Chapter 13
Olivia
We keep moving.
Up narrow ridges.
Across loose rock.
Through stretches of desert so empty it feels endless.
Nobody complains anymore.
Not even the children.
That’s what scares me.
Exhaustion has swallowed the fear whole.
My side throbs with every step.
Sharp at first.
Then dull.
Then sharp again whenever I breathe too deeply.
I tighten my grip on the strap of my medical bag and keep walking.
Don’t think about it.
Don’t slow down.
Behind me, boots crunch steadily against gravel.
Russ.
Always close enough now that I know his footsteps without looking.
“Slow down.”
His voice lands right behind me.
Low.
Too close.
“I’m fine,” I answer automatically.
I don’t turn around.
Big mistake.
Because now I’m aware of him anyway.
The heat of him behind me.
The way his pace matches mine exactly.
Watching.
Always watching.
“You’re limping.”
“I’m walking.”
“Barely.”
Annoyance flares fast enough to overpower the pain for half a second.
I stop abruptly and spin around.
“Do you want to carry me again?” I hiss quietly. “Because I’m pretty sure I can still manage that part myself.”
Russ looks completely unimpressed.
Calm.
Steady.
Infuriating.
“Don’t tempt me.”
The answer hits harder than it should.
Heat climbs instantly into my face.
I turn around before he can see it and start walking again.
Behind me, I hear the faintest rough huff of amusement.
I hate him a little for that.
Possibly more for the fact that part of me likes it.
The ridge narrows ahead.
Lucas raises a hand immediately.
We all drop low without a word.
I crouch behind a jagged section of rock, breathing carefully through the pain in my side while the others settle around us.
Below, the valley stretches wide beneath the afternoon sun.
Empty at first glance.
Meaning absolutely nothing.
Empty only means they haven’t seen us yet.
The little girl beside me curls deeper into her blanket, dirt streaked across both cheeks.
I brush some of it away gently with my thumb.
“You’re doing so good,” I whisper.
She leans against me instantly.
Trusting.
Like I’m safe.
My throat tightens unexpectedly.
I almost got her killed.
All of them.
The thought slams into me hard enough to make my stomach twist.
No.
Don’t do this right now.
A shadow falls beside me.
I already know who it is before he speaks.
“You’re pushing too hard.”
I keep my eyes on the valley below. “I’m doing what I need to do.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
I finally glance up.
Big mistake.
Russ is watching me with that same intense look he’s had since the moment I got shot.
Too focused.
Too personal.
“You don’t get to decide that,” I whisper.
“I do when you start collapsing in the middle of a mission.”
“I didn’t collapse.”
His eyebrows lift slightly.
Right.
Technically I passed out.
I hate that he’s right about that too.
“You lost a lot of blood,” he says quietly.
“I’m still here.”
“Barely.”
The word lands harder than I expect.
Not because he’s being cruel.
Because he sounds scared.
And somehow that’s worse.
I look away first.
Need distance.
Need control.
Need—
“Movement.”
Lucas’s whisper cuts across the ridge instantly.
Every muscle in my body locks.
Clay slides forward beside him while Russ shifts closer to the edge of the rocks.
I carefully lean up enough to look down into the valley.
At first, nothing.
Then—
There.
A figure weaving between the rocks below.
Another appears seconds later.
Armed.
Searching.
My pulse drops cold.
“Scouts,” Clay murmurs.
Russ nods once. “Tracking pattern.”
Which means they’re learning.
Closing in.
Behind us, one of the mothers sucks in a shaky breath. “They found us?”
“No,” I answer immediately.
Too fast.
Too firm.
But panic spreads like fire, and I can’t let it catch.
“They haven’t found us,” I repeat more quietly. “Not yet.”
I don’t know if I believe it.
The fear clawing up my throat certainly doesn’t.
A hand brushes lightly against mine.
I glance down.
Russ.
Not holding on.
Just touching enough to remind me he’s there.
Grounding.
Steady.
It works embarrassingly well.
Lucas studies the valley below. “Options.”
“We cut west,” Clay says quietly. “Stay high.”
Miles shakes his head. “Too exposed.”
“If we stay here, they’ll sweep straight toward us,” Clay argues.
“They’re tightening the search,” Lucas adds grimly.
Silence settles over the ridge.
Heavy.
Calculating.
Then Russ says quietly, “We split them.”
My head snaps toward him instantly.
Absolutely not.
“You’re kidding.”
His attention stays on the valley. “We create movement east. Pull the scouts off course.”
“And leave the civilians exposed?”
“We control the direction they chase.”
“That’s not control,” I snap softly. “That’s gambling.”
His jaw tightens.
“We’re out of options.”
“No.” I shake my head immediately. “There has to be another way.”
“Olivia.”
The way he says my name stops me cold.
Low.
Firm.
Already decided.
“If they box us in,” he says quietly, “this ends here.”
I know he’s right.
That’s the worst part.
I stare down into the valley where the scouts move slowly between the rocks below.
Closer.
Always closer.
Then the words leave my mouth before I can stop them.
“I’ll go.”
Every head turns toward me.
Russ’s reaction is instant.
“No.”
Flat.
Absolute.
“I can draw them off,” I continue anyway, ignoring the warning in his eyes. “I’m already injured. I’m slower—”
“You’re not bait.”
“I can make them follow me.”
“The answer is no.”
Anger sparks hot in my chest.
“You don’t get to decide that for me.”
“The hell I don’t.”
The words come low and dangerous now.
Russ steps closer.
Too close.
“You’re bleeding through your bandage.”
“And you’re not exactly untouched either.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
His jaw flexes hard.
Then quietly—
“Because it’s you.”
That steals every remaining word from my mouth.
The ridge goes silent around us.
Even the wind feels quieter suddenly.
Russ looks just as caught off guard by what he said as I feel.
But he doesn’t take it back.
Doesn’t look away.
And somehow that’s worse.
Lucas finally breaks the tension. “We need a plan now.”
Right.
Mission.
Focus.
I force myself to breathe through the chaos suddenly crashing through my chest.
“We stay together,” I say finally. “Higher ground. Use the rock shadows for cover.”
Clay nods slowly. “Better concealment.”
Miles shrugs. “Less suicidal than splitting up.”
Lucas studies the valley another second before nodding once.
Russ says nothing immediately.
He just keeps looking at me like the argument isn’t over.
Like none of this is over.
Then finally—
“Fine.”
Reluctant.
Tight.
Still agreement.
He steps closer as everyone starts moving again.
“Stay close,” he says quietly.
Not an order to the group.
To me.
I don’t answer.
Because I already know I will.
And judging by the look in his eyes—
So does he.