Edge of Valor (Edge of Collapse, #7)

by Kyla Stone

She fought the urge to fall into his arms. To draw him close and ease his suffering. “These are our people.” “I know.” His voice was gruff with restrained emotion—frustration, regret, fear. “Trust me, I know. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s foolish to stay. Tactically, our best chance of survival is to retreat. To flee.” The temptation was almost too strong to resist. A promise of safety, of freedom. Of life. A promise that didn’t truly exist. No one could promise anyone’s safety, not even before the Collapse. People died in accidents and car crashes, of heart attacks and strokes. People stole and cheated and murdered. It was worse, now. They survived on a knife's edge. No safety net. No room for error or self-delusion. More safe and less safe. That was it. And even if there was absolute safety—could she leave her community, her home, even to save her children? Hannah felt torn in two. Conflicted to her core. Her children were her heart and soul. But so was Fall Creek. The people here, the community they’d built—she loved them, too.