"Wake up. Aidren, wake up," The words echoed in my head.

An alarm claxon blared, its siren pulsing rhythmically. I jerked awake with the sound but couldn't move because my hands were restrained by padded shackles. The lights were bright, and I couldn't shield them either.

However, as I woke, I could see that I wasn’t the only one. There were five other people in the room. At a second glance, I noticed that they were young like me. The other kids were sitting up, at least as much as possible, since they were also restrained. I wondered if I looked as confused and scared as they did.

We were in a circular room with beds lining the wall. The floor and walls were white, and small metal desks were next to each bed. One bed over from mine were two sinks right next to each other. The door to the circular room was on the opposite side of the sinks. It was grey and menacing with no window and no visible door handle.

I glanced around at the other kids in the same situation as me. There were three on the other side of the room; I could see clearly that they were two boys and a girl. The girl was straight across from me with a tangled mess of reddish-brown hair. Her skin was fair, and freckles marked her face.

Slightly to the right was the boy. His skin was the color of milk chocolate. He had short black hair and small wire glasses adorned his face.

To the left was another boy with a skin color between the first boy's and my own. He had more hair on his head, but his eyes were closed, and his teeth clenched as he struggled against the restraints. All three looked around my age, but I wasn't sure.

In the bed to my right was another girl; she was obviously a few years younger. She had shoulder-length blond hair with some shimmers of strawberry highlights. She was wailing louder than the sirens.

On the bed to my left was a light-skinned boy with fiery red hair. He turned toward me as I looked at him, and I could see the panic in his blue eyes. It didn't last long since he was frantically looking around the room, his head swiveling between pauses, reminding me of a prairie dog looking for danger.

All at once, the alarm stopped, and the restraints holding my arms and legs to the bed released, popping open with a click and faint hiss of air. My arms seemed to sigh with relief as I lifted them and rubbed the indentations from the restraints, which had begun to chafe. The room became instantly silent.

Even the girl to my right ceased her wail to see what was happening. The restraints on the others lifted at the same time as mine. We all looked at each other in confusion.

"What-" the girl across from me was interrupted as the door opened and a soldier walked into the room.

I'm not sure whom I expected to walk in, a doctor or maybe a nurse, but definitely not a soldier. He had a short haircut with only a small amount of dark brown hair visible on the top of his head. He wore a uniform with dark green and brown camouflage patterns and black boots glinted in the light. He walked purposefully into the room a few feet, then stopped and looked around at everyone in turn.

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He was silent as he slowly scanned the room, his eyes resting on each of us for a couple of seconds before moving on to the next. When he got to me, I noticed his eyes were an intense dark green, which is not a color I'm used to seeing, and they reminded me of a snake. His face was clean-shaven, with a few freckles scattered around in no specific order. Even with his distance from me in the room, I could smell his musky aftershave. He looked to be in his late twenties, but I had a feeling he might be older, and I had this feeling because of his eyes.

His eyes had dark circles that were puffed up as if he was in desperate need of sleep. As he looked at me in turn, he looked past me, or maybe through me. He had a stare that my dad would sometimes get when he remembered the war and his time in the military. His presence was so intimidating that none of us dared to speak. The girl to my right, who had been uncontrollably crying, just sniffled and didn't dare to start again.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here, why you were all locked up and who I am." He eventually spoke up, his voice a deep monotone. "Well, I'm Sergeant Michel, and I promise to answer all your questions, but first, I would like to apologize for how you were woken up. Usually, we like to do it in much calmer circumstances and usually one at a time.

"Unfortunately and obviously, that isn't the case here. I need you all to come with me. Since you are all awake, we would also like to go through our usual initiation routine instead of moving you to another location. This involves giving you all some new clothes, a quick tour, and showing you where you will be staying." He said the last part with an air of finality and expulsion of breath.

"No," the words came out of my mouth instantly, even shocking me. I just found myself getting angry while he was talking.

The soldier, Sergeant Michel, stared at me for a moment. "It wasn't actually a request. Either you come with me voluntarily, or I make you."

I could tell he wasn't expecting my outburst, I wasn't even expecting it, but he wasn't fazed by it either. I was so confused and scared that I couldn't think straight. I just kept thinking that my mom should be here. I saw red, and everything started to shimmer slightly.

I jumped out of bed and growled as menacingly as a thirteen-year-old can, "Then make me."

I rushed at him with no idea what I was doing or why. I was ready to tackle him and then run out of the room. I suddenly woke up on the floor to the left of Sergeant Michel and the left side of my face throbbing in pain.

Sergeant Michel had a quizzical look on his face. "Do you want to try that again?" he asked calmly. "You are in here because you are all sick. Now come with me, and I will explain everything."

Without a second look, he turned and walked out of the white room, leaving the door open. All the other kids quickly left their beds and followed. There was a little grumbling and a little yelling from a few others, but I didn't say anything. I learned my lesson and just trailed behind everyone. I had no idea what came over me; I couldn't ever remember getting into a fight in my life. I never even argued with my parents.

That thought made me once again consider where my parents were. My head started throbbing as I tried to think, and I could feel my anger spike again. I tried to focus and recall what I knew, but we were being led at a swift pace, and with the throbbing in my head and the twisting tunnels, I was having trouble concentrating. Even though he gave us a little bit of information by telling us we were sick, I felt uneasy like something was on the edge of my thoughts and scraping against my consciousness. I pushed it aside as my response to being hit by Sergeant Michel.