Despite the seemingly inescapable clutches of drowsiness that consumed him and everyone else earlier, it took Noah well over three hours to eventually give in to sleep, the first real sleep he had since being free of his cage; his dreams were nowhere near as peaceful as he'd hoped.

Two younger kids, a boy and a girl, twins obviously in elementary school, eagerly tugged him across the sandy surface of a beach, their grins profound. He watched them occasionally look back at him as they took large steps with their small feet. Then they'd say, "Hurry up, big brother! You're moving too slow!" He heard himself laugh a lighthearted response, felt their grip tighten around his hands as they increased their pace, their love for him written in the way they refused to let go.

Then he's stood still before two closed caskets, a hand tightly embraced within his grasp, tears clouding his gaze as he listened to the weeps of a much older woman. She pulled him close, let it all out. Noah didn't know why. But the pain in his chest confirmed that he did, that the two caskets before him contained very special individuals, his siblings. The large room was void of any noticeable presences, only a small group of faces Noah didn't recognize, all of which offered their condolences.

Next, he's standing silent over a group of four huddled boys. He's much older, strands of his hair partially clouding his vision, the air within the room laced with chill. He has blood spattered on his sweaty palms, on the knife he held clutched so tightly within his palm. A man watches from a short distance away, his grin bitter. "Finish it," he repeated, relishing every waking moment. Noah took his first few steps forward, the boys quivering as they begged for their lives, the first of which dropped the bloody knife he held as well. But Noah showed them no mercy. He watched his gaze dull as he passed the man's test.

But things continue to get darker─much darker.

He found himself back inside a white room, this one much larger than the others, a few stands and bleachers on each side. People within, his mother among them, her eyes wide with worry. He's the focus of everyone's attention, blood leaking heavily into his left eye from the gash above it, clenching a machete. A much older boy stands before him, probably a high school graduate, his right arm bent at an unnatural angle, cuts and bruises covering his body, his parents shouting. They don't want him to die. Don't want him to lose. Noah eyed the boy─their breathing heavy, their palms sweaty.

Mountains of corpses decorated the floors surrounding them, all of varying ages and sizes. They were all that remained. They were survivors. And many within the stands hated them for it. They hated them for killing those they loved, hated them for making others lose their bets─they placed bets on who'd win, paid top dollar to have their children trained, to prepare them for the arena. The two boys eventually charged one another, Noah the one coming out on top, the boy's severed head in his hands.

Shortly after he's sitting at a table with his mother, watching as she wearily eyed him from across the wooden surface, met his gaze with a frightened hostility. A man dressed in all-white sat at the center of the two, pen in hand, papers spread out along the table. Noah spotted the letters engraved on the suitcase. NEST. He read over a list of rights to his mother, all of which she relinquished without the smallest slither of hesitation.

Noah was later drug from his home, shouting for her to face him as they shoved him into a car, vowing to kill her for making him the monster everyone feared he'd become. Then everything went black. And he felt himself slowly drifting deeper into that abyss of unperturbed sleep.

The lurid gunfire of nearby weapons woke them early the morning after. Noah had barely opened his eyes when the sounds of panic began to ensue, when the voices surrounding him quaked from the fear.

"There's a group outside," Someone shouted. "They're firing at us!"

A/N: Just a short dream sequence this chapter, even though I personally think I'm bad at them. Feel free to let me know what you think!