Exclusive Excerpt from Bank Run
by Alli Reshi
I watched the men carefully as they walked between the rows of people, trying to find anything distinctive about them. Something that would be helpful when backup inevitably arrived. You couldn’t close off a main bank and have no one notice. Zel started whimpering as yelling broke out between one of the patrons and a robber. He grew more hysterical, despite Alvia’s best efforts.
“Oi, shut that kid up,” another robber—slightly bulkier than his comrades—yelled. My quick hand to Mark’s shoulder was likely the only thing that kept him from retaliating. He settled with simply glaring at the other man. The rate at which the robbers gathered the valuables proved these were not amateurs, but it was my assumption that they were likely only gathering them for pocket change or to keep the hostages afraid.
I didn’t have anything more than my wallet, but I couldn’t speak for what Alvia and Mark had. Mark turned up his jacket collar to hide his mask, which would only look like a fancy bit of jewelry worn around his neck to these people. Though, in fact, it was a highly specialized device that would expand to shield his face and had a number of sensors, Mark’s mask also doubled as his communicator when needed. Alvia was desperately tucking a brooch under Zel’s shirt, having calmed him for the moment. Quite possibly, it was the most valuable thing she possessed.
“All right, hand it over,” one of the robbers demanded, shoving the decently full bag at us. I put my wallet in and turned out my pockets to show I didn’t have anything else. Holding Zel tight the whole time, Alvia took off the two rings from her fingers and the simple necklace she wore, along with the checkbook she had in her pocket.
“Oi, what about the kid. He hiding anything?” The robber loomed over the boy, who couldn’t handle the scrutiny and started crying again. “Shut up, brat.” The man aimed to swing at the woman and boy, but I pulled them away as Mark moved forward.
“Now, what kinda lowlife tries to hit a kid, huh? Didn’t your mama teach you any manners?” Mark sneered at the man hovering over him.
“Don’t you yap at me. I’m the one that’s about to get very rich while you lose it all. So shut up, or you’re next,” the robber growled, grabbing Mark under the jaw.
“Aw, Tiny has to yell so he can feel all big and strong. How cute,” Mark mocked as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket to throw at the idiot’s head. A punch to the gut sent Mark crumpling to the ground. Thankfully, the robber walked away, grumbling and leaving it at that. I held Alvia to my side as Mark slowly sat up.
“That was stupid! What were you thinking, Noland?” I hissed, glancing around to keep a head count of our captors.
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