Chapter 20 Mila
Mila
Location: Ravine — Under Active Pursuit
Time: Continuous
The first sign is subtle.
Too subtle.
Jase slows.
Not enough that anyone else would notice.
But I do.
Because I’m watching him.
Always watching him now.
“You’re losing more blood,” I say quietly.
“I’m fine.”
Lie.
A bad one.
His steps are heavier.
Less precise.
And then—
He stumbles.
Just once.
But that’s all it takes.
“Jase—”
“I said I’m—”
His voice cuts off.
His knees buckle.
And suddenly—
He’s not standing anymore.
I catch him before he hits the ground.
Barely.
His weight crashes into me—solid, heavy, real—and for a second I think we’re both going down.
But I don’t let that happen.
I can’t.
“Stay with me,” I whisper, dropping with him behind the rock wall of the ravine.
His head dips forward.
Breathing rough now.
Too rough.
Too shallow.
No.
No, no, no—
“You don’t get to do this,” I say, sharper now, grabbing his face, forcing his eyes open.
“You don’t get to fall apart on me out here.”
His gaze finds mine.
Flickers.
Still there.
Still fighting.
“…not falling apart,” he mutters.
“You are bleeding out,” I snap.
Jase
Everything feels… distant.
Muted.
Like the world’s pulled a few steps away from me.
Not ideal.
Definitely not ideal.
But she’s still here.
That’s what matters.
I force my eyes to focus on her.
Mila.
Sharp.
Fierce.
Terrified—
No.
Not terrified.
Determined.
Yeah.
That’s better.
“You need to move,” I tell her.
“Not happening.”
“You stay here, they’ll find you.”
“Then they’ll find both of us,” she fires back.
That should frustrate me.
It doesn’t.
It—
It does something else entirely.
Mila
Gunfire cracks again above us.
Closer this time.
They’re sweeping the ravine.
Systematic.
Relentless.
We don’t have time.
I rip open his vest—hands moving fast, efficient—checking the wound again.
The bandage is soaked through.
Too much blood.
Way too much.
“Okay,” I whisper, more to myself than to him.
“Okay… okay… I’ve got this.”
He watches me.
Not arguing.
Not pushing.
Trusting.
That—
That hits harder than anything else.
I grab my pack, yanking it open.
Ammo.
Extra mags.
Medical kit.
Everything I shoved in there before I left—
And for the first time since this started—
I let out a tight breath.
“…good thing I always load up,” I murmur.
Jase huffs a faint, almost laugh.
“Yeah… starting to pay off.”
Jase
She’s calm.
Too calm.
But I can see it—
The edge underneath.
The fear she’s refusing to give into.
“You don’t have to stay,” I say again, quieter now.
Her hands don’t stop moving.
Not even for a second.
“Not an option.”
“You could make it out.”
“No.”
Flat.
Final.
Not even a hesitation.
“You’re not dying out here,” she says, tightening the new bandage with firm, steady pressure.
“That’s not how this ends.”
I almost smile.
Almost.
“You sound pretty sure.”
“I am.”
Her eyes meet mine.
And there’s nothing uncertain in them.
Nothing weak.
Nothing breakable.
Just—
Steel.
Mila
Footsteps.
Above us.
Too close.
I freeze.
Listen.
Count.
Two.
No—
Three.
“They’re right on top of us,” I whisper.
Jase shifts, trying to sit up.
I push him back down immediately.
“Don’t,” I hiss.
“I can still fight.”
“I know you can,” I say.
Then softer—
“…but you don’t have to right now.”
That stops him.
Just for a second.
I grab his rifle.
Check the mag.
Full.
Good.
Then mine.
Also full.
Plus the extras in my pack.
Yeah.
We’re not out of this yet.
Not even close.
Jase
She’s taking control.
Not just helping.
Not just reacting.
Leading.
And damn if that doesn’t hit something deep.
“You’ve got a plan?” I ask.
She nods once.
Sharp.
Focused.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s hear it.”
A faint smirk touches her lips—
Even now.
Even here.
“We hold.”
I blink.
“…we what?”
“We hold,” she repeats.
“They think you’re the threat.”
“They’re not wrong.”
“Exactly,” she says.
“So we make them keep thinking that.”
I see it then.
The angle.
The shift.
The strategy.
“They push in expecting resistance from you,” she continues.
“And instead—”
Her grip tightens on her gun.
Her eyes harden.
“They get me.”
Mila
My heart is pounding.
Fast.
Hard.
But my hands?
Steady.
Perfectly steady.
Because this—
This I understand.
“They want to contain me?” I whisper.
A slow breath.
Controlled.
Measured.
“Let them try.”
The first shadow appears at the edge of the ravine.
Movement.
Careful.
Professional.
They think they’re walking into control.
They think they’re walking into an easy capture.
They’re wrong.
I raise the gun.
Take aim.
And for the first time—
I don’t feel like the target.
I feel like the threat.
Jase
Yeah.
They have no idea what they just walked into.
I shift slightly behind her.
Still here.
Still watching.
Still ready—
Even if my body’s not cooperating the way I want it to.
“You’re not doing this alone,” I say low.
She doesn’t look back.
Doesn’t need to.
“I know.”
That—
That lands.
Hard.
Because she means it.
Not just right now.
Not just in this moment.
But all the way through.
Gunfire erupts.
Close.
Violent.
Unforgiving.
But this time—
They’re not chasing us.
They’re not controlling the fight.
We are.