Chapter 12

Mark was still very angry and full of rage, so Ryan had to attempt to calm him down. After about twenty minutes of soothing words, Ryan was finally able to successfully calm Mark down. "Well what now?" asked Caleb. Ryan replied by saying, "That security guard will only let us through if we have some form of identification. Obviously we don't have any identification, and it doesn't look like we're getting some any time soon. So instead of having the security guards let us through the gates, why don't we just climb up the gates?"

"Are you completely insane?" asked Mark. "Those gates are at least 200 feet tall! How do you expect us to climb that without getting caught?" "I guess we're just going to have to put your training sessions in to use. You boys better climb real quick." said Ryan. "Ha! I'm always up for a challenge!" said Caleb. Ryan then turned to Mark and said, "So what do you say? Are you in?" "You know what?" replied Mark. "I have nothing to lose. I'm in."

So the three boys walked up to the very beginning of the gates. They lodged their weapons onto their backs, and were ready to go. Although this was Ryan's idea, he was beginning to have second thoughts. Thoughts began racing through his mind. "What if we get caught? We could get arrested. What if we slip and fall? We could die! How are we supposed to get down once we're at the top? Where do we even go if we do make it past the gates?" After a little bit of self encouragement, Ryan finally managed to shake all doubts out of his mind. "Okay, I'm ready." said Ryan. "Let's do this."

"How should we start climbing?" asked Caleb? "Just get a running start and jump as high as you can. Then you just slide your body across the gate and use your arms and legs to guide you." said Mark. The three boys got a good distance away from the gate so that they could get a running start. "On the count of three, we jump." said Ryan. "One- two- three!"

The boys jumped as high as they possibly could in the air and managed to hold on to the cold, metal gate. They began to slowly slide their bodies up the gate. Inch by inch they were getting closer and closer to the top of the gate. "How long have we been climbing?" asked Caleb. "About half an hour." replied Mark. "And we're only about half way to the top!" "Well there's no turning back now!" said Ryan.

The boys continued their climbing, powering through with each slide that they took up the gate. They were able to pace themselves and push themselves to keep on going. That was until Ryan made the mistake of looking down. He looked directly down at the ground, as he was 150 feet in the air, and began to freak out. "We're pretty high up!" exclaimed Ryan. I don't know if I can do this anymore!"

"This was your idea!" replied Mark. "And like you said, there's no turning back now." "But I'm freaking out! said Ryan. "I'm freaking-" Before Ryan could finish his sentence, his grip on the metal gate loosened, and his hand slipped! He was falling! "Ryan!" screamed Caleb, tears now rushing down his face." Ryan was screaming for his life as his body was plummeting towards the ground. But right when it seemed like Ryan was about to face death, something happened.

Just as Ryan's body was flying down past Mark, Mark used all of his strength and might, reached his hand out, and caught Ryan by his shirt! Ryan was able to regain his footing and grab onto the gate once again. Caleb filled with joy, shouted, "Ryan! You're okay!" "You- you saved my life, Mark" said Ryan. "Thank you so much. I could never repay you." "You can repay me by finishing this climb." Mark replied.

So the three boys kept on climbing, and after all of their dangerous, hard work, they reached the top of the gates. "Yes! We did it!" shouted Caleb!" I don't know what you're celebrating for." said Mark. We still have to get down." "Well how should we do that?" asked Ryan. "Just press your body against the gate, and slide down. Think of it as a giant fireman's pole." said Mark.

So they slid down the 200 foot gate until they finally reached the bottom. "Wow, sliding down was actually exciting, not terrifying. What a surprise." said Ryan. "Well we can finally say that we did it." said Mark. "I gotta hand it to you, Ryan. I didn't think that your plan would work. But we all made it down in one piece." "Now we can finally continue our journey!" said Caleb.

"Stop right there and drop your weapons immediately!" The boys heard a voice behind them, and turned around to see five police officers with guns pointed right at them! "No one is allowed here without identification!" said one officer. "We are placing you all under arrest!"