Heist Online

by Victor Deckard

  Allison brought her face close to the phone I was holding next to my ear and said loudly, apparently so that Flynn could hear her, “Hey Flynn. I want to tell you something.”

  I thought she was going to apologize for not being able to save him or something like that. But I was wrong.

  “Remember, you’ve got to be tough to survive in prison,” she screamed so loudly my ears started to ring.

  “What the heck are you doin’?” I said as I drew away from her. “Are you trying to make me deaf, or what?”

  I then put my cell phone on the speaker mode so she could hear Flynn too.

  “Actually, I’m not in prison yet,” he said. “I’m locked in a cell at a police station. I’ll be transferred to prison pretty soon.”

  “Don’t worry,” Allison said. “We’ll get you out in no time flat. It’s going to be so exciting!”

  “Don’t,” Flynn said.

  “What?” She asked perplexedly. “What do you mean?”

  Since I had just read the FAQ, I knew what Flynn was going to say.

  “If I were to escape from prison, I would become an escapee, which means that I would get a so-called wanted level,” he explained.

  “What is this supposed to mean?” Allison asked.

  “My nickname would turn red. When some cop notices a player with the red nickname, he or she can apprehend the escapee there and then even if they doesn’t do anything wrong at the moment. Moreover, NPCs recognize players with red nicknames as criminals as well and they call the police once they notice such a player. The more horrendous crime a player committed, the more NPCs recognize him or her as a criminal. When a player escapes from prison and then is recaptured, their sentence increases for a few days. I didn’t kill any civilians on the last heist, so I’m going to serve only a few days in prison. So I don’t want to escape, guys. Like I said, if I were to escape from prison, NPC would recognize me as a criminal. I wouldn’t even have been able to wander around the city without some NPC turning me in.”

  “It’s a shame,” Allison sighed. “I really wanted to get you out. It would’ve been so exciting!”

  Flynn started to reply, but then the line went dead. The time was up. I put the cell phone back in the pocket of my jacket.

  “It’s a shame Flynn’s gonna do time,” Allison said.

  “What, you miss him already?”

  “Sorta. He may be a bit cranky sometimes, but he’s nevertheless a part of his team. Besides, now that he’s in prison, there’s no one I can make fun of. It’s kinda sad.”

  “Speaking of that, probably you shouldn’t make fun of him. He clearly doesn’t like it.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I just can’t help it. He makes so funny faces when I mock him!”

  He makes funny faces when he tries hard not to snap at you, I thought.

  The girl cast her eyes downward and went silent.

  Dang it, I thought.

  Allison wasn’t making it up. She really was saddened by Flynn being in prison. She had always been so lively and cheerful. Never before had I seen her truly upset. At the moment, however, I could see her eyes getting sadder.

  Dang it.

  I was the leader of this team, so it was one of my responsibilities to keep my teammates maybe not happy but at least content. So although I knew I wasn’t going to like the consequences of the action I was about to take, I said, “Well, if you need someone to make fun of, you can practice on me while Flynn’s away.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Are you sure about this?”

  She looked so excited that I was already starting to regret my decision.

  “Well, kinda,” I said. “But you can make fun of me only while he’s doing time. Once he gets out, he’ll become your main and sole target of mockery again.”

  “You got it, boss!”

  Yeah, I was definitely starting to regret giving her the permission to make fun of me.

  “So what do we do now?” She asked.

  “Let’s do some more heists,” I said.

  “Agreed!”

  Chapter Eight

  Allison and I played a few more heists. However, there had to be three players on the team. So with Flynn having been apprehended, Allison and I had to play with some random players.

  The first heist we did was a small bank. And it went wrong almost in the very beginning thanks to our third player. Allison and I managed to escape from the police, but the third player was killed.

  The second mission that we did was a diamond store heist. It wasn’t a complete success either. Our third teammate didn’t appear to be a very good player. We were trying to persuade him to stay close to us, but he wouldn’t listen. He wanted to do everything on his own. As a result of his careless actions, he ended up being arrested. As to Allison and me, we managed to grab some jewelry and get away from the cops.

  Almost the same held true for the next heist we did. The random player that joined our team turned out to be a complete jackass. He was yelling at us all the time because we didn’t follow his orders. And the reason that we didn’t follow his orders was his lack of knowledge about the game. He got completely pissed off and the moment the cops arrived, he ditched us. We managed to grab some money, toss them in our duffel bags, and get away in our SUV.

  However, the cops were unwilling to let us go. They jumped in their police cars and gave chase to us.

  So we were now racing through the city, with cops on our heels, their guns blazing, the enemies’ bullets thudded into our vehicle, plinking through the metal body of the car and shattering the windows.

  “Those guys really want us dead,” Allison shouted.

  It was true. If a cop apprehended a perp instead of killing him or her, they got more experience points and money. But the players chasing us didn’t seem to care about it. They didn’t bother to take us alive. They were doing their best to waste us.

  I reloaded my assault rifle and leaned out the window. Sighting on the lead police cruiser, I started to fire in short controlled bursts. Some of my bullets punched holes through the vehicle’s hood. Other slugs sliced through the windshield and struck the player behind the wheel in the chest and the neck. Blood splattered across the windshield. The driver was flung across the steering wheel and the police car swerved off the road to crash into the wall of a building.

  There were two more police cars chasing us. I dumped the remaining bullets in the mag into another vehicle, but all my bullets went wide this time. I got back in the car and commenced reloading my weapon.

  Suddenly, I was thrown to the left as Allison spun the steering wheel to the right, entering a side narrow street. I instantly saw a problem up ahead.

  There were retractable bollards in front of us. At the moment, they were retracted, so we could easily pass them. But if one of the cops after us had the Blocker Control skill learned, he or she could remotely raise the blockers, completely blocking off the street. Those bollards were strong enough to withstand car crashes. If a player drove a vehicle at top speed into blockers when they were raised, the car would immediately be destroyed.

  “Turn back,” I said.

  Instead of obeying me, Allison shifted through gears, quickly accelerating.

  “What do you think you are doing?” I asked. “Turn around while we can.”

  “Why?” Allison asked sounding sincerely perplexed.

  I cast a glance over my shoulder and saw that the two police cars had already made the right turn. They were now chasing after us down the narrow street. It was too late to turn around now. Dang it.

  “Slow down,” I said. “You’re driving too fast.”

  “What?”

  “Slow down.”

  “No way. The cops are after us. Don’t you see?”

  “There are blockers up ahead,” I said. “If one of those cops can control them, then we’re in trouble.”

  “What blockers?”

  Without any warning, the bollards extended about
three feet up. Allison had about a second to slam on the brakes to prevent our car from smashing into them. However, she didn’t do that. Our vehicle crashed into the cylindrical unyielding bollards. Since I wasn’t belted up, I was propelled right through the windshield, smashing it. I flew a few feet through the air and collapsed to the asphalt, taking about 50 damage. I rolled on the ground for a few feet. After my body lost the momentum, I stood up and turned to face our car.

  Allison was still seated behind the steering wheel, looking at me dumbfoundingly.

  “Seriously?” I yelled at her. “What the hell, Allison? I know I gave you permission to make fun of me, but this is a little bit too much, don’t you think?”

  “I’m sorry,” she replied. “I didn’t do this on purpose, I swear!”

  “Then why didn’t you turn back or slow down as I told you to?”

  “Because I didn’t know what you were talking about. I’ve never seen these things before.”

  “Oh seriously? You’re not a newbie, Allison. How come you don’t know about the blockers?”

  “Why weren’t you buckled up, anyway?” She asked. “You should’ve done this.”

  “It is impossible to lean out the window to exchange fire with the cops when you’re buckled up, Allison.”

  Before she could reply, there was a screech of the brakes being applied coming from behind. The two police cars stopped behind our vehicle. Allison swung the driver’s-side door open, got out, and we burst into a race as the two cops opened up on us.

  We entered a very narrow alley and raced forward. A few moments later, we emerged into the main street. We took a second to get our bearings and rushed toward one of the vehicles parked along the curb, an SUV.

  “I drive, you shoot,” Allison cried out.

  But after what had just happened, I wasn’t all that keen on letting Allison drive the SUV. Or any other vehicles, for that matter.

  “I’ll do the driving,” I replied.

  I opened the door, slid behind the wheel, and commenced hot-wiring the car. In the rearview mirror, I caught a glimpse of the two cops emerging from the alley. Allison instantly opened fire, forcing them to dive back into the alley.

  Once I started the engine, my teammate climbed in the back and thrust the barrel of her weapon out the side window, aiming at the mouth of the alley. I pulled from the curb and drove down the street, accelerating rapidly.

  Since the alley was too narrow for a vehicle, the two cops would have to get back to their cars and drive around the block to catch up with us. So in the end, they failed to accomplish it in time and we finally gave them the slip.

  After we doffed our masks, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Allison looking at me.

  “See,” she said, “it’s a good thing that we crashed into those blockers. If we hadn’t, the cops would still have been chasing us.”

  After my eyes glared my rage at her, she shut up.

  We made it to the van and put the bag with money in there. The mission was accomplished. We received some experience points and money.

  Since the last few heists we had done were very action-packed, we decided to do the next heist in stealth. We returned to my safe house and studied the available contacts on my computer. One of them caught our attention.

  > Name: Art Gallery

  > Level Requirement: 10-15

  > Difficulty: Hard

  > Objective: Your goal is to steal as much paintings as possible.

  We read the contract description and examined the blueprints. The art gallery consisted of five halls; hall A, hall B, hall C, hall D, and hall E. There was a security camera in each hall. Also, there were about five security guards wandering around the place.

  This heist had to be completed in stealth because it was extremely hard to do it in “loud”. If we were spotted by a security guard or a camera operator, they would call the police. Moreover, if stealth was blown at any given moment, metal bars would cover the paintings and security shutters would close the all the doorways, sealing the heisters inside the building until the cops arrived on the scene.

  Which was why this heist was so difficult. It was almost impossible just to crash into this place and rob it. It had to be completed in stealth. I even considered waiting for Flynn to do this contract with him. However, the last several heists Allison and I had completed were so action-packed that we needed some respite from constant gunfights and car chases.

  So we decided to play it.

  After we discussed the plan of action and made all preparations, we jumped in our car and set off for the art gallery. We parked our car on the opposite side of the street from the building and stepped out of the vehicle. We then crossed the street and strode toward the art gallery. But instead of walking through the main door, we turned around the corner, walked half the length of the building, and stopped near the back door.

  “Are you ready?” I asked.

  “Always. Let’s do this!”

  We looked around to ensure no NPCs were nearby and put on our masks. There was a security camera above the door. There was no way we could get through the back door unnoticed by the camera operator. So we shot down the camera. I then went on to lock pick the door while Allison kept guard to make sure no security guard or passer-by snuck up on us. Once the lock clicked open, we went through the door to find ourselves in the restroom.

  According to our plan, Allison was to wait here and knock out any guard that might be on their way to investigate why the camera wasn’t working while I was to scout the place for the security room.

  She walked to one wall and as soon as she did so, loud humming filled the air. Startled, she jumped and looked around the room until she spotted a hand dryer on the wall. After a few seconds, it stopped emitting the sound. Allison stepped to the wall again and the hand dryer started to act up again.

  “Gosh, this thing is so sensitive and loud,” Allison said.

  “You better stay away from it unless you want to inform everyone in this place that someone’s hiding in here,” I said.

  We waited for a few seconds, pricking up our ears. Yet the sound of the hand dryer seemed to have gone unnoticed. Either there were no security guards near the restroom at the moment or they just didn’t pay attention to such sounds.

  I nodded at Allison and walked over to the door. I opened it and peeked through the doorway. There was a corridor that ran from the left to the right. In front of me was another door that according to the blueprints we had examined beforehand led to the hall A. To the right, the corridor ended in a wall. I looked to the left and through another doorway saw the lobby.

  After making sure nobody was nearby, I crossed the corridor and entered the hall A. There were three civilians in the room. Also, I instantly noticed a security camera in one corner. Luckily, the security room was nearby, so I quickly strode toward it, pushed the door open, and walked in. The camera operator was seated in front of a bank of security monitors.

  I struck him across the back of his head with the butt of my pistol. When he slumped to the floor, I secured his hands behind his back with a pair of plastic handcuffs.

  “Allison, I found the security room,” I said. “It’s in the hall A.”

  “Okay. I’m coming.”

  When she entered the hall A, we took all the civilians in the hall A hostage, handcuffed them, and had them enter the security room and lie on the floor. It became very crowded in the small room, but the NPCs didn’t complain about it at all. Allison walked up to the bank of the security monitors, stepping on the NPCs lying on the floor. They didn’t seem to be bothered by such treatment at all.

  I went out of the room.

  The rest of the heist was easy. I just walked from one hall to another, taking the NPCs hostage and dealing with the security guards. Allison watched the monitors and kept me in the loop about the guards’ whereabouts.

  However, I failed to notice two of them in time and had to kill them before they fi
red at me. Since my pistol was outfitted with a sound suppressor, no one outside the building heard the gunshots.

  Soon the whole place was secured. While Allison watched the hostages, which we made to lie down near the security room, I took paintings off the walls, rolled and put them in the bags that we had brought with us. After I collected all the paintings, we had eight full bags.

  We carried them all to the back of the building and piled them in one corner of the restroom. Then Allison went out of the building. The van was waiting a block away from the art gallery, so we had to carry the bags to our car. When she pulled toward the back door, we started to carry the bags out of the building to our car.

  Once all the bags were in the back of the car, we got in the vehicle. I stomped on the clutch, grinding the gears as I shifted from first to second and the vehicle roared onto the street. I shifted through the gears, accelerating rapidly.

  “It was a piece of cake,” Allison said.

  “Yeah. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too hard at all.”

  As we entered an intersection, I caught a glimpse of a car barreling toward us off from the adjoining street. It was a big black pickup truck with tinted windows. Although we hadn’t met the British gang in a while, I had a gut feeling that it was them.

  “Allison, watch out,” I yelled as I whipped the steering wheel to the side, bringing the vehicle around.

  Thanks to my maneuver, the black truck barreled past our car, missing it by mere millimeters. I executed a tight U-turn, tires screeching. As soon as the front of the car was pointed toward the black truck that was now ahead of us, I worked the gearshift, accelerating rapidly.

  Two players leaned out of the side windows of the pickup truck. I saw that they wore skull design ski masks. Now I had no doubts about their identities. The British players who had robbed us a few days earlier had worn the same ski masks.

  Hanging out of the windows, the two players pointed what looked like Micro Uzis at our car and opened fire. The windshield crazed as the bullets punched holes through it. I hunched down in my seat as the slugs saturated the cab of the car. One of the rounds struck the steering wheel and it shuddered. For a moment, I even thought that it was going to fall apart.