The Wolf Code

Hannah and Erica crept into the cabin, Erica breathing slowly, trying to keep from throwing up right there.  Why in the world were they in the cabin with this man?  Hannah was insane.

Erica’s hands were shaking, and she wanted nothing more than to turn and run.  Hannah looked completely calm, focused on the Sheriff’s back and grabbing what looked like a paperweight off a nearby table and holding it in her hand.  Erica’s eyes went wide, and she searched the room frantically for a weapon to grab. 

Erica took a step and froze, but it was too late to stop the floorboard that creaked suddenly.  The Sheriff stiffened and turned around before Hannah was close enough to hit him with the makeshift weapon in her hand.

“You!” the Sheriff yelled when his eyes landed on Hannah.  “You ruined everything, you little bi*ch!”

He fumbled for his gun, but it was pinned between his body and the chair.  He’d sat down so hastily, he’d sat in the chair almost sideways, making his firearm harder to access.  Erica took the moment of confusion and his focus on Hannah and grabbed a lamp off the table, swinging it at the Sheriff and yelling in anger.

He turned, and the cord pulled taut, stopping the arc of Erica’s blow and forcing the lamp to bounce off the Sheriff’s shoulder instead of hitting him in the side of the head as she’d planned.  It knocked him backward, but not completely out of the chair.  Hannah rushed forward, shoving the Sheriff so that he fell the rest of the way down and jumping on him knees first.  Erica was in shock, watching Hannah in awe for a split second before she remembered the computer and ran to it.

It was running an auto delete program, and the bar across the screen was showing the progress at forty percent.  The Sheriff was wiping the computer clean and already almost half of the files were deleted, permanently destroyed.

“No, no, no,” Erica said, getting in front of the computer and typing as fast as she could.

She tried canceling, but the program kept going and seemed to speed up.  Erica focused, trying to remember what she’d learned about computers in high school and wishing she’d paid attention in class.  She could check her social media, and that was about it.

Grabbing the mouse, she clicked the right button and almost whooped in delight when she saw the word “cancel” on the dropdown menu.  She clicked it, and the progress stopped.  Erica was relieved, but then a dialogue box popped up, demanding the password. 

Erica stared at the dialogue box, drawing a blank.  She had no way of knowing what it could be, and the Sheriff was quickly gaining the upper hand.

Erica turned, then she saw it.  The Sheriff’s gun on the floor, knocked out of his hand when he’d pulled it from the holster.  She grabbed it, pointing it at the Sheriff and cocking the gun.  She might not know about computers, but Erica knew a lot about guns.

The Sheriff froze and looked up.

“What’s the code?” Erica asked, her voice calm and cold.

“I don’t know the code.”

“Liar.”

“What are you going to do, shoot me?  If you do that, you’ll never get the code.  And if you wait all day to act, you won’t get it in time.”

He was laughing, and a quick glance over her shoulder told her why.  Without a password, the program had picked up where it had left off, and now fifty percent of the files were scrubbed from the hard drive.

“What to do, what to do,” the Sheriff chided.  “Lower the gun and risk your life or let the computer delete everything?”

Erica shrieked in anger, pulling the trigger as she did.  The Sheriff’s laughter stopped abruptly, he looked confused, and then he slumped over.  A single drop of blood and cerebral fluid leaked out of the wound in the center of his forehead, and his line of sight dropped to the floor.

Hannah jumped up, wriggling away from the dead man and running to the computer.

“What do we do?” Hannah asked.

“We need help.”

Hannah nodded and ran to the front door.

“Senora!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, then she ran back to the computer and a moment later, the woman who had uncuffed Erica burst through the doorway.

“Sh*t!” the woman swore and ran to the computer. 

Erica got out of her way, and watched, looking over at the Sheriff to make sure the man was still dead.

“Hurry!” Hannah shouted, but it was too late.

Senora tried everything she could, but with only ten percent left, the program finished, and an angry, demonic face filled the screen, laughing.

“The Gatekeeper?” Senora said in shock. 

“Who is the Gatekeeper?” Erica asked.

Senora shook her head. 

“This is bad.  This isn’t just one small trafficking operation.  This is bigger than we thought.”

She looked at Erica, then at the dead Sheriff, then back at Erica again.

“Did you do that?” she asked.

“I had to.”

Senora nodded.

“Good for you.  Without the computer files, we would have had a tough time convicting him.  Even with a guilty verdict, he would have been out in five years tops.  He’s better off dead.”

“I tried to save the files,” Erica said.

“Don’t worry about it.  The Gatekeeper is the most prolific human trafficker in the country.  Even with the password, you wouldn’t have been able to save the files.  I’ll get him someday, but today is not that day.”