They quietly stare up at the glowing City of Austin power plant sign, as they wait to hop a moving freight train. They hear a horn a little after 10 p.m. A train is approaching from the north, which narrows their possible destinations to San Antonio, Laredo, Corpus Christi, and all the railyards and sidetracks between. After so much boredom, the sudden excitement is overwhelming. They can't see the train yet, but they can hear the brakes whine as it prepares to cross the river and they can feel a weighty rumble.
Freight trains are commonplace, so much annoying rusty scenery.
But for these three, this time, this train is different. Because this is the train they're going to risk their life to board. And if they're successful, they have no idea where the train will stop. As it turned out, there would be no Halloween trainhopping for the twentysomethings at Fourth and Lamar. When the train rounded the corner, they quickly realized something was wrong.