He leaned against a wall as he watched Clive’s cousin, who was bald, hiding against the other wall. They both watched Annabelle walk in the middle of them as she opened the door to the bank. Logan’s stomach hurt as she left his eyesight. He repositioned his black, dusty bandana and tried to listen to the noise in the bank, yet it seemed quiet, unlike his heart which was the only noise he could hear. No people in the streets to make noise as the early morning mist disguised the buildings, houses, and stores. He thought it was a great idea to get there early.

Suddenly, Logan could barely hear a man cry out for help, so he kicked the door open and pointed his shotgun while shouting, “I would listen to her if I was you.” Logan was surprised at how big the lobby was as he threatened the hostages. He waved his shotgun like a flag. The hostages, who were once crying out, started to gather in the middle of the lobby, where Logan was pointing his shiny, stupendous shotgun. His long, black overcoat smacked against his knees as he quickly turned to face Annabelle.

She had a guard in her arms and he admired her courage as he seen no fear in her eyes, only fire. He left the hostages, who were in the middle of the lobby, to the bald cousin and focused on the two other guards who were stood next the counter where the staff would talk to the customers. The counter had bars going down it and separated the lobby from the staff, keeping them safe; however, a gate with black bars going down them was seen in the corner of his right eye as his back faced the main door. That’s the important gate she was going on about, Logan thought. The guards were separated, one was standing next to the right side of the counter and other one was already lying down on the floor. Logan thought what a coward as he rushed over to the other guard. The guard was standing next to the gate that had bars and Logan was using his shotgun as a mouth but the guard was ignoring every threat. He was frozen in place, only slight shivers but Logan was growing impatient, so he pulled no punches, whacking the guard in the nose with the barrel of the shotgun. The guard fell backwards into the black, long bars and dropped to the marble floor.

After Logan got out of his own head, he could hear Annabelle stomping towards the staff who were behind bars. She had the tip of her pistol on the guard’s temple as she threatened the bank staff with spilling the blood of the guard on their faces. They both cried, yet the guard remained calm and Logan respected him for a second and he let her paint her plan and helped the bald cousin with the hostages.

The veins on top of his bald head were bulging as he was dragging the guard to the middle of the lobby, and Logan continued to taunt the hostages. “Ya life is in my hands, so listen and I’ll be careful. Do ya understand?” Logan showed off his shotgun, once again, to the hostages.

Annabelle managed to get one of the staff members to open the gate and she pushed the guard in front of her, as his back faced her, she drove the pistol’s muzzle into the back off his head and the guard dropped to floor like a falling star. She took her red gambler hat off, wiped the sweat from her forehead and began to look into Logan’s eyes. Yet her eyes instantly wondered to opened gate and she began to walk in with her pistol pointed at both staff members.

“Where is your manager?” She shouted at them, pushing her pistol further in their faces. They both cried out for help as Annabelle sighed. Logan bit his lip. But everyone became distracted by a noise and Logan watched her walk through the narrow hallway where the staff was working from and separated the lobby from the vault. Yet the noise wasn’t coming from the stronghold, it came from a different room. She continued walking down the hallway when she came across the stronghold’s door which was on her left and as she focused on the black steel door that blocked the stronghold, someone kicked open a door.

A guard slowly walked out of a room and Logan thought the room must be a breakroom for the guards. Logan wanted to shoot the guard straight in the head but that would ruin the chance of getting into the vault, he thought. But suddenly, another guard came out of the breakroom; though, this one was just about keeping his pistol steady.

Annabelle was standing next to the black steel door as her face didn’t show a crack. The guards shouted, “put your hands up!” She put her hands up and nodded in Logan’s direction. She slightly smiled as the guards began to look at Logan who was now pointing his shotgun at one of the guards. The guards, who was pointing their weapons at Annabelle, instantly began to get on the floor and chucked their pistols away from them and she grinned at Logan. His cold heart was growing warmer as his smile reached his ears.

She approached the two guards. “This is looking too easy,” Logan shouted as the hostages continued to beg for his mercy. “We will have to do this on the regular. They say the banks are hard but my… someone I know says, “all you need is a good plan, hard work and a trustworthy crew and you can accomplish anything,” and I don’t think… I’ve ever believed it more than I have now.” The hostages began to grab the bald cousin’s foot and he moved his foot and stood on the woman’s hand but Logan’s focus went straight back to Annabelle as she kneeled next to both of the guards. “I guess it is okay to believe in a dream.” She smiled. “But not everyone is fortunate to grab it by the balls.”

Logan was looking to the floor in sadness until he heard a thud. Annabelle was knocking the rest of the guards as he thought their plan was surely going to bring the fruits that he had desired his entire life. After knocking out the last guard with her pistol, she looked back and forth at Logan and the bald cousin as she said, “go on and do ya job!” The bald cousin listened instantly as Logan came to a standstill. “Come on, strip your guard.” She laughed and walked over to one of the guards in the hallway, moving her hand along the metal bars.

As time passed, the main doors to the bank slammed open as they pointed their weapons at them. He knew they were part of the gang and smirked as he put his hands in the air. “Keep your hands up and don’t do anything stupid and you’ll be looked after,” the gang member said who was standing in the middle and seemed to oversee the other three. He had a mean face and showed not one shake. All three of them nodded at the gang members as the one in charge continued to speak. “Go tie the guards up while I deal with the civilians!”

His chest went tight as the three gang members approached them. Though, one of them stopped and spoke to the one in charge, “hey, look. One of the guards is a girl.” They all laughed together. “I wondered why this was so easy.” He winked at his boss.

“Yeah, they will hire anyone these days. God knows what the world is coming to?” His joy turned into depression as he ordered, “no slacking, tie them up now.”

Suddenly, the bank’s main door was opening as the one in charge said, “finally, Jim. Where have you been?” Jim looked nervously. “Well… where’s the rest of you?”

Jim looked behind him and said, “they are just coming now.” The one in charge accepted his answer and turned his back to Jim. He began to turn to the hostages, until a shiny flicker caught his eye. “Don’t move. And you three, don’t touch my friends. Otherwise, you will see your boss’s brain.”

They all complied but the one in charge pleaded with him, “come on, Jim… we are ya friends,” he walked closer to Jim, “what are ya doing? We have given you everything, Jim. We have known each other since young… what are ya thinking, cowpoke?” Jim’s arm turned passive, “that’s it, Jim. We gave you everything. Put the pistol down.”

“No! Don’t you dare do it, brother.”

Suddenly as he was stood in front of Jim, a pistol instantly was landing on his cheek. “You gave me nothing. But my sister gave me everything.” He pointed his bloody pistol at the three other gang members and said, “we are nearly there, guys.”

Annabelle, with the bank’s guard uniform on, drew her pistol on them too as she replied, “we need to stay calm and calculated,” she turned and looked into his eyes, “but… yup, we are so close.”

Logan took the blue overcoat and blue hat off and put his black, long over coat on, which didn’t feel as tight on his arms and covered his clean, white and smart shirt, as he walked over to his black, high-crowned hat, his heart was pumping with excitedness, he felt complete as he put his hat back on. With his readiness, he began to do his part in the plan and started to walk towards the staff. He walked past the bald cousin who was trying to pacify the civilians. Logan seen the terror in their faces and quickly turned his attention back onto the staff. Yet their faces were whiter than the hostages. He wondered if they would pass out.

“Open that steal door now, I know the safe is in there.” One of the staff members shuffled past Logan as she agreed to open it. She continued walking through the tight, narrow hallway that protected the staff and the steal door that led to the safe.

Logan thought how quick time had gone as he watched Annabelle slap one of the gang members, “yes… I certainly am a fucking woman but I am the one that will shoot one in ya ass.” She quickly moved her elbow backwards, released it like a bow and struck him in the face, using the sharp, pointy edge of her elbow. He lost his footing and fell to the floor as the bald cousin laughed his socks off. He was holding his hands out, hoping she wouldn’t hit him again and she didn’t, just spat on him and turned her attention onto Jim while she kept her pistol on the gang members.

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The steal door was opening as Logan was signalling to Jim to follow him. Logan couldn’t quite believe his luck, had he really found it, found the one thing he had been looking for, the things that only appeared in his dreams. Logan prayed he was…

Logan walked in the stronghold and he seen a flood of small safes on the wall, which Jim gasped at as he followed Logan in. “Don’t get greedy,” Logan said, “we are here for that big safe.” He walked towards it as the safe’s golden outlines and handle gleamed at him. The metallic safe was black, old and looked indestructible. It stood against the wall, surrounded by tiny safes, with a live-changing aura. He couldn’t take his eyes off it, until he heard a noise behind him.

As he turned around, a guy came running from behind a desk and threw a punch at Jim. The fast, swinging punch, that was heading towards Jim’s face, barely connected and Logan mocked it as Jim managed to grab the guy’s arm, twisting his own body and launched the guy on to the floor. Logan’s eyes opened wide. Jim didn’t even let the floor react to the guy falling on it as he top mounted him and pounded into his face like it was a brand-new cake. Logan’s mouth opened wide. Blood was flowing up in the air like a backwards blood fountain as he seen a thousand blurry fists hitting the guy’s face. Logan quickly ran and stopped Jim when the guy’s body turned limp. When Jim finally finished fighting Logan, his bloody victim began convulsing. Logan seen his name tag yet ignored his name and read his job title instead as the manger continued to gulp on his blood, trying to reach for air, yet his muscle spasms interrupted any chance he had, until his eyes turned dark.

They were both looking at the safe as Logan tried to ignore the blood on Jim’s clothes. The safe had the John Jamieson written on it, in white and Logan was thankful he was familiar with it. He pulled his tools out of the bag that the cousin had passed him and Jim finally spoke after a long and wondering silence. “Why do you need that stethoscope?”

Logan was looking at Jim, hoping he wouldn’t keep asking questions; he knew it was going to take long enough. “Right, this combination lock, imagine the dial inside is like a heart and the stethoscope will help me detect the inner beats inside, so that I hear them correctly as I’m turning the dial. I cannot miss a beat.” Logan turned his already impatient face around as Jim began to ask another question. “Look, Jim. I’m not being funny but I need peace and quiet… so if you cannot give me that… fuck off please. Just stand there and I’ll tell you if I need you.” Logan began to reset the lock. “Ya hear me? Ya already lucky that she didn’t see or hear ya murder that man.” Jim began to walk on eggshells.

The stethoscope fitted like a glove as it slid in both ears. He placed the stethoscope’s bell end against the safe so he amplifies the sound coming from the dial. He had to listen to the mechanism that was behind the dial. The stethoscope was picking up the clicking sounds as he moved the dial counterclockwise, carefully listening to the two clicks. As he heard the fainter clicks, he celebrated but he continued rotating the dial, making sure he counted every click from the contact area that he had already found earlier. He then told Jim to write down how many clicks he had heard.

Logan grabbed the notes from Jim and proceeded to draw a graph. “Are you an artist or something?” Jim’s voice was short tempered as his eyes continued to widen. Logan scrunched his face up like the piece of paper he was writing on. “Well… why ain’t you putting the combination in? We haven’t got time to draw whatever you’re drawing.” Logan bit his lip, “come on… put it in.”

“I haven’t even finished yet and chill out, I even told your sister how long it could take, that’s one of the reasons he has the dynamite.” Logan began to draw y-axis and an x-axis. “How does one learn such a thing? I’m thinking we go grab the dynamite?” Jim crossed his arms as Logan grabbed the dial again.

“Someone taught me pretty well, so I am not grabbing no dynamite, so continue crossing your arms and shut up.” Logan spun the dial several times clockwise to disengage the wheels and then he put the dial back in the zero position.

Jim spoke sincerely, “they sound like a clever person, I’d definitely like to meet them when this is over.”

“Yup…”

Logan, while holding back emotions, put the stethoscope’s bell end near the safe and continued to rotate the dial as he listened carefully. He heard two clicks close together and then made a note about it. He continued to listen until Jim spoke, “see… ya writing numbers and stuff now. This doesn’t even…” Logan raised his lip and pointed his right eyebrow downwards. “Wait… that probably makes sense… sorry, I’ll shut up now.”

After resetting the safe and rotating the dial a few times, he grabbed the notepad and studied the graph thoroughly. One graph was above the other one and he would find the points where the graphs are closest together, and the points would correspond to the combination numbers. The points were consistently looking narrow, so he began to write down his results.

Logan put the notepad on the floor and looked at Jim, “I think I have it.” Jim’s dimples were on full display as Logan reached for the dial and hoped it was for the last time. He turned dial to the right and then to the left and then back to the right and then back to the left and then to the right, yet he sighed. “Wait… I thought you said it would work. Why hasn’t it?” Logan put his hand back on the dial and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his other shaky hand, he turned the dial as he spoke the combination out in his head, “nine, zero and zero and twenty-eight.” After he put the last digit in, the safe made an expected click and he instantly hugged Jim and shouted like he had just won a war.

“Open it.” Logan stopped what he was doing and stood still. He was scared to open it. He had dreamed of achieving such riches, that seeing it and not enjoying it, would be the death of his soul. He had been on his path so long that it was all he knew. Getting rich or die trying.

Yet Jim didn’t wait for a reply, he rushed to open the safe and as it opened, all he heard was Jim’s careless screams and he joined in when Jim turned around to face him. Jim grabbed a couple stacks of money and flaunted them in the air but he stopped when he looked at Logan. “Why are you sad?” Logan had to take a step back as he realised his silence. “We’ve done it… we have actually opened the safe without using noise. We are rich, cowpoke, bloody rich, I tell you.” Jim looked back at the safe, “I cannot quite believe it. it doesn’t feel normal… but I know it will soon.” Jim pattered him on the shoulder and asked, “are you sure… you’re happy about this? Because I’ll tell ya… your face has not just robbed a bank.”

Logan instantly smiled. “I am just in disbelief… I just don’t know how to feel, Jim. Ya know… I’ve been waiting for this… living for this my entire life. And it’s happened.” Jim acted confused. “Don’t get me wrong. I am happy. Trust me.” Jim smiled and began to grab more stacks of money while his other hand grabbed one of the many gold bars. Suddenly, Logan grabbed a gold bar, showing his smile to Jim and keeping his feelings to himself. Logan acted alive while his soul was numb. He tried and tried to enjoy the riches that was eye to eye but the gold didn’t weigh the same as it once did.

He waved the money in the air like he was trying to cool Jim down. Yet, sweat dripped from Jim as he jumped up and down, not showing one bit of composure; although, he could not blame him, Logan wanted to run through the streets naked with the money strapped on his back and singing celebration songs but something was stopping him, a feeling he couldn’t quite describe. A feeling that made his life look pointless and hollow like a bamboo stalk. Logan continued to smile, waving the stack of cash and firmly gripping and shaking Jim’s hand. After Logan had realised that time was not favouring them, he ordered Jim to get the bald cousin to help him with the money and gold. Jim instantly agreed as he suggested helping his sister. He walked off and shouted, “get in!”

Logan and the big, bald cousin walked out the stronghold, using the bank’s bags to hold the money and gold as all four bags were filled to the rim. Annabelle, who was just about to tie up the other three gang members, began to run towards Logan and as she reached him, seeing the gold bars poking out the top, she put her arms around Logan and squeezed his body tightly and it warmed his soul as his mind began to forget about the blood money. He didn’t want to open his eyes or let her go but as his eyes opened, he seen Jim trying to hold one of the bald cousin’s bags. Logan laughed to himself as Annabelle let go and walked towards the bank’s entrance. “They both are waiting for us, so be ready for what waits for us on the outside. But whatever happens, just run down the side of the bank… like we planned before.” She held the door handle, “and if anyone gets lost, ya know where to meet afterwards.” They all followed her out.

His eyes flickered at the bright light as the sun shined on all four of them. Suddenly Annabelle moaned at Jim, “for fuck sakes, Jim. Don’t run! We’ve got guard’s uniforms on, so we will be alright. Well… except for you, Logan.” She began to walk. “Right, follow me.”

As they were about to walk down the ally of the bank, a voice appeared behind them. “Don’t do this, Annabelle. Please… please, don’t make me do this.” They all turned to face the Sheriff as he was about to continue to talk, “if I have to, I will. I will stand up for this town like I always have,” aggression began to leak into his words. “All of you will be bleeding on this floor if I don’t see you get to the floor in five, four, three…”

Logan looked around himself, thinking what he could do, yet he found his knees complying. Bang! Suddenly, they all jolted up and off the floor as the bank’s doors came crashing open. Three of the gang members ran outside as Jim said, “we forgot to tie them up.”

Annabelle quickly pulled Jim’s arm and screamed, “good! Now fucking run!” The Sheriff watched them run from his orders as he was suddenly shot by one of the gang members. Annabelle turned and watched him fall to his hands.

Logan grabbed her, saying, “come on, we’ve got to go. There’s no time for sadness, they will be coming around that corner.”

“You’re right,” she quickly said as they followed behind Jim and the bald cousin.

They were all heading for the big wagon which had a horse tied up to it. Logan saw the other cousin standing next to the wagon and Annabelle shouted to him, “pull the lever! Pull the lever! Pull the fucking lever!”

He seen the other cousin pull a lever which was connected to a wire and his eyes followed the wire until he seen the end of the wire and a sudden explosion went off. The explosion echoed through his head as he continued running. Yet, his head couldn’t stop looking back. The side of the building began to collapse behind him and fall to the floor. Bricks, piles of brick came crashing down, blocking anyway through the alleyway as fire followed smoke.

They reached the wagon and threw each of their bags into it. The long- haired cousin helped Annabelle with her as she shouted, “I can handle it! Just tell Clive to… wait, where is Clive?” The long-haired cousin shrugged and his face seemed clueless, so she carried on with the plan and threw her bag of gold and money with the other bags and stepped in the bag of the wagon with the rest of them.

Logan shouted, “let us ride, Jim!”