POV: Ayla / Ryker

Ryker does not suggest a café or a quiet town. He shows up at my door just after first light with two water bottles and a look that says the day will be spent moving.

“You have been inside too long,” he says. “We run.”

It is not a question. I do not treat it like one. I change into clothes I can move in and follow him out through the eastern gate while the compound is still shifting from night rotations to morning ones. He sets an easy pace at first, long enough for my body to remember the rhythm of distance without the sharp...