Malcolm's POV
The woods swallowed sound the deeper they went.
The line they followed wasn't near any road or clearing. According to the men with him, the government had set it up a year ago, hidden deep between the trees to keep scavengers from finding it. Wooden poles cut through the dense forest like a spine, their cables heavy with ice, drooping under winter's weight.
Malcolm's breath came out slow and white in the cold.
He scanned the formation. Andrei led from the center with the map, Kyle in front with his rifle, Hector and Ruben between. Malcolm kept the rear, eyes moving, hands loose on his weapon.
The ground was uneven, covered in a crust of snow that crunched under each step. Above them, the power line hummed faintly in the wind, a soft, strained sound that barely carried.
They were miles from the settlement now. No roads. No signs of human life. And only trees with black trunks and frozen branches tangled together like ribs.
