Sixteen year old Aine lives in the Colony, and his whole life was decided before he was born. In two years he will marry the girl next door, Brin, who was assigned as his Other at birth. Then he will be given a position in the Colony's workforce that best suits his talents. Each night he takes four pills, like everyone else in the Colony, and he knows the pills keep them safe and their world in order. Everything is fine. Perfect, in fact. Until Aine accidentally drops one of his pills. Terrified, he tries to hide the mistake, but when he dreams for the first time in his life, he discovers all he's been missing. What scares him more than not taking the pill, though, is how alive his dreams make him feel. Because it isn't Brin he dreams of but his best friend Kyer. Another boy. Suddenly Aine's world turns upside down, and he doesn't know what to think or who to trust. All he knows for sure is he's falling in love with Kyer, which is forbidden by the Colony's Code, and he will do anything to protect their budding relationship. Even if it means defying the Overseer and leaving the Colony behind.

The Colony Book 1: Rebellion

To my surprise, the train began to slow as it took the curve around the northernmost edge of the Colony. I sat up, clutching my haversack to me. “Kyer, this is it.”


He slid to the edge of his seat, ready to stand as soon as we stopped moving. “You said it didn’t normally stop here.”


“It doesn’t,” I agreed. But as we pulled in front of the only platform on the outer wall, I saw workers standing around, waiting to board. Some of the workers on the train started to stand, too. “We got lucky. They must be changing shifts.”


We fell in line behind the others and exited to the platform without being stopped. There were no Officers waiting for us, thank goodness. This time, instead of dawdling, I grabbed Kyer’s hand and followed the rest of the workers down the covered stairway into the Collection Center. We kept a few steps back, though, and I watched everyone file past the tables and chairs to the hallway leading off to the right, towards where the incinerator was.


Chapter 66