The camp was unusually quiet, a foreboding kind of silence that seemed to seep into the very air. Shadows stretched long in the late afternoon light, creating twisted patterns over the makeshift tents and barricades. The group gathered in a tense circle around Ruby's command post, the only sounds the distant rustle of leaves and the occasional metallic creak of their weapons being checked and readied. The cold air carried a biting edge, making their breaths visible as faint wisps of mist.
Ruby stood at the center, her arms crossed and her sharp eyes scanning the map spread across the table. "We're moving at dawn," she announced, her tone brooking no argument. "The high ground to the west is defensible, but it's only useful if we clear the path first. That means traps, ambushes, anything they might have set up ahead of us."
