The sudden quiet after the cars sped away felt even more intense than the blaring alarm had been. It was the kind of silence that comes after a close call, leaving everyone shaken and knowing the danger could return at any moment, even worse than before.
For a whole minute, nobody in the cannery moved or said a word. They were all listening carefully, trying to hear if the bad guys were tricking them and might come back. The only sounds were the quiet hum of the computer servers and their own nervous, uneven breathing.
Silva was the first to react. He made a strange, choked sound that was both a laugh and a sob and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "It worked," he whispered, looking at his hands, which were still shaking. "We actually did it. We gave an order to Marcus, and he obeyed it without question."
Evelyn bent over, putting her hands on her knees, breathing deeply. "That was too close. I've never been that scared before."
