Infiltration by Sean Rodman

when I’d been researching this place didn’t do it justice. I thought about taking some pictures to post on the Citycrawler website. Nobody would believe that I’d gotten in. Then I realized that I didn’t want any evidence of what were doing.
    â€œC’mon,” said Kieran. “Enough sightseeing.” He was right. We pulled dry clothes out of the garbage bags in our backpacks. We both dressed the same, in dark hoodies, black cargo pants, black boots. Then we carefully closed up the metal grate, placing the broken padlock back together so no one would suspect a thing.
    I got a bearing using the gps and the map on my smartphone. I pointed in the direction we needed to go. Silently, Kieran and I ran across the facility grounds. We stuck to the shadows, clinging to the sides of big dark buildings. In the distance, I could see lights glowing in a few places. It felt like we were creeping through a strange city during a power outage.
    I paused to stop and check the map. Cradling the phone in my hand, I tried to keep the light from the screen from giving us away. We were about halfway to our target, the gigantic ware-house that loomed up in the distance. The trouble was, we were on the south side of the warehouse. According to the information Kieran had given me, there was an old loading dock on the north side that we could probably break in through. So now we just had to get around to the other side of the warehouse.
    I was distracted by trying to figure out the best way to do this now that I could see things on the ground. That’s why I hadn’t noticed the low, mechanical noise in the distance. But then the noise got louder. I realized what it was when I saw the headlights. A truck. A guard. Coming our way.

Chapter Twelve
    We were in the open, exposed between buildings. The truck was coming our way, and there was no way that they’d miss us.
    â€œLights off,” hissed Kieran. We both shut off the headlamps and ran. The ground was uneven, and we both kept tripping and stumbling. All the while, the growling of the truck engine grew louder behind us. Kieran veered to the left, around the side of something that looked like a massive metal radiator. With the radiator in between us and the truck, we sank to the ground and caught our breath. I peered around the side to see if I could catch sight of the guard. No luck. Then Kieran pointed up. There were a series of ridges up the side of the radiator. Handholds, not great but usable. We scrambled up about six feet, then carefully looked over the top.
    In the distance, we could see that the guard truck had stopped. The engine was still idling. Then a searchlight mounted on the roof flicked on and moved back and forth over part of the fence.
    â€œThat’s pretty close to where we came in,” whispered Kieran.
    â€œNot that close,” I said. But as we watched, the searchlight slid over to the place that we had just come through. I stopped breathing. The searchlight paused for a second, then moved on. Had we succeeded in covering our tracks?
    The truck started up again. Only now it was moving right toward our hiding place.
    â€œThink we’ll get lucky? He’ll just go past us?” I whispered to Kieran.
    The truck kept coming.
    â€œI don’t feel lucky,” Kieran said. He dropped off the radiator and ran. He was headed across a wide-open patch of ground toward the big warehouse. I took off after Kieran, keeping the radiator between us and the truck.
    We sprinted across together like we were racing at a track meet. Each second in the open meant another chance we could be spotted. The distance seemed to stretch out forever. I was sure that any second now I would be surrounded by a ball of light and hear the guards barking orders at us.
    Kieran and I hit the side of the ware-house at the same time. My chest heaved for air, and I crumpled to the ground. I couldn’t move until I caught my breath, even though I knew we