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The words hang between us, white with my breath.

I grip the crowbar tighter. “Russ—” His name tastes bitter.

Leon’s expression hardens at once.

“We were heading there before he shot me,” I say, forcing my hand away from my thigh. “His parents were there. Russ might be there.”

Leon doesn’t interrupt. Doesn’t tell me I’m overreacting. Doesn’t try to make the possibility easier to carry.

He just watches me like, if Russ is there, he has already decided exactly what happens next.

Part of me should be scared of that.

I’m not.

“I keep thinking if I see him, I’ll go right back to being the version of me he knew.” My voice drops. “The one who froze. The one who stayed quiet. The one who let him make every room smaller.”

The confession scrapes on the way out.

Leon’s face gives nothing away.

He pulls the notebook free. His pencil moves across the page.

This time, he stares at the words like they cost him something.

Finally, he tears the page free and hands it to me.

Then we make you ready.

TWO

REFOCUSED

LEON

Clair’s trust follows me back to camp, fragile enough to guard with both hands.

I don’t take it for granted.

Not from her. Not after everything. Trust from Clair isn’t handed over easily. It’s earned in pieces, one quiet action at a time, and even then, she holds it like she’s waiting for it to bite.

I won’t let it.

By the time we get back to camp, everyone is already tearing down the last of our temporary defenses. The others move with practiced exhaustion, packing what we can use and abandoning what we can’t.

Another stop.

Another place we don’t get to keep.

I crouch near the tree line and unhook the tin cans we strung between two rusted fence posts. They clatter softly in my hand, dented and useless looking, but they bought us sleep last night. A little warning before teeth reached the tents.

That counts for something now.

A few feet away, Barbara coils fishing line while Earl collects the empty glass bottles Clair rigged with scavenged chemicals and a warning written in black marker.

DO NOT TOUCH UNLESS YOU ENJOY LOSING FINGERPRINTS.

It made me smile this morning.