Chapter 3
Heist
Ana braced herself, clenching her jaw and digging her heels to keep her balance as she sat on the filthy metal floor of the speeding van. She was dressed all in black with a thick baggy hoody, skinny jeans and her knee-high boots. When she felt it safe to, she raised her gun to check it was fully loaded. With a sudden swerve and a screech, the girl next to her squeaked as she slammed her hands into the floor to hold herself up.
"Allie, check your pistol," Ana called over the shudders of the van. Allie frantically nodded as she tried to raise her own gun. Ana could see she was shaking as her hands fumbled over the pistol to try and check the ammunition. "Here, like this," Ana grabbed the pistol, making a point to pull it up as Allie had ignorantly aimed it at Ana. She reminded her how to check the bullets and cock the gun.
"Okay, I think I got it," Allie yelped, as she fell into Ana upon another swerve. "Does he have to drive like that?" she asked as she looked to the front of the van that had a small window partially revealing the back of the Joker's head as he drove.
"Never let the Joker drive," Ana explained as she looked to the other henchmen. There were six of them sitting on the floor of the van, trying their best not to fall or fly anywhere. Two were Crazies, while the rest were just taking orders from the Boss.
"You remember the plan, right? We can't have no one messing this up!" grunted Rex, who sat in the corner, behind the driver's seat. He was holding a heavy looking rifle in one hand, whilst using the other to prop himself against the wall.
"No one is going to mess this up," snapped Ana, almost speaking for the rest of the team whilst enforcing the message further. She looked to Allie who had her eyes tightly shut. "Right, Allie?" She encouraged.
"Y... Yes, all we have to d... do is get to the shipment yard, sneak in..." Allie braced herself again as the van flew over a speed bump, "... steal the crates, and get out," she finished.
"Right, and it's the mob's shipment so we expect it to be heavily guarded tonight," Ana addressed the whole van. After a few moments, the van ground to a halt, causing everyone to fly towards the front.
The Joker leapt out of the driver's seat, looked around at his surroundings, and strode to the back of the van. As he swung the doors open, he saw everyone slowly standing up as they cradled their aches and pains, he let out a coarse chuckle. Rex jumped to his feet, hiding a throbbing headache, whilst Ana pulled Allie up. The Joker stared at the two women and scoffed.
The gang climbed out of the van and looked around. They had parked in an alleyway, with looming warehouses on either side to hide their presence. Around them was one rusted dumpster and a few forgotten crates and barrels. The graffiti on the wall exhibited arbitrary names and uninspired artwork.
"It's showtime," the Joker grinned, starting up the operation. The henchmen all put on their sculpted clown masks, each one with a different expression and paintwork. Rex's mask had two massive red circles around the eyes, a sharp blue nose and a red mouth that had been worn away with time. Allie's mask mirrored her usual cheerful self with a permanent smile and red paint spreading up each cheek, along with deep blue around the eyes. While Ana's was the opposite with an everlasting frown with blue angry eyebrows, red circled eyes and a large blue painted mouth.
The Joker didn't need one as his war paint was thickly smeared across his face, with a few smudges of white seeping into his purple overcoat. He raised his gloved hand to signal down the alley.
Everyone silently moved down the alleyway, past the forgotten remnants, and took a left to wrap around the building. The alleyways were well lit, with only a few flickering lights, but the mess and calamity scattered around them acted as a disguise. As they got to the end of the turning, Rex peered around the corner to check for unwanted guests, the Joker waited at the back of the gang, fidgeting on his heels. Rex gave a nod and they all set off down the next alley.
Rex led the way, with Ana behind him. Allie was in the middle amongst the others, she looked back briefly to catch a glimpse of the Clown Prince of Crime, but he didn't seem to notice as he licked his scars and strode behind. Once at another turning, Rex peered around the corner once more.
"Come on," he mumbled, egging on a scenario to begin as his eyes searched the area in front. Ana leaned forwards and peered around as well to look at an unexceptional door across from the next alleyway. It had a dim green light above it, signalling a fire escape. It illuminated up the grey walls, replacing the light from a flickering bulb, and rested on the piles of wooden crates that surrounded the area.
Rex elbowed Ana to move away from him. Ana let out a sharp exhale and angrily elbowed him back. Rex snapped his head to hers and let out a warning growl, but before Ana could retaliate, the fire escape door creaked open. They both looked to the door, and saw Duncan poke his head out as he searched for them. When his eyes met theirs, he waved them over. They all ran towards the door, as Ana got closer, she saw Duncan wearing the typical uniform for the workers in the shipment yard. Duncan and a couple of others had slipped in earlier to allow the gang an easier entry.
Once inside, Ana could see the true layout of the warehouse, there were cardboard boxes, wooden crates and metal containers everywhere, all piled high. From across the way, she could see a second floor with an open balcony, revealing more crates and a couple of barrels.
"How are we supposed to find the right crates?" she sharply whispered to Duncan.
"Now now deary, Dunks here should have located them already. Right?" The Joker purred as he rested his hand on Duncan's shoulder.
"Yes Boss," Duncan pointed to the second floor across the warehouse, "The logging system says they're in that area," he quietly explained. The Joker's eye began to light up as he looked across the warehouse, he clocked a few armed guards aimlessly wandering around at the top.
"Good, good," The Joker trialled off as his eyes darted around the area, almost as if he was calculating every possible route and outcome. "We need to get up there, and dispose of the guards," the Joker sucked on his scars as he stared at the balcony.
"If we make our presence known too soon, the mob will send in more henchmen. We'll be outnumbered," Ana quietly observed.
"Split up," The Joker simply stated. With that, the group split up into groups of 3, one group going down the left of the warehouse, one down the right, whilst the uniformed men were able to move more freely. Both groups were going at their own pace, careful not to be seen by other staff on the ground floor, or from the balcony.
Ana paired with the Joker, Allie, and another henchman, with the Joker leading the way as they weaved through the crates. The Joker signalled them all to duck as a guard walked to the edge of the balcony. Ana remained still, as she took cover behind a balanced pile of crates watching the Joker's back carefully. She could hear Allie's heavy breathing behind her. Once the guard moved away, Ana relaxed momentarily.
"Are you alright?" she asked Allie, who nodded in return. The Joker started to move; Ana made sure they stayed close. She noticed the other team move forward on the other side of the warehouse, making their way to the staircase. As they made it to the end of the stairs, there was a guard standing firm at the bottom. They weren't wearing the uniform, so it must have been the mob's henchman.
"Stay," the Joker grinned, as he decided to split from the group and slowly make his way around the guard, sneaking underneath the balconied area where pallets touched the low ceiling. He slowly tiptoed behind the guard with a huge venomous grin, the metal staircase revealing gaps between each step, giving him a clear view. He crouched by the side of the stairs and saw the guard's peripheral vision start to kick in as he began to turn his head to the Joker's position.
In one swift move, the Joker leapt forward and butted the guard on the head with his Uzi, knocking him out. The guard let out a short, gurgled noise as he went down, the Joker grabbed him by the shirt as he fell to soften the landing.
Ana froze to ensure no one reacted to the noise, but the racket around the shipment yard must have muffled it from a far as no one came. The Joker signalled to the group to come over, they dashed up the stairs. After taking cover behind more heaps, the gang clocked more guards circling a specific pile of crates.
"Bingo," The Joker mumbled as he licked his lips. Allie leaned closer to the Joker, trying to see what he saw. As she leaned on one of the crates, she misjudged its weight and accidentally caused it to shift. The grinding wood echoed with the crate below it. It was too close to the guards in front, they all snapped their heads to their location. Allie looked to Ana who was glaring at her behind her mask. They both looked to the Joker, who was glaring daggers at the young girl.
"Sorry," she squeaked. The Joker rolled his eyes and stood up immediately firing the gun at the henchmen. Suddenly, the atmosphere turned to chaos as the mob's henchmen started to yell and return fire. Allie let out a scream as she covered her face, still hiding behind the crates. Ana, along with the other henchman, started strategically firing back, hiding when there was a cluster of gunfire. The bullets started to shred through the edges of the crates. Ana winced as splatters of splinters started getting too close for comfort.
"We can't stay here!" she called over the gunfight. The Joker responded with a high-pitched laugh as he sporadically fired his guns to the crowd. Just as Ana started to grow alarmed, the Joker's other henchmen, including Rex and Duncan, opened fire on the other side of the warehouse, cutting down a few of the mob's henchmen in front. Ana let out a smirk as she caught a glimpse of a group of them falling to the ground as she peered around the corner.
Her smugness was interrupted as the wooden crate she was using as cover was sliced by a speeding bullet, it shot past her left arm carving it in its path. She let out a yell and clutched onto the deep wound. She jolted to the neighbouring pile of metal containers and looked down at the blood trickling from her arm. She let out a wince and looked down at Allie, who was cowering on the ground, facing the crates.
"Allie, get up!" Ana ordered. Allie didn't respond, she simply continued to cover her face and cry. "Allie!" Ana barked again. The Joker snapped his head to the girls and looked down at Allie, his grin faded. Ana looked to him just as he looked back at her, Ana's face was concealed but his glare entered through the eye holes in the mask and ripped through Ana. Ana's thoughts started racing with all the different actions the Joker could take next.
"Allie!" Ana tried one last time, giving her a hard kick. No response. The Joker shifted his glare off Ana onto Allie and unexpectedly gave a deathly grin. In a flash, the Joker reached down to Allie, shoved his arms around her torso, and yanked her up to stand. Allie let out a scream as the Joker hauled her out of their cover, he placed his gun into her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers so they both were aiming the gun.
In seconds, he pressed down the trigger, letting out a spray of bullets into the group in front. Allie watched with wide eyes as the Joker started to laugh again. She could feel his chest tremble against her back with every laugh.
Ana kept looking back at them each time she took cover, witnessing Allie grow with confidence as she began to smile. Ana shifted her view to the group as their gunfire died down, she looked out in front and saw Duncan and the others making their way to their position, cutting down anyone who was still moving.
A vicious yell came from the bottom of the stairs, signalling more of the mob's henchmen coming up. The Joker looked over to the stairway as he heard the trampling of shoes against the metal steps. He let out a chuckle and stalked quickly behind a large metal container, shoving Allie in the same direction. The Joker's team moved to better cover, behind a mismatched pile of metal containers and wooden crates. A dozen more of the mob's henchmen appeared, firing their guns to invade their cover.
Ana and Rex begrudgingly took cover together and targeted the same henchman holding a fierce shotgun. With each fire this henchman took out more of the wooden heaps and embedded the metal plating. Ana and Rex waited until he had to reload. Each shot blasted around their position until it settled down.
"He's out, right?" Rex asked, as he tensed himself, hand tightly around his rifle. Ana hesitated as she counted in her head the number of shots she felt against the cover and nodded. Rex instantly stood up to shoot, Ana smirked and stayed still. He was met with an eruption of shotgun fire, he let out a yell as he fell to the ground.
"Oops," she mouthed with a smirk, then stood up and shot the henchman down. After a few minutes of gunfire, the clatters of bullet shells, crunching of broken wood and the clanging of metal finally died down.
The Joker's henchmen revealed their locations and revelled in their triumph. Ana stood up and looked to Duncan across the room, he let out a sigh of relief when their eyes met. Rex's pained grunts pulled her out of her gaze, as she looked down to the floor beside her. Ana let out another small smile and strolled away, walking past two of the other henchmen who ran to Rex's aid.
Duncan crowbarred one of the suspected crates, revealing bricks of cocaine. Ana's eyes lit up as if she had struck gold. The Joker walked up to the shipment with a hand on his chin, giving a pondering expression. Allie followed behind him.
"Hmmm," he inspected as he reached for a brick, holding it up to observe it. Taking out a flick knife, he made a small cut into the wrapping and dipped the blade into the compressed powder. "What do you think?" he said handing the blade to Ana. Ana tried to contain her excitement as she grabbed the knife and carefully transferred some of the powder onto her finger and tasted it. She immediately felt a fuzzy feeling in her mouth, that trickled down her throat, leaving behind a numbing residue.
"Oh, that's delicious," she shivered. The Joker scoffed and nodded to Duncan. "Get this back to the base, and don't uh... let someone get greedy," the Joker ordered, giving a glance to Ana.
"Yes Boss," nodded Duncan as he and the two uniformed henchmen started gathering the other crates. The Joker looked to Rex, who was being held up by one of the other teammates, revealing blood oozing from his waist.
"Not looking great, Rexy boy," The Joker cooed as he skipped towards him, "Ouch, that looks painful," The Joker grinned, pointing with his knife. "Get him back into the van, Drew will take of that," he commanded. Ana lightly kicked the ground in annoyance. The group dashed back to the van before the police arrived to tame the battle.
...
Ana winced as Drew stitched up the deep slice on her arm.
"Hold still, or you'll have a scar," he calmly spoke as he leaned closer to his work. They were both sitting at the wooden table in the hideout's lounge. Two of the other henchmen were sitting on the sofa behind them, recounting the job to Charles. Allie was leaning against the counters in the kitchenette, fiddling with her fingers quietly.
"How's Rex doing?" Ana cringed as the needle penetrated her skin again.
"He's resting in the other room, he lost a bit of blood but he's tough," Drew explained, not taking his eyes off her wound. Ana rolled her eyes and looked over to Allie.
"Had fun?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Allie snapped her head up to Ana, as if pulled out of a trance.
"Yeah... It was! Is that bad?" Allie's glee disintegrated immediately. Ana let out a chuckle.
"No, not here it isn't," she smiled, bringing back Allie's grin again.
"You thirsty?" Allie said as she opened the mini fridge.
"Yeah, get us a beer," Ana nodded, giving another grimace with the final stitch.
"You think I'm stupid?" Rex stormed into the apartment, a fresh bandage was wrapped tightly around his bare waist, spots of red faintly seeping through. "You did that on purpose!" He barked. Ana immediately stood up to stand her ground.
"Oh get over yourself, I miscounted!" She snapped back, taking a few steps forward as he marched toward her.
"Really?" He yelled, as he roughly grasped Ana's neck and collarbone with both hands, and threw her down onto the table. Drew immediately stood up and backed away. "You stupid bitch," He roared as his grip got tighter on her neck.
"Get off of me!" Ana coarsely yelled. Allie covered her mouth as she let out a scream and ran out of the room and down the corridor. Ana tried to thrash under Rex's grasp, but his strength easily overpowered hers. With a swift kick she rammed her foot into his newly wounded waist, Rex let out a grunt, released her and keeled over momentarily. Ana took the chance and pulled her right fist back, and used all her weight to throw it forward, colliding with Rex's cheek. He gave another grunt as his head moved with the collision. Within a heartbeat, he threw his right fist forward with an almighty muster of strength, punching Ana in the jaw. She yelled out in pain as she fell backwards, pulling down the left chair under the table, and fell to the floor.
"You think you can fight me?" Rex barked as he stalked over to her and kicked her in the stomach. Ana winced as she clutched her front, finding it harder to breathe. She looked up with anger in her eyes and caught the Joker walking into the room, Allie behind him. Rex noticed Ana's direction change and he looked back towards the Joker.
"Please don't stop on my account." The Joker grinned as he leaned against the doorframe. Ana's eyes flickered toward Allie who looked horrified that the Joker wasn't stepping in, then to the kitchenette that had her glass bottle of beer on the side. She let out a pained scream, as she willed herself to stand up and lurch at the bottle, grabbing it in one swift swoop. Rex turned back to face her, ready to punch again but was interrupted by the bottle smashing against his bald head.
Rex fell backwards a couple of steps, blood trickling down his head, the Joker watched intently behind him with a smirk.
"You little bitch!" Rex growled and pulled out his pistol from his back pocket and raised his arm ready to shoot Ana dead. Ana froze. Suddenly, his forearm was pulled up with a mighty grip, Rex's head snapped to the person standing next to him. The Joker was shoulder to shoulder with him but facing the other way toward Allie. The Joker's right-hand gripping onto Rex's forearm tightly.
"Now that, would spoil all the fun," the Joker growled, tilting his head toward Rex, and staring him dead in the eye. "Guns are too quick," he licked his scars. Ana kept her fighting stance with her knee slightly bent and her hands up, as she clutched onto the remnants of the broken bottle neck. Suddenly, Duncan strolled into the room and stopped in his tracks as all eyes fell on him.
"Did I miss something?" he queried, raising his hands slightly.
"Ah Dunks, I was wondering where you got to, got all the crates?" The Joker let go of Rex and walked towards Duncan.
"Yeah Boss, we unloaded them downstairs," Duncan pointed down the hall.
"Wonderful! Charles, Drew, Rex..." The Joker looked to a new henchman on the sofa, "and you, we've got work to do!" Drawing them all out of the room. Rex stood glaring at Ana.
"You better watch your back bitch, because you're dead," Rex snarled. Ana swallowed a lump in her throat and stepped toward him.
"Oh yeah? Well best of fucking luck," she growled. They gave each other one final glaring showdown before Rex stormed away. When he was out of sight, Ana let out a large exhale of tension and fell back onto her chair. Duncan hurried over.
"What was that about? What do you think you're doing squaring up to Rex?" Duncan interrogated.
"He started it," Ana whined as she grabbed her aching jaw.
"I'll get something cold for you to use," Allie searched the kitchenette.
"Where have you been?" Ana asked.
"I got held up" Duncan shrugged off. "You can't be doing that, I'm not always going to be here to stop him," Duncan leaned in closer to Ana and lowered his voice, "Do you want me to stay over tonight? Just to keep an eye out," Duncan spoke softly but with concern dotted in his words.
"Keep your voice down," Ana's eyes flickered to Allie as she continued to search the cupboards. "You can stay over if you want, although I don't know how good a company I'll be tonight. Guess we'll have to find out," Ana smiled then hissed at her jaw. "But Rex had it coming. He got lucky this time," she suddenly barked, fuelled by the pain. Allie walked back over with a cold can of fizzy drink. Ana snatched it and placed it on her face.
"But you," Ana glared at Allie, "What were you thinking bringing the Joker in? You might as well have signed my death certificate!" she yelled.
"I'm sorry, I thought he'd help," Allie cried, causing Ana to roll her eyes and scoff.
"Don't worry Allie, ignore her. She always gets riled up when it comes to Rex," Duncan jokingly brushed Ana off to her annoyance. "Have no clue why, you two just never got along," he leaned back in the chair.
"Yeah well, he had it coming," Ana hissed.