Hornet's Nest, Part 1 - Like Taking Candy from a Baby
The tarp was barely big enough to cover the object on the semi's flatbed. The object was squat and fat with a pointed tip, the result of almost a year of work. The result of wishing to honor his grandfather, Jeffery Lorrin Williams. In his day, his grandfather was a bank robber and while trying to escape a bank said to be unrobbable, he was shot dead by police. His family was devastated, especially after it was reported that his gun wasn't even loaded. No one outside of his family cared. He was a criminal and that was all there was to it.
His grandfather's three children eventually grew up, one of those children being Jeffery III's father, Jeffery Jr. His father became an engineer, quite a successful one at that. In addition to telling his son stories about his grandfather, he taught him many things from the world of engineering. Those two things were exactly what led his son to his current situation.
The same bank that his grandfather died at still claimed they were unrobbable. Using what he learned from his father about engineering over the years, Jeffery III planned to prove them wrong. That night, he would avenge his grandfather's death.
Jeffery contemplated the situation, and wondered if it was normal to feel an adrenaline rush already, when he had not even lifted the tarp yet, let alone started working on getting into the vault. He mentally cursed himself for the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins. He didn’t have time for this. He still needed to move the truck, and get everything positioned just right.
Getting into the cab of the truck, he pulled out of the junkyard. He owned the junkyard. It was the perfect place for him. He got most of his materials for the object on the flatbed from within the junkyard and no one was going to question a semi hauling a flatbed being seen around a junkyard. The place was like a maze with its rows of stacked, ruined automobiles. It was perfect for hiding his little project.
The drive took about a half hour. Turning the semi onto a gravel road, he carefully drove down it, parking near a creek. No one was likely to come around there at night to poke around at the truck. Getting out of the truck, assault rifle in hand, he moved to the flatbed and removed the tarp. Underneath the tarp was what looked like a tank, at least the main body of the machine did. Attached to the front was a giant drill bit, the kind that was wide at the base and pointed at the end. One of few parts he hadn't been able to just find in his junkyard.
Lowering the flatbed's ramp, he climbed into the tank through its hatch. The machine started beautifully and he slowly backed it down the ramp. Turning the tank, he drove a little away from his truck before angling the drill down and flipping a switch to start it. The drill spun into the dirt, sending it flying all around the tank, and slowly pushing forward, the tank started to drive down at an angle as the drill dug out a tunnel.
As he dug his way to his first robbery, Jeffery kept his eye on a GPS mounted inside the tank. He had the bank marked on there and it would do him no good to dig past the bank or end up far off course. Flicking another switch, lights flashed on outside of the tank, allowing him to see some around the drill, not that there was much to see besides dirt. Once the drill dug deep enough, he again changed its angle to go straight ahead. The tank picked up a little speed then, thanks to some improvements he made to its engine.
As the drill powered through the soil ahead, demolishing the wall of earth standing between him and his prize he consulted the GPS again. So close. He couldn’t risk overshooting at this point, so he adjusted the speed, slowing his machine. So very close.
In a few moments, his months of preparation and work would prove themselves, one way or another. He’d either succeed in robbing the unrobbable, or his drill would fail, and he’d be here, trapped below the earth left to only stare at the outer vault wall for whatever time he had left before he expired from lack of oxygen.
And then, he was there.
The drill gave a whine as the tip made contact with the vault. The engine shuddered for a second, before the drill began to pick up a bit of speed again, slowly burrowing into the steel reinforced concrete. The tank shuddered again, and for a terrifying moment he thought it had failed.
The tank gave a lurch then, the drill breaking through, rubble pouring down inside of the vault as it continued to assault the wall. He could see inside the vault now, and his heart began to race even hard.
So close he could touch it. Any second now...
The engine whined madly, sounding like a wounded animal as the drill forged on, the hole widening by the second. With a finally shuddering thrust, the tunnel was complete, and here he was, inside the vault of the bank where his grandfather had died.
Throwing open the hatch of the tank, Jeffery could hear alarms going off. It wouldn't take long for the police to get there. He would be long gone by then. Bringing his gun with him, he jumped down to the floor of the vault. The lights from the tank illuminated the room nicely. He could see what he was looking for on the other side of the room.
There were several canvas bags of money, denominations of $20 and $50 marked on the outside. Probably meant to be picked up by an armored truck in the morning, to be taken to another bank perhaps, they would be going home with him instead.
He jogged over to the bags and tried to grab two of them. They weighed much more than expected, like they were filled with bricks rather than cash, and he was forced to carry one at a time instead. He did eventually manage to get all of the bags inside of the tank, taking 12 in total. He was sure police were already at the bank. He couldn't hear their sirens over the tank's engine and the alarms, but he would have been surprised if they weren't there.
He shifted the transmission into reverse, sending the tank shuddering backwards just far enough for him to engage the drill again into the earth. Digging back down, he adjusted the direction away from the bank, and back up into the tunnel leading towards where he hid the flatbed, speeding along even faster than before since he didn't need to use the drill again unless there was a cave in. Even if the police were already in the bank, he’d be long gone before they were able to figure out exactly what had happened and come after him.
Jeffery had done it. Sure, it wasn’t an enormous, record breaking haul, but his creation had proven itself, and he’d managed to take on the vault and win. Impossible to rob? Maybe 75 years ago, but certainly not now.
The Driller had seen to that.
That it what he would be known as by mid-morning. He'd grin the first time he heard it, liking the way it sounded. Yes, he’d be The Driller and he’d be legendary. Just like his grandfather had been.
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Hornet's Nest, Part 1 - Like Taking Candy from a Baby - ??????????? - 7:02:44 AM on 08/29/2015
