Which means extraction just became a nightmare.
Great.
I stare toward the eastern side of the city where black smoke curls into the sky.
Somewhere in that chaos—
Hannah’s still alive.
Still fighting.
Still protecting people instead of herself.
The realization hits something deep in my chest.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not mission risk.
Not operational concern.
Fear for her.
Because every second Hannah spends in that war zone is another second she could disappear forever.
Russ appears beside me again.
“You thinking clearly?”
“No.”
At least that’s honest.
His eyes narrow slightly.
“You charging into a firefight angry helps nobody.”
I look toward the smoke again.
“She stayed behind for civilians.”
“Yeah,” Russ says quietly. “That sounds like Hannah.”
Something painful twists in my chest at the way he says her name.
Like everybody already knows what she means to me except me.
Or maybe I’ve known for a long time and just refused to look at it.
Gunfire cracks loudly somewhere deeper in the city.
Closer now.
The teenage girl looks back toward the smoke with terrified eyes.
“They will kill her,” she whispers.
