Page 216 of Rangers Mountain Rescue

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82

Havoc

We’re close.

I feel it before I hear it.

That shift in the air.

That tension that saysyou’re not alone out here.

I raise a hand.

The team freezes instantly.

Silent.

Still.

Ready.

Aspen stops beside me, breathing controlled—but I can feel the energy coming off her.

Fear.

Hope.

Desperation.

All tangled together.

I tilt my head slightly.

Listen.

There—

Voices.

Low.

Annoyed.

“—told you he’d slow us down,” one of them mutters.

A second voice snaps back.

“Shut up and keep moving.”

Then—

A third sound.

Faint.

Confused.

“I… I need to go home…”

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