Fatal Fate

“Go, go, go!” 

Clad black figures started trying to work faster, but their energy was wearing thin. Luckily, there wasn’t much left to unload. They threw stacks and stacks at a time, letting them strew everywhere on the back of the van. 

At last, it was done. They stood back and admired their handiwork while alarms blared inside the building a few blocks away. They didn’t have much time, but they couldn’t help but ogle at the 5 million dollars they had just stolen. 

The mound was just impressive, and it filled the back of the van to the brim. 

The leader gave the signal, and they locked the door shut. 

“Listen up everybody, we now disperse. Head up discreetly, and the cops will never find the money. We come back in a few days when this place calms down.”

They all nodded in agreement, and so they left the black van at the end of the alleyway, tucked away, never to be found by others.

A few hours earlier

James shoed a mouse off his bed and collapsed onto it. It creaked and the frame bent, almost making James’ back touch the floor. He was surprised that it hadn’t broken, like everything else in the house.

His twin Josh sidled up to the doorway. 

“Hey. we need to talk.”

James stood up and walked on over to Josh’s side of the room. Of course, they didn’t have separate rooms because all they could afford was a small apartment.

“What should we do now?” Josh asked.

“What else?” James replied. “We need to leave. It’s too much of a burden on our parents.”

“When shall we leave?”

“Tomorrow. 4 in the morning.”

“Ok, then.”

They both had thought long and hard about all the possibilities. The two 20-year-olds were too much of a burden on their elderly father’s measly salary. There were no jobs in the area, and the few opportunities available needed a degree, which was way out of the question. 

So there was only one solution: run away. And now it was finalized.

The next morning they both awoke to muffled sirens. It was normal, especially in the high-crime neighborhood they were living in. They both said their last goodbyes to their sleeping parents, and discreetly made their way down the fire escape. The staircase ended up in an alley, and James headed out to the road front. There was a steady stream of cars, so James decided to stick out his thumb in hopes of catching a ride. He enviously eyed the bank right across the street while he waited. All the money in there would solve their problems.

“Hey, James!” his brother yelled. “Look what I found!”

“We don’t have time for all those games, Josh. We need to get out of here.”

“But seriously, look!”

James ignored him and kept searching for a ride. 

And then he heard something from behind him that made him whip his head around: the unmistakable sound of an engine. 

His eyes widened in awe as his brother pulled up next to him in the narrow alleyway in a black truck, with the words, Sigma Industries stencilled onto it.

“What are you ogling at, James? Hop on in!”

The truck was their ticket out. They drove until they were out of gas. While they were looking around for some work, Josh could but help wonder what was in the back of the truck. 

“James, what do you think is in the back?”

“Probably nothing. Or just some useless junk.”

But Josh wasn’t convinced. He pulled Josh over and they unlocked the various locks until they were able to open the doors. 

When the doors swung open, they couldn’t believe what was happening.

Josh fainted on the spot, while James stood there in shock. 

Piles upon piles of money littered the floor, strewn everywhere. It was more than they could imagine, probably amounting up to millions.

A few hours later

Josh and James headed back home, not being able to believe what they had just found. Finding the money was like lifting a burden off their shoulders. It was the best thing that could have happened to them, and they were drooling about what they could do with that money. It had also crossed their mind about where that money had come from but they chose to ignore it though, and pass it off as an inheritance.

They skidded to a stop in front of their building, and sprinted up the staircase, figuring that the truck would be safe where it was. Little did they know that they were under close watch. 

After pounding on the door, they burst into the apartment to their sad-faced parents. After telling them what they had planned, the twins embraced their parents, regretting what they had done. It felt foolish now in the face of money.

But they couldn’t wait to show their parents what they had found. While James was rambling on, Josh eyed the newspaper on the floor. 

“Police on the lookout for a black truck with the name, Sigma Enterprises. Potentially holds 5 million.” the headlines read. Josh’s eyes widened with fear. 

Wait...the description fit their truck. And there was money in it. What were the chances of that? 

“James..” he said urgently.

But James paid no heed. 

“James…”

James continued to ignore Josh. 

“James!”

That made James stop talking to their parents. 

“What is it now, Josh?”

Josh thrust the newspaper into James’ hands, and waited for him to connect the dots. 

They both made eye contact after understanding what was going on, and burst into the hallway. 

After heading down to street level, they could hear the police sirens and the conversation that was going on. 

“Sir, there were these two people who got out of the van, and ran up those stairs… This is the truck.” and to prove the point, the passerby opened the back to reveal the money. 

Josh and James froze in shock. “There they are!” the police and passerby yelled in unison, running towards them.

The twins stood still, protesting that they were innocent. They didn’t dare run, as they had done nothing wrong. 

The twins couldn’t understand what twist of fate had led to this as they were handcuffed and driven into the back of a cruiser.

And while they drove away, they could see their parents, crying due to the crimes their sons had committed. 

The police drove them back on the interstate, where they had been celebrating some time before. 

It was all over. 

They couldn’t help but notice it was a fatal twist of fate.