It was a moonless night. An ink black color enveloped the sky, perhaps a sign to aid us in the events that were about to unfurl.
Chico drove his old Eclipse, a car that had seen better days, yet responded to his touch like some old trusty companion. It was him, a friend of his and me in the car. We all wore dark clothes, doing our best not to draw any attention to ourselves. With how dark it was, that part of the plan was covered to perfection.
We parked some ways off from the shop but not too far enough to make getting away tough. Chico's friend apparently had enhanced vision surgery and zooming in on the shop would be no problem for him. If anyone showed up, he was to contact Chico immediately. We were to go in, grab as much as we could in a matter of minutes and get out. Simple enough I thought, we'd be long gone before anyone knew the place had been burgled.
I should have known it was a cursed night when the car sputtered on the hill that lead up to the store. Cussing in a language I had never heard before, Chico was able to spur the car on, avoiding what could have been a very embarrassing moment. I do recall thinking to myself, what would happen if we were trying to get away and the car did the same. My nerves were probably on edge already, that would definitely have tipped them over.
Needless to say, we maneuvered into a side street, where Chico's friend immediately wrangled himself to the top of a nearby rooftop to act as lookout. Chico got out of his car and handed me a baseball bat. "Don't hesitate to use it if things get hairy."
I nodded, hoping that wouldn't be the case.
It was a short walk to the store, sticking to the shadows to avoid being spotted. Wouldn't have mattered though, the area was desolate, there was no sign of life around. There were tons of beat down cars, probably salvaged to create spare parts of some kind. It wouldn't have surprised me if a lot of them were stolen, but since I had no way of confirming that, I can only speculate.
The entrance to the store was heavily fortified with some type of wrought iron gate. We'd need some type of specialized saw to cut through those. Either that or chuck a bomb at it and hope it did the job. There was a key code panel by the side but judging from the way Chico was surveying the building, it was clear he didn't have the tools to break in.
He walked around the building, I followed. He kept 'hmmming' as he studied the schematics, and after going round the building once he stopped.
"Chali," he drawled in that thick accent of his, "it seems you will have to climb in the window and let me in from the inside."
I didn't think anything of his suggestion. I was probably more nimble than he was and would rather go through that hassle than calling attention by fiddling with the key code access at the front.
Carefully, I walked to the side where Chico pointed upwards. Indeed there was a window opened slightly, but I would need some help getting up there. He squatted and put his palms together. I stepped on them, instantly hearing a groan, but I was too focused on the task at hand to pay much attention. Chico hoisted me up, I latching onto the ledge immediately. I looked up and saw that with a slight push I could get the window to open upwards. It took some effort but I got it done. I lifted myself up and clambered onto the ledge. I didn't know what was waiting for me below. It was too dark in the building. The last thing I wanted was a broken foot.
"Watchu waiting for?" I heard Chico say from below. I had no choice but to jump in, hoping I didn't regret it.
I landed with a thud and looked around immediately. My eyes took a moment or two to adjust to the darkness. There had to be a light switch somewhere. I had only gone a few feet when I heard a menacing growl. I froze on the spot, hoping my mind was playing tricks on me.