A young man, no older than 25, was speeding down the road in Wreece County behind the wheel of a 1950s Chevrolet with a convertible top at around 9:30 at night. He looked to be fairly skinny with short black hair. He had a kind of look about him that made people follow what he said. He had on a black button up and khaki pants. He was accompanied by his two partners. The one in the front seat looked similar to the driver, which made sense considering they were brothers only a year apart. The partner in the back seat had been their friend for the better part of the lives. He had longer hair and wore a baseball cap. He also had on a tank top and cargo shorts. Drunk with excitement and maybe a little bit of celebratory alcohol, the two brothers began throwing handfuls of money out the window. It was not as though they couldn’t spare a few hundred dollars.

Earlier that day he and his two partners had successfully committed the most noteworthy string of bank robberies America had seen since Bonnie and Clyde in the 30s. As far as he and his partners knew the cops had nothing to go on regarding the robbers because they had killed the few people inside the two banks and the banks were across the street from each other on an empty road so no one saw them enter or leave. The cops would not have known about the robberies if someone had not called them later in the day when they walked in to withdraw money and saw the now dead former workers and customers lying on the floor and across the counters. The three of them had committed robberies before but never on such a large scale. It was normally just local convenience stores and other small establishments. This time they made it big. They robbed two banks with over $1,200,000. They knew there was no evidence leading to the robberies being committed by them. They killed every one of the witnesses and they did not think that the money they had stolen was traceable.

While traveling down that road they noticed a girl carrying a duffel bag fast approaching on the left. She was walking the same direction they were headed. They didn’t know it but she was walking home from her day job at the burger place a few blocks away, The same burger place that the guys ate at earlier that day . She hated her job, and she almost hated walking home even more. But what she hated even more was when customers acted like complete assholes like the people driving the car. A couple of nights a she would also prostitute down town. She didn’t have a pimp like some prostitutes in the area did she would just go when she needed some extra cash, which considering her low paying job was pretty often. She was about 5’ 7" with brown hair. She was wearing a plaid western style button up shirt and a skirt that went to right above her knees. Both looked worn out, not the kind worn that you pay 70$ at a fancy store for, but the kind you spend 3$ on when its all you can afford, suggesting she probably wasn’t the first person they belonged too. She walked slowly with her head down and her arms at her side, one of her hands holding a cigarette. She looked like she was out of luck.

The driver gazed out the window at her, not recognizing her from the burger place, and yelled, throwing her a handful of money. The girl who also did not recognize them to flash them her tits in all her excitement. He continued to stare at the girls exposed tits as he drove past her, not paying attention to the road. The girl then buttoned her shirt back up and picked up all the money lying on the ground in front of her and scattered about. During this time a car had pulled out in front of him and his friend yelled at him to pay attention. He swerved to miss the car but lost control, causing the car to speed towards a maple tree out in a field on the side of the road. The driver tried to stop the car but it made him lose control even more and the car skidded sideways and rolled on its side 3 times until it hit the maple tree, totaling the car and killing the three passengers. The crash made the hood of the car open and dark grey smoke slowly started coming from the engine. The money from the back seat and trunk along with the other contents of the car, mostly empty bottles, wrappers and cigarette packs were now scattered around the area surrounding the car and blowing around nearby in the wind.

The girl heard the wreck considering it had only happened a few hundred feet down the road. She ran towards the scene already with a feeling of guilt in her stomach worrying what she had happened. She got to the edge of the road by the field and saw the car on its side with smoke coming out of the engine. She approached the scene and saw the car smashed against the tree and as she got closer noticed the 3 people still in their seats motionless and bloody. Having few morals and even less money, aside from the money they threw at her, she didn’t think twice of stashing any money she could in her duffle bag and pockets. She emptied the few cheap clothes she had in the bag and quickly gathered as much money as she could. She felt guilty for what had happened but the fact that this much money had just appeared at her feet could not be ignored. The road was a fairly quiet one, being on the outskirts of town, so she didn’t have to worry much about anyone driving by. After she gathered as much money as she could, she walked back towards the street with a stride like she had just won the lottery. However, she tried to hide it as much as she could so she would not look suspicious to people who might pass her.

Once back up to the road the young woman started traveling in the same direction she was before. She didn’t really have any particular plans. She had a small space she called home, A studio apartment in a shitty old building on the bad side of town. But she didn’t really want to go back there she just found more money than she had ever seen in her life. Eventually though, she decided heading back to her apartment was the best idea considering the money she had on her, especially for a young woman of 19 like herself. She walked down the road where her apartment building was located and then went into the front door, and up the four flights of stairs to her floor. She arrived on her floor and walked down the dimly lit hallway that led to her apartment. Her apartment number was 416 but her door said 41. The 6 had fallen off, probably before she moved in. She opened the door to her apartment dropped the duffel bag full of money on the floor and laid down letting out a sigh, that was partially from happiness and partially from the hint of guilt she felt for the accident, as she hit the old mattress resting on her floor.

The next morning she woke up opened her eyes. Everything was kind of blurry at first but it came into focus slowly. She sat up and looked around her apartment the wall had wall paper but it was starting to peel. It was an off white color with floral designs on it. The furniture was sparse. She had a night table next to her mattress, and a small dresser with a few of the drawers open and clothes hanging out. She had a small table in her kitchenette with two chairs, a small fridge, an oven, and a microwave. There were also a few cabinets but they were mostly empty aside from a couple plates and bowls a pot and pan or two some flour and few other basic items. She stood up grabbed some clothes out of her dresser and got dressed and ready for the day ahead of her. She opened up the duffel bag and took out some money and placed it In her wallet. She walked out of her apartment wearing an black t shirt and some cut-off jeans. She walked down the hallway to the stairwell and made her descent towards the street.

Once on ground level she walked out the front door of her apartment and down the street. She waved down a cab after a few minutes asked the driver to take her to Main st. He sped off without saying a word and turned on the counter. The cab driver was middle aged. Maybe fifty and looked to be rather tan. He wore a short sleeve shirt and had hairy arms, not incredibly hairy but enough to make a note of it. He also had on a pair of sunglasses and a hat, but not the kind of hat cabbies normally wear in the movies…he was wearing a fedora that was fairly worn in. They arrived there a few minutes later and the counter read $7.36. She handed him a ten dollar bill, told him to keep the change and opened her door. She left the cab and stood on the street thinking about which one of the numerous stores that occupied either side of the street she would explore first. She walked down the street and looked into a front display of an electronics store.

The news channel was playing and the report was talking about a set of bank robberies that had occurred the previous afternoon in another part of town. She thought to herself if the people who robbed that those banks were the same people from the car she had seen the day before, the one she stole the money out of, the one with the three young men who threw money at her as they passed. “If it was them they must not understand how to be discreet” she muttered to herself “but then again, sometimes neither do I”. The reporter continued to explain that a car had been found crashed on the side of the road earlier in the morning with three young men in it and several money bag and thousands of dollars in money still lying on the ground. The girl continued down the street and missed the last part of the report. The cops were able to trace the money back to the two banks that had been robbed the day before. The report ended my saying that the cops suspected there was a forth robber who had survived the crash, because they found some girls clothing lying next to the wreck, and escaped and for the public to be on the lookout.

As she made her way down the street she looked in all the windows of the different stores trying to find a place that she though worthy of spending some time, and maybe money, in. She walked upon a little convenience store and decided to go in after all she was pretty hungry she had not eaten since the previous afternoon. She walked to the back of the store and grabbed a bottle of apple juice then down walked down and aisle with a kind of stroll like for just that moment the world was hers. She picked up a bag of chips and a chocolate bar then headed towards the counter. When the cashier rung her up she asked “is this all” and the girl replied “I’ll have a back of cigarettes … menthols” the cashier turned to the rack of cigarettes and moved her hand towards a pack and looked at the girl as if to ask her approval. The cashiers name tag said Dianne. She was in her late 40’s maybe early 50s she had bushy brown hair and wore glasses with one of the little glasses holders that goes around your neck. The girl shook her head yes and the lady finished ringing her up and said “That will be $9.23.” The girl took a twenty dollar bill out of her pocket and gave it to the cashier and stood there waiting for her change. The cashier made a remark about the dollar bill being awful crisp then gave her the change. She dropped the two pennies form her change into the “take-a-penny” holder and left the store.

She continued down the street looking in the windows and at the buildings and their signs. She was off today so she had the whole day to herself to do as she pleased. She decided to sit on a bench on the sidewalk for a while and smoke a cigarette. While she was sitting there she decided to take advantage of the fairly busy sidewalks and do some people watching, a favorite hobby of hers. She saw a man walk by her soon after she sat down he was kind of older maybe mid 50s he had hair that was starting to grey. It was cut short and very clean looking. He wore dress pants and a white button up shirt with no tie. She imagined that he probably lived in a large house with a nice family and that he had a job fun job. She thought to herself that he had probably never lived in shitty apartment or worked at a burger place. She decided that was enough for today she had other things on her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about what happened the day before. She needed the money really bad but the guilt from accidentally causing young men to die was starting to get to her. She tried to shrug it off and continued to watch people while she finished her cigarette and took sips of her apple juice.

When she finished her cigarette she got up and continued down the street. A few blocks down she found a record store . She went inside and looked through the racks of records on display. She came across a few she liked including a The Clash album and a Ska compilation. Upon further searching she found a few other records to add to her collection including one by David Bowie and one by The Kinks as well as a shirt and a poster for her apartment. She walked up to the register to purchase the new things she found the cashier rang her up. His name tag said Phil he looked to be in his late 30s. He had a little bit grey hair bright blue eyes and was average height. He said the price was $64.12. She grabbed her wallet out of her pocket and handed him $70.00. He also made a comment about how crisp and new the money felt. She took the money and walked out of the store nervously.

This was starting to get weird she thought. Were those boys from the news the same boy who I accidentally killed then took their money? she thought. This situation possibly just got way worse. If she would have known the money that she had stolen from the car was from a bank robbery she definitely would not have stolen the money. She thought to herself that she might have to worry about getting in trouble for bank-robbery instead of killing the guys. She didn’t commit either of those crimes. All she did was show them her tits cause they threw money at her, that isn’t a crime. “It isn’t my fault he didn’t pay attention to the road” she said to herself. If she was going to get in trouble for anything it should probably be stealing money from them. “But they were dead she” she said to herself “they didn’t need the money”. She realized that she had been talking out loud while she walked and hoped that no one had heard her what she was saying.

She got back to her apartment a few minutes later. She was relieved to be home being in the public really freaked her out. How could a day that started off looking so up end with her freaking out in the corner of her room. It was kind of late in the evening, she laid in her bed and thought about what she could do to fix this situation. She wondered if anyone had seen her by the car, and if so had anyone gotten a good look at her. She didn’t remember hearing anyone drive by, but she was really excited so she wasn’t paying attention real good. She fell asleep after a while still incredibly worried and not knowing if anyone had walked or driven by while she was down by the car.

By the next week she had grown even more paranoid. She was really starting to go crazy. She was on edge constantly, always looking all around her. Sometimes she worried she was being followed, being watched by the cops. She had barely slept the past few days. She was starting to hear things she wasn’t sure were there, and a few times she even saw things that weren’t. Several times walking down the street when shed looking in an empty field she would see the car there with smoke coming from the hood, she would see the three dead young men sitting motionless in the seats. This cannot be healthy she thought while she was walking down the road. It was only the 4th time she had left her apartment since the day after the accident. Leaving her apartment wasn’t really something she wanted to do but she was out of food, she had been since the day before, and she was starting to get hungry. She heard sirens coming down the road, she ran down an alleyway and hid behind a box. The vehicle drove by, it was only an ambulance. She walked back out of the alleyway and continued traveling down the road. She hadn’t shown up to work in the past few days, where did her job think she was. Deciding to go to her job so they knew she wasn’t dead, she made a turned right a few streets down on to Lincoln Rd. As she approached her job she thought the cops might be on the lookout for her and could have told her job. She walked past the shop looking away so they wouldn’t recognize her.

As the days went on her mental state continued to deteriorate. She had not left her house in almost a week. She had stocked up on cheap food from various stores to ensure that she would not have to leave her apartment anytime soon. She grew more terrified every day and spending most of her time laying in her bed shaking. She kept having hallucinations, and she was beginning to lose grasp of what was real and what was in her head. A couple of times that week she thought she heard someone knocking at the door and she’d get up quietly and look out the little peep hole on her door but there was never anyone there. Every so often she would fall half asleep and have a nightmare that the three young men in the car driving through the wall across from her bed and she would wake up panicking even more. Along with the paranoia and hallucinations she was enraged, more so then she had ever been in her life. On multiple occasions she had punched her wall during one episode incidence she put an actual hole in the wall, and injuring her hand. How was she going to survive like this. She could barely even eat anymore and when she actually could most of the time she through it right back up from being so nervous. She felt increasingly fragile, she barely even had the strength to get out of bed to change her clothes. Dehydration was kicking in from the lack of fluid in her body as well. She didn’t know how much longer she could survive like this.

The next day she decided she needed to eat and drink, and she had to keep it down. Her body needed nourishment or she would soon die. She couldn’t have that. She was still exceedingly paranoid and was becoming more delusional. She was almost constantly hearing and seeing things that almost certainly weren’t there. She was starting to develop suicidal feelings, they became stronger as days passed. She went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water and an orange. She opened the bottle and drank some of the water. She could almost feel her body beginning to hydrate. She poked her thumb into the peel of the orange and peeled it then broke it into slices and ate them all. A little while later she felt like she had gained some energy back but she was certain it wouldn’t last long. All she had eaten in the past week was that orange, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup she made from a can. Although the food helped, she still had hardly any energy, and her paranoia and delusions were not letting up.

She had smoked almost 2 cartons of cigarettes in the past week and a half. Her ashtrays were over flowing, she hadn’t done any cleaning around her apartment in that time. Bugs were starting to appear, and not just in her mind her apartment was becoming infested with bugs, the effect of the neglect she had showed over the past weeks. Her wounded hand was not healing right do to the lack of care she had given to it. She could barely even move it without writhing in agony. The Suicidal thoughts were slowly beginning to take over her mind. She had never had them before, but they were becoming more and more prevalent in her thought. It had been 3 days since she had the orange, she was becoming increasingly gaunt. She barely had any energy to do anything. The only time she had left her bed since then was to piss in an old soup can. She couldn’t even get up the energy to walk to the bathroom. She was feeling ill as well. She had a constant knot in her stomach and her temperature jumped back and forth form hot to cold.

On the Friday of the third week she had been locked in her room, she crawled to the refrigerator around mid-afternoon and took out a bottle of water and some crackers. She barely had enough energy to open up the refrigerator. This would be her last meal ever. After she ate the food she laid on the floor by the refrigerator until she had a little energy, then she got up to her feet and slowly dragged herself into the bathroom. She took out a bottle of sleeping pills and downed what she could with her glass of water. There was about 10 left. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, she went into her bedroom dumped all of the money form her bag onto the floor next to her mattress. She went to one of her cabinets in the kitchen and took out a half full bottle of cheap vodka and took a few large gulps. She then dumped the rest of the bottle on the pile of money along with a bottle of rubbing alcohol. She lit herself a cigarette and lay on her bed next to the pile of money. Before she could finish her cigarette she passed out and the cigarette fell from her hand. It landed on the pile of money and it slowly caught fire just as she intended. Her breathing was shallow, but slowly smoke filled up her lungs and she died, before her body caught fire with the rest of the apartment.