Bank


From the first time Oscar Gripe walked into the bank he knew it was his dream job. He had finally went back to college and got his Bachelor’s degree in accounting, but knew working at a bank was what he always wanted to do. People just stared as he looked around at the cold, marble walls in delight. He smiled and took his things to the office behind the bullet proof glass that would be his job for the next 20 years. The small holes through the glass were the only things that connected him to the outside world and at the thought of 8 more hours of this he became extremely claustrophobic. His vision was blurry and he started sweating; he hadn’t been caged in like this since middle school. “Welcome to the bank Oscar, it’s nice to have you on the team,” a voice that seemed far away slowly brought him back into focus. “I’m David, and I am the dayshift manager,” he smiled and held out his hand. Oscar slowly took it, and shook it meagerly, looking at David’s features. He was about the same size as Oscar, he had dark, short hair and when he smiled, it showed a small chip on his canine tooth. “Well I better get back to work, if there is anything you need please don’t hesitate to ask”. Oscar nodded back and smiled and at that, David walked out of Oscar’s office.

The days slowly went by and he became more and more comfortable with his day job at the bank. Everyone was very kind to him, and treated him like family. But only a few months into the job, trouble began to stir. A routine check of the bank vault is where he discovered a concerning problem. The lock was changed, and he had to get Kari, the manager’s secretary, to open it for him. “Thanks, I’m not sure what happened when the lock is changed the new combination is usually posted on the board.” She just smiled and walked out to her car wishing him goodnight. Oscar sat back in his office chair, pondering the situation. Everyone had started acting weird around the bank, but after several minutes of contemplating, he just let it go. Oscar got up, turned off the lights in frustration and left for the night.

The rain started a little after midnight, and showered over Kari as she walked out of her car and down the brick walled alley. She shivered and drew her phone out of her purse. The text had said 12:05, and she didn’t want to be late. She reached the end of the alley and knocked twice on the wooden door. Light flooded into the alley and she was rushed in quickly to avoid unwanted attention. “Welcome back Kari, I hope you didn’t have trouble finding the place”, David said. “It’s a little secluded but the last thing we need is someone snooping around in our business.” She smiled and took her seat next to the other three employers from the bank. Including her, there was also David and Tom who worked the dayshift along with Oscar. “Well now that everyone has arrived, let’s get started.” David shuffled papers and notes out of his backpack and laid them out across the table before them. Schematics and blue prints of the bank, the vaults, the security system, everything was arranged neatly before the three of them. Smiles were all around and David piped in. “This is the last of the papers from the company who built the bank and security system. With these documents, robbing the bank will be a breeze. Tomorrow we strike, make sure you are all prepared. If you want out, speak now.” But there was silence. And with that, the three went to work studying the documents as the thunderstorm rumbled in the distance.

The next morning Oscar woke up with a headache. He was up late last night on account of the thunderstorm and he went straight for the coffee. The steam from the caramel rich beverage soothed his whole body as it traveled, warming him up inside. He glanced over at the kitchen clock. 7:30. He had 30 minutes to get ready. He groaned as he walked back to his bedroom and climbed into the shower.

30 minutes later, he walked into the bank. It was just opening, but it was still quiet, and empty. David walked out of his office, looking startled. “Good morning Oscar, didn’t you get my email? I called off work today, the bank was struck by lightning and the power is out. No sense in working when there is no work to be done huh?” He laughed and wished Oscar a good rest of the day as he walked back out the door. Something wasn’t right. David was acting weird, more on edge than usual, Kari would just ignore anything he had to say and Tom, who was supposed to be his daytime mentor, would hardly look at him. Things even though he had been working at the bank for three months, now seemed different, diverse from the many other jobs he had had before. Now wanting some answers, he turned back to the bank and was about to walk in when he glanced into his own office. He noticed something coming from the window. At a closer look, he observed the small, blinking light of his computer running. Remembering that he had forgot to turn it off the night before. David was lying, and he was started back into the bank ready to start questioning him.

Right before he was about to enter his office, he was met by an armed figure in a mask. They struck at him but Oscar dodged the blow, but fell to the floor from unbalance. In the struggle, he ripped of the figures mask and revealed long, blonde hair. Kari shrieked as the mask came off and got back up ready to run. “What do you think you’re doing here?!” He barley uttered before his eyes suddenly went black as David beat the end of his gun against his neck. “Put him in the vault”, was the last thing he heard before everything turned to darkness.

Oscar came to conscience nous slowly. The world was dark and blurry, and standing was up was not an option. He faintly remembered David’s lie, Kari and his struggle, and being beaten over the head as to cause his own collapse. But he couldn’t just sit there. His dream job was now on the line, he was about to be robbed by the ones he called co-workers, and in no way was he about to lie there and wait for someone else to come to the rescue. Grunting he came to his feet and saw the slight line of light coming through the crack in the vault door. Relieved that he wasn’t locked in, he crawled quietly to the door and peaked out. In the main vault area, were several black duffle bags overflowing with cash. In the back Kari and David were having some dispute while Tom just sat in his chair, watching the windows, the cash, and the vault Oscar was occupying. In his right hand was a gun. Oscars mind was racing, one wrong move, and he would become target practice. He needed a distraction, something to catch tom’s eye. Now was the time. The others were not around and he needed to act quickly. Looking around for something to throw, he noticed a stack of 100 dollar bills lying in the corner of the vault. He got to his knees and crawled to the stack. Silently grabbing it, he walked back to the crack and through the stack against the window. Tom was surprised and fell from his chair. Quickly regaining his balance, he rushed to the window, glaring at the birds, the trees, some explanation for the clamber. That’s when Oscar rushed at him, kicking him hard and beating him over the head. After several blows, Tom blacked out and Oscar dragged him back to the vault taking his gun and extra ammo. He shut the door and turned the lock, wishing him a goodnight as he put on the mask tom wore.

The disturbance in the opposite room startled David and Kari. They both jumped to their feet and rushed to the other room to see what had occurred. There they saw Tom sitting back in his seat silently watching the vault and bags of cash. “Sorry guys, I fell from the chair, I drifted off to sleep. Hurry along now things are starting to get busy out there.” Cursing his stupidity, the couple rushed back to work leaving “Tom” in a large grin. Oscar slowly got up and walked to the desk dialing 911. He laid the gun, the bags of cash and the mask on the front desk and left the phone hanging from the cord. He walked with confidence out to his car. He took one last look at the bank before revving the engine to life. He turned out of the bank and went home for the day. Because after all, it was his day off.