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Her hands started to treulfed them and her other senses became acute She heard the first scurry of tiny feet as they ap in the border wall

“Shouldn’t alk in the streah, common sense told her that the arachnids already knew her exact location and she would give nothing further away by talking

“The scorpions in this canyon don’t mind the water” Striker didn’t whisper Nor did his voice tremble with fear

In this canyon Like they weren’t normal scorpions at all

“Do you have protective suits stashed down here?”

“There isn’t a suit on the planet that would keep out thousands of determined scorpions”

More scurrying to her left made her head snap around She pressed closer to Striker Without breaking his stride, he wrapped an ared her to him The darkness becaround

“I can’t see,” she whispered, aware her voice was shaking

“I can”

“You keep saying that It doesn’t help”

The scurrying sounds carew shallow, ht-headed She felt Striker squeeze her waist She curled a fist into his belt and held on tight

Herher of everything she knew about scorpion stings Their venom was a neurotoxin, which attacked the nervous system She’d feel pain when they first struck, but it wouldn’t be agonizing The agony would co, s and heart stopped working An excruciatingly painful death, and that was assu Each additional injection of the toxin would speed up the process Maybe it would be better to be attacked by several scorpions, rather than just one—less tiround, covered in scorpions, flashed in her h She couldn’t even think about her body beco food after she died…

“You’re gonna be fine Just focus on breathing nor hysteria “Once we’re around this bend, I’ll turn on the flashlight, and you’ll be able to see where you’re going That will help”

She couldn’t see the bend he was talking about, or even a path in front of them—it was that dark She shook hard now, each step on the uneven path beco other than the sound of scurrying—a hurricane of tiny feet, building in voluht for them

They swerved to the right, and the flashlight came on She instantly scrunched her eyes closed, terrified of what she would see if she didn’t