Conundrum (Short Story)

This popped into my head this morning while I was daydreaming and having a coffee so I decided to sit down and get writing while I had some time this afternoon. I've been wanting to get back into writing some fiction posts again, I thought I'd ease myself back into it with a self-contained story.

Source

Jaki stood in the kitchen of his home, smoking a cigarette, the weather was warm tonight. He was happy that it wasn't as warm as some of the previous nights. Tonight it was mild. The clouds outside covered the area as far as the eye could see. Like a blanket. He had been in and out of the back garden for the last couple of hours.

On the 25th hour, they were set to arrive. Is this a good idea? He asked himself. He was staring at the clock on the wall. Tik. Tik. Tik. It went on consistently. He was stuck staring at it as the hour grew nearer. He had not realised until it was too late that his cigarette had been smoked down to the end. His fingers began to burn, the pain came on fast. He waved his hand as it fell from his fingers to the ground. Instinctively he stamped on it.

They shouldn't be much longer now. They. His friends. If he could call them that. Tanterous Sharp. The leader of the small group he had been working with for the last few years. He was a small-time criminal. As far as Jaki knew, he had never had gainful employment. At least not as long as Jaki had known him. Granted he hadn't known Sharp for that long.

All of Sharp's energy had been spent in other ways. Doing whatever he had to, to survive. As well as gaining together a small semi-organized militant group of people who felt the same way. People who felt as though the government owed them something; People who felt that their lives had been somehow manipulated by outside forces. Someone like Jaki.

I've never had anything. We deserve better. But. Justifications were hard to come by.

Tik. Tik. Tik, The clock's hand kept persisting. I wish I could stop time for just a few minutes, a few minutes is all I need.

"Tomorrow, everything will come to a head. Everything we have worked towards. Get some rest." Jaki could hear Sharp's hopeful and raspy voice. As if he was standing right beside him. Get some rest. Rest. Jaki hadn't been able to sleep. When he left Sharp and the others, he had a mission of his own to do. Which resulted in cementing the fate of the others.

Tik. Tik. Tik. He was close to ripping the clock off the wall. It's all the clock's fault. He shouted from within his own skull.

The door opened. A group of people quietly walked inside the house, all wearing full black clothing. The last person walked in behind them and gently closed the door. Sharp gave a quick smile to Jaki. As some of the others spread out throughout the room. It was the usual routine. Secure the area. One stayed at the door they had entered. Another walked behind Jaki to the large pain glass door behind him. After a few moments and a few sketchy looks outside. "Clear." The one standing behind Jaki muttered.

"Are you ready?" Sharp asked with a grin. Robbing a bank. The biggest job they had ever undertaken. It would give them enough money to start to do some real work. "Hello?" Sharp asked. Snapping his fingers as he did.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready." Jaki replied distantly. "Something wrong?" Sharp asked inquisitively. Jaki shook his head at the question.

"Right. We all know what we're doing I trust?" Everyone nodded in response. "Good. We're going to prepare to move out. You, run through the checklist and just make sure we aren't missing anything."

"There's something moving out there." The man standing behind Jaki said. As Jaki turned to look around, the door they had used to enter the house burst open. Shouting. Chaos. Shock. Followed by more crashes as the large pain glass window was smashed open. Heavily armed and armoured people filled the house.

Jaki couldn't be sure who shot first, but, within a split second gunfire erupted. Sharp turned his confused expression towards Jaki. He must have seen the guilt on his face, because within a few seconds in the slow-motion, of the situation.

Sharp's face contorted and twisted. He made a move to raise his hand, pointing a gun at him. At that moment there was a flash of blinding light. I might have made a mistake. Was the last thing Jaki could remember thinking.