Permafrost [COMPLETED]

Noah

"This isn't good." I state, crouching close to the ground, my thighs and calves burning.

"What?" Katie asks, not giving me her full attention, eyes squinted on the janitors door about 20 feet away.

"What if this fails?" I ask, this whole situation making me feel uneasy.

"It won't. Now c'mon." She suddenly grabs me and pulls, my legs shaking as I steady myself.

I see the janitor wheeling a cart to the dumpster and I bolt, leaving Katie trailing behind.

We slip through the opening and continue running down the long hallway.

Quickly dodge the window of the Secretary's office and run.

We get into the last office on the right at the end of the hall and I slam the door behind us.

"Okay, quickly, what are we looking for??" I ask, my mind on overdrive, my veins pumping with adrenaline. Oh my god, I should be at home.

No more Katie convincing you to go with her, Noah.

"I told you, Lena said she was in here the other day and found Katherine Shelling's case file but a bunch of the pages were ripped out. I'm just going to brush through the drawers."

"Those papers could be anywhere!" I whisper-shout, my heart hammering in my ears. I place a hand on my head, the temperature making me flinch. I rub my hands on my jeans and take deep breaths. "Were gonna get caught."

"Noah! You need to stay with me! Now help me look before you're panic attack alerts this whole facility!" Katie shouts, raising her voice slightly as she continues sweeping through the flies.

"Why can't Lena do this herself?" I mumble as I begin opening various drawers.

"Because she scanned in at the front and her dad found out she was here. She's not allowed to leave her room." Katie informs me and I huff, pulling out a stack of papers shoved in the small top drawer.

"How convenient." I mutter, shutting drawers and file cabinets for no reason.

I pull out a stack of paper labeled "important notice" but I don't read any further.

"What are these?" I ask and Katie grabs them from me, scanning her eyes over the paragraphs.

"I'll take them for later." She shoves them in her back pocket and I shut the side cabinet.

"You're just going to steal them??? I ask but she ignores me pulling out case after case, finally finding a small stack of papers.

"Here we go." She mumbles, wrapping the rolled files in a rubber band.

She snaps it against the roll and stands.

"Okay. Now we can get out of here." She says and I get up, wiping my hands on my shirt.

"How?" I ask as she opens the door to the office and peers out.

"Follow me." She whispers, and I shut the door behind me.

I follow her past several cubicles and past the secretary, avoiding a short man with a box of toner for a printer. A few paperclips falling and scattering behind him.

He eyes us suspiciously but decides not to question us as we pass him.

We get to the janitors door and Katie goes to pull it open but it doesn't budge.

"Why aren't you opening it?" I whisper worriedly, looking at her with nervous glances.

"It's locked." She grunts, huffing and turning around, we make our way back to the office.

"Who locked it?" I ask warily, shaking out of my shoes.

"Hmm I don't know, maybe the janitor?" She tells me sarcastically and I narrow my eyes at her.

"Well how are we gonna get out?"

"Noah, if I knew that would we still be in the RES building?" She says anger laced in her tone.

"Would you quit yelling at me?? I have anxiety." I say lowly and she sighs, coming over to hug me.

"You know I don't mean that. You know I love you, I'm just super irritated right now."

"We just need to be smart about this." I say, pushing my glasses farther up the bridge of my nose.

A streak of light hits my eyes and I focus on the small window at the top of the wall.

I suddenly grab a chair and push it over, pulling the window open to reveal the sunshine.

"Quick." I say, pulling her up onto the chair with me.

She slides up and out, cursing when she hits the ground with a loud thud.

I pull myself up next, sliding my legs through and reaching the ground before my head even leaves the window.

"You and you're stupid long legs." She grumbles, looking around for a sign of anyone.

When she starts running slightly, I catch up to her, sprinting until we reach the road.

When we get back to my house, I sit down at the counter and she spreads out the papers, reaching for the important notice. Then she reads over the papers we have from the Katherine Shelling case.

"So she's over there because of her husband but there's no evidence that she did anything." Katie tells me, writing down a few notes.

"So her husband got scared and called her out? Does she have kids?" I ask and she nods.

"A girl and a boy. It doesn't say how old though." She reads, squinting her eyes at a particularly confusing part. "It says she was the one who stole the 3M from RES Corporations. That can't be right."

"Why not?"

"Because the money was taken out via a private hacking system. It says here she's a teacher at RidgeViewPre."

"Preschool?"

"Yep." She confirms, placing the papers in separate stacks.

"How does a preschool teacher steal 3 million dollars from RES Corporations using a private hacking system??"

"Beats me, but one things for sure. Her husband fixes computers."

"So he could have framed her?" I ask, my eyebrows raised and my eyes wide.

"I don't know. It's possible but Lena has the other pages. It ends with her husbands occupation."

"What was the important memo about?" I ask, motioning to the stray piece of paper.

"It's a task that affects the entire city."

"What? How?" I ask confused, my eyebrows furrowed.

"They're emergency notices. They're locking down Brookwall."