The road north was broken, lined with rusted signs and trees that had long learned to grow around the wreckage of old wars.
By midday, the safe house was far behind them. The hum of Mason's old transport truck echoed through the valley, an armored relic held together by faith, fuel, and Mason's genius for survival.
Adrian sat in the passenger seat, scanning the horizon through the cracked windshield. Beside him, Mason drove with the ease of a man who'd spent half his life outrunning death.
In the back, Elena and Selene sat across from each other. The silence between them wasn't hostile, but it was charged, full of unspoken tension.
Elena's eyes kept drifting to the hills; Selene's, to Adrian.
The convoy rolled past the last checkpoint ruins by the time the sun began to fade.
That's when the static hit.
The radio snapped with interference, sharp, jarring.
Adrian reached for the dial, but Mason grabbed his wrist.
"Don't touch it," he said. His tone was low, tense. "That's not interference. That's a signal."
Selene's voice was immediate, steady. "Encrypted?"
"No," Adrian said, recognizing the faint pulse behind the static. "It's a ping. Syndicate frequency."
Elena's breath caught. "They found us?"
"They never lost us," Selene murmured. "We've been walking into their hands since dawn."
The first explosion tore through the ridge to their right.
The truck shuddered, tires skidding on gravel as Mason wrestled the wheel. Adrian was already out of the seat, grabbing his rifle, shouting, "Out! Move!"
They spilled into the open. The air was thick with smoke and dust. The hillsides lit up again, flashes of gunfire, Syndicate drones descending in a coordinated wave.
Adrian pulled Elena behind the wreckage as bullets chewed into the dirt. Mason fired back with precision, one shot after another.
Selene moved like a shadow, calm, deadly, her old training cutting through the chaos. She tossed a plasma charge over the ridge; the explosion tore through two drones mid-air.
"They're not trying to kill us," Selene yelled over the noise. "They're herding us!"
"Toward what?" Mason shouted.
Before anyone could answer, the ground to their left split open.
A buried transport lift, Syndicate issue. It rose from the dirt with mechanical shrieks, a squad of enforcers in matte black armor stepping out.
Adrian cursed under his breath. "They want us alive."
Selene's eyes narrowed. "Then they'll be disappointed."
The next minutes were chaos.
Gunfire, smoke, adrenaline.
Elena darted between cover points, rerouting drone frequencies with her portable rig, her hands steady even as the world burned around her.
Selene covered her flank; Adrian took point, every movement instinct, every decision life or death.
When the truck finally exploded behind them, the shockwave threw them into the dust. Adrian hit the ground hard, ears ringing.
He opened his eyes to see Elena kneeling over him, her face streaked with dirt and sweat, eyes fierce with fear.
"Adrian!!!"
He pulled her down just as a round screamed past them, close enough to shear through her hair.
Their eyes met. Close, too close, hearts pounding, breaths tangled.
It wasn't words, but something passed between them in that moment, raw, wordless, alive.
"We have to move!" Selene shouted. She had a gash on her arm but didn't slow. "The tunnel ahead, we can lose them in the cliffs!"
Mason's voice came from behind, strained. "I'll cover you. Go!"
Adrian looked back. Mason had already taken position beside the burning wreck.
Adrian knew that look, the one that meant he wasn't coming with them.
"Mason,"
"Go, damn it! Keep them safe!"
There wasn't time to argue. Adrian grabbed Elena's hand, pulling her toward the rocks. Selene followed, limping slightly but still deadly precise.
Behind them, the ridge erupted again. Mason's final stand painted the sky with fire.
They stumbled into the narrow cliffs just as the sun sank.
The passage was tight, barely wide enough for two people side by side. The air was cold, full of echoes.
Elena stumbled once, Adrian caught her. She stayed in his arms for a heartbeat longer than necessary. Her pulse was racing against his chest.
"He stayed for us," she whispered.
"He knew the cost," Adrian said softly. "He always did."
Selene's voice came from behind them, quieter now. "Then we honor him by finishing this."
Adrian nodded.
But as they pushed deeper into the mountain, he couldn't shake the feeling that Mason's sacrifice had only bought them a few hours.
Somewhere, beyond the ridge, the Syndicate was still watching.
And someone, someone high in their ranks, wanted them alive for a reason none of them yet understood.
By the time they reached the end of the pass, night had swallowed the valley.
Ahead, through the mist, lights glimmered, faint, flickering, like stars scattered on the ground.
"The Borderlands," Selene said. "Ash's territory."
Adrian exhaled. "Then let's hope he remembers who his enemies are."
They walked the final mile in silence, their shadows stretching long behind them.
Three survivors bound by war, loss, and something far stronger than either, the fragile, dangerous thread of love and loyalty that refused to die.
And far above them, unseen in the clouds, a Syndicate satellite pulsed with red light, locking on to their coordinates.