Stormy Shakedown

Chapter One: The Dream



"Terrible night, huh Parker?" Sighed night watch guard Troy Manetti. It had been raining for hours without sign of stopping, and the tense atmosphere was beginning to get to him.
"You bet, Troy, whoever said being a guard was all glamour needs a hard slap across the head." Parker replied.
Troy laughed; it was Parker himself who said that being a guard was a "loyal civic duty."
"You know-" Troy's next sentence was cut off by a small blink on his computer screen.
"Dammit, one of the window sensors has been triggered on the second floor; it must be from this stupid storm. I'll go check it out."
"That's alright Troy, I'll get it. You watch the screens."

"What the hell were you thinking?" An angry voice hissed, "I told you one-hundred times that there are sensors on every window!"
"Sorry," the other man replied with a sly smile, "I guess I forgot."
"You didn't forget anything, you triggered that on purpose Zei!"
"Heh, can't blame me for wanting to make things a little more interesting- shit someone's coming, hide!"
The two men were out of sight faster than the blink of an eye, and just in time. A security guard rounded the corner and strolled noisily into the room.
"What a joke, I can't believe I was worried about rent-a-cop security!" Thought Lurin, concealed between two large pillars. The overweight guard walked clumsily over to the window and searched it for cracks. Lurin took a nervous glance around the room. They had left no evidence of break-in, but where was Zie? Then he spotted him on the opposite side of the room, pistol drawn. Lurin shook his head in disagreement, trying to stop his partner from giving them away.
"Freeze and you won't get hurt." Zie said, his voice cold as death. The guard raised his hands slowly and froze in his place.
"Good, now if you would be so kind as to tell me where the Queen of Mars is located, me and my partner can be on our way." Zie stepped out of his hiding place; there was no need to be stealth now.
"Sure, sure, fine, just don't hurt me," The guard stuttered. "It's on this floor, take a right up there and you'll be in the exhibit room. Good luck getting in there though."
"I don't need any luck from you." Zie spat back. He turned to walk away and the guard's hand slipped to the alarm trigger on his belt.
"Bad move old man." Zie said with a blank expression on his face. He turned with reflexes faster than the human eye could catch and pulled the trigger. The guard dropped to the floor with a bullet right through his heart. Lurin stood there, transfixed with shock at what had just happened. The grim scene was ended abruptly when a raspy voice came from the dead guard's communicator.
"Parker? Parker are you there? What was that noise? It sounded like gunfire, is everything alright?"
Zie picked the device up and coldly stated, "No." He dropped it on the ground, shattering the screen and breaking communication. Seconds later, an alarm sounded throughout the building. Zie walked calmly down the hallway towards their destination.
"We need to get out of here Zie! Why did you do that? You yell at me for triggering a sensor and you set the entire city on us?" Lurin screamed at the top of his lungs.
"I'm not leaving without the diamond." He replied, a dark look in his eyes. They quickly changed their pace and bolted into the room, triggering more alarms every step they took. And finally they saw it. The most valuable diamond in the world, The Queen of Mars. This stone, if you could call it that, was found deep under the red dust of the great red planet and was one of a kind. Zie drew his pistol and fired three rounds at the protective glass. The bullets didn't even dent it.
"Damn this bullet-proof glass, I'm not leaving without the diamond!" Zie shouted to no one. Had he gone mad? The guards would be coming in seconds, and Zie was worried about getting the prize!
"We need to go now!" Lurin shouted hastily, his heart pumping out of his chest. Zie ignored him and ran up to the glass case, planting small explosives at every corner. Lurin could hear heavy footsteps in the hallways, more security would be on them shortly. He dove for cover as the explosives went off, blowing a huge gash in the wall behind, and succeeding in tearing the protective case apart. Lurin grabbed the magnificent red diamond from its case and sprinted into the gap in the wall. He could hear Zie's pace quicken as shouting could be heard from the previous room. They turned a corner to find a long hallway, stretching at least 70 meters. The duo immediately scrambled down the path, behind Lurin could hear yells and footsteps.
"We aren't going to make it," He thought to himself. "It's too far." They were flying down the hallway at blistering speeds; none of those guards could even come close to catching them. Or so he thought. Gunfire erupted behind them and time seemed to stop. The corner was so close, they only needed to reach it and they would be safe, everything would be okay. He felt a bullet stream past his ear, another hit the wall right above his shoulder. Lurin lunged for the wall, rolling around the corner right before a bullet left a smoking hole right where his head had been. Zie collapsed on the floor next to him; he had been shot in the arm and was wincing in pain with every breath.
"Zie are you okay, can you get up?"
"Give me the diamond."
"Are you joking me? Let's get out of here."
Zie took out his pistol and pointed it directly at Lurin's head. "Give me the diamond."
Lurin reached in his pocked and handed Zie the Queen of Mars. Anger raged in his heart, his own friend had betrayed him. Zie took the diamond and rushed down the hallway, leaving Lurin alone. Breathless, he got up and drew his double pistols. Bullets still tore the paint from the wall that Lurin was behind; he looked across from him and saw a window overlooking the city. He could hear Zie's pistol shots from the opposite hallway, the police were closing in. Regaining his composure, he shot the glass window and dove headlong into the gunfire. He felt a bullet hit him in the shoulder, feeling more blow past him. It hit with such force that it threw off his landing and he hit the window head on, shattering the rest of the glass. He landed on the soft grass two stories down, but he could still feel two of his ribs crack as he landed. Lurin staggered away from the gunfire into the streets, clutching his injured shoulder.
I just need to make it to my ship, then I'm home free.
Each step took more and more effort. He slowly dropped to his knees and collapsed on the side of the road. The last thing Lurin saw was a pair of bright headlights in the heavy rain, and then he vanished into darkness.