Maybe minutes if we’re lucky.
I back through the opening finally, boots sliding against loose rock as Lucas grabs my vest and yanks me fully behind cover.
Gunfire follows us into the pass—
Then slows.
The canyon suddenly goes unnaturally quiet except for rough breathing and distant echoes.
I hate quiet more than bullets.
Clay crouches beside the rocks, scanning the entrance. “They stopped pushing.”
“No,” I say immediately.
Because something feels wrong.
Too easy.
Too sudden.
I reload automatically while listening hard to the silence.
Then I hear it.
Low at first.
Faint.
A vibration more than a sound.
Engines.
Cold settles hard in my stomach.
“Lucas.”
“I hear it.”
Miles looks up sharply. “Drone?”
Lucas shakes his head once.
“No.”
I already know before he says it.
Vehicles.
Which means they didn’t stop pushing.
They got ahead of us.
“They’re cutting us off,” I mutter.
The realization lands hard across the group.
Clay swears quietly.
