Allie regained consciousness first, but only partially. Her eyes struggled to open as she took in her surroundings. She appeared to be in some sort of secluded city inside a dense forest. Staring straight up at the sky, the sun pierced her eyes every time the clouds parted. She looked at her feet and noticed someone was carrying her. Several of her crew were also being transported through the city. She tried to fight it, but her muscles didn't work. Then she stopped.

She was hauled to her feet, picked up over someone's shoulders, and thrown rather aggressively into the back of a truck. She heard the loud thud, but didn't feel any pain. Her fellow soldiers were all around her. As much as she tried to fight the urge to fall asleep, she was unable to endure the pull. Closing her eyes one last time, her world became consumed by an ever-present darkness.

Allie's brain slowly returned to its normal function, allowing her to focus on her surroundings and physical condition. She was alone in a cold and dark ten-by-ten foot cell. It took a moment before her eyes adjusted to the low light. The cement floor was bare and there were no furnishings or toilet in the room. There was a metal door with a small window, but since she was laying on the ground, she didn't know what was on the other side of the door.

She was in pain, but didn't appear to be bleeding and nothing seemed to be broken. She just had muscle soreness, a few minor scrapes, and some bruises.

Struggling to maintain her balance, she made her way to the door. Resting her shoulder against it, she peered out the thin window. There wasn't much to look at other than a long hallway. The door, of course, was locked from the outside, but that still didn't prevent her from checking.

Unsure where she was, how long she had been held captive, or what happened to the others, she hunkered down and tried to get comfortable. Placing her back against the cold cement wall, she slid down and settled into a sitting position.

Several hours had passed before the cell door opened and six armed men stormed in. They grabbed her and brought her to her feet. They were wearing masks and none of them spoke despite her multiple attempts at communicating with them. "Who are you? Where am I? Where are you taking me?" she asked.

Her hands were bound and she was shoved aggressively down a long hallway, which led to another room, one that was much cleaner and modern. There was a table, two chairs, and electricity. She was forced into one of the chairs, then four of the men exited, two remained.

Allie looked at them both and asked more questions about what they wanted with her and her friends. Again, the guards refused to answer. They didn't even look at her. They stood in opposite corners wearing full combat gear and held large guns. Then, another man walked in and took a seat at the table. He wasn't wearing a mask. Allie sized him up — he appeared to be in his mid-fifties and carried a lofty air about him, acting with authority.

"Water?" the man offered.

Allie accepted the bottle of water and chugged half of it.

"Tell me..." the man said. "Who are you?"

"First, I want to know that my people are safe."

"Your people? So you're in charge?"

Allie didn't answer.

"I assure you, your friends are safe. You know, we spoke to a number of them, and none of them showed any concern for anyone other than themselves. That's very disappointing. You, however, immediately inquired about the safety of your friends. We like that here."

"We?" Allie repeated. "Who are you?"

"I asked you first."

"My name is Allie."

"No last name?"

"Just Allie for now."

"Very well then. It's a pleasure to meet you, Allie. My name is Thatch, I'm the mayor here."

"Where am I?"

"You don't know? You came here with a number of armed soldiers, did you not? Are you here to wage war on me? A rescue mission perhaps? What?"

Allie remained silent.

"I will say that it was a valiant effort... you managed to take out several of our automatons. But, to be completely honest, they were our old ones, so, you know, I can't say I'm upset or even surprised.

"Nevertheless, your presence intrigues me. If you were really here to wage war against us, then I would assume you would have brought an army, but you didn't. You brought twelve people on this little mission of yours."

"There are others coming, and if you don't let me go, they'll—"

"No," the man interrupted with certainty and a smile. "Please, tell the truth. There are no others. Our drones spotted you coming hours before you arrived. If there are others, they haven't come for you yet. But, you seem like an honest person, so I'll take your word for it. Maybe before this goes any further, we can reach some sort of agreement. I must confess, although we are heavily armed, we consider our colony to be peaceful."

"Colony?"

"Yes, were you expecting to find something else? Allow me to clear up the confusion. Welcome to Citadel, we're a completely self-sufficient colony of about 50,000. We like to think of ourselves as more of an alternative lifestyle movement than a colony, but technically speaking either definition works."

The look of confusion never left Allie's face.

"Not what you were expecting to hear?"

"I... " Allie struggled to find the right words. Perhaps her brain was still a little scrambled. "The wall?" she finally said. "Why do you have a wall around the city?"

"It's a long story."

"There are no roads that lead here, it doesn't appear on any map, or GPS... why the secrecy?"

"Many people think the wall is keeping us in, but the truth is that the wall is really to keep others out. To protect our way of life. We are all here by choice. Sure we have problems like any other community — disagreements, disputes, small crimes — but we handle them in our own way. We want to live completely disconnected from the rest of the world. We want to create our own little utopia if you will."

"I was told this was a slaughterhouse?"

"A slaughterhouse?" the man laughed. "That's ridiculous! We don't even eat meat here."

"There are busloads of people taken from their families, their homes... their lives are ripped away from them and they are shipped out here against their wills. I was one of them. How can you call yourself a free society when you do that?"

"I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to. We celebrate when newcomers arrive. They are brought in by bus, but it's not against their wills. They have applied to be here and we have carefully selected each of them based on the needs of our community. It's a great privilege to be here, and if anyone wants to leave, we put them on the next bus out."

"Does anyone leave?"

"Of course."

Allie always trusted her instincts, and something about the man told her that he was lying.

"Look, you obviously have a lot of questions and I can see you are really curious about Citadel. Please, allow me show you around."

"What about my friends?"

"Of course they can come too. I wouldn't want it any other way," the man said with a smile.