The forest swallowed sound like it had secrets to keep.

You moved quietly between trees, boots soft on damp ground, rifle low, eyes scanning. Behind you, Leon was a shadow — silent, focused, deadly.

The target was a suspected bioweapons courier. Solo, small-scale. Easy, they’d said.

They didn’t account for the storm, the terrain, or the way your heart slammed against your ribs every time Leon moved too far ahead.

You caught up to him by a broken fence line, the mist curling around his silhouette like smoke.

He didn’t look at you. Just murmured, “You okay?”