Generator Rex - One Man Remedy
Chapter 2: Bank Robbery
"Hey kid, you still alive?"
"Is he dead?"
"I'm not sure."
"Sure looks dead."
"Did you see that guy? If I was hit by someone that big I'd probably be dead too."
"You're both wrong. He's not dead. Can't you see him breathing?"
"Oh, yeah."
I slowly came to, opening my eyes to discover I was in a dark room full of people. My head felt like it just went through the works again, probably the effect of me doing something stupid again. Also there seemed to be something laying on my chest, causing me to have problems breathing. At least I was alive.
"Ugh, my head," I said, startling the people around me. This included Circe, who seemed to have been laying on my chest.
"You're okay!" Circe said, giving me a hug.
I cringed. It felt like I also had a few broken ribs in there too. Great.
"So what happened? Where are we?" I asked, breaking free of Circe's grip.
"In the room they keep the safe deposit boxes." A woman answered. "The robbers said we were going to be their bargaining tools for when the police show up."
I nodded slowly, that made sense. Were I ever to rob a bank and I wasn't sure if I would get away. I'd at least have a plan to keep the police from being able to touch me for a few hours.
"So, is everyone okay?" I questioned, getting to my feet.
The woman nodded. "Luckily, they didn't seem to want to deal with the rest of us. The only one who might need a doctor, though, is the guard in the corner."
"Guard?"
She nodded, pointing to one of the far corners where some people were huddled. I could barely make out the outline of the security guard who got shot earlier, leaning against the wall. Thanking the woman, I walked over and knelt beside him.
"Does it hurt?" I asked, knowing it was a stupid question to be asking.
He looked up at me and shook his head. "Not really. To be honest I'm surprised the bullet didn't kill me, seeing as how close it was to hitting my heart."
"Mind if I take a look at it?"
"Are you a doctor?"
"No, but I do know a few things about gunshot wounds."
He looked skeptical.
"Just show me the wound."
Reluctantly, he removed the piece of cloth he was holding against the wound. Almost immediately it began to start leaking blood again.
"We're going to have to get that bullet out of you if we want to stop the bleeding," I said. "You might want to bite your finger or something."
Before he could respond, I shoved my hand into the wound and drug the bullet out. Luckily, it didn't seem to have shattered when it went in. Now free of the bullet, the wound started to bleed more freely.
"Ahhhhh-! You couldn't have waited until I got ready?" The guard wheezed, gazing at the bullet in my hand.
"Don't be such a wimp," I answered, wiping the blood from my hands. "That wasn't even the worst part."
"You mean there's more?"
I grinned. "Oh, yeah. But that'll have to wait till you get to the hospital."
A few seconds later, the wound was effectively bound using the shredded pieces of my shirt. "That should hold."
The guard looked at the wound and then back at me. "Your shirt…?"
I held up my hand. "No questions. I'm not in the mood."
"But-"
"None," I repeated.
The guard nodded.
"Good. Now I think it's time we got out of here, don't you agree?" I asked, getting to my feet and donning my jacket.
"Get out of here? Don't you think we've tried?" A man said. "That door is hard enough to get into when you're on the outside; how exactly do you propose we get out when we're locked inside?"
"Why don't we just use some dynamite and blow it off its hinges?" Another teenager sarcastically added.
"That'll work." I replied.
"Say what?" the teen shot back.
"I'm going to blow the door off its hinges," I said with a straight face.
"Are you serious? Who knows how thick that thing is? You'd need a tank to get through it."
"Exactly. So I suggest you get away from the door."
Flashing Circe one of my trademark smiles, I walked over to the steel-plated door and placed my right hand on one of the hinges.
"He's crazy." One man said.
"I agree. Being knocked flat by that thug certainly didn't help his brain cells any." A woman agreed.
"Enough!" I shouted erecting my Smack Hands and punching the door. Instantly the half-destroyed door crashed to the ground. The group was speechless as they watched my hand return to normal.
"Stay here," I stated calmly, as I strolled out of the room. "I'll be back."
Behind me, one of the teenagers in the room let out a squeak. "Y-you're him aren't you? The one who cured the world and stopped the nanites."
I spotted the robbers as soon as I turned the last corner. They were huddled around the main safe and not really paying attention to their surroundings. Remaining silent, I slipped behind a nearby desk and started to survey the scene.
There were only two of them. The robber who had knocked me out and his partner. Two armed robbers against one unarmed teenager, I had seen worse odds.
"So, what do you think John? How about we ask for a helicopter loaded with the eighty grand, and a jet waiting at the airport?" The first robber said.
"That might work, but we'll still need one of the hostages until we can get to the jet," his partner, John replied.
"As long as we let him go afterwards, I don't care what it takes."
"Of course we will. I know how you are LZ."
"I'm getting tired of hurting innocent people just to make a quick buck. Hopefully this will be the last time we have to do this."
"So, it's settled. We ask the cops for a helicopter and a jet, fly to some random tropical island in the pacific, and buy off the officials. Then we're set for life."
"Agreed."
"And speaking of hostages." The robber reached behind a nearby overturned table and pulled out the screaming form of a little girl.
"Well would you look at that LZ, it's a little girl," John said. "What do you think you were doing hiding behind that desk, huh girl?"
"I-I was hiding from you." She answered.
"Is that so?" He dropped her on the floor. "LZ, can you show her what we do to people who hide from us?"
LZ solemnly nodded and grabbed her by the arm. Without a word he snapped the arm backwards and broke it.
"AHHH!" The little girl screamed sinking to her knees.
"Shut up or he'll do it again." John shouted.
The little girl immediately stopped screaming, giving little sniffles.
"That's better. Now LZ, I want you to kill her."
Say what! I thought.
"Say what?" LZ asked.
"You heard me. Kill her. We need to make examples out of those who cross us," John calmly repeated.
"But she didn't-" LZ started.
"Do you want to die, too?" John asked, taking out his pistol.
"No sir."
"Good," he said, throwing LZ the pistol. "Use that."
Nodding, LZ cocked the gun and put it against the girl's bent head. "It's nothing personal, you understand."
Instantly, the preteen lost it and started bawling. "Please don't kill me! I-I could do anything you wanted! I could help you escape! Or be your cook! Or whatever! Just don't kill me!"
"Oh, do shut up!" John snarled. "LZ, kill her already."
LZ nodded again, pressing his finger against the trigger. He closed his eyes and slowly pulled the trigger.
CRACK! My fist slammed into LZ's jaw throwing the man off his feet.
The gun flew out of LZ's hand and onto the floor near the the other robber's feet.
"Don't you dare." I said as John reached for the gun.
Ignoring me, he grabbed the gun and fired.
In one swift movement, I grabbed a nearby desk with my Smack Hands and threw it. The desk pinned John up against the wall.
"Well well well." I said walking toward him.
"Please…" He coughed, struggling against the desk.
"What was that?"
"Please, don't kill me."
"And why shouldn't I? You were planning to kill that girl and she asked for mercy."
"Please...I won't do it...again," He cried.
"You won't?"
"No! No, sir. I'll change my ways and everything. I'll become an honest part of society."
"For some reason I don't think that I can believe that." I flicked my wrist creating the BFS.
Seeing the sword the man broke down crying. "Not that! Anything but that!"
I groaned. "Okay, I'll let you go."
"Thank y-"
"But if I ever hear that you two have been doing something like this again…" I picked him up and slammed his body on top of a table. "I won't be so merciful."
"I-I understand."
"Good."
I let him roll to the floor. He groaned softly, unable to get back up. Sighing I turned to go find his partner, only to be tackled from behind.
"What?" I said, flipping over. It was the girl and she was crying.
"You okay?" I asked, as I knelt down beside her.
Her brown eyes stared. They were filled with fear, a reaction I know all too well. "Why did you save me? You don't even know me." She asked.
I shrugged. "I don't need to know you to help you."
"But. Everyone else. They..." She stopped, more tears running down her face.
"Well, that's not me. If I see someone in trouble, I try to do something. That's what a true friend would do."
"Friend? We're friends?"
"If you want to be." I held out my hand.
She grinned widely taking it.
"Come on. Let's get you out of here."
Following my lead, we walked back to where I'd left the other hostages.
"By the way. What's your name? Mine's Christy."
"My name?"
"Yeah. I want to know why my knew friend is."
"My name is Rex. Nice to meet you."
"You too." She beamed.
Author Note: If this doesn't live up to your expectations. I apologize. It's hard to write something that doesn't involve a lot of violence.