The valley stretched out below me, a sea of shadows under the fading evening light. I moved quietly along an old game trail, my boots barely making a sound against the soft earth. If these guys were half as good as Bones thought, they were already here. Somewhere. Watching. Hunting.

And if I was going to have any chance of getting us out of this, I needed to find them first.

The air was sharp, cold, and carried the faint scent of pine. Every step felt like a test, my neural implant firing on all cylinders, sharpening my senses. But it came at a cost—already, I could feel my energy dulling, small price to pay if it kept me alive.

Back at the cabin, Bones emerged from the woods, a fresh stack of logs cradled in his arms. Part of him expected to hear the roar of the Fireblade, already fading into the distance. Hell, he wouldn’t have blamed me if I’d left. But as he approached the broken door, he hesitated.

“Hey, you still in there, Reb?” His voice was gruff, with that undertone of worry he probably thought he hid so well. No answer.

He set the logs down with a heavy thud and stepped inside, his gaze falling on the empty room. I was gone. His jaw tightened as he muttered, “Damn it, woman, you can’t go alone.” He glanced at his rifle leaning against the wall. For a moment, he hesitated, the weight of it dragging him down like an anchor. "If she doesn’t come back…” She'd always been this way, he thought, charging headfirst into the fire without thinking twice. It was maddening. And yet, it was exactly why she’d survived so long, why she was the only one he could trust to do what he couldn’t anymore.

Meanwhile, I’d found a lookout point—a jagged rock formation that jutted out over the valley. The view was expansive, giving me a clear line of sight across the terrain below. I crouched low, my neural implant pulsing, enhancing my vision as I scanned the landscape. That’s when I saw it: faint pinpricks of light on the valley floor. Barely visible. They were careless, leaving breadcrumbs for anyone who knew how to look.

“Gotcha,” I muttered under my breath, a flicker of hope igniting in my chest. Sloppy bastards. Maybe they weren’t expecting company. That was their first mistake.

I slipped down the rocky slope, each movement deliberate, calculated. By the time I reached the edge of their makeshift camp, I was practically invisible—just another shadow among the trees. The soldiers were clustered around, rifles slung casually over their shoulders, their voices low but audible. Sloppy. Careless. But there was discipline beneath the surface, precision in how they moved, military to the core. This wasn’t going to be easy. I crouched closer, planning every step of the attack. Fast. Clinical. Take them out before they even know what’s hit them.

But then, it happened.

The wire snapped with a metallic ping that sent a jolt straight through me. Then came the sharp, unmistakable beep of an alarm, splitting the forest’s stillness like a gunshot. My stomach dropped. "Shit!"

The soldiers sprang into action, their rifles snapping into position like clockwork. The element of surprise was gone. I bolted, the forest exploding into chaos behind me as gunfire erupted. Bullets shredded the air, tearing into bark and dirt as I ran full tilt through the trees, my implant driving me forward faster than humanly possible.

But even speed has its limits.

A bullet tore through the edge of my arm, a hot, jagged slice of pain that burned like fire. My vision blurred for a moment, black spots creeping in at the edges, but I forced myself to move. Searing, white-hot pain shot through me, and I stumbled, my momentum broken. I hit the ground hard, clutching at the wound as blood dripped between my fingers. The metallic scent was sharp in the cold air.

I bit down hard, stifling a scream, my breath ragged. Pain roared through me, but this wasn't the time to fall apart—not here, not now. They’d bleed me dry if I gave them an inch. I grabbed the sleeve of my jumpsuit, slicing it off with my blade, and tied it tightly around the wound. The pressure sent fresh waves of pain shooting up my arm, but it was enough to slow the bleeding.

They were close now. Their boots crunched against the undergrowth as they swept the area, their flashlights cutting through the dark. I pressed myself against the ground, every muscle tensed, barely daring to breathe. They were predators and i was their prey.

“Why the hell are we being stalked by some ghost bitch?” one of them hissed.

Their leader stepped forward, his voice calm, almost bored. “Not sure. Don’t think she’s connected to this job. Maybe she’s following us, remember—we have our own heat.” He glanced at the blood on the ground, his lip curling into a smirk. “Seems like our ghost bleeds, she's wounded, Let the forest finish her off.”

I stayed perfectly still as their footsteps faded into the distance, their voices growing faint. My head spun from blood loss, my body screaming at me to stop, to rest. But rest wasn’t an option. Not yet.

It took everything I had to pull myself to my feet, the world tilting as I stumbled forward. The cabin was miles away, but it was the only place I could go. Every step was a battle, the pain gnawing at my resolve, but I kept moving. I had no choice.

By the time I broke the tree line the cabin loomed ahead, its form blurred through the haze of blood loss. The trees blurred into jagged silhouettes, their dark forms swaying as if mocking my struggle. My legs buckled, the ground rushing up to meet me, but I pushed forward. One step. Then another. Until finally… I was there. Cue the fanfare.