What She Left Behind

The quiet pressed too tightly against the walls.

Leanna woke first, the early sun casting a dim glow through the dusty safehouse window. Her body ached, exhaustion settling deep into her bones. She rubbed at her temples, trying to shake the fog of sleep, but something felt wrong.

She sat up, her pulse quickening. Jessica’s bed was empty. Her breath caught in her throat as she pushed off the covers and stumbled toward the door. The others were still asleep, unaware that something had changed. Something was missing.

Leanna spotted it immediately—a single scrap of paper resting on the wooden table. Her hands trembled as she picked it up.

"I love you all. But I can’t risk your lives anymore. This is something I have to finish alone."

Leanna’s stomach twisted. "No…"

Kevin stirred at the sound of her voice. "What’s going on?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. When he saw the look on Leanna’s face, he sat up straighter. "What happened?"

Leanna turned the note toward him. "She’s gone."

The room came alive in panic and disbelief. Kevin cursed, running a hand through his hair. Olivia looked shell-shocked, staring blankly at the note as if reading it again would change its meaning. Hannah covered her mouth, her eyes welling with unshed tears.

"She just left?" Olivia finally whispered. "She really thinks she can do this alone?"

"She’s trying to protect us," Hannah murmured, her voice thick with emotion.

Kevin slammed his fist against the wall. "That’s bullshit. She’s not protecting anyone—she’s just running into the fire alone." Nobody answered because deep down, they knew he wasn’t wrong.

Leanna swallowed hard. This was her fault. She should have seen it coming. She had watched Jessica struggle with this burden, watched her fight her own demons. She should have known Jess would do something reckless. And now, they had to make a choice.

Olivia exhaled sharply, already pulling her laptop closer. "She couldn’t have gotten far. She didn’t take much. No resources. No backup."

Kevin shot her a hard look. "And what — we drag her back here? Tie her to a chair until she listens?"

Olivia didn’t even look up. "No." Her fingers moved fast over the keys. "We don’t drag her anywhere." She paused, just long enough to mean it. "We back her up. Whether she likes it or not."

Hannah glanced between them. "So what do we do?"

Leanna’s gaze shifted to the map on the wall, to the constellation of marked Vanguard sites Jessica had left behind like breadcrumbs.

"We figure out her next target," Leanna said quietly. "And we get there first."

The others exchanged glances, and for the first time since waking, there was clarity. Jessica thought she was alone. She wasn’t.

******************************

Somewhere, miles away, Jessica moved swiftly through the barren landscape, her eyes locked on the horizon. She thought she was leaving them behind, but what she didn’t realize, what she couldn’t see, was that her family was already moving, too. Not to stop her. To fight beside her.