I walked along the service road leading to the Parana distribution center, I was dressed in all black and carrying a matching duffle bag. I hadn’t committed burglary before but I’d heard the multi-billion dollar company had replaced all its warehouse crews with robots, so I suspected I wouldn’t have to worry about any human collateral. A big wrought iron gate came into view and I slipped on a black balaclava. I could see that my idea wasn’t original, someone had already cut the locks and swung the gate wide. I hesitated, someone getting hurt was much more plausible now, but whoever was in there wouldn’t be bystanders, I reasoned, and hurting other criminals was business as usual. I continued forward trying my best to stay low and obscure my six-five frame, it was a fairly distinct feature after all. I passed through the gate into a large parking lot, to my left was the south facing wall of the distribution center. It was lined with loading bays, one on the east corner of the building was open with a pickup parked in front of it. It was a 4 door model and someone must have taken some sandpaper to the white paint as it was so scuffed that none of the lot's lighting reflected in it, the engine was running but I couldn’t see anyone in the seats. I avoided that end of the lot and skirted along a building opposite the distribution center; it also had several bays with garage doors, although these were at ground level, maybe a mechanic’s shop.
I looked through the windows and saw all kinds of tool drawers, racks and fancy lift equipment. I wasn’t sure what would be worth grabbing but some of the less scrupulous auto shops downtown will pay good money for decent tools no questions asked. I took a deep breath, gave another look to my surroundings, and tried the first bay, finding it unlocked, I lifted as little as possible and dipped through. Once inside I started to feel a little anxious, I'd been in some pretty dicey spots before but something about sneaking into a place I didn’t belong was different. The shop seemed weirdly sterile no tools whirred, no voices shouted and the lifts sat silent, all the surfaces were free of dust or grime and only the occasional oil stain could be seen on the concrete and asphalt floors. Scanning the interior for stuff to yoink, I noticed a faint green glow coming from an area further back into the shop and started creeping my way towards it, as the source of the light came into view I couldn’t help but grin. Before me was a wire rack covered in batteries, their charges and power tools; all had the blue and green Tinker’s Favorite logo, “Jackpot” I muttered, as I got to work filling the duffle bag I brought with me. Most of the items were variations on power drills, some were for socket sets, some had handles on the side and there were even some little handheld electric screwdrivers. Only four sets of tools fit in my bag, but that was probably enough to keep me fed and housed for a few months. I slung the bag over her shoulder and slipped under the door I had entered from. Looking around the courtyard, things seemed more or less the same as before, the only real difference was that a couple of boxes had been stacked in the bed of the truck. I felt no need to hang around and crept my way back through the gate and roughly southwest into the woods that flanked the entrance.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
After about ten minutes of hiking the quiet of the forest was interrupted by whining buzzing noise from above and behind me, I snapped around, and looked up. Floating about ten feet above me was a quad drone, it was about four feet arm to arm and its frame was built out of little white hexagons. I started scanning the floor for something I could chuck at it when a shitty text to speech voice spoke,
“Theresa Meyard?” the voice was like a monotone child, and at hearing my name my eyes narrowed, “this one of the guys from the outfit” I thought clenching my fists,
“Relax, I’m not really here for you” the voice continued “but I think you’ll benefit from my presence”
“Benefit huh” I shifted to a more casual pose as I spoke, “Why don’t you give me the details and i’ll consider your proposal” there was a pause before the drone replied
“In that compound is a pickup, I’m sure you saw it” I nodded “all I need you to do is arm the bomb in the glove box”
“What?!” I replied my eyebrows rising with my surprise
“The owners of said vehicle failed to properly compensate me for the purchase of the aforementioned bomb, I believe in clear communication and need my displeasure delivered to them” the voice replied
“You want me to just kill some dudes?!” I began “I’m no saint, but random murder is how you get on the capes’ shit list”
“Ah, apologies for the confusion” droney began, “this particular bomb is for destroying really sturdy inorganic objects like bank vaults or cookie jars, even if the bomb went off while they were in the vehicle they would be unharmed”
“You often struggle with tough cookie jars?” I asked dryly
“Oh yes, mother was quite strict when it came to cookies” the monotone voice replied “but that is neither here nor there, do this simple task and fifty thousand dollars will be yours”
“Oh, uh” I suddenly found Mr. Droney much less humorous “fifty thousand in cash?” I replied
“It should be in the glovebox, press the big red button” I set down my bag and started marching back towards the delivery gate.
