After they were about as prepared as they were every going to get, the three piled into Jack's car.
"You ride in back," Geoff instructed as he handed Michael a special carbine. "Shoot behind us if you need to, if we ever get chased. I'll shoot from the front."
The teen nodded at the older man, his heart racing even though the action wouldn't start for a few hours. This was the biggest thing Michael had ever attempted, although it was still described by Jack and Geoff as a small job. All Michael ever did was pickpocket and rob the occasional gas station. Now, they'd be robbing strings of stores down the country's coastline, and catch a train! It was gonna be cool as shit!
"Where's the first location?" Michael asked, peering over Geoff's shoulder at the map he was holding.
Geoff pointed at a red dot on the map, "Here, it's about 2 hours away. I hope you don't get carsick," he laughed, and Michael laughed with him,
"As long as no one forces milk down my throat, I'll be fine."
They all laughed, careful not to visualize said imagery in their minds. Gross.
They traveled mostly in silence, occasionally making a joke or giving directions. Michael spent most of the time daydreaming about the action to come in just a few hours.
Finally, Jack pulled over, across the street from the small convenience store they were about to hit.
"Alright," Geoff addressed the two. "Michael, you go in first. You need to hold the door open long enough for Jack to snipe the cashier on duty. Then, we shoot the cameras and take the captures with us. Those will be located in the back somewhere. I'll find those," Geoff continued. "You and Jack loot the place, then we'll head out."
The other two nodded, and Jack got his silenced sniper rifle out to line up the shot from his car. Now, all he needed was for Michael to open the door.
"Bring your pistol," Geoff instructed, "To shoot the cameras. Is it silenced?"
Michael nodded, concealed his weapon, and hopped out of the car.
His heart pounded as he approached the door, each step seemingly taken in slow motion.
"Here goes nothing," he whispered to himself, slowly opening the door and stepping to the side, keeping his face away from the rolling cameras.
BANG!
Michael was quick on the draw, taking less than 5 seconds to pull out his pistol, locate the cameras, and take them out.
Geoff and Jack were through the door seconds later, and they moved fluidly. It was clear that these two had been working together for years, their movements like clockwork. Michael wanted to be like that.
After Geoff got what he needed, sirens started wailing. Clearly, they'd triggered an alarm.
"We gotta go," Geoff appeared, hustling Michael and Jack as they finished looting.
"Alright, alright," Jack answered, slinging his bags over his shoulders and encouraging Michael, who was at the registers, to do the same. "Just grab it, we need to be out before the police show up."
Michael nodded, and followed the two quickly out the door.
As soon as they were in the car and speeding away, Michael let out a cheerful whoops.
"That was fucking awesome!"
"Hell yeah it was!" Geoff agreed, "Just try to speed it up a little next time, okay?"
"Yeah... sorry. I usually work alone..." Michael trailed off, looking out his window.
"Hey, it's okay," Jack reassured him. "Don't sweat it, I can tell you'll catch on quickly."
Michael gave him a small smile, "Of course. Next one will be smoother, I promise."
And it was. As was the next one, and the one after that.
After having traveled 10 hours and done four robberies, the three decided to call it a night and pulled into a motel parking lot.
"Where even are we?" the youngest asked as he got out of the car and stretched.
"About halfway to Vice City," Jack supplied, and Michael couldn't help but groan.
"Sorry," he quickly apologized, "I don't get carsick, but road trips aren't really my thing."
"You get used to it," Geoff shrugged as he directed Michael towards the motel's lobby. They didn't have much to carry in, they'd leave most of the stuff stashed in Jack's trunk. Didn't need the motel staff seeing it.
Michael got the absolute joy of sleeping on the floor that night, much to his discontent. He made sure the other two knew how he felt,
"Way to treat your new recruit," he muttered.
"Hey, we've all been there, done that. We'll switch it up tomorrow," Geoff negotiated as he snacked on stolen cheese puffs.
"Fine," the youngest sighed, quickly stealing Geoff's snack in revenge and grinning as he did so.
Insults were exchanged, but it was all in good fun before they called it a night.
What ended up happening the next day made Geoff and Jack want to make Michael sleep on the floor every night.
Michael had woken up very sore, and very grumpy. He tried to keep his irritation in check, but would still lash out on occasion in the car. Despite Michael's foul mood, the first 4 robberies of the day went well. In fact, his extra anger proved useful during the robberies, resulting in Michael being quicker on the trigger and more efficient in the looting. Not a single problem arose.
Until the fifth one.
It was the fifth one that gave them problems.
They pulled up to the store, slightly larger than the ones they'd held up so far. Jack said it'd be no problem, though. They'd been watching it for a while, and had identified a mere three employees on the clock.
"We're armed and they're not," Jack told them. "It'll be easy!"
As soon as the three were sure that no customers were inside, they began.
"You know the drill, Michael. Hold the door, Jack'll snipe that one," Geoff explained, pointing to a woman in khakis. "I'll follow you, shoot him," Geoff pointed to a man, then to the last woman, "And you take her out."
"What about the cameras?" Michael questioned.
"I'll snipe 'em from here," Jack volunteered. "Then I'll get registers two and three. Michael, you loot register one."
Michael nodded, "Got it."
"Alright!" Geoff shouted, "LET'S HEIST!"
Michael hopped out of the car and approached the store. He held the door, BANG, the usual. He quickly took out his target, and heard more shots over his head, clearly Jack taking out the cameras as planned. The third and final target was taken out seconds afterwards, just as planned.
The curly haired teen began working on wrenching the first register open, Jack quickly appearing next to him to work on the second as Geoff jogged by to snag any footage that had recorded them.
"I finished this one," Michael whispered to Jack after a moment.
"Cool, now we just wait for-"
BANG!
Michael's head shot towards the source of the noise, and he exchanged a panicked look with Jack.
"Was that-"
"Go!" Jack demanded, and Michael ran towards Geoff's direction, Jack just steps behind him.
Michael shook his head as he ran. He'd only known these men for a few days and here he was, terrified that one of them was dead.
BANG!
Shit!
Michael burst through a door, and was shocked to see a police officer restraining a red faced Geoff in a choke hold.
Micheal. Had had. Enough.
The officer reached for his walkie, presumably to call for backup.
"Oh no you don't!" the teen shouted, expert aim shooting the walkie through the officer's hand.
The officer shouted some curse word in pain, but Michael didn't hear it through the blood pulsing in his ears.
"Let him fucking go!" He shouted, raising his weapon at the officer, who was trying to grasp his own gun with his injured hand.
"I said let him go!" Michael demanded again, and when the officer didn't respond quickly enough, Michael put three bullets in him. Head, heart, stomach.
The officer slowly slumped to the floor, his eyes becoming glossy. Geoff stumbled forward, gasping for breath and watching Michael in awe.
Michael was so enraged, he had begun unloading countless rounds into the already dead body.
Jack had to drag him away, and the teen finally calmed down back in the car with nothing but praise for his work filling his ears.
"You did great back there!" Geoff praised the younger one. "I thought I was a goner! He was pretty strong, I couldn't move an inch."
Michael grinned, "I guess I don't know what came over me. I just remembered we were supposed to have each other's backs."
"I don't know what came over you either," Jack started, "But I'd love to see that again. You were scary as shit, honestly," he confided in Michael. "Just so angry."
"Well, my nickname was 'Rage Quit' after all, back when I went to school," Michael laughed.
"I can see why," Geoff smiled with him. "It fits."
Jack was about to agree when he saw the lights flashing behind them.
Where did they come from?
"Shit! They're onto us, you guys have gotta take 'em out until we can find a secluded area!"
"How the hell did they find out? We didn't set off any alarms!" Michael panicked, quickly fumbling for the special carbine given to him earlier.
"Must've been a silent one," Geoff supplied as he rolled down his window to shoot out of it.
Even though Michael had good aim, he hadn't had much experience with a large weapon, or with shooting from a distance.
There's a first for everything.
Michael rolled his window down too, leaning outward with his right shoulder, since Geoff had the left side. He began unloading rounds, using his scope and aiming to the best of his abilities. He was thrilled when he took out one of the drivers.
"Hell yeah!"
"Keep it up!" Jack encouraged as he drove like a maniac, taking the silliest routes in an attempt to lose the cops.
Michael aimed again, shooting out a few tires and causing one cop car to spin into another, only leaving a few to take out.
"Good shot," he heard from someone in his ear, and he grinned at that, keeping his concentration on the foes behind them.
He jumped a little when a bullet whizzed just inches away from his ear, withdrawing slightly to avoid getting shot. Another hit the top of the car frame above his head. Whoever was shooting had good aim, and Michael wanted to take them out.
So naturally, he just started firing blindly.
Michael scored a few more kills, though Geoff took the majority of them, and after what seemed like forever, they were finally in the clear.
"Good job, kid," Geoff pat Michael on the shoulder. "You've done so well, and definitely proven yourself worthy for this crew."
The teen grinned and saluted Geoff. "Thanks, boss."
"Vice City is about an hour away," Jack piped up after a while. "We've got one or two robberies there, then we just stay a few days until the train departs from Las Venturas. We'll catch it on it's way back to Carcer City."
"Sounds good!"
Michael was thrilled. This crew had so much adventure, and this had to be the best decision he'd ever made.