I finally closed out that scene that had been giving me fits. My hero has now met the best friend character (though they have yet to be formally introduced) and lost her guide, at least for the moment. The guide was her last connection with her life before the inciting incident, and the way she lost him also makes the ruins of her former home unsafe for her. For the moment, she has no choice but to leave (though she has yet to “accept the call”, since she doesn’t truly grasp her situation, yet.)
I was tempted to write an escape action scene onto the end, but I stopped myself. I want to move the action along to the next important scene in terms of story progress. I also want to train myself to avoid the trap of turning this story into a documentary showing my characters’ every moves. Besides, if I decide the escape scene is important later, I can always add it back in.
Instead, for now, I’m going to try to have the characters reflect on it as they catch their breath from running, get to know one another, and plan their next move. But that’s for the next writing session.