The Voyage

3. The Decision

A shiver ran down Erebus' spine. He had never been confronted like this before. This was essentially the difference between life and death.

"I'm in."

Mateo's eyes told the true story, he knew Erebus was a valuable asset to his team. Glancing up at his squad, with a curt nod, he grasped Erebus' arm, and lifted him off his knees. Mateo chuckled, the confidence beaming out of him like a ray of sunshine on a hot day. "Welcome to the crew" he said. Mateo handed Erebus back his bag, from which Erebus pulled out a neat little gold tinted pistol.

"So, what's the plan?"

Erebus was contempt. He knew that refusing Mateo's offer would ruin his chances at his master heist, so he simply decided to make himself useful and help the others get out of there alive.

"Okay," Mateo laughed. "You're very eager, I like that."

"Adara and Ares are our loveable rogues, they're focused on the most important thing in here, the vault."

With those words, Adara headed straight out of the room, Erebus' eyes followed her as she strutted towards the spiral staircase which he knew led down to the all important vault.

"Are you coming??" Adara's voice rang sharply through the lobby of the bank, startling some of the hostages, who were still under the watchful eyes of Mateo and the others.

Ares, with a coy smile on his face, shot a quick glance and a wink at Erebus, before disappearing down the staircase with the ever so demanding Adara.

Erebus drew his focus back to Mateo, who at this point was lighting what seemed to be a cigar.

"Calista, though she may seem a little... rough," Calista glared at Mateo as he continued, "she is actually the brains of all of us, she's focused on cameras, security, and most importantly, contact with the police and negotiations."

Calista, who Erebus realised still had her gun trained on him, swiftly turned her attention to the security office in the corner of the room, and stormed her way to the booth.

"Anyway, I'm going to put you with Darius," Mateo stated. "I don't know what you're capable of, and a man like Darius is more than enough to set you in the right direction. He's on hostage control, so I hope you like threatening people with every fibre of your being"

Darius laughed, although he was quite big, both tall and buff, he seemed to have quite a soft side to him, so Erebus didn't quite understand how he could possibly command a room full of foolish people. He noticed a ring on Darius' hand, but he wasn't close enough to know what was inscribed.

"So wait, what's the point of you being here?" Erebus, in the spur of the moment, had an outburst. From what he had already seen, he knew Mateo was not someone to mess with, so to challenge him outright, seemed like the most stupid mistake he could have possibly made.

"Me?" Mateo asked, his tone suddenly changing from a sort of compassion from telling Erebus about his team, to a dark, eerie feeling. "I'm the whole reason this whole operation is happening. I suggest you now stop asking questions, and sort this mess out." Mateo suddenly raised his weapon in the air, squeezing the trigger three times in rapid succession.

Screams from the civilians on the floor sent the whole room into a frenzy. Darius, who had been checking his gun and ammo situation quickly jumped to his feet, leaping into action. Within a second, his rifle was sweeping over the hostages, keeping them all under his control, asserting his dominance not just to them, but to Erebus as well, so he quickly followed suit, his gun trained on the helpless people on the floor. He shot a glance over to Mateo, who at this point had made his way up the main stairs of the foyer and was now standing on the overpass.

"Good luck!" Mateo laughed, and with one final wink thrown towards Erebus, he left the room.

There was one detail Erebus suddenly remembered about all of his planning, he had studied plans of the bank for months, charting every room and every floor of the building, so he knew exactly where Mateo was headed.

Mateo was headed for the one place Erebus was certain was a place he would not even dare to go.

Mateo was headed for the roof...