The silence was unbearable. Natalie sat in the cabin for what felt like hours, the rain a steady drumbeat against the roof. Her body trembled—not just from the cold but from the weight of everything that had shattered. Adrian. Ethan. Loren Voss. And the word that haunted her now, echoing from the broken radio: He’s not—
Not what? Not who she thought he was?
She rose to her feet, steadying herself with one hand on the dusty wall. Her reflection flickered faintly in the cracked mirror by the door—pale skin streaked with dirt and blood, hair wild, eyes hollow. She looked like someone else entirely. Someone who had lost everything. Someone who could still fight.
The thought hit her like a spark—she wasn’t done yet. She couldn’t be.
She ripped open a drawer, found a flashlight, and scanned
