Trust no one Never go out in the dark Always have a weapon Sixteen-year-old Val lives by these three rules etched on her arm. Her rules and her gun are the only things standing between her and assimilation by hordes of human-looking aliens she calls Raspers. By day, Val gathers supplies. By night, she hides and wishes she could go back in time…before her family died…before the annihilation…before the Raspers began stalking her and demanding she join their collective. But when the Raspers attack in broad daylight, the truth becomes startlingly clear. They’re evolving. A fellow survivor crashes into Val’s life. Adam’s full of charm and promises—like rumors of a safe haven—but there’s something wrong. He’s survived with no supplies, no weapons…no plans. Time is running out. With the formula for survival shifting around her, Val must decide how many rules she’s willing to break to escape the Colony.

A lost friend. A new ability. A chance to end the hunt. After escaping the clutches of the deranged doctors at Site R, Val and Adam are on the run to find their friend Megan. But an unexpected encounter with a team of elite soldiers ensnares Val in a new reality. These soldiers are different. Their mission is different. They offer supplies and a way out of the Rasper infested area. Unable to stop visions that appear to be urging her take the journey with them, Val agrees. Soon she finds herself at a facility not just built for survival, but one full of mind-blowing technology the world had no idea existed. When those she trusts betray her, Val is tested far beyond anything she could imagine. Caught between two different powers each trying to use her to gain the advantage against the Raspers, she is forced to engineer a way to free herself and her friends from the facility before everything is lost. There is only one way to end the alien war and Val will have to call on every ounce of strength she possesses to not only save her friends, but humankind.