Where are my usual reviewers? :) I hope you still like the story!
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"Is Stokes back already?" Gus asked on the phone.
"Yes. He believes you. We all do." Brass lied, hoping to stall.
"Good. I want you to release my friend."
"There's going to be another trial, with the new evidence you gave us. But it's going to take a little while."
"That's time we don't have. That's time the hostages don't have!" he yelled. "I want him out in the next three hours!"
16 hours. The hostage takers were ready to leave.
All of the hostages got in position.
"Come on," Gus clutched Greg and walked with him into the circle the hostages formed.
Greg was confused. He thought they'd wait another three hours until their friend was released from jail. Brass told them that they couldn't do this, though. What were they planning now?
The two masked men were still sitting in front of the counter with their hands tied. "Hey, what about us?" one of them asked.
Neither one of the hostage takers turned around, they pretended they didn't hear them.
"Hey!" one masked man yelled. "Untie us!"
Greg looked at them confused.
"Just shut the hell up," Gus said quite calmly. "Okay, are you ready? Open the doors on three. One,..." He was interrupted by the two masked men walking up to them. Their hands were suddenly untied. Greg quickly turned around with a rather shocked look on his face.
Gus turned around as well. "What the hell?"
The taller masked man grabbed for Gus' gun. They struggled for a while. Most hostages screamed and ran behind the counter. The two masked men, the two hostage takers, Greg and five hostages were standing there now, with the hostage takers and the masked men struggling. The masked men were trying to take the guns from the hostage takers. Greg didn't know what to do. He wanted to run for cover, too, but two hostages grabbed him, making it impossible for him to get out of the situation.
"That wasn't the plan, asshole!" one of the masked men yelled at Gus, finally being able to get the gun out of his hands. He was now aiming it at Gus, while Corey was pointing his gun at him.
Greg wasn't sure what was going on right now. He was almost hoping someone would shoot, though, because this would mean that the police would storm in instantly. Now that most of the hostages were covering behind the counter, it would be the perfect moment.
"Give him the gun!" the masked man with the gun in his hand yelled at Corey.
"No way, you give him the gun!"
While they were arguing about who was giving which gun to whom, Greg tried to sneak to the cell phones when one of the hostages noticed him moving. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"
Greg whispered to him. "We should all take cover, they might start shooting around in here."
He grabbed Greg's arm. "I don't think they will. You stay here."
"I'm not gonna say it again. Hand him the gun before I shoot you!" the masked man yelled.
"Guys, he won't shoot. If he does, the police will storm the bank. Get him!" Gus yelled.
Four of the five hostages standing with them were slowly walking up to the masked man with the gun.
"Get away from me!" he was hectically pointing his gun at the hostages, taking steps back. The other masked man started pulling the hostages away and punching them. It didn't take long for this situation to turn into a brawl between the hostages and the two masked men. The fifth hostage joined the brawl as well. Two hostages were finally able to get the guns in their hands. Both the masked men and the hostage takers were unarmed now. They were pointing the guns into the crowd that was fighting just seconds ago. Greg stood by the side. No one was talking for a minute.
"Guys, give us the guns," Gus said, hoping they'd still feel more sympathy for them than they did for the police.
"No, give it to me," Greg said, slowly reaching out his hands while walking towards them.
"Stop!" one of the hostages with the gun yelled at Greg.
He did. "It's okay... Just hand me the guns and this will be over."
"Brian, Mitch... I can't go to jail again. My family needs me..." Gus said with sad eyes. "And we need that money..."
"What did you do to Helen?" Mitch asked, pointing his gun at the hostage takers, while Brian was pointing his at Greg.
"We tied her up. She's in the bank manager's office."
"You didn't kill her?"
"Of course not! We keep our promises!"
"Don't believe them!" Greg said.
"You, go to the office and look for Helen," Mitch said to one of the hostages. The hostage did.
They waited for her to get back. She came back without Helen, though. "She's in there. I think she's unconscious, but she's alive..."
"See? Told you she's not dead. Now give me the gun so we all can leave."
"No, hand me the gun. They're criminals. Give me the gun and we'll all be able to go home!" Greg said. "Please."
Mitch finally walked over to Greg and handed him the gun.
"Thank you..." Greg said relieved. "Now you," he said to Brian. Brian walked over to Greg, but didn't hand him the gun just yet.
"It's okay..." Greg said with a faint smile on his face.
Brian smiled as well, but instead of handing it over, he pistol-whipped him with the gun. Greg dropped to the floor. The gun was now lying a few inches away from him, so he tried to reach for it. Before he was able to put his hand on the gun, Brian forcefully stepped on Greg's hand. Gus ran over to them and grabbed the gun. "Thanks, Brian." He grabbed Greg and pulled him up. "All the time you caused nothing but trouble! I should kill you right away!" He looked at the hostages. They all looked terrified. "But I won't do it! I made a promise! You got that? No one's going to die in here!"
They all nodded. It was obvious for everybody, though, that they lost the hostage's sympathy.
"Great. Let's do this. We're leaving. And you're all going to help us get out of here!"