Fiction: Group 4
In Arduis Fidelis
Island School, Lau, Chak Kei - 14, Fiction: Group 4
he lock clicked, as the door to the vault softly hissed open. A gloved hand carefully reached into the
vault, withdrawing the stacks of gold ingots that had been neatly stacked inside the vault.
“Lets get out of here,” said the figure wearing a fox mask.
“Sure, Rat’s already got the van outside, we’re good to go. But hey, shouldn’t we take a look inside the
bedroom?” replied a figure with a chicken mask.
“Nah, too risky, they’ve got too many camera’s, Rat reckons they have some he couldn’t disable,” retorted
Fox.
The pair crept silently towards the front door of the house. Their plastic soles making no sound as the softly
edged outside the house. To them, it was just another night, another job, it was what they had to do to keep
food on the plate and clothes on their backs. The world isn’t a nice place after all. As the door clicked shut
behind them, Fox stuck some sort of card on the handle; the pair then casually strolled out to the street.
The pair then climbed onto a white mini-van that was parked outside the residence. With a brief nod
acknowledging another figure that was already waiting in the mini-van, the pair swiftly stuffed the heavy
black bag in the backseat. The mini-van drove off into the night, with three people and a total of one and a
half million RMB.
The local law enforcement officers wouldn’t arrive until the next morning, when the owners of the
residence returned from their celebration. By then, nothing would be left besides a card with a cockroach
imprinted on both sides.
Jok sat inside the restaurant. A newspaper carelessly strewn across his table as he lazily slurped his
daily cup of coffee. The sound of television blaring the early morning weather report could be emitted from
somewhere inside the kitchen. Unfortunately, Jok just couldn’t muster up enough energy to care. He sighed
as he silently surveyed the scene outside. It was a normal boring Monday for a day in Dong Guan. The birds
were chirping mutedly and the city was covered in a blanket of somber silence as the citizens were preparing
the start a new week.
“Hey mate, fancy seeing you here! Did you hear about that robbery? Man, thirty-three kilograms of gold
just gone! Like poof!” someone excitedly exclaimed from somewhere behind him. Jok sighed; he assumed it
was probably the work of the “Cockroach Gang”, a new robbery gang that had recently appeared on the
scene. It was no mystery that China was filled with robbery gangs, especially in the Pearl River Delta. The
area was like a treasure chest for robbers, masses of moderately wealthy people that placed too much trust in
security cameras and half trained guards. It was no wonder that a lot of the gangs would come around this
area. Although, they’ve got to have some guts, with the police crackdowns that started in January. These
gangs were getting arrested left and right. He silently wondered how many more robberies the Cockroaches
could commit before they were arrested. Three probably, three sounded like a good number. Although, Jok
mused, most gangs attacked sea faring vessels rather than the rich villas that resided further inland.
His coffee cup empty, he stood up and went to the cashier to pay. It was time to get to work. Not that he
liked it, working a typical nine to six, dead end car cleaning job was not something that adventures were
made of. Sadly, he was in need for money and any job was a good job right now. He wasn’t proud of it, but
a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.
Jok stepped outside to a bright day. He carefully traversed down the sidewalk, easily slipping into a routine
that he repeated daily. Making instinctive turns as he casually strolled down the street. His thoughts drifted.
From his small and battered apartment to his sick mother, he contemplated his life wondering how he got
here.
He had only been a small boy once, a simple farmer’s child. Now he lived in the city, in a small run down
apartment complex, barely living comfortably with the wage he was earning. His mother had fallen to
cancer, chemotherapy costing him almost all that he had earned.
T