My name is Dawn Nolan, and I've grown up on the streets of military-controlled London. The one person in my life I could always count on has been taken from me. Gabby is combative, pushy, a real pain - but she's the reason I've survived this long. She's my sister. And now she's gone. Criminals are sent to the colonies to work as slaves for the rest of their lives. There is no escape. I only know that it's a savage place; not a place from a teenage girl from the wrong side of London. I might die trying. I'll probably never see London again. But they've taken my sister and I'm going to get her back.

Safety is an illusion. We’re back to where we started – two sisters living under a government we can’t trust. The rest of our friends are dead or missing. Texas should be our haven, but have we traded one prison for another? There are larger things at work; more allies and enemies to be found. They all look the same to us. The Texans want us to fall in line. The rebels want us to fight. The Americans want us to leave them alone. The colonies are more dangerous than we imagined, and we’re caught in the middle. Not all of us are meant to be soldiers, but the time for indecision has passed. What do you call someone who doesn’t trust the fight? A liability. Sides must be chosen. Bonds must be broken. And the war will begin.

They took my childhood. They took my country. But when then they tried to take my sister, they didn’t realize it would lead to their downfall, not ours. You grow up fast when you’re called upon to lead a rebellion. You learn who to trust, sometimes the hard way. You become hard because you have no other choice. Whatever it takes. That’s what it’s come down to, but it didn’t start out this way. It started with two London girls and a birthday present. They’ve given us no options, left us no safe path to tread. They’ve imprisoned us. They’ve shot at us. We’ve had to watch our friends die. But it ends here. Now. We’re no longer alone, no longer scared. One fight is over, but another has just begun. Not all of us will make it, but there’s a weapon that is more dangerous than anything we’ve ever seen. We have our mission. Stop them from destroying everything we have and come back to help build everything we could hope for; a new world. This wasn’t the life anybody imagined and we’re going to do something about it.