The Bank Job

“Will you stop scratching? I’m trying to get in the zone here.”



Frank removed his hand from the back of the head and regarded the bloodied detritus under his fingernails. “What’s wrong with you?”



“Nothing Harry, I’m fine.”



Harry didn’t believe him, Frank could tell. But they didn’t have time to discuss it now. Harry turned back to the front of the car, looking to Mark in the passenger seat alongside him for help. Mark’s eyes didn’t leave the newspaper in his lap. “Relax Harry.”

Frank shifted in his seat in the back of the car, the wound on the back of his head playing on his mind. He was out walking earlier when a sharp pain shot through his body. It felt like someone had thrown a stone or rock at the back of his head but when he turned around, there was nothing. The cut on his head had not stopped bleeding, but he didn’t have time to stop. He was robbing a bank today.



Harry pulled the car up opposite the bank on the main street. It was the middle of Wednesday morning on the outskirts of town. Nice and quiet. “We ready?” asked Harry, checking the handgun in his jacket pocket.



Mark nonchalantly folds the newspaper and places it on the dashboard. “Yep.”



“Frank, Frank!” Harry reached back and grabbed Frank’s arm, pulling it away from the back of his head., “What’s wrong with you?”



“Don’t touch me alright! Let’s just get this over with,” said Frank, pulling the balaclava over his face.



“You heard the man Harry, let’s get this thing started shall we?” said Martin, smiling.



“Right.”



The trio walked briskly across the road and towards the bank. As Frank approached, the pain in his head started to grow unbearably strong. Harry and Martin ran inside. “Everyone on the floor.”



Frank stumbled in behind them. “Get the money Frank,” shouted Martin, as he brutally subdued a security guard.



Martin turned to Frank and dropped his weapon, a terrified look on his face. “You alright Frank?”



Harry turned and backed away, as did the terrified bank customers. “No, no I’m not,” said Frank, a large fleshy lump protruding from the back of his head.



“Everyone get back!” shouted the manager, trying to herd the customers and staff away from the robbers.



Frank collapsed to his knees, the pain and confusion firing through his body. “What are you staring at? What’s wrong with me?”

It was then that a switch seemed to flip deep inside his brain. And he was overcome by an incredible, unending rage.



*



Howard Freeman had moved to the suburbs to escape the hectic schedule of the city. Police negotiation was not exactly a low stress job. Combine it with 30 years of service and a city that was growing in population all the time and it started to take its toll. It was why he shuddered in his office as the phone rang again and again, the deputy sat at the desk frantically taking notes. “Sargeant Freeman?” the deputy said as he opened the door, “We have a major incident escalating.”



“Where?” said Freeman, his wrinkled hands wiping the energy into his tired, relaxed eyes.



Freeman pulled up outside the bank twenty minutes later. There were already six squad cars arranged haphazardly in the road in front of the bank and the assembled police officers were trying to fight against the swell of the growing crowd. Officer Parks was nervously talking into the radio, a look of relief washing across his face as he saw Freeman approaching. “What took you so long?” he said, laughing nervously.



“Just tell me why I had to leave my comfortable chair in my comfortable office on this nice lazy Wednesday morning?”



Officer Parks did not appreciate the attempt at humour and looked as if he was about to burst in tears. “Something messed up is going on in there.”



The officer pointed a shaking finger towards the bank on the other side of the street. “What happened?”



Officer Parks composed himself before he started explaining. Earlier they had received reports of gun fire coming from the bank.



Two officers were sent to check on what happened and entered the bank. Minutes later one of the officers came running out,

extremely distressed and had to be calmed by a pedestrian. After regaining his composure, the officer went back for his partner. As he approached the bank, he could see a struggle taking place inside. The officer went to help but saw his partner locking the door from the inside. He tried to pull the door open but the partner pulled his gun on the officer. That’s when the backup arrived.



“Where is the first officer at the moment?” Freeman asked, his eyes not moving from the bank across the road.



“In hospital. He was pretty shook up, says he saw something behind his partner, something he doesn’t want to talk about.”



Officer Parks sighed happily. The burden had been passed. He was no longer in charge. It was down to Freeman now. “Have they made contact at all?” said Freeman, memories of scared bank robbers of the past coming back.



“Nothing,” said Parks, “We tried to make contact, but it’s been dead.”



“Wrong choice of words,” said Freeman.”



“Sorry, I didn’t mean it,” said Parks, flustered.



“It’s fine. Call down some more officers, anyone local who’s off duty, isn’t off duty any more.”



“Sure,” said Parks, taking notes in his pad.



“Get any local officers to intercept any relatives of people inside the bank coming down, which they will.”



Parks turned to walk away.



“And call central switchboard, tell them we have a hostage situation developing.”



*



“There’s gonna be a hold up. Tactical teams are tied up with another situation. Angry husband with ex wife and kids, television cameras,” said Officer Parks.



Good PR. Trumps human life everytime. “Right, do we have a number yet of people inside the bank?”



“Roughly twenty, not including the three bank robbers and the police officer who entered after the robbery began.”



Freeman took a deep breath. He was always calm. It is what had helped him become the lead negotiator for the city police. Never panicked. It helped when speaking with the hostage takers. Soothed them. In another life, he could have been a late night radio DJ or one of those people who they record reading for audiobooks. But his father had been a policeman and his future was set in stone from the moment the midwife had said “It’s a boy.”



“Officer Parks, fetch me a Kevlar vest,” said Freeman.



Officer Parks started to move towards a nearby squad car. “And make sure your vest is fitted too,” said Freeman, causing a tremor to move through Officer Parks legs.



*



Freeman strode confidently toward the bank, Officer Parks moving slowly behind. The crowd that had gathered watched them as they moved to the steps leading to the bank entrance. Other officers moved to follow but Freeman gestured them to stay back. “Let me do all the talking, just keep an eye on anything suspicious.”



Officer Parks reached to his holster, unbuttoning the leather strap and placing his hand on his weapon. “Be calm, and they will be calm,” said Freeman, almost like a mantra.



They reached the doors to the bank. The glare of the sun reflected on the glass doors, preventing them from looking inside. Freeman knocked loudly on the glass, the sound echoing across the street causing the crowd to gasp. He touched the glass again. It was ice cold and his hand became wet from the condensation. “Did you hear that?” Officer Parks said, drawing his gun.



“Put it away!”



Freeman put his ear to the glass. Very faintly he heard the scream, “Somebody help me! Please!”



“That’s Officer Thomson, the first responder,” said Officer Parks.



Freeman reached out to the door handle and pulled it towards him. It was unlocked. Slowly, he pulled the door open and looked inside. Everything was dark, with the doors being the only light source. Freeman tried to see any signs of movement, but all he was aware of was a sickening smell, a mixture of bonfire and ammonia.



“We’re going in,” said Freeman, signalling to two more officers to follow.



Officer Parks reached to his belt and pulled the torch free from its strap, handing it to Freeman. He flicked the switch and started to search around inside. The small spotlight moved across the empty counters and silent computers. There was no sign of anyone having been there at all. “I’m going in.”



Freeman and the police officers moved inside the building, three beams of light searching frantically. “It’s so cold,” said Officer Parks, the only one without a torch and extremely nervous as a result.



“Something’s not right, there should be more noise, more of something, this isn’t like a bank robbery,” said Officer Borden.



“Just shut up!” said Officer Matthews, who was bringing up the rear and was remembering every episode or film where the man at the back was picked off first.



“Hello! Is anyone there?” shouted Officer Parks, his voice echoing around the room and causing the others to jump.



“Calm yourself, getting out of hand won’t-“ Freeman stopped mid sentence.



“What? What’s wrong?” said Officer Parks, seeing the look of horror on Freeman’s face.



The veteran officer, once strong and confident suddenly looked frail and old. He slowly pointed to the ceiling of the bank. The other three looked up. Dead bodies hung from the ceiling, all naked and covered in blood. Men, women, children, dead eyes stared down at them, each face fixed with a pained plea for help.



“We need to get out of here now!” said Officer Borden.



“Where did the doors go?” shouted Matthews, realising the light from the door had disappeared, as if blinds had been drawn.



The torches moved frantically around the room, looking for where they had entered. But the darkness would not move, a cloak of darkness surrounding them. “Help me, please!”



The scream pierced the terrified policemen, sending them into a greater panic. “Freeman, what do we do?”



“We have to get out,” said Freeman, his torch moving everywhere.



“There!” said Officer Matthews, before he ran into the darkness.



“Wait, come back,” said Officer Borden.



“Matthews,” shouted Officer Parks, “Matthews where are you?”



They went silent. “Help!” another long primal scream coming from deep inside.



“That might be Thomson,” said Officer Borden, holding the torch next to his gun, like he had seen in countless action movies. A scared man playing action hero.



“This is no longer our responsibility, it’s way above us,” said Freeman.



The sound of plastic hitting the floor rang out through the lobby. Officer Matthews’s torch rolled out from behind a counter, it’s beam coming to a halt and point to the dark steps down towards the vault.



“Help, I’m stuck in the vault. Please, get me out of here.”



Officer Parks looked at Freeman’s and Officer Borden’s face and his heart sank. They were going down. “If anything moves, shoot first,” said Freeman.



The other officers nodded.



They moved towards the steps in single file, their eyes always looking for danger. Freeman led the way, the other two close behind, not wanting to become separated. The dark followed in behind them, removing their way out. “Where are you?” shouted Freeman, his torch searching as they entered the corridor under the bank.



“In the vault, just ahead of you.”



Officer Parks wondered how he knew where we were, but didn’t want to cause any delays by questioning their actions. He just wanted to get in and out.



They turned a corner. Up ahead was the bank vault, which glowed a luminescent blue. “In there,” said Officer Parks, hoping to be told he was wrong.



“Shoot first,” Freeman reminded them.



They moved towards the glowing light, their torches offering no more protection. Sweaty palms held weapons tightly, fingers held against triggers. The glow grew more intense, luring them in like moths to a flame. “Quickly, come inside.”



The vault door had been torn off the hinges and a damp red liquid covered the handle. It wasn’t blood, something else. Something inhuman. Inside the vault, the lights covered the walls and the ceiling, like the inside of a planetarium exhibit at a museum. The glow was blinding after the dark corridor they had wandered down, and they could not see anything inside. “Where are you?”



“I’m here.”



The voice came from all around them, no longer a cry for help or in pain. It was chillingly calm. “What happened?” said Officer Parks.



The back wall of the vault started to glow brightly, one large ball of bioluminescent energy. It swelled and swelled, until folding open, like a flower.



Inside, a female face stared at them. It was vaguely human but alien at the same time. The eyes glowed brightest and Freeman felt them pierce right through him. They stood in a trance as the face grew a body from the head down, a glowing blue model of perfection forming in front of them. Officer Borden tried to look away, seeing dark fleshy cables feeding the figure. He followed the cable up and towards the vault wall. He shone his torch at the source of the cables. Officer Matthews’ dead body lay on the floor, what was once full of life and vigour now a drained shell of what once was. Like a raisin.



“It killed Matthews’!” screamed Borden.



The creature smiled. “I need to feed.”



Tentacles dropped down from the ceiling, their tips drawn to each of the men, moving like a snake hanging from a tree. The trio aimed their guns and fired. The sound of the shots ricocheted around the vault, deafening them momentarily. The female creature burst into a pool of glowing blue liquid which splattered against the walls and all over the men. “Let’s get out of here.”



They turned and fled, the blue liquid covering them lighting their way. The corridor unravelled before them, the darkness pushing back, scared by the light. They reached the stairs and sprinted up them into the large bank lobby. They ran into the centre and stopped, trying to get their bearings. “The exit was over there,” said Freeman, pointing towards the dark.



Above them, a breeze seemed to flow amongst the corpses which hung like meat in a slaughterhouse. The corpses started to move back and forth as something inside each of them began to stir. “What’s going on?” shouted Officer Parks, staring at the bodies.



“I don’t care, I have to get out,” Officer Borden said as he moved towards the darkness. He saw the entrance before him and ran towards it. “It’s here, I found it!”



Officer Borden’s joy was short lived. From the shadows beside him, a figure stood and approached. With one arm, he grabbed Borden and threw him back into the centre of the lobby. Officer Parks shone his torch on the figure. It was a destroyed wreck of a man, limping towards them. The legs and arms were intact, the torso had split down the centre and three long tendrils stretched up, each one ending in a large bulbous tip which moved through the air above them.



“What is that!”



The corpses above dropped down around them, each hitting the stone floor with a sickening splat. The officers were surrounded in the centre, bodies on each side and the destroyed man patrolling the outside. “Shoot it!”



The officers opened fire, hitting the wreck but to no effect. It stumbled slightly but the three tendrils allowing it to keep it’s balance. The tendrils, seemingly angry, struck out at the officers, striking their hands and making them drop their weapons. The dead bodies began to swell and grow as unseen creatures inside decided they wanted out.



“Fuck,” said Freeman as the first corpse burst, spraying bright blue blood everywhere, a glowing splatter. From inside the corpse, a large grub creature exited, a child’s face staring out. “Mama!” it said as it started to crawl towards him.



The other corpses burst, like fireworks exploding but never fading. More and more larva swarmed around them. The wreck at the edge moved toward them. “It’s not your mama.”



Officer Parks began to scream as the larva began to bite and tear at his flesh. Officer Borden tried to reach down for his weapon, but a larva bit his arm and he felt it’s teeth snap the bones in his wrist. Freeman stood up and ran forward, jumping over the larva. His knees buckled as he fell on the other side, his age holding him back. The other two officers tried to follow, but the larva tore at their bodies, weighing them down. Their skin peeled off like wet tissue paper as the larva swallowed their flesh, not chewing, just consuming like machines. Freeman ran to the door and tore it open, the light blinding as the blinds were pulled from the window. He grabbed at the door handle and pulled it as hard as he could. It swung open and Freeman threw himself forward, into the daylight. On his hands and knees he pulled himself forward, towards the oncoming police officers heading towards him. The crowd had grown and more police had arrived.



Freeman rolled onto his back and took a deep breath. “We need a paramedic,” said the police man who kneeled next to him, “Where are the others?”



“Everyone get back!” shouted another officer, as the crowd screamed.



At the entrance to the bank, the wreck had made it’s way outside, the tendrils moving in the air like long grass in a breeze.



“Shoot it,” said Freeman, weekly.



Gunshots rang out across the street, as the crowd screamed. News reporters moved closer, their cameramen nervously focusing on the hideous creature. The creature was hit by bullet after bullet but to no effect. As the remains of the human became riddled with bullets, the inhuman part seemed to grow larger and stronger. The tendrils split and divided like the Hydra, more and more dividing and reaching out. They grabbed at the nearest police officers and picked them up easily, moving them inside the bank lobby and dropping them, before reaching out for more. The officer over Freeman stood up and tried to run, before he was gripped around the waist, a painful scream as the air was squeezed out of him.



Freeman dragged himself forward, looking for help but finding screaming citizens and police officers firing from behind cover.



“There’s more of them!”



From behind the wreck, the larva started to emerge outwards, their hunger not sated by the officers already fed to them. The wreck stood in the centre of the road now, it’s tendrils moving around and disarming all attackers. Freeman could see the larvae moving towards him, their childlike faces with a fixed, calm expression. He pulled himself up next to a squad car and opened the door before climbing inside. The radio dispatch was speaking frantically over the radio, with frenzied replies coming from officers nearby. Freeman reached out for the keys to the squad car. They were missing. The car rocked as larvae swarmed over the top, their faces slamming against the windshield as they tried to break inside. The wreck moved toward him, now several meters tall, like a tree with vicious living branches. The tendrils smashed down on the car, shattering the windscreen.



Freeman tried to crawl into the back seat, to escape, but the larvae swarmed inside and started to tear at him, their teeth tearing into his body, pain shooting through his body. He thought back to how he had moved away from the city for a quiet peaceful life. Twenty five years of experience useless compared to this. Freeman felt his bones begin to crunch under the larvae as they chewed voraciously. He opened the door and looked out. Hundreds of larvae swarmed across the street, entering shops and spreading out. The wreck moved forward, watching over them like a shepherd. Freeman saw the shotgun on the floor next to him and picked it up, pointing it at his head. As the larvae moved all over him, Freeman pulled the trigger. The last thought remaining long after the gunshot. He had unleashed hell on Earth.