Your hands are still shaking when the doors finally slam shut behind you.

The night air hits your face like a shock—cold, real, free. For a second, neither of you move, just standing there in the trees, listening for footsteps that never come.

Ashley sinks to the ground first, knees giving out. “I thought… I thought we’d never get out,” she whispers, voice cracking.

You drop beside her, breath ragged. “But we did.”

She laughs weakly, pressing her forehead to her knees. “They kept saying we belonged to them. That we’d stop trying.” Her fingers dig into the dirt like she needs proof it’s real.

You glance back at the dark silhouette of the compound, lights flickering in the distance. “They were wrong,” you say quietly. “About both of us.”

Ashley looks up at you then—really looks. Her eyes are tired, haunted… but burning with something new. Determination.

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore,” she says. “I don’t want them to have anything of me.”

You reach out, hesitating for half a second before taking her hand. “Then we don’t let them.”

She squeezes back, grip tight. “Promise me something?”

“What?”

“Whatever comes next… we face it together.”

You nod. “Together.”

Somewhere in the distance, a siren wails. The danger isn’t over—not yet.

But for the first time since the nightmare began, Ashley Graham isn’t running alone.