Chương 74: ENEMY MINE [2]

Purna went first, scaling the fence with ease, then Sam and Logan gave the other three girls a leg up before tackling the barrier themselves.

Both men gritted their teeth as the effort of climbing stretched and tensed the muscles in their arms and legs, making their various bites – Logan's in his shoulder, Sam's in his calf – throb with pain.

However, each spurred on by the other's determination, they eventually made it over. As soon as they began to hurry across the open ground towards the prison building, a chorus of different sounds erupted into life.

For one crazy moment, Sam thought they had set off some kind of alarm, then he realized the noise was coming from them, and was the combined ringtones of their cell phones.

'What the fuck?' said Logan, looking down at his pocket as if a scorpion had just crawled out of it.

Purna, however, already had her cell phone in her hand. 'Yep?' she snapped without breaking stride.

The others could hear nothing but the crackle of white noise and the hint of a tinny voice.

'OK, thanks,' Purna said before breaking the connection and slipping the phone back into her pocket.

'White?' guessed Sam.

Purna nodded.

'What did he say?' Xian Mei asked.

'He said to move to our left and that the first door we come to should be entrance number 4. Once we're there, he'll unlock it for us.'

Sam glanced up and around. 'I don't like the thought of being watched,' he said. 'It gives me the creeps.'

'If it makes our task easier, then personally I'm all for it,' said Purna.

They moved quickly across to the building and followed the line of the wall until they came to an alcove that resembled a short, high-sided alleyway. At the end of the alleyway was a grey metal door with a black number 4 stenciled on it, mounted above which was a security camera in a protective cage. As soon as they came within sight of the camera, a series of hefty chunking sounds suggested that several heavy-duty locks were being disengaged.

With barely a glance at the overhead camera, Purna moved to the door, shoved down the handle, and pushed. It groaned open slowly and heavily like the door of a bank vault. Beyond was a short featureless corridor, the floor made of some black vinyl-like substance, the bare stone walls painted an institutional cream. At the end of this corridor was another metal door with another security camera mounted above it. Again there was a series of heavy chunking sounds.

'Open sesame,' murmured Sam.