Chapter 90: Emptying the Vault Part II

Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Emptying the Vault Part II

His thumb brushed absently against the ring on his finger.

The space connected to his own ring was enormous.

Far larger than any conventional storage ability would need to be.

He had never given much thought to how large a naturally awakened space ability might become.

There had been no reason to.

Spatial abilities hadn’t existed yesterday.

There were no established rules.

No standards.

Nothing to compare Penelope against.

Still, the similarities continued accumulating.

Objects entered both spaces through physical contact.

Large quantities could be stored without affecting the person carrying them.

Perishable items appeared to remain preserved inside hers.

And now, apparently, Penelope possessed an extraordinary amount of storage capacity.

Killian said nothing.

There was nothing to ask.

Not yet.

Perhaps this was simply how space abilities worked.

Perhaps Penelope herself didn’t even know where her limits were.

They had all possessed their abilities for barely more than a day.

Drawing conclusions now would be pointless.

He returned his attention to the work.

"These next," Killian said, moving two reinforced cases closer.

Penelope turned.

"What’s inside?"

"Don’t know."

She looked at the cases.

Then at him.

"Very informative."

Killian’s expression barely changed.

"Do you want them?"

Penelope immediately touched both.

They disappeared.

"Yes."

Killian almost smiled.

Almost.

They continued.

Eventually, the vault began to look strange.

Empty.

Shelves that had probably remained full for years stood bare.

Secured sections containing fortunes accumulated over decades disappeared within minutes.

The private security boxes were the only things they hadn’t touched.

Ben looked toward them.

"What about those?"

Erik followed his gaze.

Hundreds of individually secured boxes covered the wall.

He considered them for several seconds.

"Leave them."

Penelope looked surprised.

"Really?"

"We don’t know what’s inside," Erik replied. "Opening hundreds of individual boxes will take time we don’t have."

Kai nodded.

"Could be documents, family heirlooms, paperwork, watches, someone’s grandmother’s wedding ring."

Penelope looked at the wall.

Oddy immediately protested.

’Could be treasure.’

’Everything is treasure to you.’

’Correct.’

Penelope smiled slightly.

Erik was right.

They had already collected more wealth than any of them could reasonably quantify.

Spending another hour breaking into private boxes while zombies accumulated outside would be stupid.

"We leave them," Penelope agreed.

Oddy made a deeply offended sound.

Penelope ignored it.

Erik checked his watch.

"We’ve been underground too long."

The atmosphere changed immediately.

Their brief moment of excitement disappeared.

Killian turned toward the corridor.

"I’ll check the entrance."

Erik nodded.

"I’ll come with you."

The two men left the vault together.

Kai watched them disappear.

Then he looked toward Penelope.

"We should finish."

Penelope nodded.

No joke this time.

They cleared the remaining accessible cases quickly.

Anything requiring extensive effort stayed behind.

Penelope collected the last container of loose gemstones before looking around.

The vault that had once contained an unimaginable fortune now looked almost abandoned.

Oddy sighed happily.

’Host.’

’What?’

’We are very rich.’

Penelope smiled.

’We were already rich.’

Oddy considered this.

They had already had this conversation.

Apparently, it had reached a different conclusion this time.

’We are very, very rich.’

Penelope couldn’t argue with that.

Footsteps approached from the corridor.

Erik appeared first.

His expression told Penelope everything before he spoke.

"We need to leave."

Kai immediately straightened.

"How bad?"

"More have gathered outside," Erik answered. "A lot more."

Killian stepped into the doorway behind him.

"The front entrance isn’t an option anymore."

Ben’s expression changed.

"How many?"

"Enough that opening those doors would be stupid," Killian replied.

Nobody needed a more specific number.

Penelope looked around the nearly empty vault.

They had what they came for.

There was no reason to remain.

"Then we find another exit," Penelope said.

Erik nodded.

"There should be a loading entrance or employee delivery access somewhere behind the building."

Killian had already reached the same conclusion.

"We saw a service corridor on the security monitors."

Erik looked at him.

Their eyes met briefly.

"The basement corridor," Erik said.

Killian nodded.

"It should connect to the rear loading area."

Kai adjusted his grip on his machete.

"So we sneak out the back."

"If it’s clear," Erik replied.

"And if it isn’t?" Ben asked.

Killian looked toward the corridor leading out of the vault.

"Then we make it clear."

Nobody argued.

Penelope took one final look around.

Less than an hour earlier, reaching this vault had seemed almost impossible.

Now it stood nearly empty.

They had their gold.

Their gemstones.

Their precious metals.

More resources than Penelope had expected to collect in a single night.

It was enough.

For tonight.

She followed the others out of the vault.

Behind her, the massive steel door remained open.

Penelope didn’t bother closing it.

There was nothing left inside worth protecting.

By the time the group reached the basement corridor, nobody was thinking about treasure anymore.

They were thinking about the truck.

The apartment building.

Their families waiting inside.

Aunt Mary.

Aunt Lucy.

Aurora.

Home.

Killian moved into the lead while Erik took the rear, with Penelope, Kai and Ben between them.

Their weapons were back in their hands.

Their footsteps became quieter.

The celebration was over.

Now they only had one job left.

Get home alive.

The service corridor was exactly where Erik remembered seeing it on the security monitors.

Unfortunately, finding it was the easy part.

Whether they could actually use it was another matter entirely.

Killian stopped several feet from the heavy metal door at the end of the corridor and raised one hand, signaling everyone behind him to remain where they were.

A faded sign beside the door read AUTHORIZED DELIVERIES ONLY.

Kai studied it before looking at the reinforced door.

"Please tell me this one doesn’t require a fingerprint, a blood sample and the manager’s firstborn child."

Ben’s mouth twitched.

Erik stepped closer to examine the locking mechanism.

"It’s a standard commercial exit," Erik replied. "It locks from the outside, not the inside."

Kai nodded approvingly.

"Finally, a door designed with reasonable expectations."

Penelope looked at him.

"You have developed very strong opinions about doors tonight."

"I’ve had a difficult relationship with several."

"Understandable."

Killian ignored their conversation and leaned closer to the door.

He could hear something beyond it.

Not much.

That didn’t necessarily mean the alley was clear.

The zombies hunted primarily through sound and vibrations. If nothing outside had attracted them toward the rear of the building, there could still be infected wandering nearby without making enough noise for them to detect through the steel.

Killian looked toward Erik.

"I’ll check first."

Erik nodded.

"Open it slowly."

Killian wrapped his hand around the release bar and applied enough pressure to disengage the lock without immediately pushing the door outward.

A faint click echoed through the corridor.

Everyone became silent.

Killian waited.

Nothing responded.

He pushed the door open less than an inch.

Cold night air slipped through the narrow opening.

Still nothing.

He widened the gap enough to look outside.

The rear of the jewelry store opened into a narrow service alley running behind several businesses. Large dumpsters lined one side, while delivery entrances and loading bays occupied the other.

The emergency lights mounted above several doors still worked, casting weak pools of light across the pavement.

Killian saw no immediate movement.

He didn’t relax.

"Clear from here," Killian whispered.

Erik stepped beside him and looked through the opening.

His gaze moved toward the rooftops, the recessed loading entrances and the shadows surrounding the dumpsters.

"The truck is west of us," Erik said quietly.

"Two blocks," Killian replied.

Kai looked between them.