice hoarse.

His eyes flick up to mine before dropping back down to his hands. "From what we can tell, a lot of torture is going on behind those fences. Not exactly sure what kind of torture, but something bad. There were people walking around within the fences, and according to the reports, they don't look so good. And, with all the security they have, it may be a while before we are able to get our people out."

"How long?" I ask, dread already starting to settle in my stomach.

Derek gives a small shake of his head, his lips turning down in distaste. "Weeks, maybe even months. They have way more people than we do, and I suspect that the guards we kicked out might have joined forces with them. We have to find a safe way in and out, and also how to get rid of them without getting any of our people killed."

"Fuck," I mumble, not even bothering to censure my words around the kids anymore.

"We'll figure it out," he says, pushing himself to his feet. "Just give us time."

"They don't have time!" I exclaim. "They treated us bad before. Who knows what they are going to do to them this time?"

"We can't go in there half cocked, not if we want to make it out alive." He moves over to the stairs. "There is a meeting tomorrow morning, some people from the other encampments are joining us to make a plan of attack. I think you should come, along with Alena. You two know them better than anyone else."

With those words, he trudges down the stairs, the front door shutting behind him. My head falls back against the couch, trying to find the good in this situation. The only positive thing is that we know where they are staying. But I know how brutal they can be. I just hope that Finn holds out until we can get to him.