The Colony by Kathleen Groger

Synopsis via Amazon:

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.

This story is a breath of fresh air in the YA/Post apocalyptic genre. This is a story about a strong young teenager forced to learn to survive on her own.  A young teenager who finds out she is not the only non-rasper alive. She has developed 3 rules to follow. #1 is "Trust No one". When she is confronted by Adam, also a non-rasper teenager, she starts to ignore her 3 rules and her life changes.
Val and Adam join together and try to get to the safe zone Adam's father told him about.
This is full of action, excitement, drama, perseverance, and survival. Just when you think you have the story figured out, Miss Groger injects a twist.
I really enjoyed this book. Miss Gregor knows how to pull the reader in and captivate them. I really didn't want to put the book down. I read it during lunch at work, on the way home from work, and sitting in front of the television.