They left a pregnant woman hanging precariously from a cliff, but when Daniel arrived to rescue her, his stepmother cut the last rope.

They found temporary shelter in a shallow cave carved out by a dried-up waterfall. The wind howled outside, but the stone walls provided a brief reprieve from the freezing rain.

Daniel struck a flare he had grabbed from his emergency kit, casting a harsh, red glow over the damp cave walls. He set it on a rock, then pulled the tactical folding knife from his pocket.

He looked at the serrated, muddy blade, and then at his wife.

"Valeria... I don't have any anesthetics. I don't have alcohol. If I do this here, the risk of infection is massive, and the pain..." His voice cracked. He had killed men tonight without hesitation, but the thought of cutting into the woman he loved terrified him.

"If you don't do it, they will catch us, and they will take my baby," Valeria said, her voice devoid of panic. She turned her back to him, pulling her mud-caked hair over her shoulder to expose the nape of her neck. "Do it, Daniel."

Daniel swallowed hard. He took his metal Zippo lighter and held the blade of the knife over the flame, watching the metal turn black and orange as the heat sterilized it.

He ripped a thick piece of leather from his belt.

"Bite down on this," he instructed softly, placing the leather between her teeth. "Don't move. No matter how much it hurts, do not move, or I might sever a nerve."

Valeria nodded, biting down hard on the leather, her hands gripping her knees until her knuckles turned white.

Daniel stepped behind her. His injured left arm hung uselessly by his side, so he had to do it all with his right hand. He pressed his fingers against the base of her skull, feeling for the small, rice-sized lump of the micro-dermal tracker.

"I'm so sorry, my love," he whispered.

He pressed the hot tip of the blade into her skin.

Valeria let out a muffled, agonizing scream into the leather. Her entire body arched, her muscles locking in pure, blinding pain, but she did not pull away. Tears streamed down her mud-stained cheeks, mixing with the sweat.

Daniel’s hand was perfectly steady, driven by pure adrenaline. He made a small, precise half-inch incision over the lump. Blood immediately welled up, warm and dark in the red light of the flare.

He pinched the skin, using the flat side of the blade to push the tiny object upward.

"Almost there," Daniel gritted his teeth, his own heart breaking at the sound of her muffled cries.

With a sickening pop, the tiny, metallic cylinder breached the surface. Daniel quickly grabbed it with his fingers, pulling it completely out of her flesh.

"It's out!" he exhaled, dropping the bloody microchip onto the stone floor.

Valeria slumped forward, spitting out the leather belt, gasping for air as violent sobs of pain and relief wracked her body. Daniel immediately pressed a clean piece of gauze from his pocket against the wound, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

"You did it. You're so brave," Daniel murmured, kissing the top of her head as he held the bandage tight. "It's over. You're off the grid."

Valeria leaned back against his chest, exhausted, bleeding, but completely free.

Daniel looked down at the tiny, blinking red light on the microchip resting on the cave floor. It was still transmitting. The Vanguard still thought Valeria was right here.