Ava’s POV

The truck rattled over the uneven road, the dense forest disappearing behind us. My knees were drawn to my chest, my arms wrapped tightly around them as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. My heart was still pounding, my body trembling with exhaustion and fear.

The man who’d just pulled me out of the forest drove in silence, his gaze fixed on the road ahead. I didn’t even know his name, and yet here I was, sitting beside him, with more questions than answers.

I couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“Who were they?” I blurted out, my voice sharp in the quiet truck. “Why...