The Channel Tunnel

The alarm system chimed loudly as the four teens ran toward the exit of the bank. One of them ran chuffed as he carried the bag with money in a disorganized way letting few bills fall from the half-open zipper.

“You wanker you’re dropping everything!” One of the yelled sod off as he tried to pick up what he could of the bills while a security guard chased after him “It’s just a few bills, Ross, besides I’m sure you could still take your brother to Disneyland with this amount” Ross was not fond of Kai but he was the reason to him doing this and he agreed so he couldn’t say much.

“Could you stop your whinging Jasper?” Callie exclaimed at him, but his hysterical crying kept on as he ran away “I’ve never done this before!” his sobs were loud “Neither have we” the rest stated almost at the same time. Even though it wasn’t that understandable to due the masks covering their face feeling wonky.

As Kai ran as fast as he could a guard started catching up to him, about to hit him with his bat, Kai tried to run faster but he wouldn’t be able to run much after, he would just be losing his breath even more than what he already was. Callie boosted herself to the guard chasing Kai and launched herself onto him, not caring if she got caught “Callie!” Kai yelled as he was about to go back for her Ross stopped him and made sure he kept running.

Callie struggled against the guard trying to break free from the grip he held on her. She couldn’t reach for the bat he had before, and she wasn’t going to grab the gun, she wouldn’t be able to shoot him, not only because she has no aim whatsoever but because that would get her into some deeper trouble.

“Have you lost your bloody plot bugger?”

Callie tries to regain control of the situation, as the man tried to pin her down she did what she could to hit him against the head with her own and kicked him right in the guts giving her the chance to flee before the guy could grab her again, she sprinted towards the group, avoiding the useless guards as she could and manage to catch up.

“Thanks for leaving me back there, you arsehole” she directed herself at Ross, he shrugged his shoulders and did not care about the insult at all. Callie was not a fan of Ross at all but if she were bladdered she would definitely shag him.

“Tell Margot to get the car ready,” Ross said to Jasper, with his hands trembling he took out the mobile phone and called Margot “We’re a-almost there” his voice was barely understandable which made him have to repeat himself more than once “Okay give me that,” Kai said as he snatched it away from him “There’s no time to switch driver, you’re going to have to drive.”

As they finally stepped outside at their view was Margot waiting in the driver’s seat with a concerned look on her face, sirens could be heard from afar but started to sound closer by the second “I can’t drive” Margot exclaimed through the window as the group got in the car as fast as possible, Ross being at the passenger seat “You have a license” Callie says as she shuts the door “This is a mechanical car.”

“Wait, you have a mechanical car?” Kai found it amusing, Ross had a blank stare on his face “Not the time to make fun of my car, Margot go” he demanded “I don’t know how to shift velocities” the guards were starting to get closer to the car and the police sirens were getting even louder “Just drive!” They all yelled causing Margot to step on the gas.

“Alright, where-” Margot said worried “You have to change velocities” Ross interrupted “I don’t know when to do that” Margot repeated herself, her hands very shaky and at the edge of a mental breakdown “Okay I’ll take care of it just find a way to get us away from here at this hour there should be few cars.”

“You’re going to have to go faster,” Callie says while looking out the window “Why’s that?” Margot gulped as she looked at the rear-view mirror and felt as she lost her breath.

“Don’t want to worry you but there are two police cars behind us and if you don’t step on the gas then they are going to gain on us” Kai mentions, the sirens are louder than ever but not loud enough to mute Jasper’s crying making Callie get very irritated “Can you shut up?”

“We just robbed a bank!”

“Yeah, late at night, we didn’t hurt anyone, what’s your point?”

“I think it’s a religious thing,” Kai says quietly wot Callie, she rolls her eyes in distress “Alright why don’t you look on the bright side? This money is going to help all of us, Margot with her getaway or whatever, Ross with his brother, Callie with some business she refuses to talk about, and you get to go to college and bonus points: you help your mom financially, I’m sure Jesus can forgive that” Jasper sniffles, trying to calm down.

“Besides, we are all safe and sound, they won’t shoot cause we don’t have any weapons on us” a gunshot is heard in the distance, taking back Kai’s statement “We don’t have weapons, they are going to kill us” Jasper screams “Maybe if Margot sped up, they won’t get our tires”.

“I’m not Flash!”

“So much for being the smart one” Ross muttered making Margot snap, as she pressed her foot on the brakes she shifted the wheel to the right on the right track to get to the freeway, not only did the stop cause them to flinch but made everyone hold on tight once she started to turn.

“Maybe I should have just let you incompetents open the vault with dumb brute force” she laughs while pressing more on the gas making Callie cheer and the rest feel like they are being sunk onto the chairs.

Everyone noticed there being more cars behind them and one of the drivers demanding they pull to the side “Someone better come up with a way to get rid of them” Jasper said with a few breaks in his voice.

“Channel Tunnel” Margot stated, everyone’s eyes widen “There is a channel tunnel that connects to France, someone takes out your mobile phone and look it up” Ross quickly does what she says and starts looking for the different routes to get there “Kai you couldn’t think of an escape plan before doing this” Jasper exclaims as he has stopped crying “I didn’t think we would be spotted.”

“You incompetent arse!” Margot yells as she waits for Ross to give her directions “Okay so… Google Maps is not helping.”

“Use Waze” Callie suggests “No one uses Waze” everyone was taken aback from that statement considering everyone in the car has used it before, more than once. “Well, then I guess you’re going to have to use the fucking Snapchat map to get yourself around, if you’re lucky a friend of yours might be there you arsehole.”

“Do you have any other insults?”

“I’m full of insults, I wasn’t going to use them since you seem like some Nancy boy but since you requested the full package I’m happy to comply- “

“Can everyone just stop fighting?” Jasper interrupts trying to calm down the situation, the stress is just making him want to cry more “Why does everyone assume I’m religious?”

“Your dad works at a church” Jasper had nothing to add to Kai’s statement “I can see your point” Ross decides to make the conversation go back to the previous talk “Margot are you really thinking of making a car go through a channel tunnel?” Ross asked “If we lose the cops that is” she states.

“Where does it take us?” Kai being the oblivious one asks “France” his jaw drops “You want us to go from Folkstone to Calais?” she nods “It’s half an hour, give or take.”

“You’re cocked up” Callie stated ironically “You guys want to get away or not?” They knew they had to do this, the cops were behind them it is not like they could jump out, expect no injuries, and make a run for it. “How do we lose the cops? It’s not like we can shoot them.”

“Well you’re going pretty fast, we’re starting to lose them, and I didn’t want to say anything before because you already seemed pretty stressed but you’re going the wrong way- “

“What?” Everyone turns to look at Jasper which makes him flinch “Up ahead there is a spot where you could U-turn, if you speed up once you do it then you should be able to lose them by turning the corner.”

“Worth a shot” Margot as soon as she saw a space to turn she took the chance and did as best as she could to turn the wheel and keep the car steady, “You said you didn’t know how to drive mechanical cars” Ross held the sides of this chair harshly “I don’t know the velocities, driving like this is like go-karting” As Ross shifted velocity as he could considering how he was trying to keep balance himself Margot pressed on the gas once more and could feel the shift of weight.

Everyone could.

“Vin Diesel could never” Kai replied as he saw the cop cars starting to look smaller, “That was easier than I thought” Callie replied “Turn here, now,” Ross said and Margot obeyed. “You’re going to want to slow down, or else you’ll call people’s attention,” Jasper said as he rolled down his window, the rest did the same out of the heat of waves that were going on in there with all the tension.

“We’re almost going to get there, I think we should distribute the money, hide it well, have small amounts of it in our pockets just to pay the trip” Margot suggested as she slowed down.

“You know if I saw people walking in with black bags into a place I would immediately think they are active shooters,” Kai said “We won’t leave the car” Margot states.

“Besides, I’m pretty sure that the only person they would actually suspect of being a shooter is Callie” Margot adds making Callie act offended when she really was not “Because of the tattoos and piercings?”

“No, I was saying it because you decided it was a good idea to look like a drug addict with a leopard sweater and gloves that don’t cover your fingers” she rolled her eyes “That being said we should have taken off the ski masks the moment we fleed” Margot reminds everyone about it and they proceeded to take it off as fast as possible.

As they got the money ready Margot starting entering the gate and making her way to the check-in “What if they check the car?”

“Can you stop overthinking things, Ross? You’re becoming Jasper” Jasper is taken aback from this but decides to ignore her comment.

They decided to travel the tunnel through the car, the idea of doing it by foot had crossed their mind but that was almost a five-hour walk just to get to France, as they left the car parked there they remained inside the car waiting for the train to start going.

Nerves were killing each one of them and they couldn’t think straight.

They waited for the train to start moving, hoping that they would manage to get away, as the seconds passed they feared they would be spotted here, that they would come and get them. That all this was for nothing. They couldn’t just sit in silence.

“Was this a mistake?” Jasper said making Margot and Callie groan in annoyance “I swear that if you don’t stop with your religious shit I will kick your teeth in” Callie threatened “He has a right to be worried, we all should be worried” Ross said making Jasper feel better about his question “We’re all worried, but we can’t keep thinking this way or we’re going to get distracted from the plan” Margot defends.

“What exactly is the plan? We’re on a train to France.”

“We get there wait it out fortnight and come back.”

“I have shit to do here, I can’t skive everything.”

“Well, why are you blaming me for your problems? You should’ve taken care of your shit before agreeing to do this” Margot’s attitude was not one to act warmly towards others, she saw it as a vulnerability many times.

“I’m starting to think we should have just used brute force instead of having to rely on some unbearable toff.” No one was a big fan of Margot “What is the plan?” Jasper asked for reassurance, hoping this was a good idea.

“We’re going to France, we’ll wait until things calm down and you guys will come back.”

“Are you trying to screw us over by not coming with us?” Callie said what the rest were thinking. Margot had no intentions like those though, it never crossed her mind to do that to sabotage them.

“I’m not, I’m staying in France, I have no business here and no one is going to be missing me anyway so what’s the point of coming back” she knew how to hide the pain well, her voice did not give a single hint of hurt.

“That’s why you wanted to take the tunnels,” Ross said.

“Honestly staying in France sounds better than coming back, when people find out I have a shit load of money they’re going to start coming after me,” nobody asks for more details as if they already understood what Callie meant “Ross, what are you going to do with the money?” she switches topic.

He shrugs “It’s for my family, not me” he refused to give more details.

“Well, Jasper is for college, which sounds kind of lame but I’m pretty sure there is something in the Bible that says something about no one being able to judge one another so Kai, your turn?”

“I want to manage it smartly” Callie chuckles, Kai and smart don’t go in the same sentence usually “I’m serious, I’m going to start something, my dad will suck it when he sees what I can do” a grin crossed his face, a glimpse of hope is spotted in his eyes. He really believes he could do something amazing.

There’s a moment of silence. They feel as the train starts to move making them all feel like they can breathe once more.

“It all seemed to easy, we got this money, had a car chase, now we’re here. It doesn’t feel right” Ross says “There’s no turning back, we either get caught and it’s jail time or we live with this for the rest of our lives taking it to the grave, but at least we continue living.” Kai says words that no one thought would leave his mouth.

“When all this is over, we all go separate ways, we are no longer a group of people we would see in the hallways at school, we take this secret to the grave, got it?” Margot was someone who seriously stated things, but this time she was drop-dead serious.

They all nodded. They sat in silence, thinking what has happened, they all know what they have done is wrong. They don’t care. Not anymore. Because they have realized their backstories are different, but there is one common factor.

This is the moment they realize that the real world has cruelty because nothing is fair. No one is fair. Not everyone learns something when they have gone through hell.