Page 28 of Broken Oath

A figure emerged through the smoke.

Black tactical gear.

Black gloves.

Black rifle.

No patches.

No insignia.

No name.

The woman moved as though she belonged on battlefields. As though she had spent her life walking among the dead.

She reached Rook and dropped to one knee.

For a long moment, she studied him.

Then she pressed two fingers against his neck.

Nothing.

She shifted them slightly.

A pulse answered.

Weak.

But there.

Alive.

Something changed in her eyes.

Not relief.

Not surprise.

Recognition.

Almost as if she had come to the mountain looking for him.

She rose and searched the battlefield.

Minutes later, she found another survivor.

Caleb McDougal.

Barely breathing.

Then another.

Michael Sarrilla, still clutching his shattered tablet despite being unconscious.

Three survivors.

Exactly three.