Miles drags a hand down his face. “Fantastic.”
Yeah.
This just became a whole different kind of problem.
I glance back automatically.
Olivia’s helping one of the mothers tighten a sling around a little boy’s shoulders. Her movements are slower now, careful around the injury at her side, but she keeps going anyway.
Still standing.
Still fighting.
Still here.
Relief hits harder than it should.
Her eyes lift suddenly like she feels me looking.
For one second, everything else fades again.
The gunfire.
The canyon.
The enemy.
Just her watching me across the narrow pass with that same look from the shelter still lingering in her eyes.
Too much feeling.
Too much trust.
Too late to stop any of it now.
I force myself back into focus.
“New plan.”
Everybody looks toward me immediately.
“We keep moving.”
Lucas nods once without hesitation.
“Agreed.”
“We push through before they close the road ahead,” I continue. “Fast, controlled, no panic.”
Clay checks his magazine. “And if they’re already blocking the pass?”
“Then we punch through.”
Miles sighs dramatically. “Love that for us.”
A few exhausted laughs break through the tension.
Good.
