The lookout post was barely standing: a cracked concrete platform, a rusted railing, the ghost of an old radio tower rising crookedly into the mist. Below them stretched miles of dark forest, quiet except for the wind whispering through the pines.
They'd built a small fire in the shelter of a half-collapsed wall. Its orange light painted their faces in shifting shadows. Elena sat close to the flames, hands stretched toward the heat, while Adrian and Selene stayed apart, two figures divided by silence and too many years.
For a long time, none of them spoke. The forest creaked and sighed around them, and somewhere far below, a wolf howled.
Finally, Selene broke the quiet. "You always did like the high ground."
Adrian looked up from the knife he'd been sharpening. "And you always knew how to find it."
Her eyes caught the firelight, sharp, gold, unreadable. "You still don't trust me."
"Should I?"
Selene's mouth curved slightly, not in amusement but in weary recognition. "Probably not. I wouldn't trust me either."
Elena glanced between them, feeling the weight in the air, the kind that didn't come from threat but from something older, rawer. She cleared her throat. "You two worked together?"
Selene's gaze flicked to her, then back to the fire. "We were more than that. For a while."
Adrian said nothing, jaw tightening.
Selene's voice softened. "Before the syndicate turned on us, before the betrayals. We thought we could change things from the inside."
"You were the one who pulled the trigger," Adrian said, his tone flat.
Her eyes met his, steady. "I was following orders. Until I realized what those orders really were."
The fire snapped, sending sparks into the night. For a moment, the only sound was the wind through the hollow tower.
Elena looked down, trying to hide the twist in her chest. She didn't want to imagine the world these two had shared, the kind of trust that came from surviving together, from believing in the same impossible cause.
Selene sighed, leaning back against the wall. "When I woke up in that bunker after the explosion, I thought you were dead. I thought it was my fault."
Adrian's knife stilled in his hand. "And now?"
"Now I think we both paid the price."
The words lingered in the air, heavy and unfinished.
Elena rose, brushing dirt from her knees. "I'll take first watch," she said, stepping away toward the edge of the platform.
As she disappeared into the darkness, Selene watched her go. "She cares about you," she said quietly.
Adrian looked into the fire. "Don't."
Selene's tone was almost gentle. "You don't have to say it, but it's written all over you. Maybe that's why you'll survive this time."
He turned to her finally, eyes hard but tired. "And you? What are you surviving for?"
Selene hesitated, her expression flickering. "Maybe I just want to finish what we started."
He studied her, searching for the truth behind the words. But she only gave him a faint smile, turned toward the dark horizon, and said, "Get some sleep, Thorn. Tomorrow we start a war."
The fire crackled lower, throwing long, thin shadows across the concrete. And in the spaces between flame and silence, ghosts from the past began to stir.
(Fire at Dawn).
The first light of morning bled slowly across the trees. The forest was pale and cold, the mist clinging to the ground like breath. For a few fragile minutes, everything was still.
Then came the sound, a low mechanical hum, faint at first, then swelling into a roar.
Adrian was on his feet instantly. "Drones," he hissed.
Selene spun toward the ridge, scanning the horizon. "They found us faster than I thought."
Elena dropped the pack she'd been tightening. "How...?"
"Tracker," Selene said grimly, tearing open the lining of her coat and pulling out a blinking shard of circuitry. "They tagged me before I broke out. I thought I burned it."
Adrian didn't hesitate. He smashed the tracker under his boot. "Too late now. We move."
The first drone appeared over the treetops, black, insectlike, its rotors slicing the mist. A burst of gunfire followed, bullets kicking up dirt and sparks around the platform.
"Go!" Adrian shouted.
They dove for the slope, the forest exploding behind them as the lookout post took a direct hit. Concrete and fire rained down. The blast threw Elena off her feet, but Adrian caught her wrist and hauled her upright before she hit the ground.
Selene fired back, short controlled bursts, taking down one drone, then another. "Keep moving!"
They sprinted downhill, weaving between the trees as smoke rolled after them. The air stung with heat and ozone. Somewhere behind, the whine of engines and shouts of men closed in.
Adrian grabbed Selene's arm. "We can't outrun them in the woods. We need open ground."
She pointed ahead. "There's a clearing about a mile east, old extraction zone. If we make it, I can call in a drop."
"Who's dropping it?" Elena demanded.
Selene's eyes flicked toward her. "Let's just say I kept a few favors."
They ran. The trees thinned. The sound of pursuit grew louder. When the forest finally broke open, the light hit them, brilliant and harsh. A stretch of open field rolled out ahead, wild grass bending in the wind.
"Nowhere to hide," Elena gasped.
Adrian lifted his weapon. "Then we don't hide."
He turned as the first wave of syndicate soldiers broke through the trees. Gunfire erupted. Adrian and Selene fought side by side, moving like they had years ago, flawless rhythm, every motion an echo of trust rebuilt under fire. Elena stayed behind cover, returning shots, her nerves steel-hard now.
A bullet grazed Selene's arm; she barely flinched. "We're outnumbered!"
"Not out yet!" Adrian shouted.
He saw it then, the faint outline of a helicopter cutting through the clouds. Selene pulled a flare from her belt, ignited it, and threw it high. The orange smoke curled upward, bright against the gray sky.
The helicopter banked toward them. A hook dropped.
"Go!" Adrian grabbed Elena, lifting her onto the line first. She clung to the cable as the rotors thundered overhead.
Selene covered them, emptying her last clip. "Your turn!" she yelled.
Adrian grabbed her wrist. "Together!"
They leapt for the line just as another explosion ripped through the edge of the field. The shockwave sent debris flying. For a moment, the world was all smoke and motion. Then the helicopter lifted, dragging them into open air, leaving the fire and chaos below.
Elena looked down through the smoke, heart pounding, adrenaline burning through her veins. Below them, the forest shrank into shadow. Above, the sun broke through the clouds, bright, blinding, merciful.
They had escaped. For now.
But as Adrian looked across the helicopter's deck at Selene, blood streaking her sleeve, eyes sharp and silent, he knew it wasn't over. Whatever she had planned, whatever she wasn't saying… it was waiting in the open sky ahead.