Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

by Brennen Tammons

  “Are you okay man? You’re feeling okay right? Calm down, okay? It’s going to be fine.”

  Russell is actually not feeling okay. He starts to have the same feeling he experienced the day the “Sunset Credit Union” was hit. Russell isn’t feeling that confident about this heist, and is having many second thoughts. This is his absolutely his final chance to back away. Russell can either tell Brian the truth, and that’s he’s not feeling well, and doesn’t want them to go along with it. Or, Russell can simply not care, and pretend that everything is going well. Russell then makes his choice, and turns his head over to Brian, responding to him.

  “Yeah man. I’m okay. I’m tired I guess. Sorry for having you worry like that. I’m okay.”

  During this trip, the men generally stay quiet. There is no need for them to joke or around right now. They have a mission they need to focus on, and this heist means everything to them. All of what they experienced, needs to all mean something towards this heist. So therefore, they have to be focused, and ready to approach it in an appropriate way. Russell looks around at the highway, and notices that there are realistically no other cars on the road. It is unusually strange to him, that it being a Friday afternoon, there are not many cars driving. Brian keeps a somewhat high speed, as they are now not far from the bank. The men do not say a single word to each other, as they carry on towards the bank.

  Brian reaches their exit, and they now are travelling on the surface streets. With it being only a few blocks from the bank, the feeling Russell has, continues to pierce through his stomach. He starts to wonder that he is perhaps making the wrong decision, and he should not proceed with this heist. Russell being a man who doesn’t like to listen to his conscious, ignores this feeling. Brian continues to drive through the streets, and all of the men in the car position their minds to towards the bank heist. When they arrive at the parking structure, Brian drives in, and parks the vehicle near the entrance. Brian cuts off the ignition, and at this time, the world feels as if it’s no longer turning. Russell can feel his heart stop, and a feeling he had during their very first heist, starts to reemerge itself. The other men have this feeling as well, and it’s a mutual wave of reactions going around. Several minutes pass, and the men remain silent and motionless in the vehicle. Without warning, Brian then reaches behind him, and grabs both his empty duffel bags. Following that, Brian opens the car door and runs out. The rest of the guys then snap out of it, and run out as well.

  When the men are now running towards the bank, Brian locks the vehicle back up. All four of them are sprinting fast to the entrance, however this common feeling of them running through quicksand or thick mud, in addition to everything happening much slower than it actually is, starts to happen. This is most likely due to all of the pressure buildup they have. Even though the men have only been running for four seconds, this seems like several hours to them. They finally turn the corner out of the parking lot. The ambiguity of the parking lot, allows for a smooth entrance such as this. The men are now on the sidewalk to the entrance of the bank. Creeping closer to the bank, the men keep their vision only on the glass doors of the bank. Brian who’s ahead of all the guys, reaches for the door handle, and opens it. They all race into the building. Officer Waker across the street in his patrol car, notices them right then, and starts to freeze. He starts to shake, as he picks up his radio receiver, shaking his hands rapidly.

  “This is Waker, I have a 2/11 in progress right now. Suspects are inside ‘First Federal.’ I repeat, 2/11 in progress. Suspects have entered First Federal bank on Grand. Do you copy?”

  Officer Waker starts to feel nervous and unclips his gun from his waist, as he stares through the double sided glass door entrance of the bank, which doesn’t allow you to see what’s happening from the inside. Officer Waker does not hear a response from his radio, and panics.

  Inside the bank, the men continue past the main entrance area, and all four of them find a shocking discovery. There is a security guard standing in the lobby area. Russell does not know what to do, but they continue to run further inside the bank. They were not assuming a guard would be present, and didn’t plan as such. Brian starts to freeze up, and he and Russell stare at each other in defeat, feeling scared and unsure of what to do.

  During this time, a loud gunshot goes off, and several people scream. Russell turns his head to the direction he heard the gunshot from. While he’s scanning around, all of the patrons inside the bank head to the floor, with their hands behind their head. Russell then sees the security guard is lying dead on the ground from being shot in the head. Victor fired his gun at the guard, when he noticed the guard takes his gun on his waist, and aim it at the guys. Victor is still pointing the gun at the now deceased guard. Russell, Brian and Jesse look at Victor in shock, not believing that he actually did that. Victor then runs closer into the lobby as he shouts out loud.

  “EVERYONE STAY ON THE FUCKING GROUND! GET THE FUCK DOWN ON THE FLOOR NOW! EVERYONE GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR NOW!”

  Victor then nervously speaks to the rest of the guys, as they stare at him confused.

  “I didn’t have a choice guys. What the fuck was I supposed to do? I’ll explain later.”

  Russell shakes his head at Victor, and can’t believe he actually murdered the security guard. This was the first time that one of them has killed anyone through these whole ordeals. The sad thing is, this is not the time or place for Russell to lament over that. Russell quickly grabs the industrial drill and heads over the vault area. Jesse is currently feeling tense, but minds his position in the lobby area with Victor. Brian shakes his head at Victor, and runs over to the bank tellers, pointing their guns at them. Brian approaches first teller who is a young attractive brunette woman. He notices that she is trying to push the alarm on her terminal.

  “I don’t fucking think so! Open your drawer and put everything inside. I want to see that fucking drawer empty now! Open it, and empty everything in the bag now! Do it right now!”

  The woman takes her hand away from the alarm and empties her cash drawer, dropping the stacks of cash inside Brian’s duffel bag. Once she has done that, Brian instructs her to empty the cash cart located behind her as well.

  “Open that shit up right now! Empty it in the bag! I want it all now!”

  The woman is able to quickly empty all of the money from that, dumping it into Brian’s bag. Russell is finding it slightly difficult to break into the vault. Despite using a brand new bit on the drill, it starts to break. Sweat is running down Russell’s forehead under his mask, as he rams the drill inside. The lock luckily manages to break unintentionally, and Russell then runs inside the vault, now drilling some of the bigger safe boxes. Brian then walks across behind the counter, and brings the teller to the main floor, still pointing his gun at her. John who is laying down on the floor near his desk, lifts his head up at this time, and watches Brian walk over to the second teller; an older African-American woman. John continues to watch Brian, and John starts to grab his handgun from underneath his suit jacket; waiting for the right time to spring into action. John conceals carries a gun sometimes to work, and had a feeling that he should bring it to work today. Brian points his gun at the teller, and shouts at her, when he notices that she as well is going for her silent alarm.

  “Hey! Hey! Open up the drawer, and don’t hit that fucking alarm! I dare you to! Open the drawer, put it in the bag, and you won’t get hurt sweetheart! Drop the money inside now!”

  The woman does not hit he alarm, and does exactly what Brian tells her to, and empties the money from inside her terminal, into Brian’s duffel bag. Russell inside the vault, opens up one of the biggest safe boxes on the wall. Inside contains a large amount of cash. He drops all of it inside his empty duffel bag, and it fills completely up. Russell has a wide grin on his face, not expecting for the box to contain that much. Back in the main area of the bank, the second teller is told by Brian to empty the money inside the cash cart, and to place it all into the duffel bag. He con
tinues to point his gun and shout at her.

  “Yes! Give me all of that and set it in the bag! I need all of it now! Put it in the bag!”

  When she finishes that, Brian like he did with the first teller walks around the counter, aims his gun at her, and brings her over to the main floor area. As Brian is walking towards the third and final teller, who is a young attractive Hispanic woman, John at cannot take being a victim and hostage anymore. He feels he can take charge in this current situation, and essentially save the day. John then gets up from the floor, and acts as a hero. He points his gun at Brian.

  “You guys picked the wrong day, and the wrong bank. All of you go to hell.”

  Before John pulls the trigger, Victor immediately aims towards John’s legs, and shoots him several times in that area. John screams out in pain and drops his gun. Victor runs over to John and confiscates his gun, and runs back to the main area of the bank shouting.

  “Unless you want to be next, all of you stay the fuck down right now!”

  Brian and Jesse are now completely stunned at Victor, and how out of control he’s acting. Russell is currently in the vault and has no recollection of what just happened. He has no idea that Victor has shot John. Russell opens up his second cash box, which contains more cash. Russell empties all of that into his other duffel bag, and decides to force open one more safe box. Jesse remains frozen from where he is, and doesn’t move. Brian shakes his head, and carries on to the final teller. John cannot walk from being immobilized, and shouts at Victor.

  “You piece of shit; you’re going to pay for this asshole. Go straight to hell. Ugh.”

  John then starts to crawl away from his current location, and Victor intentionally shoots the floor right next to John to scare him. Brian ignoring Victor, points his gun at the last teller.

  “Open the drawer up, you already know. Drop all the money inside the bag!”

  The woman starts to take the cash from inside her terminal, and drops it inside Brian’s second duffel bag, which is already overflowed with cash. Back outside, Officer Waker notices that backup has not arrived yet. He at this time, decides to walk inside the bank. With his gun drawn, Officer Waker gets out of his patrol car, and runs across the street, heading in towards the bank. Congruently, Brian instructs the woman to empty her cash cart.

  “I need you to give me all of that! Put it in the bag! Give me all that!”

  Russell in the same time, opens his final safe box open. It contains a reasonable amount of cash; not as much as the first two, but Russell takes it anyways. He then quickly takes his duffel bags wrapping them around his shoulder, and Russell runs out of the vault. Russell is now in the main area of the bank, as Brian is walking the third teller out to the lobby area, and places her on the floor. Russell then notices John is bleeding heavily from his legs, with Victor still aiming his gun at him. Russell immediately starts to feel empathetic towards John. Yes, John was someone that Russell didn’t care for, but he didn’t want the man to be physically hurt. As Russell stares at John on the floor, Officer Waker enters the bank. Officer Waker sees the dead security guard at the door, and starts to feel more serious on the situation. Officer Waker points his gun at Russell, who is standing the closest to him.

  “LAPD, get down on the ground now! I want to see your hands! Get down.”

  Russell and the rest of the men start to give in and obey Officer Waker. They feel this is it, the game is up, and it is time for them to give in and accept defeat. Russell, Brian, Jesse and Victor all start to kneel face down on the ground. Russell, unfortunately while he was trying to move his gun which was wrapped around his shoulder out of the way so he can lay on the floor, causes suspicion to Officer Waker. The officer mistakes this as Russell trying to fire his gun at him, and shoots Russell several times in his upper left chest area near his heart, and his left arm. Russell screams in pain, and falls down to the ground. Brian, Jesse and Victor then immediately stand back up, filled with horror. They stand still watching this scene. Victor then believing that Russell is dead, loses it. Victor aims his gun Officer Waker. However, Officer Waker shoots Victor in the neck several times, causing Victor to fall to the ground. Brian out of unexplainable impulse, then shoots Officer Waker in the head, killing him. Jesse stands frozen and still. Brian then rushes over to Victor. Victor is bleeding very heavily, and cannot move. He is however still conscious. Brian speaks to him.

  “Are you alright man? Speak to me. Please tell me you’re okay.”

  Victor nods his head at Brian. Brian then walks over to Russell.

  “Hey man, are you doing good? Can you get up and walk fine?”

  Russell struggles to respond to Brian, but he is able to stand himself up. He then responds.

  “My fucking chest hurts, and my arm hurts like fuck. But yes I can walk. Ugh it hurts.”

  Jesse continues to watch both of them, still unable to react or move. Brian returns over to where Victor is, and this time, Victor starts to lose consciousness.

  Loud police sirens are approaching from a couple blocks away, and the men start to feel pressured. Brian starts to pick Victor up to carry him, but Victor grabs Brian’s arm tightly, and Victor shakes his head at Brian. He whispers to him.

  “It’s my time to go, I’m not going to make it anyways. I’ve lost way too much blood. I’m done. It’s okay. You guys need to get out of here now.”

  Brian begins to cry, and partially lifts up Victor’s mask. Brian partially lifts up his own mask, and kisses Victor on the lips. Jesse watches them, and Russell who’s is in immense pain, watch all of this unfold as well. Brian then runs over to the rest of the men, and shouts to them.

  “We have to get the fuck out! They are on their way here now! Come on!”

  Russell who despite being under total excruciating pain uses his strength, and along with Victor and Jesse, they all run outside the bank. They proceed through the surrounding path leading into the parking lot. Without them being aware, one of the patrons inside the bank, does something daring and runs after them to see which vehicle they exit from. The man following them creeps behind them carefully, and notices that they leave in a Chevrolet Tahoe without any licensed plate, and tinted windows. The man then takes a picture of their vehicle with his phone, and heads back to the bank. They men all get inside the vehicle, and Brian speeds off. Russell screams in pain. Jesse tries to comfort Russell, who’s sitting in the rear seat with him. As the men are speeding away, Russell continues to scream in pain.

  “Aww, this fucking hurts! Damn, I’m going to die aren’t I!”

  Brian continues to drive feeling anxious, and Jesse continues to caress and comfort Russell who is under a great deal of pain.

  At this time, the authorities arrive at the bank, just missing the rest of the men within about thirty seconds. Detective Henderson and other officers then rush in the bank, aiming their guns for any possible active suspects. As he’s walking through the bank, Detective Henderson sees the hostages down on the ground, and notices the dead security guard, and Officer Waker’s deceased body as well. Detective Henderson starts to feel disgusted at the sight of this.

  “We have a couple officers down over here.”

  He walks through to where John is, and he is still alive.

  “I need an ambulance now. We have an injured hostage. Sir, hang on in there, we’re going to get to you the hospital. Ambulance is on its way; it will be here shortly.”

  John nods his head at the detective, as he remains on the floor in much pain.

  Detective Henderson while still waving and aiming his gun, then notices Victor on the floor; he is still conscious. Detective Henderson puts his gun back in the holster, and screams out to the officers.

  “I have a down suspect, but he’s still alive! I need an ambulance right fucking now!”

  Detective Henderson then removes Victor’s mask, and holds his head up. Detective Henderson cradles Victor’s head in his hands, speaking to him softly.

  “Hey son, what’s your name? Wher
e are you buddies at? Talk to me.”

  Detective Henderson notices Victor is slipping out of consciousness and performs mouth to mouth recitation on him. This causes Victor to temporarily regain consciousness.

  “What is your name, can you tell me your name?”

  Victor smiles at Detective Henderson, and croaks out his response.

  “My name. Ugh. My name, is Romero. I had a good life, I think. Goodbye.”

  Detective Henderson while still holding Victor’s head, looks puzzled.