Cold Valley — Chris Bostic

Cold Valley…home to the Republic's toughest prison, Old Stony Lonesome. A place for reeducation and hard labor -- both made all the more unpleasant by the guards. Joe wondered why inmates were being forced to build defensive fortifications. There should've been robots to help dig, but the Republic's technology had been overwhelmed as quickly as their decimated troops. He had to escape before the savage horde reached the prison. He shivered as settled back against the wire of his cage and watched the distant hills. Shooting crackled like the snapping of electrical synapses in the brain. Being so far away from the front gave Joe a different appreciation. From a distance, it was hauntingly beautiful like a patriotic display of heroism and glory. But he knew firsthand the horrors of war beneath the fireworks. And the horrors within the prison camp. Cold Valley, indeed.