Page 25 of Red Zone Awakened

CHAPTER10

Keiko fell.

The world tilted as her hands grasped at nothing, and her mouth opened in a soundless scream.Adrenaline surged through her in a wave that left every nerve screaming in agony.The building disappeared.Air rushed past her ears, its volume deafening.The sky surrounded her.Sucking her in.Clinging to her with greedy fingers.Her breath was pushed from her lungs.Suffocating.She was suffocating.

In.

The.

Air.

With nothing to stop her.

Nothing to break her fall.

Nothing.

She was weightless.Out of control.Plummeting to her death.Being eaten alive by the night.

And then, in the belly of the beast, everything became still, and a sense of peace unlike any she’d experienced before descended.Time meant nothing, and for one endless second, she felt free.

Absolutely, wonderfully, free.

And then her body jerked to a halt.

The moment shattered.

Something caught at her ankle, the ferocious hold feeling as though it would shatter her bones.She tried to scream but only whimpered.

With arms flailing and fingers clawing at nothing, she watched the sky swing past her.The building rushed to join it.The earth was above her and then beneath her.One second, she was falling; the next, swinging up.Multicolored lights became streamers in the blackness.

The pressure released from her ankle, and she hit something solid.

Not the ground.Not the ground.Not the ground…

A strong arm wrapped around her, pressing her face into solid flesh over a racing heart.She gasped for air, each breath a desperate agony.Her nails dug deep.Clinging to whatever—whoever—had stopped her fall.

Solid.

Safe.

Secure.

Never let go.

“I’ve got you.I’ve got you,” the voice murmured.

Cold.So cold.Every muscle ached as she shook violently.Keiko burrowed deeper into the warmth surrounding her, unable to get close enough to feel truly safe.

“It’s okay, baby.It’s okay.”It was a whisper that penetrated the terror holding her mind hostage.“I’ve got you.It’s okay, princess.I’ve got you.I didn’t let you fall.I told you I wouldn’t, and you didn’t believe me.You’re fine now.You’re okay.I’ve got you.”

An arm held her tight as she wrapped herself around her rescuer.An immovable strength that kept her from crumbling apart.Of being shredded a terror so strong she could taste it.Smell it.Every breath she took was filled with rotten, fetid fear.

“You’re okay.Fuck, baby, stop crying.You’re okay.I’ve got you.”

The voice cracked through the thick veil of terror shrouding her.“D-don’t c-curse.”She squeezed out the words through chattering teeth.

“I’ll never curse again if you stop crying.”An impossible ask.For both of them.