Red Zone (Red Zone 1)

“It’s okay,” he said calmly. “You can look.”

No. She couldn’t. She turned into him, pressing her face into his chest, wishing she could crawl inside him and hide forever. But the noise wouldn’t let her. All she could hear was the scurrying. They were surrounded, and the sound was deafening.

“Look,” Striker said. “You’re safe. You gotta look, bébé.”

Clasping her fists into his shirt, she managed to look up at him, terrified of looking anywhere else.

“Not at me.” He smiled at her. “Look around you.”

Her lips were trembling hard, making it impossible to speak. To tell him that she didn’t want to look. That she might die if she saw eyes staring back at her.

“Bébé, trust me. If you look, you’ll feel better.” It was his tone, more than his words, that convinced her. The gentle conviction. The power in his voice that said he’d stand between her and her fear.

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to look down at the area illuminated by the beam of light. At first, she didn’t see anything, only rocks and dried-out grass, but then, at the edge of the light pool, she saw them. Scorpions. She stopped breathing at the sight, shaking so hard she thought she might pass out. Her eyes shot back to Striker.

“No, no bébé. It’s okay.” He nuzzled the top of her head. “They won’t come any closer. I promise. Look. But you’d best breathe while you do it, or I’ll have to carry you outta here.” His smile was reassuring.

For a minute, she stared into his dark eye while she fought to get air into her lungs.

“That’s it,” he soothed. “Deep, even breaths. It’s gonna be fine now.”

He rubbed her back, slow and firm, in time with her breathing. “See? That’s much better.”

Friday’s fists were still clamped in his shirt, her fingers over his steady heartbeat. She felt the calm rise and fall of his chest and tried to follow his lead, breathing when he did.

“That’s good. You’re doing good. Now, look at the scorpions. See how they stay a few feet away? They won’t come closer.”

She followed his gaze and shuddered at the sight—thousands and thousands of moving bodies, black and red, a carpet of arachnids as far as she could see.

But none within touching distance of them.

She gasped, and her eyes flew to his. “Is it the light? Are they afraid of the light?”

“No. Scorpions are nocturnal and don’t like the light, but it isn’t the light that scares them.” He paused. “It’s me.”

Her mind reeled at his quiet assertion. A million questions flooded it, the first and foremost being, why were they afraid of Striker?

He unpicked her fingers from his shirt and took her hand. “We’ve got a long walk out of here and no time to waste. Stick close to me, and you’ll be fine.”

At his words, her attention flew back to the ring of scorpions, and she held him tightly as they trekked alongside the stream bed. Slowly, they moved deeper into the canyon, all the while surrounded by a crawling carpet of scorpions. The noise was something she would never forget—the sound of a million scurrying feet as they clambered over rocks and dirt, the faint clacking of pincers as they rubbed together. It was unnerving. The sound of nightmares.

“I’m glad I can’t see their eyes.” The thought of millions of eyes reflecting through the darkness was too much to contemplate.

“Especially seeing as they have about twelve each.”

She poked him in the ribs. “That doesn’t help.”

They walked on in silence, making steady progress. When they reached the narrowest part of the canyon, the spot that should have run under the border wall, the scorpions raced up the sheer faces on either side of them, forming a moving gate for them to pass through. They inched forward, passing the scorpions and crossing under the cool glow from the wall lights that came from eac

h edge of the ravine. Friday’s heart stuttered as they crossed the few short feet that took them past the border wall. They were officially out of the Northern Territory.

And heading into the Red Zone.

“Just a little farther,” Striker said.

“Why do the scorpions stay away from you?”

He shot her a look she couldn’t quite read. “Maybe, if we get that poison out of you and you survive, I’ll let you in on that little secret. Right now, we gotta focus on getting out of here. Soon, we’re gonna start the climb out of the canyon and the scorpions will stay behind.”