Morning dawned on the camp with a soft glow, illuminating the harsh barbed wire fences and cold metallic buildings. The sun seemed almost unwilling to rise, and reveal the darkness and misery which crept about the confines of the camp. Yet rise it did, and with it came a warmth that could almost shatter the veil of sorrow which hung thick in the air. There was movement from within the camp and one by one, people began to emerge from the lifeless metallic structures. They lined up in rows two wide, and began to slowly move in a monotonous procession towards the largest building in the camp. It was obvious to any onlookers that the routine had been preformed many times before. The people dragged their feet and walked with a slow and tired rhythm that indicated their wish for a break in the pattern. A break in the pattern there would be, but not then... not until the uprising began.

The people continued to the large building, each being checked at the gate by a strange looking creature before being admitted inside. They then sat at long tables and were fed meals of tasteless grey slop, and what could only be water. The water itself tasted better than the disgusting food, and many people forced the food down before washing it into their stomachs with the lifesaving water. They were carefully monitored by monstrous guards, so stealing any food wasn't an option, and getting up was severely looked down upon. Making any sort of suspicious movement was a cause for immediate discipline and imprisonment. Therefore the people, naturally, were in great fear for their lives and remained in strict order as they finished their meager portions.

After what could be considered breakfast, the people were herded out into an open plaza with packed dirt ground and walls around it. They were sectioned off into work groups by age and strength, and escorted off to do tasks. Some of the tasks included farming, mining, building, and working in assembly line factories. The old, sick, and very young often worked in the factories as they could not bear the heavy lifting and grunt work that came with many of the other jobs. Their alien captors were merciless, and worked the humans down to nothing. They abused and threatened them, causing fear and a thirst for escape and rebellion. The camps were a way for the aliens to keep humanity in check, and use them to accomplish tasks they did not wish to partake in... yet they served to stir up an unspoken feeling within the ones who had not given up already.

One such young hopeful was a boy by the name of Lance McClain. He was only six years old at the time of the invasion of earth, but his large and loving family had kept him protected from the newfound evil that had appeared from deep space. They kept him nurtured and well cared for, slipping away to a remote location when the world's governments began to fall. When the creatures came for them, Lance's family was unable to run any longer and was forced to surrender after one of his brothers went down fighting. They were placed in the camps with the rest of the survivors, and forced into labor. Lance was still very much spoiled by his family, however, and they would slip him extra portions of food in hopes that he would become strong enough one day to start a rebellion. Strong he did become, and with each passing year he had to be put in line many times by the alien overseers more and more times.

Now, he was being herded along with another group of strong young men and women. Eleven years had passed since he and his family had been in captivity, and he had newly turned seventeen at the end of July. He was not as bulky as some of the other boys, but he was agile and strong despite that. His short, brown hair clung to his head in the stagnant summer air, and his soft dark eyes scanned the area where his group would be put to work. His friend Hunk stood in close proximity to him, and they both shared a glance as their overseer introduced them to a shaft that lead miles below the ground. Hunk was at ease in the mines, and was almost always assigned to mining duty... but Lance didn't enjoy it nearly as much. He preferred open spaces, where his mind could run free and there weren't hundreds of tons of rocks threatening to crush him from above. He and Hunk were good friends, they were just very different in nature. While Hunk was more cautious and gentle, Lance was rambunctious and rough. But neither of them minded in the least, and accepted their differences with open minds.

As the another overseer began to lower them into the mine, Lance nudged the larger Hunk and leaned close to him.

"Hey, do you think they'll remember to give us lunch this time?"He asked, sounding a little worried for both of their sakes.

Both of them valued a good meal, and felt great frustration when they were not fed. The last time they had been down in the mines, their overseer had forgotten or decided not to feed them lunch and had them work all the way until dinner.

Hunk looked worried, wringing his hands together and perspiring slightly. He worried quite a bit, unlike his carefree companion.

"They'd better feed us. I don't know if I could stand going without another meal down here. This is tough work..." He responded, nodding slightly as if to reassure himself that he would get fed.

"It'll be alright big guy. Relax. If we get hungry we can eat some dirt or something."

Lance teased, patting him on the back reassuringly.

Though he cared about his friend greatly, he couldn't pass up an opportunity to mess with him. He messed with everyone he cared about, and tossing around a bit of teasing was one of his ways of showing affection.

"Not now, Lance! This is basically a life or death situation! If Shiro were here, he'd tell you to knock it off." Hunk whined, voice growing a little louder than the whisper they had both been previously using to communicate.

One of the alien overseers heard him, and immediately prowled over to the two teenagers, stopping the elevator right where it was.

"Is there a problem, you two?" The alien creature hissed, jerking its head violently in their direction.

"Do I need to knock you back into shape or take you to the prison?" The overseer growled, voice menacing with every word that shot from its sharp-toothed mouth.

The two boys quickly shook their heads, trying to look as unassuming and nonthreatening as possible. The alien glared at them then stalked back to the front of the silent crowd, and they resumed their descent down into the darkness of the mines.

After a long hard day of work, the tired humans were lifted back out of the mines in the same elevator. They were covered in numerous layers of dirt and grime, and many had blisters on their hands from using picks. When humanity had fallen, so too had their electric mining tools and drilling vehicles. The aliens refused to let survivors use such things, and had done away with them as a safety precaution. Picks could be dangerous, but not as dangerous as a sharp electric spinning blade.

When the people exited the mine, several of them collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. The remaining others helped them to their feet, and together they all shambled into the large dining hall. They parted ways, going to find families and friends to sit with. Lance and Hunk grabbed their meal trays, and went together to sit with Lance's family. Hunk's family had been gone since he was twelve, and he had been sort of adopted by Lance's mother Rosa. She was a fiercely protective woman, who didn't take to being bossed around by guards. Her fiery spirit was present in her son as well, and the two often spoke of escape and of freedom. That night they ate their meal in silence, Rosa sensing that her child was too tired to chat much. The silence was uncharacteristic of the family, and Hunk cleared his throat to try and bring some background noise in and keep out the awkward lack of sound.

"So... how was your day, Mrs. McClain?"

He asked in a friendly tone, his amiable personality making him easy to converse with.

The woman smiled slightly, her aging face still beautiful beneath years of hardship and wear. Her eyes resembled Lance's, but her hair was a sleek black color, and she was shorter than him.

"It was fine, Hunk. Thank you for asking... how was your day? I heard someone say your group was going into the mines." She responded, smoothing out the folds of her dress and looking over at her sort-of adopted son.

He smiled back at her and nodded, confirming the rumor she had heard. Lance nodded as well, poking at his food and making a face at it as if it would go away if he did so. Rosa laughed quietly, turning to her other children and breaking the tension by speaking to them about their days.

Lance began to eat slowly, thinking about how he really had felt that day. He decided that he had felt crummy, and despised the monotony of the same routine every single day. It was boring, hard, and painfully repetitive. Three things that he didn't enjoy in the least. When he and his family went back to the barracks for the night, he was still stewing over their predicament. As the lights were shut off for the night, and he curled up beside two of his siblings in their shared bunkbed, he thought of nothing but escape. He knew that one day, he would break out and start a rebellion. One day, he would free humanity and make the aliens pay for what they had done.