Page 33 of Villainous Fate

Stepping forward to approach the gate, a hand grabs my shoulder, pulling me back. My head snaps toward my partner, and he points to the ground about fifteen feet in front of the gate. I squint, trying to make out why he is stopping me when I see the small silver lines reflect briefly in the moonlight.

Traps.

Following the lines, I make out a grid spanning from one end of the open area at the trees to the other. It must be ten feet wide and a football field in length. Turning away from the main entrance, I see the grid squares extend and eventually disappear.

We have to find a way around, without tripping any of the wires, in the dark.

Fucking wonderful.

My stare returns to find my partner matching my expression. His eyes are shifted as he scans the surrounding perimeter for a way through. As I look back over the interconnected wiring, I see that each section sits in isolation. So, if one team sets off a section, it would leave the others untouched. Each grid square is about five feet by five feet.

What if we…

Before I can talk myself out of it or run the idea past my partner, I reach down for a broken tree branch about the size of my arm lying on the ground and unceremoniously chuck it at the closest grid wire before taking cover behind a large trunk, pulling my partner back with me.

“What the fuck are you…” is all I hear before the branch hits home, snagging the wire and releasing an oversized net that now sits floating a few feet above the ground.

Guards stationed at the gate quickly stand alert, turning their attention to the net, but they realize quickly that it hasn’t caught anyone.

“Damnit, Danny! Your stupid net went off again. Probably another ground squirrel. Go get the tools from the tower so we can reset it before they start arriving,” One of the men says before turning away from the disturbed scene.

“You’re fucking batshit. You know that?” My partner whispers to me, humor lacing his tone as he continues, “I guess it's faster than going all the way around and back. Plus, the guards aren’t supposed to stop us. They are only there to ensure no one dies.” He shrugs at the statement before picking up a log of his own and chucking it to the next wired section.

This time, a gunshot rings out, and both of us hit the dirt on impulse before we realize it was a sound alarm triggered by the trap.

They are all different.

I grab another smaller branch and throw it to the third of five sections between us and the front gate while the sound of the guards locating us hits my ears.

“Sneaky bastards,” one says.

This grid falls away completely, revealing a pit similar to the one at my starting location.

My partner’s next shot clears the pit, only to catch fire from the electricity that is apparently being run to that area of the booby traps.

Well, shit. Glad we missed that party trick.

With one section left between us and the finish line, my gaze moves to my partner, who is grinning from ear to ear as he stretches the final chunk of wood in my direction.

“Let’s say we finish this, eh?”

I grab the branch, walk around the swinging net, past the now expended trip wire for the sound alarm, and stop in front of the pit before launching the final piece into the air. We watch in slow motion as it turns end over end before landing at the center with a soft thud.

And then…nothing.

Nothing explodes, drops, pops up, makes a sound, or triggers a response. Literally, nothing happens.

The silence that follows the drop is deafening as I stand waiting. Time merely exists as my pulse begins to drum in my ears. My eyes flash across the space, wondering if I’d somehow missed the wire when the limb landed.

Confusion etched on my face, I turn to my partner, whose brows are lowered in deep concentration.

“Any wisdom you wanna impart?” I ask, hoping he has an inkling as to what the last trap might hold.

“Could be a weight sensor that doesn’t activate until the pressure is placed and then removed,” he answers quietly, his hand cupped at his chin as he considers. “Or it could be something we can’t see, acid or some chemical. Hell, it could be a lot of things. Not sure we will be able to test all of them out.”

My stare slides back to the guards across the way, who appear to be analyzing us as they stand silently by, waiting for our next move.

“Maybe I should throw another branch? See if I can move the first one enough to see about the weight sensor or turn it to see if anything is happening to the bottom?” I offer as an option before jogging back to the tree line to grab a few more broken limbs.

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