The Gender Game 5: The Gender Fall(64)

He eyed me and then shrugged. Dealer’s choice, he replied with a smile.

Smirking, I moved toward the computer, leaving the cabinets to Owen. I took pains to move quietly on the off chance that my footsteps would thud on the aluminum floor. I was just sitting down at the chair when Owen slid open the first drawer, the rattling, clunking sound grating loudly in my ears. Gritting my teeth, I ignored it, knowing he was making sure to do it as quietly as possible.

I focused on my task, sliding a small black plastic stick into one of the open ports on the computer before turning the whole thing on. Device in, I communicated over the line. Computer on. Do your thing, Thomas.

“Already on it,” came the man’s reply. I turned my attention to the desk, slowly sliding the top drawer open. I heard Owen slide open another drawer, this one squeaking slightly, and frowned as I stared at the clean, empty gray space inside.

I closed it and slid open another desk compartment, finding it empty as well.

Viggo, there are no files in these drawers, said Owen, his voice in my ears accompanied by a light, vacant-sounding scraping as he slid another one open. I felt a chill rush down my spine as I opened a third drawer and found the same result.

“Are you sure you hooked the uplink up correctly?” asked Thomas. “I’m not getting anything here.”

I looked down at the blinking device and then the computer screen and realized nothing had come up on it after I’d hit the power. The screen was black, the only sign of life a single blinking cursor flashing white on the bottom left corner. I was halfway to my feet, my mouth opening to announce my suspicions, when Violet’s voice cut through the silence, sharp with tension.

“Guys, I don’t know how, but this must be a trap—there are guards closing in on your position now.”





22





Viggo





Violet’s words were still ringing in my ears when I staggered back, a curse slipping from my lips. I looked over to where Owen stood frozen, and then past him, toward the window at the end of the trailer. A light was bobbing against the wall of the adjacent building.

How had they known we were here?

I snatched the transmitter from the computer, throwing it into the bag it had come from and whirling for the window just as Violet said in my ear, “Two guards are approaching from the west and two more are exiting the trailer directly in front of the door. You’ve got a moment to get out of there if you take the east window, but do it now.”

There was a crash beside me, and I jumped, whirling, only to see that Owen had pushed one of the stacks of empty filing cabinets over in front of the door, helping to block it, and was in the process of toppling another, a pained look on his face. It crashed to the floor with a noise that seemed about to bring the roof down. The whole camp will hear! I shouted at him, and he snapped back, They know we’re here already!

Just get over here! I darted toward the window on the east side of the trailer, Owen leaping over the overturned cabinets to keep pace with me. Through the transmitter, I could hear Violet speaking, giving us more information, her voice sharp and focused.

Go—I’ll cover you. I stepped aside and let Owen get to the window first, pulling my gun and training it on the door. Behind the scattered, piled-up filing cabinets, the doorknob rattled, and I clicked off the safety, sweat trickling down my forehead. I heard Owen grunt and threw him a look, alarmed when I saw him struggling with the window.

Shining my flashlight on it with my left hand, I exhaled another expletive as I saw that long metal spikes had been driven through the window frame, securing it closed. The doorknob rattled again, the door opening a crack, but getting stuck on the piles of cabinets, and the sound of low, urgent voices outside came to my ears.

Owen, I vocalized, throw another one of those cabinets.

Owen didn’t argue, just found the nearest stack and began to topple them, the sound exploding into my ears again. As soon as the first crash sounded, I drew my hand across my chest and slammed the butt of my gun into the glass, shattering it loudly—but not, I hoped, loudly enough to be heard over the racket Owen was making. I used the muzzle of my gun to sweep away the shards that jutted out of the remains of the frame, telling him, Enough!

Just then something heavy slammed into the door, and it scraped open another foot. I leveled my gun at the door and fired three shots at it, the silenced gun making little sound, but the guards outside yanked the door closed as the bullets struck the frame. Go, I ordered Owen, and he ran back to me, diving headfirst through the window. I kept my gun trained on the rattling door, but used my free hand to grab the top of the window frame, lifting my legs up and out of the window, then dropping down into the dirt outside.