Page 72 of Wreckage

“My name is Troy Drexler! I’m alive! I’m in the mountains! We need help! Please, God, come?—”

The line cut out.

Signal gone.

I screamed, the sound raw, my fist clenching around my phone, my entire body shaking with frustration.

“Fuck!”

I sat there for hours, staring at my screen, watching the bars disappear, waiting for something.

For it tocome back.

For another chance.

But it never did.

It was my Hail Mary, like when I played football. All my Hail Marys worked—always. I prayed this one did, too.

The sun started dipping lower in the sky, turning the mountains gold and blue, and I knew I had to get back before nightfall.

I wasn’t giving up.

Tomorrow, I would try again.

Again, and again, and again.

I wasn’t going to stop until someone found us.

But for now…

For now, I needed to get back.

I needed to see her.

And Adrian.

I needed them to know there was still hope.

I looked at the mountains, squared my shoulders, and turned back toward the forest, turning my phone off to preserve the battery.

I was going home.

Chapter 26

Elena

When Troy disappeared into the woods, a sense of unease settled deep in my bones.

I tried to shake it, tried to focus on the warmth of the cabin, on the fire flickering steadily beside us, on the presence of Adrian right next to me.

But it didn’t help.

I kept staring at the door, half-expecting Troy to walk through it, flashing that easy smirk, acting like this wasn’t the most dangerous thing he could have done.

“He’s going to be fine,” Adrian said beside me.

I turned my head toward him, my fingers gripping the blanket. “You don’t know that.”

---