“I need to bring this up. I want to tell you guys that I love you all no matter what happens. If we get caught, or if anything bad happens, I love all of you. I don’t think anything is going to happen, but I still want to say that I love you all, and that’s all I wanted to say.”
All of the guys remain quiet in the van. Kevin continues to drive towards the bank. The men continue to feel anxious and nervous, slowly getting closer to the bank. Many of the guys start to open their mouths to speak, but then change their mind and remain quiet. It’s hard to tell as all five are wearing disguises and you can’t see their lips move.
The guys are keeping quiet, mainly due to the stress each of them feel right now. Being too anxious to get words out, so they continue to keep silent. Russell very briefly turns his head, and looks at Kevin. Kevin continues to be focused driving, paying close attention to the road. Russell then turns his head away from Kevin, and returns to looking forward. Brian, Jesse and Victor in the back of the van, are also motionless and still. They are not looking at each other at all. It has now been almost twenty minutes since they left “Home Base”, with the bank being another twenty or so minutes away. At this point, Kevin starts to turn his head a few times towards Russell’s direction. He is starting to feel a great deal of anxiety. Kevin has many thoughts inside his head. He feels confident, yet on the other hand, he begins to feel scared, having doubts that a mistake might happen. Kevin’s main worry is over mistakes, mainly due to acting poorly from the stress. The stress can be used to strengthen yourself, but it can also lead to carless actions, in which the careless actions might lead to failure. Kevin then begins to grasp the steering wheel very tight between his gloves. He then while looking straight ahead, nervously speaks to Russell.
“Russ, I’m going to be honest man. I’m starting to get butterflies in my stomach. I don’t know why I feel nervous. We’re not going to run into any problems at all, but I’m just feeling very nervous right now. Russ…I… I’m going to be fine Russ. Never mind all of that.”
Russell turns his head to look at Kevin, and he softly responds to him.
“It’s okay to feel nervous Kev. I’m feeling nervous too. What you need to understand Kev, is that you have to use those nerves for good. Use them as an energy boost to transform yourself to get through all of the pressure you get faced with. You can do it Kev. It’s okay.”
Although you can’t see it because he’s wearing a disguise, Kevin starts to smile at Russell. The van continues to go down the road, with the guys all staying extremely quiet. The men are now about fifteen minutes away from the bank. Russell looks at the clock on the dashboard of the van. It now reads 2:30 P.M. Russell then turns the radio of the van on, so the guys can start to feel more comfortable and relaxed. After turning the radio on, Russell raises the volume of the stereo up, so it plays loudly. Russell hoped it would make him feel more eased. The music is actually making him more nervous, as due sound level of the music, he can’t hear himself think. Russell then a few minutes later turns the stereo off. He then sits back on the seat, and looks out straight ahead. Kevin turns his head towards Russell, and notices that he is nervous. Kevin tries to make them both feel calm, and speaks to him playfully.
“Russ, this is a lovely day isn’t it? I don’t see any clouds in the sky, it’s so clear. This is such a nice afternoon Russ. Thank god it’s Friday, right Russ? We’re gonna do this, and we are all gonna party like fuck tonight Russ. Everything is going to go so smoothly man. Yeah.”
Russell nods his head at Kevin. Under his mask, Russell has a very unsure face. Kevin’s words should have helped him feel more secure, just like when he spoke to Kevin to make him feel better. However, Russell is not feeling at all confident after that. He’s anticipating the heist very much, but at the same time, he’s dreading it. Russell wants to believe they will have a flawless performance, but he can’t be completely sure of himself. There are possibilities and chances that things won’t go according to what they planned. The van continues to drive down the highway, with Kevin blending in with the rest of the vehicles on the road.
Victor at this time who is feeling anxious, thinks of a way to break the tension. He begins to laugh hysterically for nearly a whole minute. Victor’s laugh sounds very evil, and sounds like it is coming from a clown almost. As Victor continues to laugh, this causes Brian to laugh uncontrollably as well. Coincidentally, Victor and Brian’s laughs blend together, and they both produce a hilarious sound. Jesse who was trying to ignore both of them laughing, can’t compose himself. He starts to laugh uncontrollably too. The sound of Jesse’s laugh being included, makes the sound even more funny sounding than it already was. Kevin and Russell are on the brink of chuckling along with the rest of the guys due to the sounds of the mysterious and humorous laughter.
A few seconds later, Kevin and Russell at the same time, begin to laugh very loudly. All five of the guys in the van are now laughing together, creating an infectious laughter which will not stop. They continue to laugh, and are laughing at a louder rate. Kevin despite this, manages to stay focused towards driving. Eventually, the guys start to get themselves together. The laughter begins to subside as time passes on. Victor smiles under his mask, knowing that his attempt to break the tension worked. All of the guys now feel better about themselves due to the laugh attack they all just went through. Victor then speaks to the guys, letting the secret out.
“Hey guys, yeah I did that on purpose. We were all acting too rigid. I had to do something to get rid of that. So I decided to laugh for no reason. It was worth a try, and I felt that if didn’t make you guys feel better, it would at least make me feel better. But I don’t care, it seemed to work. It always works by the way. It works every time. Ha-ha.”
Victor then starts to laugh for no reason again. This time, Brian takes his hand, and covers the mouth area of Victor’s mask. He then quietly responds to him.
“Alright man, that’s enough. We don’t need any more of that. It worked the first time, and we’re all set now. If you do it again, we’re just gonna feel agitated. So that’s enough.”
Jesse who’s feeling more relaxed, then starts to softly speak to all of the guys in the van.
“You guys, I want to thank all of you for working together. We are about to do something insane, and I’m so blessed that we are all getting along, and loving one another. It’s nice.”
Russell under his masks smiles at what Jesse said. Brian then responds to Jesse.
“Yeah, we are making a great time. We all have amazing chemistry. That’s a plus for us.”
Kevin while he continues to drive, starts to speak to the rest of the guys.
“That’s the only reason why I’m here. If you guys weren’t cool people, I would have said hell no to all of this shit. Russ, Jess, Brian, Vic, all of you are each awesome in your own way. I’m proud to have you as my teammates. We’re about to kick butt and take names.”
Right after this, Russell then turns his head towards Kevin who’s still driving, and pats him on the shoulder. The men are now just a few minutes away from the bank. Kevin gets off the highway, and drives on the surface streets. Traffic for whatever reason, is a little tight. There isn’t a traffic jam, but the streets are slightly packed. Once they are on the business streets, Russell turns his head and notices many business men with suits walking down the sidewalk with their briefcases. He then starts to have flashbacks to when that was his life. It wasn’t that long ago, that he was one of those same exact men.
Russell finds it interesting how in a very short time span, his professional life changed drastically. He’s now about to go and commit a bank heist. Upon reaching the surface streets, the other men in the van also begin to scan around. They are now only blocks away from their destination. In only a few short minutes, the heist will begin. Russell continues to look outside the window, observing many of the pedestrians on the sidewalk. Kevin who is becoming stressed due to traffic moving at a slow pace, makes an expected U-turn, directing them away
to the bank. Kevin continues to head down the wrong direction for several blocks.
This causes Russell and the rest of the guys in the van to become puzzled, and confused as to where he’s going. Due to the current anxiety they are under, none of the guys ask what his intentions currently are. As Kevin remains going in the opposite direction, Russell turns his head towards Kevin, and under his mask gives him an angry look. Russell proceeds to open his mouth, about to berate Kevin, yet at this moment Kevin quickly recovers. Kevin makes a right turn, which leads them back to the correct route. Russell then calms himself down, and turns his head back forward. Kevin continues, and is now only less than a minute away from the bank. All of the men start to feel pumped, being very close to the bank.
Kevin finally reaches the parking structure of the “United Farmers Savings” bank, and parks the van in a secluded area, adjacent to the entrance of the bank, located under the parking structure. Kevin turns off the engine, turns his head towards Russell, and starts to shake his head. Kevin then immediately opens his computer case, and powers up his laptop. While he’s doing that, Brian grabs one of the large canvas bags, and quickly hands Russell one of bags as well. Kevin then starts to speak.
“Guys, I’m waiting for the alarm software to load up, and for me to figure out the correct hash sequence to disable the alarms. That way when they press the silent alarm, you guys won’t be locked in, and the cops won’t come. Problem is, it’s gonna take a while. So, if you guys go in, and the software hasn’t loaded, you all might be in trouble. They’ll press the alarms, and I haven’t jinxed them. But I don’t want to disable them now that were here in the van. They might get scared, and decide to manually lock the doors. What do you guys want me to do?”
Russell turns his head towards Brian and stares at him in silence for a few seconds. Russell then looks out the windshield into the parking structure, then turns his head at Kevin.
“Well Kev, you know you have to use the alarm software accordingly right? If you disable the alarms too soon before we get in, the software sadly isn’t foolproof, and it’s going to signal that it’s being tampered with. Worst case scenario is they lock the doors, and we won’t get in because of that. But if you wait too long, they are gonna press the alarm and it won’t matter at that time right Kev? Hmm. Why don’t we just wait until you get it situated. Then when you have it all worked out, we’ll then go in. Count ten seconds in your head Kev, and disable the alarms.”
Kevin while he’s still operating the software on the computer, responds to Russell.
“You’re correct Russ, and I agree with that plan. I think the best thing to do is for us to wait here for a minute. By then the alarm system will work. I’ll disable the alarms after about ten seconds from when you all bust away from the van. I don’t see why this tactic wouldn’t work.”
Russell nods his head at Kevin, and they all continue to wait in the car while Kevin continues to work the alarm software. At this time, Brian hands Russell one of the rifles. Russell holds the gun in his hand, and for the first time ever in his life, he gets into beast mode. Holding that gun, knowing the exact details to what he’s about to do. He uses this very little free time they currently have, to think about their routine once inside. While he’s looking down at the gun, Russell then starts to speak to Brian about their plan of attack.
“We’ve already gone through this a million times, but I’m going to mention it a million and one times. Brian, we shouldn’t be in this bank longer than three minutes. That’s my goal. Brian, we’re gonna deal with the tellers and the carts. Once all the tellers have emptied their drawers and the carts are also empty, we’re done. We’re outta there. Jesse and Victor, you guys just stay out on the main floor. That’s our plan, and things should go fine based on that.”
Brian while looking down, responds to Russell.
“Alright Russell. Sounds good to me. I understand everything, and if we all work together and work efficiently, we will be out of there very quickly with no issues at all.”
Russell is still looking down at his gun, and he nods his head to what Brian said. Kevin continues to deal with the alarm software. Russell who notices that Kevin is still focused on the computer, still looking down, starts to talk to him.
“Kev, as soon as we get back to this car, I want you drive this van fast away from here. I don’t want you to drive leisurely either, I want you to get away very quickly. Only until we reach far enough away from the bank do I want you to drive normal. Okay? You understand me Kev?”
Kevin with his head still facing the computer nods his head. He responds to Russell.
“Yeah Russ. You can count on me for that. I’ll zip on out of here very quick man.”
Russell continues to look down at his gun. They all continue to wait in the van for a minute. Kevin then turns his head towards Russell.
“Alright Russ. I’m all set. All I have to do is click that box, and the alarms are disabled. If I click it now, and you guys aren’t in that bank in ten seconds possibly, they are gonna notice the silent alarm lights are on, because this software sucks like that, and they will manually lock the doors. So you guys need to hurry and get in there. You guys heading out right now?”
Russell then starts to choke up. This should be the moment he basks in his glory. It isn’t at all, he’s starting to freeze over being put on the spot and building up pressure. He’s about to rob a bank, and now that’s he’s centimeters away from doing the job, he feels like concrete and cannot move. Of all times for Russell to succumb to all of the stress and pressure, now is not the correct time at all. This is the time for him to get into action, and to take charge. He needs to quickly find a way to get out of this block that he’s currently in. Russell turns his head towards Kevin and stares at him blankly for a few seconds, feeling nervous. Hoping that Kevin will say something to motivate him and to make him calm down. Kevin is mistaking Russell starting at him, as a hint or sign for him to start to disable the alarm system. Kevin stares at him as well feeling nervous, and begins to whisper to Russell.
“Hey Russ, it’s time man? Right now man? You ready Russ? Because I’m ready.”
Russell continues to stare blankly at Kevin, and Russell turns his head to the rear area of the van, looking at Brian, Jesse and Victor. At this moment, he really needs something to snap himself out of this box that he’s stuck into. Russell is unable to move, and he continues to feel frozen and stuck in his current place. Even though only a few seconds has passed by, to Russell it feels like a few years. Time is very crucial, and he doesn’t have a second to waste on feeling nervous or anxious. The meaning of time has no bearing at this particular moment. Russell feels he’s in some alternate area, and what’s currently happening, isn’t registering to him. Russell continues to stare at Kevin, holding the gun very tightly in his hands. Kevin then believes that Russell wants him to start the alarm. Kevin turns to his computer and clicks a button on the laptop. Russell then has an intense rushing anxious feeling crawl all over his body. Kevin turns his head again towards Russell, and starts to yell at him.
“You guys need to get out now! I just clicked the alarms! GO GUYS GO. NOW!”
Russell then raises his eyebrows from under his mask. He was not expecting Kevin to disable the alarms just yet. The anxiety he was feeling quickly evaporated from his body, but physically he still felt frozen in his position. Russell now had to somehow get himself out of the mood he was in, and to make himself get out the van. He immediately tries begins to snap himself out of it. He starts by trying to wrap his head around the current situation. By realizing that heist has now started. Russell becomes puzzled and confused on how to act, and mentally starts to clean his mind. From this point forward, he is now a bank robber, and they are about to commit a heist.
A couple seconds pass, and Russell continues to stare at Kevin, who is staring right back at him. These seconds in Russell’s body feel like hours. He tries to react as fast as he can, but he still feels frozen solid in his place. Russell tr
ies to clear his mind, and he finally strengthens his mental capacity to where he is now able to move. Brian, Jesse and Victor wait in the back for Russell’s signal for them to leave. They wait in suspense as well, as they intended on following Russell outside of the van. With Russell not responding to them, they decide to wait in the back of the van until he instructs them to leave. Without any time to waste at all, Russell quickly turns his head to the back of the van and yells at Brian, Jesse, and Victor, while grabbing his gun and opening the door.
“Guys, we gotta go! We have to run guys! We have to go guys! Come on!”
Russell, Brian, Jesse and Victor, sprint towards the entrance of the “United Farmers Savings” bank. All four of them develop tunnel vision. Their minds are only on running, and getting inside of the bank. Each of them run on a horizontal line across from each other, as they continue to head towards the bank. Every step they take running, feels like ten tons, due to all the adrenaline rush they are experiencing. They have only been running in actuality for a few short seconds, but to the guys it feels like they have been running to the doors of the bank for much longer than that. They continue to run, heading directly to the front door of the bank. All of the guys during this particular time, start to wonder who is going to open the door first. They are all running in a straight, across from each other.
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained Page 32