Cassian
The cave system opened onto a mountain ledge just as the final series of explosions shook the entire ridge behind them. Cassian pushed the last section of loose rock away from the cave mouth and helped David carry Marcus into the afternoon sunlight, both of them blinking in the sudden brightness after hours in the underground facility.
“Is everyone out?” Sarah asked, doing a quick headcount of their group as debris rained down the mountainside below them.
“Seven of us,” Cassian confirmed, though the number felt both triumphant and tragic. Seven survivors out of what had been fourteen prisoners just hours ago. “But we need to move. The structural collapse will bring search and rescue teams, and some of them might be working for my father.”
Marcus stirred in David’s arms, his eye
