( Ava’s POV)
Morning came quietly, like it didn’t want to startle us.
The forest breathed around the camp, and wind through pine needles, distant birdsong, the soft murmur of people waking from uneasy rest. If I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend this was peaceful. A camping trip. A borrowed stillness.
But peace doesn’t smell like antiseptic and gun oil.
I pushed the blanket from my shoulders and stood, joints stiff from the cold ground. The sky was washed in pale gray-blue now, the sun still hidden behind the trees. A liminal hour. The kind where choices harden into consequences.
Inside the medical tent, Brian slept.
Machines hummed softly around him, monitors blinking steady reassurance. His face was slack with exhaustion, lashes casting shadows against his cheeks. He looked yo
