The Winner

PART FIVE

The security guard went through another hall, and then, into a 'personnel only' area, which takes Massey and James into the cafeteria section of the building. From there on, the security guard, lead them into the truck loading bay, where there were large, freight trucks pulling into the garage from outside.

Massey looked past the large, steel shutters and out into the cold, outdoors. The very sight of a such a thing was a fresh breath of air, but something told her that she was not safe yet. Just as the security guard first reached the shutters, a white van backed into the garage from seemly nowhere, slamming into the guard and sending him violently rolling along the hard ground toward the couple, who were following behind him.

As the man rolled toward them, Massey felt James trying to yank her out of harm's way, which he nearly accomplished. However, he wasn't fast enough, and consequently, part of the security guard rolled into Massey's leg, thus knocking her feet from under her. She fell forward onto her hands, dropping the bag of money, which spilled out on several stacks of cash all over the floor. Moreover, that group of thugs who had been following was catching up to them now.

There were three of them, and each wielded a knife in their hand. And their intentions were now certain as they raced forward like a pack of wild wolves ready to claim some wounded animal. While on her hands and knees, Massey notices the can of mace, which the fallen security guard had dropped. Instead of going for the money, she decided to alert James to the weapon. "Hey over there," she pointed it out.

Having been knocked down, James was stunned a moment but got up, and went for the mace right after Massey pointed it out. He grabbed it as the thugs came upon him brandishing those knives. He sprayed wildly across towards their faces while hopping backward and averting his face from the sprayed mist, and then sprinted to catch up with Massey.

The loose streams of burning mace hit two of the three guys in the face, effectively blinding them. But the one who had not been hit, however, covered his face with his knife arm as he pressed toward Massey, who had just finished picking up all the money save for one stack of cash. Not wanting to risk her life over a single stack of bills, the young woman sprung back to her feet and darted for the shutters. And the thug, who had avoided being blinded, briefly stopped giving chase to pick up the money which was on the ground. After passing below the shutter and reaching outside, Massey ran into the parking lot.

When they made it further down the parking lot, that white van, which had been in the garage area started up again and started following the couple. While they ran past various parked vehicles, the van cruised along the edges of the lot, keeping up with them. "Oh, shit," Massey huffed, "Please tell me you have a car or something." Keeping her eyes on the van, the young woman could see that the van had tinted windows, through which she could not see the mysterious driver.

"No, I don't have a car," he huffed and cursed, "We can't outrun it, we gotta get out of sight!" he said grabbing her to duck behind some cars.

The couple ducked, and dodged the van, stealthily coordinating their movements as it passed by. After a few moments, the vehicle leaves the parking lot and speeds down the road. Then, using what spare time she had, Massey opens her book bag and places the bag of money inside, which freed up her hands now allowing the young woman greater mobility.

"Ok," she panted, "All we have to do now is make it to the fucking bank and we're good. I promise after all this is over, I'm gonna give you a few thousand for your help, that cool?"

"Ummm....yeah... I mean I just," he got embarrassed. "I just want to do the right thing, but that would be nice," he managed as he looked around, and sought to move with her down the road into the area. He would try to keep them both out of sight. And every so often, he'd look around to see if the thugs were coming back. He also was seeing what the most stealthy route was because he was quite good at sneaking around, and was a bit of a delinquent, but not so much of a particularly tough guy.

While walking on the sidewalk, the couple sees the city bus approaching in the distance. "That bus will take us right to the bank," said Massey.

"Okay lets go quick!" he didn't feel safe in public transportation but moved quickly to follow behind her and go within the possible salvation that public transportation may have offered.

"Okay lets go quick!" James shouted. He didn't feel safe using public transportation but moved quickly to follow behind her and go within the possible salvation that such transportation may offered.

The couple soon reached the bus just as it was picking up some people from a nearby bus stop. Once boarded, Massey pulls out a few dollars to pay for her and Jame's fee before she moves to the back of the bus to take a seat. After sitting down, the young woman let out a sigh of relief, feeling like so much weight had been lifted off her shoulder. The interior spaces of the bus was so cool and refreshing, and in 15 minutes time, they had arrived on the very street, where the bank is located.

The bus ride felt kind of awkward. "Umm...." James said, looking at Massey, "I wouldn't normally say this, but considering we both just almost died, I think you are really pretty. And no that's not just cause you won 250,000 dollars.... prolly a little less now."

Massey smiles clumsily at James and tried to think of something else other than the fact that this white guy was flirting with her. When the bus came to a stop, the two teenagers got off and proceeded to stroll along the sidewalk until they reached the Hughberton bank, which was one of the top 5 banks in the country. The front door of the establishment opened, and the couple was greeted by bright smiles and white faces. Having approached the front desk, a rather pretentious-looking white woman greets the young African American with, "Hello, how can I help you?" Massey takes off her book bag and sets it down on the counter, "I'd like to make a deposit."

The woman smiles, "Ok, how much will you be depositing today?" she asked.

"Um, about 250,000 dollars." The tailor blushes as she stares surprisingly at the bag of money in front of her.

THE END