(Foreword. I'd like to personally thank Kelsey for this piece of work right here. I had typed it in the Navy, though, due to a computer malfunction it was deleted from both my hard drive and my external hard drive. Through her, I was able to get back not only the story itself, but all of the revisions I had done to it over the period of my stay on the ship.)
A chill blew through the graveyard as two strangers walked through the gates. Night had fallen, bringing in a bitter cold. With flowers held in the hand of the taller, a pair of men slowly walked through the site, checking each stone. Finally, the shorter man stopped, standing over a freshly covered grave. With a wave, he motioned for his friend to join him. Silently, they stood there, looking at the tombstone with somber expressions.
“It’s truly over isn’t it?” said the taller man as he wiped his glasses.
“You knew it had to end this way, there was no other choice.” replied the shorter man. The tall man placed the flowers gently on the grave.
“Even still, somehow I just wish, well, I wish it could have it ended another way. Maybe there was something we could have done.” Slowly the short man turned around and began looking around
“Regrets will get us nowhere. What happened, happened. We can’t go back and change the past. All we can do is go from here.” The tall man sighed in resignation. Together, they both stood there in silence, staring at the grave as the wind blew around them.
Matt jumped as a car backfired down the street. For the fifth time he looked at his watch as paced down his street. Tonight Tim was supposed to pick him up for the party. Had he forgotten? After what seemed like hours, the sound of a muffler’s scrape on the ground came from around the corner. As the car rolled to an idle, a shout came from within for Matt to hop in.
“What, you can’t park anymore?” asked Matt angrily.
“Nah man, transmission is shot, if I stop, she stops for good. Oh yea, that reminds me, pull some fuses from the glove box, we need headlights. The cops have been on me about that.” Fumbling around the compartment, Matt dug through papers and half smoked cigarettes until a small plastic fuse fell to the floor.
“Change it while I slow down bro, its right over here by my left leg.” called Tim from the driver’s seat. With a loud snap, Matt broke off the fuse cover and put it into place.
“Make sure we get there in one piece alright? I don’t want this hunk of metal falling apart and blowing me to hell and back, alright?” Tim looked over and laughed,
“Shut up and light me a cigarette you damn bum. If you want to walk go right ahead. Otherwise don’t make fun her, she’ll get us there ok.” He patted the dashboard gently. “You hear that baby? You’ll get us there safely, right? Am I right? Work with me baby.” With a flicker, the headlights turned on.
“Success!” shouted Tim. The sound of the muffler grew quieter as the car picked up speed. Off in the distance lightening flashed across the sky. Matt smiled as he took a small puff of smoke. It’s going to be a hell of a night he thought as the car rode on, shaking slightly.
With one last bang, Tim’s car finally came to a halt. It had started to rain about halfway to the party. By the time they pulled in it had stopped, but both men were soaked. “Tim your car is absolute garbage. Didn’t your mother tell you if you can’t afford windows it’s time to quit your job?” Tim pushed his long hair out of his eyes,
“You keep making fun of my car and I’ll take you home alright, dragging you behind it the entire way.” The sound of the party grew louder as they walked up to the door. Despite heavy knocking, no one answered.
“Are they deaf or did they drink all of our beer already?” yelled Tim as he hit door the door again. The doorbell lay broken on the mat, frayed wires sticking out between broken siding. As they walked around to the back, a light turned on by the back porch. Stepping over broken window glass and shingles, they crossed to the back door. Tim smiled as he approached what was left of the door.
“TIMMYBOY!” came a shout from inside.
“Ray!” he shouted back. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen that jacked up face of yours.” said Ray as he walked toward them with a beer in each hand. Matt looked at Ray with surprise. The way Tim had described him, he had expected some sort of strongman fighter to come to the door. Instead, before him stood a short but stocky man who clearly couldn’t hold his alcohol. As Ray stumbled toward them, Tim reached out a hand to ensure his safe travel over the littered floor.
“Jesus man, you get robbed or something?” The host of the one man party stumbled and fell on the floor.
“Hey man, it’s a home. Last time I checked you were still living with your parents.” Tim stood there for a moment before he picked Ray to his feet.
“Yea well, my Ma’s place at least has these weird inventions called windows and doors. I bet you’d like them if you joined us here in the 20th century you barbarian. Look at this place man, looks like the yeti came by, and walked away because he couldn’t find a place to sit down.” Ray laughed as he threw one of his beers to Tim. Together, the three of them walked over the mess and into the living room. While Matt looked for the volume on the stereo, Tim turned to Ray and asked,
“So what have you been up to lately?” It took Ray a few seconds to realize that it was Tim who had spoken and not his imagination before he replied;
“You’re looking at it man. It’s nothing but beer and babes in this joint. It’s a regular harem of gorgeous women every night. You just happened to come on the one night that most of them were busy.” Matt turned away from the stereo and shouted back,
“Yea, women come to this place like Tim’s car can make it another 20 feet. You two seriously need to get off your asses and get some money.” Ray jumped up suddenly. Stumbling furiously, he rushed to the boxes set up in the corner and began to throw them behind him. Cautiously, Matt began to back away. Finally, Ray stood up with a piece of paper in his hands.
“That reminded me why I called you man. I had to show you this.” Tim stood up and took the paper from his hands. He looked quizzically at the drunk as he asked,
“Where did you get this, and why would I care about the floor plan to some building?” Ray stood there and began to laugh as he spoke.
“That, my friend, is the key to our problems. That’s what will get me out of this excuse for a house, and you out of that excuse for a rusted piece of scrap metal you have out there. This is the key bro, and you’re going to help me.”
Tim sat in the chair, staring silently at his old friend. Finally, he stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. Without looking at Ray, he talked to the wall. “I knew there was a reason why I quit coming to see you man. You always come up with some crazy plan like this and then we end up going to hell in a hand basket because of it. Man, I don’t know what you’re planning to do with this building but I can promise you this, you’re going to get caught and then you’ll end up getting a human booster shot from your cellmate in prison.” Ray walked over and grabbed Tim by the shirt.
“Haven’t you ever dreamed of a better life? You know what it’s like for guys like us. We were born into a world that doesn’t give a damn whether we live or die and it takes nothing less than a miracle to pull us out of the hole. Well what I’ve got here is that miracle, I’ve got a way out. I don’t know about you but I sick and tired of waking up and looking around me and all I can see is broken glass and rotted wood. I can’t get out of this man, I need your help.” Matt spoke up from the corner.
“Tim man, at least listen to what he’s got to say. If it’s utter crap then we’ll drink some beer and be on our merry way; but if it’s actually interesting and has a point, then whatever. I’m intrigued, so let’s at least give it a listen.” Tim stood there staring at Matt. Finally, he walked over and picked the card table off the ground.
“Alright man, lay it out. What’s the plan?” Ray spread the paper over the table as he whispered to his guests in a hushed voice, “Alright guys, here it is.”
Tim sat back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. “Are you out of your mind? I mean seriously, I could have smoked rocks all day and would have come up with a better way to get shot. You’re absolutely crazy.” Ray moved toward Tim and said,
“Come on man, it could work. The building is virtually empty at night. I’ve been watching it every night. After the guards leave there’s only three men left inside. Two of the fat mall cop rejects fall asleep right away and the other gigantic waste of air just goes and jerks his meat in the bathroom for hours at a time. I heard him say something about bad intestines but he takes some dirty magazine in with him every time. We could do this man. We could honestly do this.”
Matt walked back over to the card table and looked over the papers. “Alright, so you’ve got how you’d get in. You have a way to get to the safe. You even have a way to crack it. Have you any idea about how to get out? I mean seriously, are we seriously just supposed to walk on out of there, waltz over to our horses and ride off into the sunset?” Ray looked at him over the table.
“That’s just it man. If we blow the hell out of the place, they’ll just think that those oversized morons left the gas on or something. I mean Christ, they’ve got enough explosives in there to take over Detroit.” Tim stood up suddenly and laughed humorlessly.
“So let me get this straight, you use blowing a building that were currently in as an escape plan? I mean hell, I’m glad I took those teleportation classes last week because they’ll come in handy when it’s time to walk through the roof collapsing around us.” Ray walked back and pounded his fist on the wall. Silence fell over the room as he stood there, hands in the dents in the wall. Finally, he turned around and spoke dejectedly,
“Alright man, I get it. It’s a stupid plan. You guys can leave now here if you want.” Without warning, he threw the table into the wall and walked up the broken stairs.
The sun had been up for several hours by the time Ray crawled out of bed. Slowly, he began to walk down the stairs. On the last step, he stopped in shock; Tim and Matt lay sleeping in the mess on his living room floor. He crossed over to Tim and shook him awake.
“What, your car couldn’t limp out of my driveway? I’m not calling Triple A just because you don’t know how to make car payments.” Tim stood to his feet as Matt opened his eyes. Stepping over the empty beer bottles he walked over to the now upright able and began to pick up papers. Matt got up and joined him there, clearing a space on the floor for them to sit. As Tim began to spread the papers on the ground, Ray noticed that Tim and Matt had added their own handwriting to the papers, making corrections and drawing lines to various parts. Tim looked up and called to Ray.
“Are you going to stand there like a idiot or do you still want to do this? You better thank this idiot for stopping me man. He at least came up with some better ideas. We’ve been up all night improving on this wretched excuse for suicide.” Matt cleared Ray a spot on the floor as he handed him a heavily marked paper.
“Did you honestly think that it would be smart to walk in the front door? I don’t care how hard that dumb ass in the bathroom is stroking his chicken, he’ll still come out once the alarm sounds. Who are these guys anyways, and how do you know that what’s in the safe is worth two pennies?” Ray looked at his feet for a few minutes before he spoke quietly,
“Trust me man, I know that what’s in that safe is worth enough. As for who’s guarding it, well, let me just say that there’s a very good reason why I wanted to blow the place to hell after we got out.”
Once again Tim found himself rubbing his forehead. “Are you kidding with me? You have got to be. I mean seriously. Who in their right minds would go around stealing from those guys?” Ryan stood up and walked to the kitchen. He stood at the fridge door, staring off into space as the cool air surrounded him. Tim raised his head and called over,
“You’re insane, you know that right? You’ll be lucky to make it out of there alive, let alone with the money.” Matt looked from Tim to the doorway as he whispered quietly,
“I’m all for fun and games man but getting shot by a bunch of trigger happy rednecks is not my idea of a great plan. I don’t think we can do this man, those guys are notorious for being the toughest dogs in the pit. Stealing from them is like signing a death warrant. It’s doesn’t matter how far you run, they’ll find you. You’ve heard the stories man, you’ve watched the news reports on TV. They don’t play around.” Ray leaned on the doorway and he spoke,
“If you two aren’t up to it, I understand. I know, stealing from the Aryan Nation is like stealing from the government. They have ways of tracking you down. But I still think we can pull this off. I know we can do it man. I want to get out of here man. I want to get out of this life for good.”
Tim sharply rose to his feet. “Do you think I like living like this? You think I like living paycheck to paycheck until my boss decides to fire me because he can’t handle the thought of his own son stealing from the registers at night? You think I like having everyone point and stare as I walk down the street in these tattered clothes? I don’t, but it’s not worth getting killed over man. That’s it, game over, the end of your life. This isn’t a game, you can’t come back after they kill you. What about our families man? They’ll come after them too until we’re dead. They won’t stop. I’ve still got a Mom and Dad, brothers and sister. I don’t care that you don’t have anyone man. Congratulations, you can officially die and no one would care. I want to get out of this life but I don’t want to get shot for a few dollars.”
Tim collapsed back on the chair, completely spent. The sound of the birds outside came in through the broken windows. Finally, it was Matt who broke the silence.
“Tim, look. I know this sounds crazy, but just listen. Maybe Ray is right. Maybe it’s time to quit sitting around. I mean look at us. We can’t even scrape up enough money for breakfast let alone gas money to drive home. You don’t have a job anymore and my job is barely giving me any hours at all. This weak economy has no room for guys like us. And who’s going to give a damn if those Nazi muffins are missing a few dollars? I think we can still do this man. I’m tired of living this life. I’m tired of scraping by day by day. I seriously think this can work.” Ray held his breath as Tim finally spoke,
“Are you sure you want to do this? Do you honestly think this can actually work?” Matt nodded his head. Tim looked back at his hands “Alright, let’s do this.”
Night began to fall as the streetlights began to turn on. One by one, the lights in the houses on the street began to turn off until only one remained lit. Inside, the three men sat around the card table, silently awaiting the coming of midnight. After what seemed like a month, the clock finally sounded twelve chimes. Ray was the first to stand, too excited to sit around for another minute.
“Alright guys, it’s time, let’s get it on.” Matt remained seated, his feet propped up on the table. Despite his relaxed manor, his heart began to race. Tim slowly stood to his feet, placing the cards that he had shuffled for the past hours gently on the table. He turned to Matt and asked him for a final time,
“Alright man, you sure you want to do this? Once we’re in, that’s it. No turning back man.” Matt smiled from his seat.
“You ask me that one more time and I’m going to leave you here while the big boys go out and get paid.” Tim gave a weak smile as he checked the clock.
“Alright guys, show time.” Ray stopped Tim as he pulled out his keys.
“No car for us tonight. It might fall apart on us halfway through. It’s only four miles away from here. You’re not afraid of the dark still, are you Tim?”
Not a word was spoken between the trio as they crossed through the woods. A tree crashed midway through causing Matt to jump. Tim put his hand over his mouth, stifling his scream. They were no where near their destination, but somehow the feeling of being watched was felt by them all. Quietly, they resumed walking. After a few minutes, Tim stopped and checked the map again. The flashlight’s dim glow showed a slight deviation of the course. Crumpling the map back into his pocket, they turned right and began to head for the road. Headlights drove down the street as the three men hit the ground. Carefully, they watched the car drive swiftly away from a building far off in the distance. Without a word, Ray pointed to the building. Tim nodded and crouched down. Matt looked behind them as leaves began snapped. All three froze and he fumbled with his flashlight. With a click, he turned it on and pointed it wildly into the brush. A small squirrel jumped out and ran away from the light. The men breathed a sigh of relief as he turned around and began advancing once again on their target.
Ray stood up outside the gate and motioned for the others to come closer. Suddenly, Tim jumped up and threw Ray to the ground as the last car pulled out of the parking lot. Matt shook his head as his heart began to beat even faster. He closed his eyes and began to count backwards from ten. At four he was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. Tim laughed silently at how far Matt had jumped. With a finger over his lips, he motioned for them to follow. Slowly, they looked over the vine covered fence and into the windows. The scene was the same as Ray had described it. Two men lay sleeping in small chairs around a safe. At the end of the large room was a large closed door marked bathroom. The room was fairly empty, a few tables and chairs lay scattered about. Trash was piled high by the window, blocking the view of the second room. Ray smiled as he pulled the mask over his face.
“I hope you enjoyed your breakfast men.” Matt shook his head as he put gloves over his fingers.
“Next time use a quote from a movie where the main character didn’t die in a hail of arrows alright?”
Seconds passed into minutes as the three men waited next to the fence. Finally, Ray came to a crouch. Tim looked up and nodded his head, approving the movement. With two fingers pointed toward the door, Tim jumped the fence skittered across the pavement, stopping only when he reached the garbage. The room was motionless as Ray made his move. After waiting a few more minutes, Matt jumped on the fence. Suddenly, his pants got caught on the side. Holding in shouts, he lay on the fence upside down, frantically grabbing at his pants. With a loud crash, he fell to the ground. Frozen in place, he looked through the window. The two men inside lay fast asleep. He flew across the ground, not even breathing as he crossed the parking lot. The distance seemed to grow as he ran as fast as he could to his waiting friends. Finally, he slid into the pile of garbage, barely able to slow down his heart as his chest heaved up and down. Tim put his hand on his back. With a nod, Matt smiled as his breathing began to return to normal. Out of his pocket, Tim pulled out a small kit and began to work on the door. He could barely contain himself when the lock gave way in less than a minute. With his hand held closed in the air, the large metal door slowly swung open.
As Tim and Ray crept inside the building, Matt began to move the garbage around him. Despite the smell, he was now fully hidden by the trash. With a small flick he opened his pocket and pulled out the binoculars. Settled in, he breathed a sigh of relief. His part of the plan was set. He checked his watch as the door remained closed for what seemed like an hour. To his surprise, it had only been thirty seconds. He shook his head and began to scan the parking lot. Suddenly, from behind the door came a muffled shout. Matt’s heart began pacing again, beating faster and faster with each silent minute. He sat on the ground, rooted to his place of hiding. Finally, the door began to open. Holding his breath, Matt shrank even further into the trash.
Tim peered out from behind the steel door. With a low whistle, he called Matt. It took a few seconds for him to realize where he was hidden. The trash shifted as Tim finally called him name. He flicked a banana peel off of Matt’s head as he smiled.
“The guards are out cold, man. Ray’s in there right now with the safe. You should see this place man, it’s absolutely nuts.” Tim shut the door behind them as they walked into the building.
Matt looked around him in awe. All around the walls were pictures of Nazi Germany. In the corner, a statue of the Fuhrer himself stood upright, saluting his knocked out comrades. Matt looked to the side of the room and gasped.
“Don’t worry man, they’re just out cold. I don’t mess around with guns and knives. Apparently Mr. Klansman doesn’t like the feel of a baseball bat. It was probably Hitler’s anyways. Score one for poetic justice man.” Ray called loudly from the other room.
“I got it guys! We’re in!” Tim and Matt rushed into the other room, almost tripping over the knocked out guard. At the base of the safe stood Ray, holding something in his hands. As they drew closer, Tim’s stopped dead in his tracks, mouth hanging open. Matt looked on in awe.
Ryan laughed as he tossed the objects in the air. Deftly, he snatched it out of the air and held it out to Tim. “See what I mean? This stuff is worth more than the three of us combined.” Tim could only shake his head as he slowly walked forward.
“Do you have any idea what that is? It’s got to be worth thousands.” Matt could only stand in shock as he watched the two men load up gold bars into bags.
“Are you going to just sit there or are you going to give us a hand?” Finally, after loading the gold bars in the bag, Tim and Ray let out a laugh. Matt looked around the room.
“This is too easy man. They wouldn’t just let us walk in here and take this shit. There’s something fucking wrong.” Suddenly, car lights appeared in the parking lot. Tim froze only for a second before shouting,
“RUN!”
Metal clashed loudly as doors were burst open. Five men rushed through the building, finally approaching the room with the safe. With a finger over his mouth, he stood behind the door and drew his gun. With a loud bang, the door flew open. Gunshots rang throughout the room as bullets ricocheted off the walls. Finally, the first man felt around for the lights. However, when the lights flickered on, all that sat in the room was a closed safe. Holes riddled the walls as he looked for a way they could have escaped.
“Find them. Now.” The four remaining men began to spread out through the building. Slowly, the lone man began to walk toward the safe, gun drawn. With his hand on the handle, he put his ear up to the door. The thick metal yielded no sound. He took a step back, hand still on handle, as he aimed his gun at the door.
“I found them, come back now.” Feet pounded on the floor as the men returned to the room.
“Where are they?” asked a voice from the back.
“They never left the room. Get ready to shoot.” With a heave, the door flew open. The five men stood there, confused at what lay before them.
The brush crashed around them as the three men ran back through the woods. The trip back seemed to take no time at all. With chests rising and falling steadily, the clamored back through the door to Ray’s house. Tim collapsed on the chair, breathing easier with every minute.
“You are Einstein. Did I ever tell you that? You are downright genius .” Ray smiled as he lay spread out on the floor.
“Have some faith in me next time bro. I’m not an idiot, I wouldn’t go around getting us shot at for nothing.” Matt threw a shoe at Ray.
“You could have at least told us that you had fake gold bars to replace. Jesus Christ. I mean damn, that was nuts.” Ray laughed as he stood up.
“Those Nazi’s are going to be in for one hell of a surprise when they try to pedal those things on the black market. By then we’ll be good to go.” Tim rose to his feet, walking over to the bags. In them lay 15 gold bricks, each with no blemish or tags engraved upon them. He held one in his hand as he turned toward the others,
“You know what boys? I think we just won the lottery.” Matt smiled as he pulled out the black paint.
“Alright guys, enough celebrating. Time to hide these fucking things.” Ray stood up as walked to the back of the room. Tim turned to Matt and said
“You know the first thing I’m going to buy? A new car.” As Matt turned to reply, his voice froze in the back of his throat. Slowly, Tim turned around and gasped at the sight of a gun, pointed directly at him.
“Ray what in the hell are you doing?” Tim asked quietly. Ray said nothing as he walked forward, the barrel never leaving its target. Matt pleaded as he moved toward the door.
“Dude, calm down alright? There’s enough money to go around.” The targets changed as Matt found himself in front of the loaded gun.
“I’m not playing around anymore. I need this money more than either of you could ever imagine.” Tim put his hands in the air.
“Man, don’t do this alright? You can have the money, its ok. Just put down the gun alright?” Ray laughed as he moved back to Tim.
“You don’t get it do you. Those skinheads won’t stop once they’ve realized that their gold is fake. You think they’re going to be fooled forever? They’re probably checking it out right now. I’m not about to die, not when I’m this close to getting out of this hell hole.” Steadily, Ray raised the gun towards Tim’s head.
“They’re going to need a body bro. Thankfully, I’ve got two of them to spare.” Suddenly Matt jumped up and lunged for the gun. Shots rang out as the two wrestled for control of the weapon. When the commotion finally ended, the three men lay still on the ground. Only the sound of the wind rushing past the windows could be heard as the house lay silent.
Ray clutched his chest as he stood to his feet. With a smile, he felt where the bullet had barely grazed his body. He walked over to his former friend who lay still on the ground, blood spattered across the floor. Carefully, he bent over to check for a pulse. Without warning, the door burst open. Five bald men quickly surrounded Ray. Before he could open his mouth, five bullets joined the one lodged in his stomach. As of the men quickly left the room, the last one walked toward the carnage. He stood above Ray, staring at the three bodies on the ground. With a flick of his hand, he tossed his gun on the couch. As he walked out the door, he took a quick glance at his muddy boots. Unlacing them carefully, he walked back to the car without them. A soft rain began to fall as the car drove down the darkened road. The sound of the car vanished into the distance as the rain fell quietly on the ravaged house.
The graveyard chains rattled as the two men moved through its gates. “I never truly trusted him you know. Something about the way he talked, I knew he didn’t give a damn whether or not we lived or died. Blowing up the building? That guy was crazier than those skinheads” said the short man.
“Matt, you can’t judge him by what happened, did you see his house? He was living like a hobo. I knew him since I was a kid, he never was like that. I mean yea, he always had some messed up ideas but that night, Jesus, there was something crazy in his eyes.” Matt laughed as he replied,
“Yea well, he got what was coming for him though. Trying to shoot us in the back, what kind of weak crap is that? I don’t give a damn if he was you friend or not, he was tried to kill us. You’re too trusting Tim.” Tim said nothing as they approached the car. He stopped, hand on the ignition. With a blank expression he turned and faced Matt.
“You don’t know what it’s like to hit rock bottom. I don’t blame him for what he did really. I don’t care what you think of him, he was my friend. That guy that tried to kill us, that wasn’t him. I don’t know what happened, but whatever did, played with his mind in more ways than I can even imagine.” Matt merely nodded as the car rumbled to a start. The sun had begun to rise as Tim looked back for the last time at the grave. Fifteen black bricks sat dully on the spot where his friend lay. With a sigh, he put his foot on the accelerator. His eyes lay set on the road in front of him, never turning to look as the graveyard vanished from sight.
