"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Claire thought, as she eyed up the 'Assembly and Testing' sign overhead. She cast a furtive glance down the corridor, then back over her shoulder, checking the coast was clear before she darted ahead and pushed open the door. She was half expecting it to be locked, but apparently security around here was pretty lax, so she was able to easily pushed on ahead. There were signs on the wall which read:
- Testing Room
- Assembly
- Taste Testers
- Mixing Vats
As she read the sign, she heard some faint footsteps in the distance, and the sound of male voices. Quickly, she looked for cover, and saw a large stack of metal containers in an alcove to her left. As the footsteps drew closer, Claire ducked behind the containers, crouching behind the largest of them and peeking over the top.
"Yeah, I don't know why we're not allowed free candy either, but whatever, it pays well," the first voice said.
"You're telling me, I could put my kids through college with my first three paychecks...not that I actually have kids," a second voice replied.
As they grew closer, Claire could see they were security guards, dressed in garish, dark purple uniforms. They stopped for a moment just the other side of the containers, and she ducked down again.
"You clocking off now?" The first guard asked.
"Yeah, our shifts over," replied the second man. "Do we have to do a handover or anything?"
"Nah, don't worry, the night shift will already be here," the first said.
"Oh yeah...the night shift...they give me the creeps..."
"I know what you mean, they always seem so..."
"Cheerful?"
"Creepy."
"That too."
The guards turned and walked on, passing through the doors and out of Claire's line of vision. She breathed a sigh of relief as she emerged from her hiding place. She wondered what they had meant by the "creepy night shift". Surely security guards should be the night shift, but maybe there was more security on the way? In which case, she would need to be careful. She cast a glance back up at the sign and decided on her next move...