Day 19 is here and so am I. I’ve been in writing mode heavy lately, so I hope that I’m entertaining yall properly. Let’s get into this next prompt.
Today’s prompt: Write a story that begins in the middle of the plot’s action (en media res).
Enjoy!
Two masked men dressed in all black, wearing backpacks and holding machine guns, walk around the bank lobby. “Ok, everyone! You’ve cooperated, and your lives will be spared!” Don shouts.
The patrons and workers, tied up and sitting on the floor, look on in fear as he speaks. There are ten people tied up, including the workers. They all have a tiny, square device attached to their necks. The second man, Rick, does another check to make sure the security cameras are all turned off. Don looks over at him, gesturing for confirmation, and Rick nods back at him.
“Ok, like I said, don’t be a hero, and everything will be ok,” Don says to everyone as he holds up what looks like a small remote.
Rick walks over to Don, and both of them take off their backpacks and open them. They both undress then redress in casual clothing they had opted to bring. Rick then takes both backpacks and heads to the back of the bank.
“Everyone remembers the plan, correct?” Don asks.
They reply, yes.
“Good,” Don responds.
After a few minutes, Rick comes back to the lobby. “I took care of the clothes,” Rick says to Don. He nods.
Don then takes two more of the devices out of his pocket and hands one to Rick. They both attach them to their necks.
Don then looks at Rick and asks, “You ready?” Rick nods and braces himself. Don then punches Rick in his face and breaks his nose. Rick grunts, but still stands. Don then kicks him in his stomach and punches him in his face again. Rick doubles over. Don asks, “My bad. You good?” Rick replies with a weak, “Yeah…keep going.” Don then kicks Rick in his face, knocking him out. Everyone looks on in fear as Rick hits the floor.
Don then walks over to the counter, reaches under it, and presses the emergency button. He quickly runs over to the people tied up on the floor and sits with them. He takes out a zip tie and restrains his hands behind his back.
“Now, we wait,” Don says as he gets comfortable.
Suddenly, Rick coughs and moves a bit. Don looks at him with a surprised face and says, “What the hell? Rick! What are you doing?”
Rick coughs again then finally stands up. He wipes the blood from his nose and spits some from his mouth. He looks at Don and says, “Fuck this, man. You beating my ass wasn’t part of the plan.”
Don groans in frustration and replies, “You’re about to do this NOW? Really? The cops are on their way, man! Get back down!”
Rick stumbles over to him and spits in his face. Don grimaces then looks at Rick. “I don’t care. Every job we do, you demean and belittle me. I’m done with this shit,” Rick says.
Everyone else looks on in astonishment. Don groans then stands up but remembers his hands are tied. “Rick. If you do this now, we are going to jail for the rest of our lives. We’ve already secured the money, so let’s have this discussion later,” Don tries to persuade him.
Rick suddenly punches Don in his face, knocking him down, then says, “I don’t give a fuck. I’m not your lackey, I’m a grown-ass man.”
Don spits blood out of his mouth and glares at Rick.
“Why don’t I ever get half? You always take the majority of the cut — you selfish bastard,” Rick grimaces.
Don rolls his eyes and replies, “You wanna know why? Because you’re an idiot! The last few jobs we did, you almost got us caught. I’M the one who sacrifices the most on these jobs, I’M the brains behind this. I could use anyone else, but I feel sorry for your dumbass all the time.”
Rick scowls and punches Don again. Don falls to the floor and spits out more blood. Rick then walks to the back of the bank and comes back to the lobby with one of the machine guns and one of the backpacks. He stands over Don and points it at him.
Don smiles and says, “You don’t have the heart, you little bitch.”
Rick chuckles then hits Don with the butt of the gun, knocking him out. While he’s knocked out, Rick quickly cuts his zip tie and switches his clothing back to their black getup then ties his hands again. After, he walks to each tied-up person and removes the tiny device from their necks. He then grabs the remote from Don’s pocket, removes the batteries, then crushes it.
“I’m not going to untie anyone,” Rick says. He then takes the machine gun and lays it next to Don.
Rick begins to walk out of the bank, but someone stops him.
“Hey,” one of the patrons shouted. Rick stops and turns around. “You’re good. We won’t say anything, right?” the patron says as he looks at everyone else.
Everyone agrees. Rick smiles and nods at him. Before he leaves, he walks over to that guy and cuts his zip tie. He then walks to the back of the bank and disappears at the same time the police show up. The patron that Rick untied stands and walks to the door.
“Officers! We apprehended the robber!” he shouts as he opens the door. One of them points a gun at the patron then lowers it after he sees Don knocked out on the floor. All four of the officers walk to Don and wake him up. They stand him up and begin to escort him out.
“Good job, citizens,” one officer says. Don fully comes to and says, “Hey! What the hell? Where’s Rick?”
The officer holding him says, “Shut up!” and walks him out of the bank.
Across the street, Rick sits in a car. He looks on and smiles as the police put a shouting Don in the back of a squad car. Rick then looks over to a duffle bag filled with money in the passenger seat. He zips it shut, smiles to himself then drives off.
© Jormatic. All Rights Reserved.
Originally published at http://illthinker.wordpress.com on June 18, 2020.
