Trapped

"What are you doing? There is a fucking robbery going on in there and you are asking of names?" Ted asked him whispering.

"Just watch me," Jason replied. By now, two more cars have arrived and he knew he can't ask names anymore.

"Well, let's create a line. Spectators would flood in soon. I have been trying my best to avoid messing with the media boys." He said.

"And officer… Henry, right?" Jason asked. The officer nodded in reply.

"Now! This is Nigeria. I am modeling myself after American police. And you know one thing they don't do? They don't negotiate with criminals' ' Jason said. He looked around and saw eyes of disapproval.

"Of course, I do not expect you to tell them that. Get me on the line" he said.
Officer Henry hesitated but eventually called in the robbers.

"Hello Sir or Ma'am" Jason greeted

"Are you the one in charge?" The nervous robber said. Of course, they would be nervous. They probably had calculated that this would be a quick hit. They didn't know the police were going to patrol all of a sudden. He wondered. Or did someone from there call the police?

"Yes! I am. I am Detective Jason. I will be answering and attending to your needs." He said.

"We need a car. All police should move backwards from their radios and their cars." The leader of the robbers said.

"Listen man! I am here to negotiate with you but I will be frank with you. There is no escaping this. You come out gently without hurting any hostage, you get two years or three. And if you have a very good lawyer, you might come out with bail." He said to the awe of everyone around.

"If you don't, if you kill a hostage, you get life imprisonment or might even get killed. None of you want a kill on spot order right?." He said. Officers around him were surprised and made gestures for him to stop. They didn't want to make noise, so the robbers won't know there is a disorder in their rank.

Jason heard what others didn't hear. He knew they wondered if he wasn't normal.

"We ask you to get us a car else, we kill hostages here" the leader's voice came in again.

"Listen, sir! I already told you what will happen if you kill anyone in there." Jason said.

"I am serious, we will kill them," the leader said.

"Stop it, man." Another voice came through the line. "They are offering us a chance to get out. I knew it was a bad plan to have followed you. You never make anything right."

"Could you have come up with a better plan?" The leader said.

"I told you. Now we are surrounded. We could have continued with our street robbing. But you had a dream." The voice came through again.

"You didn't want to leave the hood? This is supposed to be a one-time thing. I didn't know it will get to this." The leader said.

" Then let's drop these guns and surrender." The other robber pleaded.

"I am not. You trust those police that much. See what they did during the EndSars protest? They will gun us down immediately when we get out there" the leader said.

Jason already had the call on the speaker the moment they began arguing. He let the officers around him hear them.

"These are high schoolers. Well, they are supposed to be. But they are young and they did it on a whim. This wasn't well orchestrated." He said.

Mary gave him an "oh yeah! We know" look. He smiled at her and she was forced to smile back. Even though she knew her fears weren't cleared yet.

They all could tell how scared they were. The leader was only trying to man up. He was ready to risk it even though his escape plan might have been foiled.

"Man! Listen, I am going out there with D and T. You and Dan can stay here. I ain't dying in here." The other robber said.

"Get over here," the leader said and dragged him back or punched him because all Jason and others could hear through the phone was a punch. Followed by another.

Jason looked at Ted and Henry. He pointed at Karl and one other male officer. He told them to follow him.

The men hurriedly went after Jason. He advanced towards the door.

"Bovi! They are approaching." Jason heard a loud cry which was not like the voice he heard before.

"Bovi and Henry are fighting, man. They have messed up" another voice came in. Jason looked at officer Henry beside him. Both of them smiled.

"T, Stay here. Anyone who tries to move, shoot them. Try not to kill them. That would complicate things for us." D said.

"Just go, man. I will be here" T replied.

The discord between the robbers didn't just create a chance for the police to advance, but it allowed a very courageous man among the hostages to stand up to T.

T was only a teenager. There is only so much level of pressure that he can hold. His fears already covered his reasoning and he lowered his guard. The man stood up, jumped, and punched T. T turned around, before he could gain balance, the man grabbed his hand and wrestled for the pistol in his hand. T shot in the air twice. The man held T's wrist tighter, punched him in the face. Either it was anger or just a survival method, he kicked T in his stomach with his knee, and punched him one more time

"T? T? What's happening?" The other robber who was ready to surrender called.

"T? Trevor?" D called

The man collected the pistol and shot at the lock of the door. The door opened and he stood his ground watching the door from the manager's office where the others were.
The moment the door opened at first, he fired at it twice. They closed it back.

The other hostages rushed out. Jeff and the others waited for them to go out. Mary and the other police welcomed them and led them to Safety.

" I surrender" Bovi cried

"Please, I just want to go back home," D said.

Jason came in with others. They pinned down T who was still groaning from whatever hatred in the form of punches rained down on him. Karl was on T. Henry was told to see the man off and collect the weapon from him.

"You are a snitch man!" The leader said again.

Bang! Bang!!

Two more shots came in from the restaurant and Mary panicked. The normal lifestyle of a policeman is to go to the face of danger, for the protection of the life of the citizens. But she knew she wasn't ready for Jason's death. She prayed he was alright.

"How are Jason and Ted?" She asked immediately when Henry and Karl approached.

"He is okay! Things are under control." Henry answered

"How about the gunshots just now?"

"I think it was to keep them in check" Henry replied

Jason heard shots from inside the manager's office. He heard groans.

"What? Why did you have to kill them, bro!" Dan asked

" They are snitches. Listen, I am not going down without a fight" The leader said

The door opened one more time. Jeff didn't shoot. Three guns slide out.

"What are you doing?" The leader said.

"I just want to know if you will kill your brother. If you do, then I will die knowing you have always been my enemy." Dam said.

Jason slid his gun towards them. He raised his hands and went towards the door. He got to the door's front and he saw the leader.

"I know you are Dan," He referred to the leader's brother. "So that makes you?"

" You don't care about me. You only want to fulfill your duty man." The leader said. Henry laughed within himself. How true!

"Henry! His name is Henry!" Dan said

"You better shut up," Henry said to his brother.

"I can help you here man. I am your last hope. Your only hope." Jason said. "I could clear you of all charges. I can write that these people were not killed by you. They were resisting and tried to hurt me and other hostages''

Jason stopped to see his reaction. He saw that his words were causing the exact reactions he wanted.

"I could get you a very good lawyer and we can make it seem like you were under the influence of drugs. That's just a few years. So will you please put the gun down?" Jeff pleaded.

"No! Man I don't trust your words. You are just like every other cop. Your kind killed my dad" Henry said.

"Listen young man! I am sorry for what happened to your dad" Jason said. He told Henry's brother to move away from the door. He pushed h towards Ted. Ted grabbed him, pinned him, and handcuffed him.

"Leave my brother alone," Henry said.

"He will be fine," Jason said whispering to him. "Listen there is only one thing I can tell you, you should look behind you and you might regret not listening to me earlier on."

Henry looked behind him, he saw through the windows, but he saw nothing. No one could act as a potential threat. He turned back towards Jeff. But it was late. Jason zoomed towards him. He came from a lower angle that would require Henry to change the direction of his gun.
Henry saw him late but still reacted fast.

He pulled the gun's trigger and shot without aiming. He shot five times till Jeff's punch landed on his side, then his nose bridge. Jason bent him over and punched him from the side. The pain couldn't allow Henry to pull the trigger. He got a hold of himself and tried pushing himself away from Jason. He shot one more time. Jeff stopped moving for a moment. He grabbed Henry's hand, twisted it. He stood before him. He extended Henry's hand over his own should and threw Henry to his front.

"Jason," Ted called. Ted heard the sound of metal drops and a loud thud. He rushed towards the door, sliding and aiming. He saw Henry on the floor with blood all over him.

"Told you, I was going to get him"

"Jason!" Ted exclaimed, forgetting Henry

"What?" Jason looked down at his thigh. Only then could he feel the hotness and sting of the bullet resting in his thigh.

"Oh!" Jason said and he went down

"Jason!" Ted screamed running towards Jeff, trying to catch him before he fell.

The last thing Jason heard was the Siren which was either from the ambulance or the police.