Code Red
258 Words
📘 Chapter 7: Code Red
They left the motel just after midnight.
Jay drove fast but quiet, headlights off until they reached the main road. Lena sat in the passenger seat, fingers wrapped around the knife hidden under her jacket.
Every turn felt like a trap. Every car behind them — a tail.
“We’re going to see someone,” Jay said, his voice low.
“Someone you trust?”
“Someone who owes me.”
They reached an old farmhouse near the edge of a silent forest. It looked abandoned — broken windows, weeds up to the doors. But Jay tapped a coded knock on the back panel, and a moment later, a slot slid open.
The man inside was wiry, jittery, with bloodshot eyes and ink-stained fingers.
“Jay,” he said. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“Yeah, well. Life has a funny way of screwing with plans.”
Jay motioned to Lena. “This is her.”
The man — Gregor — nodded grimly. “She’s in deep.”
“Can you decrypt the rest of the files?”
“Not here,” Gregor said. “But I can get you a clean room. Safe servers. Give me 24 hours.”
Jay agreed.
Gregor handed him a slip of paper. “Coordinates. Go off-grid. If they’re tracking you… you’ll need to disappear.”
Lena and Jay left, heading into the woods on foot under cover of night.
No lights. No trail.
Only the stars above them — cold, distant, watching.
- Writer
