CHAPTER FIVE: FLAMING MESS
The elevator door chimed and the trio stepped out onto the thirtieth floor. Hans tossed the black bag to a short Asian man that was watching over the terrorists.
"Go to work," Hans commanded strictly.
"You got it," the man replied in a squeaky voice and he marched off into the elevator. Hans steered Stephanie into the office before she could see the fearsome tantrum that Karl was pulling. Broken bottles littered the floor as the angry, blonde man smashed a nearby table with raging strikes.
Stephanie resumed her spot in her chair and bent over, silently sobbing into her hands. If John was dead then they were all doomed. There would be no one else to save them, not even the police for Hans and his crew were far too clever for them.
Hans' radio crackled and Theo's voice spoke out to him, but Stephanie did not stop to listen. She no longer cared about listening in on their plans. She just wanted to go home, climb into bed and never wake up.
"Hans, you better heat up that miracle because we just broke through on number six and the electromagnetic came down like a fucking anvil."
"Have a look at what our friends outside are doing and I'll be right up," Hans said in an even, convincing tone. He began to rummage through papers on top of his desk, stopped suddenly and turned his eyes onto Stephanie, whose shoulders were shaking with suppressed sobs. An urge to place a comforting hand on her back took over his mind for a quick second, but he shook the thought off.
"Come on." Hans lifted her gently by the elbow and piloted her back towards the elevator and then proceeded inside. As the door shut behind them, Stephanie walked from Hans' reach and turned her back on him. She pressed her forehead against the cool elevator wall and took in a deep breath to calm herself. Hans watched her at first, but drew his focus to the door. The elevator chimed again and the lustrous door slid open. Hans reached for Stephanie but she tugged from his touch and walked ahead into the vault room. Computers and machinery filled the middle of the room where some of Hans' men were. Nude concrete walls stared back at her, giving her a sense of emptiness and neglect.
"Nice of you to join us," Theo called out. He had lost his playfulness to concern, which greatly showed on his frowning face.
"Relax, Theo." Hans left Stephanie to do whatever while he talked things over with Theo.
"All right. Those are the city engineers," Theo said, pointing at a TV screen. Hans stood beside his black friend and stared at the screen. "They're going into the street circuits. Those guys in the suits, I don't know who they are."
"That's the FBI. They're ordering the others to cut the building's power. Regular as clockwork." Hans smirked over Theo's shoulder.
"Or a time lock." Theo's face erupted in a wide smile.
"Precisely. The circuits that cannot be cut are cut automatically in response to a terrorist incident. You asked for miracles, Theo. I give you the FBI." Every syllable that Hans spoke dripped with terrifying joy.
Stephanie strolled around the room, hoping to walk off her weariness. She felt eyes glance at her from time to time, but she ignored them. Abruptly, a moment of soundless darkness engulfed the room until the emergency backup lights came on.
"It's gonna go! It's gonna go!" Theo exclaimed over the high beeps that were being emitted from his computer. The large vault behind them slowly rumbled open as a buzzing alarm screamed at them. The faces of the thieves did not appear to be alarmed but eager. Once the door disappeared into the wall, a blinding white light shot out into the dark room. Hans and Theo drifted towards the opening with awe-struck faces.
"Merry Christmas," Theo whispered with the faintest voice. Theo skipped inside and immediately began flipping open grey, metal lids to many boxes that lay on many shelves. A man Stephanie did not recognise strolled inside and looked over at all the exquisite and exotic statues and figures. Stephanie did not have the slightest urge to enter the vault, but she was curious of what was inside. From the entrance she saw paintings, statuettes, and boxes containing piles of valuable papers, which an excitable Theo was currently searching through. Hans smiled broadly at his elevated friend and leaned against the vault wall.
"I wish to talk to the FBI," Hans spoke into his radio.
"This is Special Agent Johnson of the FBI. The State Department has arranged the return of your comrades. Helicopters are en route as you requested," the radio said in a polite, but solid voice.
"I hear you. We will be ready." Hans turned off his radio. "When they touch down, we'll blow the roof. By the time they figure out what went wrong, we'll be sitting on a beach earning 20%." Hans strode out of the glorious vault, passing by Stephanie.
"Hans, you can't do that! Do you know how many people will die?" Stephanie reached out quickly and grabbed the back of Hans' suit jacket. He stopped and turned his head to her.
"Exactly," he smirked. She let go in disgust. She saw that he was heading back towards the elevators and followed him in, quite unwilling to be left behind with a bunch of murderous strangers. The silence in the elevator was different from when they had first come. Instead of a lingering gloom, there was now a contemplating feel. Stephanie peeked over to see Hans staring hard at the door, looking as though he was struggling with a vicious debate within his head.
Once they made it back to Miss Gennero's office Hans sat at her desk and began to write in his notebook like he had before. Stephanie did not take a seat this time; she was too anxious and angry.
"They're coming!" Eddie shouted from outside the room. His sandy-blonde head poked inside the room from the doorway. "The choppers are coming."
"Okay. Miss Gennero, time to gather your flock." Hans stood up and made his way outside the door.
"What? What are you doing with them? You're not sending them to the roof, are you?" Fear struck Stephanie in the stomach like a cold punch. "Am I to go with them?" Before she could restrain her emotions, a terrified tear escaped her left eye and slithered down her colour-drawn face.
Hans' face appeared like it had in the elevator, torn between two decisions.
"No," he said finally. "No, you aren't."
"But what about them? You're sentencing them to death?" Stephanie tugged on Hans' arm, but he ignored her. None of the hostages were budging at his orders. He withdrew his slender pistol from inside his jacket and shot at the air, causing them to duck and shriek.
"Everyone to the roof!" he bellowed. "Lock them there. Come right back." The Asian man nodded and began to bully the hostages into moving up the stairs.
"You," Hans snatched Stephanie by the upper arm and forced her into the elevator. "You're coming with me."
Stephanie struggled against his hold. All her dad's old friends, all his old colleagues, they were going to die! They were the last remaining proof of him ever existing and the man behind her was going to destroy them.
"Let go! I have to help them!" Stephanie screamed as the elevator doors closed. Hans wrapped a firm arm around her chest and held her to him so she could barely move.
"No need to play hero," he muttered, but Stephanie wasn't listening.
"I have to! I have to go!" she continued, her voice now breaking and more tears leaked from her cerulean eyes. Her hands clutched Hans' arms to loosen his grip but he only held on tighter. Stephanie's attempts grew weaker and soon she altogether stopped and just let Hans hold her trembling body, even if he did not mean to put her at ease.
The elevator opened once more and Hans led her out into the open of the vault room, still not letting go of her.
"Why is she still here?" Theo asked, more out of curiosity than rudeness.
"Never mind that." Hans set Stephanie tenderly down on the stone flooring of the vault and then began to throw precious items into thick bags as quickly as he could. "Stick to your job."
Theo paced over to a black, knobby device that had a long antenna stick out the top of it. He pressed a button and it beeped noisily.
"Armed. The truck?" Theo asked Hans.
"The truck," Hans replied, not looking up from his task at hand.
Theo nodded and ran from the room. Stephanie wiped her eyes with the sweaty palms of her hands and remained silent. She had given up all hope. There was no way she could overthrow these men by herself.
"I'm sorry, Dad," she faintly whispered.
"There's something wrong!" Eddie shouted to Hans, who jerked his head up at this. "They're coming back down!"
"Blow the roof," Hans directed at the nameless man.
"But Karl's up there!" he argued back.
"Blow the roof!" Hans barked. The man did not move and Hans impatiently slammed his own hand onto a button on the black device. The building around them shook with the impact of the explosion about ten floors above them. Hans continued to empty the vault and started throwing full bags to his henchmen. Dust was now floating in the air and the walls grew orange with reflections of fire.
"Hans, it's not safe to be in this building much longer," coughed Stephanie. She held her hands over her nose and mouth to avoid breathing in the thick cloud of dust. Hans placed more bags onto a sort of trolley for Eddie to push. He yelled out to a man in German who then ran down the hallway with a pile of costly papers. A sickly snapping noise that sounded like bones being broken echoed through the hall and a strangled yell followed closely.
"Hans!" John limped slowly to them with his mighty machine gun in his hands.
Stephanie loudly gasped and stood up at the sight of him. He was covered thick in blood and from where she was standing, she could make out a bullet wound in his right shoulder and deep cuts on his worn face. Hans slipped out his gun and pressed it to Stephanie's head. He gripped her around the waist to keep her from running to John. Stephanie felt herself being forced to back away slowly.
"So that's what this is all about? A fucking robbery?" John cried out.
"Put down the gun," Hans spoke in a stable, harsh tone.
"Why'd you have to nuke the whole building Hans?" John kept pressing forward. Stephanie's breathing increased and she could feel the blood pump through her veins.
"Well, when you steal six hundred dollars, you can just disappear. When you steal six hundred million they'll find you unless they think you're already dead. Put down the gun," Hans repeated, this time more severely.
"Do it, John. Please just do it," Stephanie uttered franticly. She knew now it was better to just follow Hans' instructions to avoid more conflict. This would hopefully be all over soon, whether through death or them leaving. John stared at Stephanie, bewilderment etched on his blood-crusted face.
Eddie reached for his own gun, but John was too fast. He shot Eddie hard in the chest with multiple bullets. Hans' gun turned from Stephanie to John, but the ceiling between them fell down in a flaming heap, blocking their view of John.
"John!" Stephanie cried out, jumping forward from Hans' clutch.
"Stephanie? Are you all right?" John yelled back at her from behind the pile of blazing ceiling.
"I'm fine –" Stephanie managed to shout before Hans' thin hand clamped over her mouth. The fire had spread across the floor and was eating at the paper in the bags. Hans tried to recover them, but the fire was doing too much damage. He grunted before forcing Stephanie to run down another hall with him. They took a right and turned into an elevator.
"Theo! Be ready!" Hans shouted at his radio, but no one replied but the annoying sound of static.
Stephanie placed her hands on the elevator walls to steady herself. The earth was spinning around her and growing darker. She tilted backwards and was about to hit the hard floor, but Hans' quick hands caught her and hoisted her up off her feet. The elevator opened and he stepped out, roughly cradling Stephanie in his resolute arms.
"Theo!" he yelled into the empty underground parking lot, his voice shouting back at him in echoes. A red and white ambulance caught his eye and he speedily made his way towards it. In the window he saw Theo sprawled out unconscious in the driver's seat, but no one else was near. Hans walked briskly to the back, opened the two large doors with one hand and laid Stephanie on the carpeted floor. He sprinted back to the driver's window.
"Wake up, you twit!" Hans slapped the black man's cheek and he sprung up.
"What? What happened?" Theo mumbled, unaware of where he was.
"That doesn't matter! Just drive!" Hans hissed as he made his way back quickly to the rear of the ambulance.
"Right!" Theo flicked two switches above him and the ambulance's beaming lights and high-pitched siren turned on immediately. He turned the key in the ignition and the emergency vehicle's engine roared to life. With one last look behind them through the side-view mirror, Theo hit the gas pedal and they zoomed out of the underground parking lot and onto the barren street. As they came into public view, a nervous hitch got caught in Theo's throat, but the police seemed to only recognise them as an ambulance coming from a burning building with injured people.
Meanwhile in the back, Hans was trying to find a comfortable spot to sit. Unlike a normal ambulance, this one had no equipment. It was just a very large, empty trunk. A corner near the front of the trunk provided Hans with a somewhat snug place and he slowly sat down, his muscles sore from carrying Stephanie. Hans exhaled gravely and looked at the ceiling with fury. They had walked away with nothing. The only thing he had gained was the public knowledge that he was a dangerous "terrorist" and he had lost most of his men to that bastard, John McClane. Hans breathed in deeply to calm his burning nerves and his eyes fell upon the sleeping image of Stephanie. He watched her as her chest rose and descended delicately as she breathed, her fingers and eyebrows twitching at her dreams. What was he going to do now that he had kidnapped an orphaned teenage girl?