Loud ringing and the chilling scent of fear. Two security guards were frozen to death near the front door. On the other side, cops were trying to shoot down the thick wall of ice. The SWAT team arrived with a battering ram.

“Alright, that’s all of it,” Murray said. He zipped up the duffel bags and pushed the bankers out of the way. Paris kept an eye on the frightened citizens on the floor. Murray called out to him. “Yo! I think we’re good here.” Murray reached into his pocket. He checked all of his pockets, but seemed like he couldn’t find what he was looking for.

“What’s up?” Paris asked.

“Shit! I forgot my phone in the car. I need to call Lee.”

Paris looked at the ice wall and at the clock. He shook his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Here.”

“Thanks.”

Murray dialed Lee’s number and looked at his watch. “Yo, Lee. Where you at? Well, get your ass in gear, motherfucker! The heat’s on us. Seven minutes? I'm giving you four.” Murray hung up.

“What’d he say?”

“Let’s go.”

BOOM!

A loud explosion shattered the ice wall blocking the entrance. The citizens screamed in panic and the two robbers realized that the plan was going sour. SWAT officers charged in carrying assault rifles. Murray put the phone in his pocket and pulled out his gun. He fired at the officers.

“Emergency stairway, quick!” Murray said. Murray grabbed the duffel bags and Paris followed. He shot a few cold blasts at the officers, instantly killing two. They ran up the steps and stopped at the third floor. “Wait.”

“What? They’re right behind us.”

“We need to buy some time. How much charge does that thing have?” Murray asked. Short on breath, he stopped and turned to Paris.

“I don’t know.” Paris examined the gun.

“Flip that tiny box open," Murray pointed at the power source. Paris opened it and saw a small green crystal encased in a small capsule. It was connected to multiple wires, but most importantly, there was a small screen attached to it. “See that? That tells us how much power we got left here. By the looks of it, we got about two big bursts left with this thing before it overheats and needs to recharge.”

“So, what do we do?” Paris asked. The sound of impending boots echoed in the stairwell.

“Do you trust me?” Murray took Paris' phone out of his pocket. He started to dial Lee's number.

Paris stared at Murray. He nodded. “Yeah.”

“You need to hold them off. I’m low on ammo, but you got Smokey. You gotta buy us time. I’ll go ahead up on the roof and signal Lee. When you see this counter start beeping red, that means you got one big burst left. When that happens, meet me upstairs. Fast! Lee should be there by then. Got it?”

Paris hesitantly nodded. “Alright. I’ll hold them off.”

“Good." Murray grabbed the bags and ran up the stairs. "Lee should call any minute. Just buy us some time. I’ll be waitin’ for you.” 

Paris went the opposite way and charged up the hunking machine. Murray reached the roof access door and opened it. The garish light nearly blinded him. He saw Lee's helicopter making its way onto the roof. He smiled and signaled to his accomplice. He looked at his watch and started singing to himself.

Last week my life had meaning, it was beautiful and so sweet. But now it's nothing, nothing without you, baby, my whole world is incomplete.

The phone rang.

***

Paris was met with flying bullets fired at his direction. The narrow winding staircase allowed for some protection. He created puddles of ice on the stairwell to make it difficult to climb. Paris used the power sparingly. 

He enjoyed using the freeze ray. The loud bang, the whirring of the nitrogen tank, the powerful kick—Paris felt like a badass, like a comicbook villain in those classic stories he used to read when he was a kid; he felt powerful.

Two officers managed to get past his icy defenses and closed in on him. Paris flipped the switch to auto and the gun whirred faster. As he squeezed the trigger, a smile crept up his face. Smokey fired rapid bursts of ice like a Gatling gun. The icicle bullets fired like knives being shot at 5 rounds per second. It shredded the wall into pieces. Paris hugged the trigger and managed to blast one of the SWAT officers into an icy death. The other ducked behind the corner to avoid the rapid shots.

Suddenly, a blinking red light caught his eye. Shit, he thought. Then, he heard the whirring of a helicopter making a proper landing. He ran up the stairs and busted through the door. He saw the helicopter hovering a few inches above the ground. Murray turned around and saw Paris. Murray finished loading the duffel bags and hopped on. He turned around and gestured for Paris to come along.

Paris nodded and looked at Smokey’s counter and realized he had enough to make one more ice wall. So, he turned around and froze the roof access door shut. He ran to the chopper, laughing.

“I gotta get myself one of these.” Paris handed Smokey over to Murray who placed it carefully on the seat. Paris grabbed on to the helicopter's doors when a loud bang caught his attention. He turned around and noticed the ice wall slowly crumbling. The SWAT officers were banging loudly on the other side. Paris cracked a smile.

"Suckers," he said aloud. He turned around to greet a gun pointed straight at him with Murray coldly caressing the trigger.

“Gali-fuckin-leo.” Murray said and pulled.

***

The SWAT officers shattered the ice wall like glass. There were no signs of the perpetrators on the roof. From a distance, a helicopter disappeared into a patch of clouds. 

They got away, one of them thought. 

"We got one." An officer gestured to his team.

They found a young man with a bullet in his head, and empty eyes that even the scorching summer sun couldn't blind. Not far from the dead body is a cracked phone, buzzing with messages from a girl named "Ellie."