No Honor Among Thieves

Holy smokes where did all these reviews come from all of a sudden?! Long reviews as well! I'll respond to those that need reviewing!

Applauze: We'll discuss some of those ideas once the time is there, but I can tell you with the schedule I have, you should like them very much!

Jster1983: Cody's financial troubles may be elaborated on sometime soon!

Joel Connell: While financial troubles may seem like a bit of a shallow reason for Cody to do all these nefarious heists, desperation can make someone do nefarious things. Similarly, why does Noah go so far for something he probably wouldn't care about? Is he doing it for his own interests? Or perhaps someone else's? Nah... probably not the latter. And now that you mentioned the other characters, don't count on too many appearances, but far I got an idea to let one character who wasn't seen before have a small role near the end... but I think you'll love this chapter on that front as well!

Greatstoryalert: That sounds really complicated, I've never even heard of that movie, but while Gwen taunting Chris and gloating over what she may or may not have done sounds kind of unlike her and may compromise them, the idea sounds cruelly appealing!

Guest: I wish I could elaborate on your review a little more, but I'm afraid I'd spoil a lot or talk ahead of our plans! I'm glad you stick around to read it though!

Chrismustsuffer: While the standard currently isn't that high in this fandom, we're happy you think of our story that way! The way things look now, Ruud Vermaak and the diamond heist is a passed station; they got away and more importantly, he doesn't seem to have even noticed it! And funny that you should mention GTA 5, because that was one of the inspirations for me to start with this story! 'Blush' It's meant to be a little more than just the heists and also a bit of psychology around it as opposed to GTA!

Takebackthefalls: If they were busted, that'd make for a quick and anticlimactic end of this story, right? But maybe that all part of the plot to take it into a whole new direction! Read to see for yourself! :D

As for the rest, thank you very much for your continued interest and support!

Nothing else left to say. Get reading! You waited long enough for it after all!

Rated T for relative violence!


Chapter 9: The Snow Job


'Here we go again', Gwen thought as the day had come to commit another robbery. As opposed to the stealthy approach last time, this time they'd go for loud and threatening. A different way to business, but equally depraved. But contrary to the last time, Gwen didn't feel nervous. It both amazed and abhorred her how little she cared anymore, how accustomed she had become to this life. Last time she was shaking on her legs, but if she compared herself now she didn't care at all. Eventually, for lack of a better conclusion, she thought she had no moral issues because she didn't like banks very much.

If she knew she liked skiing as much as she did, she would've come much earlier for the relative fun they had going down the slopes together and spending evenings around the fireplace, striking up fun conversations with the others. Even the usually distant Scarlett involved herself with the others in a way that would paint a different image of the aloof woman she usually was. Then there was the beautiful nature, the clean air and the clear, beautiful night skies she could get lost in watching them. All the fun and coziness almost made Gwen forget what they were really here for. Their bags were packed and everyone was in their winter coats. They were ready to leave Whistler, they only had to stop by the bank.

Their cottage looked more like a armory at the moment as Duncan did one last check of the guns. Parts were spread everywhere on a rag draped over the table as he meticulously checked and if necessary cleaned them before he skillfully put them back together. Duncan was not only familiar with using weapons, but also with the technical aspect.

As Duncan reassembled the weapons, Noah hung up a photo of the bank and the drawn schematic of the bank's interior Gwen made earlier above the burning fireplace. He had left the previous day to bring back one of the cars to Vancouver and the rest spent time cleaning their cabins in a attempt to leave as little evidence of their presence behind.

''I'm going ahead.'' Cody quietly announced to Noah after walking up to him, taking everyone's bags with him.

''You know where the place is?'' Noah asked, to which Cody nodded his head. ''Good. Offload the bikes in the alley. Give me a call when you've done your part.'' He continued before Cody took the keys of the van and left.

Noah dialed a number on his smart phone and held it in his hand, putting it on speaker.

''Yeah?'' The familiar voice of Geoff sounded after a short while, catching everyone's attention.

''Geoff? You got a moment to talk?'' Noah asked.

''Sure.''

''Right. While the 'taking stuff that isn't ours' concept is still the same, it's a completely different approach from the last time!'' Noah began explaining. ''Today's target is the Whistler Savings and Holdings bank. While we're inside, we strive for a balance between loud and threatening and delicate and precise.'' He said before he used a laser to point at several points. ''Thanks to the large glass doors of the bank, we're in plain view for everyone who wants to see a live bank robbery or more likely put one to end. So the key is to stick up everyone inside in the corners here and here, out of view while we demand the personnel to carry on with business as usual to deceive the outside world everything is perfectly alright!'' Noah continued explaining.

''Duncan, you and I stand in the corners. Keep a close watch on everyone and always be ready to stick up new people if they enter the bank!'' Noah continued explaining before he turned to Gwen and Scarlett. ''Ladies, you head into the safe and take what's worth taking! It doesn't have to be much, but at least make it worth our time!'' He remarked, to which Scarlett nodded her head once affirmatively, but Gwen was a little more critical.

''I've seen a few security cameras inside, and there's probably a quiet alarm. What about that?'' Gwen skeptically inquired.

''Cody is taking the van and drives to a roadside restaurant miles away from the town. From there, he hacks into the bank's systems in a seemingly unprofessional matter, but despite that he does disable the cameras and the panic buttons. He then phones the police to brag about it or whatever to catch their attention long enough for them to trace the call to his location. As some cops leave and the herd of law enforcers in this town thins out, he then dumps the phone and heads to the final meeting spot, a abandoned rest stop somewhere off route.'' Noah explained.

''When we get out, we split up in two groups and race out of town on our dirt bikes to go to the drop-off point where Geoff is waiting for us to hide the take in his cargo and take it past possible police checkpoints while we go through the woods to meet up with Cody. It's not so much the if we'll be spotted as much as when we'll be spotted by the police so go off-road as soon as possible and try to shake the police if they're on to you! Waste no time! Also because the forecast predicted there was going to be a snowstorm today, and I heard you can get seriously lost in those.'' Noah instructed before he turned his attention to his phone for the first time.

''Geoff, do you know where the drop-off point is?''

''S'yeah man, but turns out, my truck has a tracker and I'm on a tight schedule. If you take too long to get there and I keep waiting, my boss will start asking questions!'' Geoff explained.

''And we can't have that.'' Noah agreeably muttered as he briefly sank away in his thoughts. ''Don't worry, we'll be there on time!'' He assured him. ''Have you found a place where you can stash the take?''

''Yeah, I got a spot.'' Geoff answered.

''Geoff, if we don't show up, leave and forget everything we did. Do you understand?'' Noah insistently asked.

''You mean like-'' Geoff started talking, sounding a little shocked as if the gravity of Noah's instruction hit him. ''Sure.'' He finished, more calmly.

''Good.'' Noah replied before he ended the phone call.

''I assume we have this all memorized.'' Scarlett remarked, gesturing at the map and the photos. When she got even remotely affirmative responses from the others in the form of faint nods, she tore them off and threw them into the fire as she watched them burn to ashes.

''Let's go.'' Scarlett said as everyone got up and left.


A short while later, they checked out at the reception and went into an alley behind the bank, remaining unseen in the quiet town during the early morning. However, Noah split up from them, assuring the rest he'd be back in a few minutes. The rest of the crew found out that Cody had parked the dirt bikes, but with their escape vehicles ready, the only crucial tool they still missed were their firearms.

''The guns are under the dumpster.'' Scarlett noted, gesturing to the underside of it. Duncan crouched down and retrieved several duffel bags. He opened one and found the shotgun and a skimask inside.

''I'll take that.'' Scarlett declared, calmly but ever dominant as she casually took the bag from Duncan. ''Don't show any fear or hesitation when we're dealing with the customers and the staff! We don't want to give them the impression that we can be talked out of this!'' She remarked as she put on her ski mask.

''We can't?'' Gwen wryly asked in response as she put on her mask as well as Noah came by.

''What did you leave for?'' Scarlett asked.

''To buy these.'' Noah answered, handing them all a compass. ''Should we get lost in the snow, at least we'll have something to find our way!''

''So what do we do now?'' Duncan asked as everyone now had a gun.

''We wait until Cody gives the sign.'' Noah instructed as they remained in the alley, making sure they're invisible to anyone on the street.


At the same moment, Cody stood on the parking lot of a roadside restaurant out of town and used his laptop to break into the bank's security as Noah explained. After cracking it down and disabling several aspects of the bank's alarm system and using several tweaks to cover it up. Before he was to execute the changes to the bank's system, he dialed the number of the Whistler police using a disposable phone. He mentally struggled with the question what to lure them with, but before someone picked up at the other end of the phone, he had a failsafe scenario ready.


A minute later, Noah and the others could hear sirens blaring from the other side of the street. Duncan poked his head out of the alley and saw a pair of police cruisers driving off with great urgency.

''Where's the fire?'' Duncan remarked, faintly impressed.

''I think Cody's responsible for that.'' Noah confidently predicted.

''So we can go now right?'' Gwen asked, almost sounding more excitable than nervous for a moment.

''Easy, he may've lured the cops, but we don't go before we have confirmation that we can go.'' Noah explained. Shortly after, Noah's phone vibrated. He checked the new message he got, and while the sole seemingly unrelated emoji had no meaning to the common layman, Noah's frown intensified as he knew what time it was. Noah poked his head out onto the street, where no one was present at the moment.

''Let's go.'' Noah declared. Scarlett pumped her shotgun and the quartet came running out of the alley and straight into the bank, blatantly ignoring the sign prohibiting ski masks in the bank. If their aggressive entrance didn't spook the people present yet, then Scarlett shooting a security camera did.

''This is a stickup! Everyone, hands in the air!'' Duncan barked shortly before he aimed his gun at a security guard who reached for his weapon, but held his hands up as soon as Duncan aimed his gun at him. Noah took his pistol before both Duncan and Noah inched back into the corners as mentioned, hiding them from street view. From behind the counter, everyone could see that the vault was open, and were pleasantly surprised with this opportunity to leave as quickly as they came.

''Stop pressing that panic button, no one's coming!'' He assured the staff as he could clearly see them pressing the alarms under their desk. ''Open the door!'' He barked at one of the women behind the desk, referring to the door to the employee section of the building. Meanwhile, one of the bank employees sneaked off to the vault and closed it.

''That wasn't so smart.'' Duncan darkly growled, training his rifle on one of the desk staff again. ''Is there anyone present who knows the combination?'' He asked with unsettling politeness. When he got no answer from the staff, stunned in fear, he started to lose his patience quickly. ''Is there?!'' He roared.

''Yes!'' A male clerk whimpered as he stepped forward.

''Open this door and open the vault or we'll start painting the room red!'' Duncan threatened as Scarlett pumped her shotgun once and aimed it at one of the hostages heads, far enough to avoid the hostage suddenly seizing the gun, but close enough for her to impossibly miss as some of them exclaimed a brief yell of fright at the apparentness of the threat.

''Sure!'' The clerk stuttered as he unlocked the door.

''We're going to do things a little different from the usual bank robbery. You just carry on with your business while we enter the vault. If you've done what you came for, take a seat at one of these benches and wait until we've made our withdrawal!'' Duncan instructed as Scarlett gestured Gwen to come along as they approached the vault.

As appallingly stoic as Gwen was to the robbery itself, she quickly started to feel bad for doing this. She had little up with banks, but seeing these innocent people who have had nothing to do with this robbery or the greater goal behind it, shaking and frightened to be unceremoniously badly rubbed Gwen the wrong way.

''Come on…'' Scarlett threateningly wheezed as the clerk inserted the code combination with her breathing down his neck and the steel of the boomstick an inch away from his head. When the clerk finally managed to open the vault despite all the pressure and Scarlett entered. Gwen stayed behind and sympathetically eyed the clerk, who cowered in a corner. She wanted to do something for him, but she had a job to do here.

However, she was greatly taken by surprise as Scarlett was held up by a guard who had hid himself in the vault. He had his gun drawn at Scarlett, who scurried back but couldn't avoid the guard's aim.

''Drop the gun!'' The guard demanded as Scarlett remained frozen in place, waiting for Gwen to take action as he was in clear sight of her and not yet aware of her presence.

Gwen drew her gun at the guard to take him down, but no matter how hard her mind ordered her finger to pull the trigger, it wouldn't crook as Gwen was overcome with dread. Even in that second between aiming her gun at the guard and him noticing her, a plethora of emotions violently coursed through Gwen. Her heart beat rapidly in her throat as she lightly but violently shook, she felt her legs getting weak as she was overcome with nerves.

The guard now turned his attention to Gwen, and even if Gwen was at risk to be shot, it began to dawn on her that she could never bring herself to shoot him, probably even if her life depended on it. She was stuck between doing what they came here for, or doing something that'd go against her moral fiber; killing someone.

However, Gwen didn't have to make a choice after all, as Scarlett used the slip in the guard's attention and wasted no beat to retaliate. She pulled the trigger and blasted the guard in his lower stomach as Gwen pitched a repressed, quiet shriek. Scarlett's aim was off and only a fraction of the shot hit the guard as he stumbled into the wall and slid down on the floor.

''What's going on there?!'' Duncan yelled after hearing the gunfire.

''We had some trouble with security.'' Scarlett responded casually before giving the downed security guard a kick in his chest as furious retribution for pointing a gun at her. As Gwen eyed the security guard in horror, lost in her own dread, Scarlett gave her a brief but firm pat on her shoulder and gestured her to come along.

As they took a closer look at the vault, they learned that it mostly contained deposit boxes, to their annoyance.

''I could try to pick the locks, but that takes too long.'' Scarlett concluded before she stomped back to the clerk. ''Where are the keys to the boxes?'' She asked, polite but hauntingly intimidating.

''Only account holders have keys.''

''Too bad.'' Scarlett replied as she drew her shotgun at the clerk and would've shot him if Gwen didn't interfere out of a desperate moral obligation to avoid more bloodshed.

''Wait!'' Gwen called, leading Scarlett into the vault and hoping that she came up with a actual idea in that short period of time. Fortunately, she got one as she switched her gun from automatic fire to burst fire and shot the locks of some deposit boxes.

''Very well.'' Scarlett remarked before she yanked out the boxes and emptied any valuables they could carry into the duffel bags, be it money or jewelry. When they had their four bags stuffed, they rushed out of the vault and out of the bank, followed by Noah and lastly Duncan, who lagged behind and kept his gun aimed at the other people before leaving to provide a clean exit. Then he decided he wanted to be sure they weren't followed and shot a burst of bullets into the ceiling before running out, badly scaring the hostages. Outside, Gwen heard the shots and was waiting for him.

''That wasn't necessary!'' Gwen yelled out of terror, knowing that she probably wasn't heard, but having had it completely with all the violence while everyone gave her either a puzzled or annoyed look.

''Okay, here comes the hard part!'' Noah explained as Scarlett handed him one of the bags and everyone got onto a bike and turned the ignition on.

''Harder than this?!'' Gwen exclaimed, appalled as she was actually happy to have left the bank and its fearful patrons behind. Though she was gone, the image remained in her mind.


Meanwhile, a short distance away from the main street, two police officers sat in their cruiser, enjoying their early morning coffee.

''Another boring day in Richville, B.C. Sanders, why were we transferred to here again?'' One of them yawned.

''Because what you did with those athletes was really bad PR, Macarthur!'' Sanders explained before taking a sip of her coffee.

''Hey, the guy was running on the middle of the road!'' Macarthur reasoned.

''That's allowed during the marathon of Toronto, Macarthur! Be happy we only got transferred instead of fired.'' Sanders pointed out, still a little annoyed.

''Transferred to here? I'd call that a fate worse than death! I'd rather be back in Forest Hill, at least it's not so cold there! Nothing exciting ever happens here!'' Macarthur complained shortly before the radio cracked to life.

''Base to all available units, we got a one-three-two in progress. Suspects are armed and reported to be escaping on motorbikes. Keep an eye out.''

'' I can never tell those codes apart. What's that again?'' Macarthur asked with a raised eyebrow.

''Armed robbery!'' Sanders answered, dead serious and highly alert.

''Wow! Scrap what I just said!'' Macarthur responded, alert but excited at the prospect of business as well. Not two seconds later, Duncan and Noah raced past them just as they had split up from Gwen and Scarlett.

''There are our stick figures!'' Macarthur exclaimed as Sanders threw her coffee out of the window. Macarthur wanted to do the same, but forgot that she hadn't rolled her window down and stained it. As Sanders began to give chase, Macarthur quietly hoped Sanders wouldn't find out for a while. [1]

''Unit 21 to base, we're uh… pulling a five-o-six on the armed robbers heading out of town!'' Macarthur told the station through the radio.

''What are you doing, unit 21?'' Base responded, confused, which made Macarthur think she used the wrong code.

''Sorry, I meant we're pulling a one-eight-seven!'' Macarthur corrected.

''You're murdering them?'' Base asked, a little incredulous.

''No! We're pursuing them! They're heading out of town and we're requesting backup, over!'' Macarthur said, getting irritated.

''Backup may take a while unit 21, they're still away. Stay on the suspects' trail until then.'' Base instructed before cutting connection as Macarthur hung up as well.

''I hate those codes!'' Macarthur grumbled.

Meanwhile, Sanders stayed hot on Duncan and Noah's tail as they raced down the highway running next to a train track, effortlessly weaving through the sparse traffic present. Duncan then got the idea to draw his gun at the cops and started firing at them until he emptied the clip. While Sanders and Macarthur ducked down a little in their seats, the wide spread made sure only a few bullets hit the car. Duncan looked back to the front just in time to see a truck in front of him, and could barely avoid it.

Startled by what Duncan did, Noah shot some angry gestures at Duncan to voice his displeasure with him firing at the police while it was doubtful whether Duncan actually really understood what message Noah tried to convey. Meanwhile, Duncan spotted a train up ahead, pulling many wagons and going somewhat slower than they were and got an idea. He pointed at the train before he accelerated with Noah following him. As they caught up with the train, they went off-road onto the strip of dirt separating the highway from the train tracks.

''They're going off-road!'' Macarthur stated.

''I can see that!'' Sanders replied, annoyed. ''I have to stay on the road as long as possible. These cruisers don't have as much grip in the snow! One rock can send us sliding!'' She explained, correctly predicting that Macarthur wanted her to do the same.

''They aren't going to pass the train don't you think?'' Macarthur guessed just as Duncan and Noah raced ahead of the engine to gain distance.

Both were nervous to try, as they knew that if they planned the distance incorrectly, they'd crash and be caught, if they survived being rammed by a train in the first place.

''I'm going to block them off.'' Sanders declared to her partner before she drove the car off the road as well, driving over a dirt trial and getting ahead of the two bikers. This approach was the incentive Duncan and Noah needed to take a chance. It was either crossing the tracks, or be arrested. If they didn't make the crossing now, they'd be cornered by the police.

Just as Sanders slid into their path, Duncan and Noah did a quick turn and accelerated, basically flying over the train track and barely missing the honking train while Sanders and Macarthur looked on in awe.

''Wow! You only see that happening in movies!'' Macarthur cheered while Sanders on the contrary seemed utterly frustrated.

''This train goes on forever!'' Sanders growled in anger, looking at the endless line of wagons passing them. Eventually, she sighed in defeat, knowing that they couldn't find the robbers in the vast forest anymore and turned to the radio.

''Base, the one-three-two got away into the woods!'' Sanders announced, rather ashamed.

''Copy that. We've taken measures already. Return to base.'' Base responded before the two police officers turned around and headed back. Frustrated with their failure, but secretly happy with the action.

''Ew, Macarthur! You forgot to roll down the window again?!'' Sanders complained after noticing the coffee stain on the door.


Meanwhile, in a completely different part of the woodlands, Gwen and Scarlett were having a smoother escape, but only metaphorically speaking as the ground was rather bumpy. Nonetheless, there was no one on their trail and were making good progress on their route as it had slowly started to snow.

Though despite their good fortunes, Gwen wasn't feeling very bright. Images of the frightened hostages continued to persistently project themselves in her mind and the feelings of dread felt like they were consuming her. Gwen tried to shove it away, but the feelings wouldn't let themselves be ignored.

The combination of these persistent images occupying her thoughts and the bike she rode on proved to be a bad one, and Gwen failed to see a rock sticking out of the earth ahead of her and sent her falling, completely taking her by surprise as she was launched off the bike and rolled through the snow after a painful landing. Even more unfortunate is that Scarlett had to weave out of Gwen's way, and crashed as well. The only thing the women could consider themselves fortunate with is that they miraculously didn't fall on one of the sharp rocks sticking out.

''You imbecile! How could you crash?!'' Scarlett cussed as she stood over Gwen, who held her ankle in pain.

''I'm sorry! I- my mind slipped!'' Gwen apologized as she bit through the pain.

''Get up, we're already behind schedule!'' Scarlett ordered as she inspected her bike and to her increasing frustration, found that one of the wheels as well as the fuel tank were badly damaged as the latter leaked gasoline. Scarlett muttered a furious curse under her breath as she looked over at Gwen's bike and found it broken beyond repair as well.

''We're still miles away from the rendezvous point!'' Scarlett bitterly declared, using her compass and the surrounding landmarks to deduct the distance as they began walking.

''Yeah, too bad.'' Gwen replied, rather humbled as she was well aware she was the one responsible for their setback major setback. Suddenly, Scarlett drew her shotgun as the bikes and next thing Gwen knew, she was startled by a large explosion. She yelped in terror and turned to Scarlett to see her having shot the bikes as they were now on fire, ignited by the leaked fuel.

''I'm burning the genetic material on those bikes.'' Scarlett answered casually, predicting what Gwen was going to ask. ''If we stay on the trial, we should get there eventually.'' She continued as if nothing happened.

''We better hurry! This snowstorm is starting to get serious!'' Gwen added as she shot a concerned look at the sky above, where the densely packed clouds turned a ominous shade of grey as a omen of the storm to come.


At the same moment, Noah and Duncan arrived at the rendezvous point a good distance away and stopped, providing a moment that Noah had been wanting to use to have a good talk with Duncan.

''Duncan, what the fuck were you thinking?!'' Noah scolded him.

''Yeah I know. That stuff with the train was tight!'' Duncan remarked, a little shook up from their daring escape.

''No, I meant how you shot at the police!'' Noah pointed out. ''Good grief! If we're caught, not only will we go behind bars for armed robbery, but also assault or even manslaughter! Probably for life!''

''What are you worrying about? We're not going behind bars we made a clean getaway!'' Duncan cockily pointed out, humored by Noah's concern.

''I always make sure all my bases are loaded Duncan so that when things go wrong, the damage is manageable!'' Noah explained before he shook his head in disgust. ''Just don't go crazy with your trigger finger again!'' He cautioned Duncan.

''Whatever.'' Duncan scoffed, unfazed by what Noah had to say. Afterwards, they waited in silence as the snowstorm slowly got more intense.

''What's taking the ladies? We're already late.'' Duncan wondered, staring into the distance.

''Something went wrong.'' Noah gravely predicted.

''Should we call them?''

''No. That makes us traceable for the police, if they hadn't caught them yet. I don't think we have reception in this storm anyway.'' Noah answered before he revved up his bike. ''We have to go look for them out there. Stay close.'' He stated, actually sounding a little worried before he drove off into the storm, closely followed by Duncan.


In the middle of nowhere, Gwen and Scarlett were struggling to get ahead as the rather strong wind slowed them down while the thick snowfall limited their vision. The only consolation they got left was that they wore ski masks, and Gwen was actually happy they served their actual purpose for a change. Scarlett tried to look for landmarks, as they did when they first reconnoiter the route. But with the whiteout limiting their vision, Scarlett had no reference points to predict their location with and was next to lost.

''What were we thinking robbing a bank and going into the middle of nowhere on the day a snowstorm kicked up?!'' Gwen yelled to get over the howling wind.

''If everything went according to plan, they'd have cleared our tracks, both literally and figuratively speaking.'' Scarlett explained, followed by a moody grumble. ''But not everything went according to plan.''

''Are you sure we're still on the trail?'' Gwen asked.

''I doubt it. But as long as we keep going south and downhill, we should at least end up in civilization soon. We'll briefly hide the take to avoid suspicion and from there we'll pinpoint how far we went off-route and what course of action we take.''

''Sounds risky.'' Gwen remarked.

''So does dying in the wilderness.'' Scarlett gravely replied, both unwittingly and willfully unnerving Gwen with the thought of them succumbing to the cold, alone and lost. As scenarios began to play in her mind, Gwen's head peeked up when she heard something.

''Hey… do you hear bikes too?'' Gwen asked. The women listened and could faintly hear the humming of engines through the wind. ''Are that Noah and Duncan?'' Gwen wondered.

''Only they would be crazy enough to go biking in a snowstorm. And even if it isn't them, I take any rescue I can get.'' Scarlett responded before they spotted two faint lights through the snow, a fair distance ahead of them. But to their horror, was moving away from them.

''Hey! HEY!'' Gwen yelled as loud as she could to desperately get the bikers' attention, but knew that the wind blocked out her yells. Thinking quick, Scarlett aimed her shotgun up and shot it once. The bang echoed through the storm. While Scarlett admittedly wasn't sure if it was loud enough, that the bikers in the distance slowed down at least proved her that they heard something.

''Come!'' Scarlett yelled at Gwen as they slowly walked towards the lights while Scarlett shot around round. Scarlett fired another shell into the air as Gwen joined along and shot her gun as well and caught the attention of the bikers as the lights turned around and approached them, the light brightening until the women could clearly see Duncan and Noah riding the vehicles.

''Thank god!'' Gwen exclaimed, very relieved as she briefly embraced Noah out of sheer gratitude to faith.

''What happened? Where are your bikes?'' Noah asked, as relieved to find them in the snow as he was miffed.

''Gwen crashed and through a extremely unlikely turn of events, both our bikes got damaged beyond repair!'' Scarlett accusatively explained.

''Hop on, we've already wasted enough time! I know the way back!'' Noah called before Gwen and Scarlett climbed onto the guys' bikes and departed.


Having parked his truck and log trailer at the side of the highway next to a lake, Geoff was impatiently waiting by the side of the road, already waiting thrice as long as he hoped to wait. Not only was he getting impatient, the snowstorm chilled him to the bone as well. He wanted to leave as he slowly lost faith that they'd still make it, and began to suspect that they had been caught.

''One last minute guys. If you're not here, I'll forget everything we did, just as you told me to.'' Geoff tensely muttered to himself after checking the time on his watch. Shortly after, he heard engines roars coming from the woods and was very glad to see that they still made it, even if they were very late.

''Good lord! What took you?!'' Geoff exclaimed, sounding angry but actually being worried.

''Lots of things.'' Noah dismissively answered, not wanting to waste more time than they had to as he took everyone's duffel bag. ''Where's your hiding spot?'' He subsequently asked as Geoff gestured him to come along.

''Here, between the trees! They're safe there!'' Geoff remarked as he climbed onto his trailer as Noah handed him the first duffel bag. Geoff stuffed it between the trunks with little trouble, making them hard to see unless you looked directly at them.

''You were right Noah. They've set up roadblocks on all routes leading out of the county, I heard it on the radio!'' Geoff remarked as he hid the last bag. ''That's it. They should be safe there, brah!''

''Nice spot.'' Noah complimented, humble but faintly genuine as well. ''After you've went through the roadblocks, drop the loot off with Cody and then finish your job!''

''Of course dude!'' Geoff responded as he walked back to his cabin.

''Good luck.'' Noah called after him as Gwen weakly waved at her friend until he started his truck and drove off. ''And we should go too.'' Noah declared as they jumped back on their bikes and went off-road again.


After another short ride, the crew ended up within walking distance of their final destination, a rest stop. They got off their bikes and laid them down on the ground, out of view. Scarlett was to blow them up like she did earlier, but figured that it may attract unwanted attention this time.

''My dudes! My ladies!'' Cody happily greeted them as he sat outside the van, waiting for them.

''Did Geoff hand the loot over?'' Noah asked.

''Yes he did! Four bags full of money and other valuables!'' Cody announced, taking one bag out and showing it to the rest.

''Let's go home. I'm dying for a coffee or anything hot!'' Duncan called as they got into the van.

''Excellent, that means once we get home, then we can add another successful heist to our resume!'' Noah concluded, delightedly rubbing his hands while Duncan cast a smile as well, Scarlett only displayed very subtle approval of Noah's statement anyhow while Gwen on the contrary seemed very broken.

''I beg to differ. Both your and our escape was littered with unnecessarily and uncalculated risks if your story about how you escaped that cop car has to be taken at face value!'' Scarlett countered.

''Given everything that had happened, I have to agree with you. But the robbery itself went off without much of a hitch!'' Duncan admitted.

''That went pretty smooth, yes. Even considering all that had happened.'' Scarlett agreed on her turn.

''Hey Cody, the cops didn't spare the horses when they left to turn you in. How'd you get them so worked up?'' Duncan asked, curious.

''I… may've threatened with a bomb attack on the restaurant I called from!'' Cody sheepishly admitted, to Duncan's amazement.

Gwen's focus slowly drifted off as the conversation continued. Even after everything, she was heavily burdened by the horrors she witnessed today. She felt horrible. The guilt and the horror made her feel as if her heart was pumping poison through her veins, spreading a tense, suffocating sensation all through her body with every heartbeat.

She helped robbing innocent people today, and it only dawned they were innocents once it was too late. She had no moral qualms robbing the diamond dealer, he was rich enough and had it coming anyway, but these people didn't deserve the trauma and the harm at all. The sight of the frightened hostages remained printed in her mind as well as their screams, or the security guard and his bloody gut laying all over the floor, withering in pain as the sickly warm, vomit-inducing stench of blood was etched into her nose.

What just happened only a short while was so very overwhelming for Gwen, and the images were becoming like a vindictive ghost that'd haunt her for the rest of her life, not leaving her to be no matter how much she wanted.


Action scenes are so awkward to write!

[1] A Police Academy reference!

The chapter is a little shorter than I intended, but I couldn't stretch it any more than I already did! Still, I hope it was a satisfying read and leaves you longing to know what'd happen next!

Until next update.

:D,

L.W.