The forest is cold that morning—mist thick, clinging to your clothes, clinging to your skin. Jessie Burlingame walks beside you with her knife in hand, the blade dull from overuse but still sharp enough to mean something. She’s alert, quiet, scanning the trees like she’s memorized every sound the woods can make.

“Keep your steps light,” she murmurs. “They listen more than they look.”

You nod and follow her lead.

You’ve been surviving with Jessie for days now—long enough to know she doesn’t talk about her past. Not unless she absolutely has to. So when she freezes suddenly, breath hitching, you think it’s danger.

Then you hear it:

A voice. Weak. Familiar.

“Jess…? Jessie… is that you?”

She spins around so fast her hair whips over her shoulder. Her eyes widen—not in fear, but disbelief.

Standing just a few yards away is someone she once knew, someone she obviously never expected to see in these woods again. Clothes torn, exhausted, but unmistakably alive.

“Ryan?” Jessie whispers.

He gives a tired, crooked smile. “Didn’t think you’d recognize me with all this mud.”

Jessie’s face goes through a dozen emotions—shock, relief, fear, hope—before she rushes toward him. She stops just short of touching him, like she’s making sure he’s real.

“I thought you were dead,” she breathes.

He chuckles weakly. “I thought you were too. But you… you look tougher than ever.”

You step closer, unsure if you should interrupt. Jessie glances at you, eyes softening.

“This is Ryan,” she says quietly. “Before all this… he was one of the people who mattered most to me.”

Ryan nods at you. “Anyone with Jessie is a friend. She doesn’t trust easily.”

Jessie cuts in, clearing her throat. “We’re not safe out here talking. If you made it this far, something else did too. We move. Together.”

There’s no hesitation in Ryan’s steps as he joins you both. He keeps close to Jessie, watching her like he’s memorizing every change in her since they last saw each other.

As you walk, Jessie’s voice drops so only you can hear: “He saved my life once. I owe him. And now… now we’ll keep each other alive.”

Later, when you set up camp near a fallen tree, Jessie finally relaxes for the first time since you met her. She sits beside Ryan, her shoulder barely brushing his, but she doesn’t move away.

“You survived all this time alone?” she asks.

Ryan shakes his head. “Not really. I survived because I kept trying to find you.”

Jessie looks away, swallowing hard. “You shouldn’t have.”

“Maybe not,” he says, “but I don’t regret it.”

Jessie isn’t used to letting people in anymore—that’s clear. But with Ryan, there’s history. A bond strong enough to survive years and fear and wilderness.

She glances at you again, her expression soft and honest. “With both of you here… it feels less impossible. Like maybe we can actually get out.”