Die Trying

prologue.

It was quite tonight. The crickets chirping their dull, nightly songs to eachother. The distant sound of tires scraping the dark road, making the pebbles fly up in the air.

In the middle of the small town, stood a small gas station, the blue and red lights illuminating out from the window.

Vivian stared down at her magazine, her ruby nails glittering in the hazy light as she leaned against the counter, huffing whenever a customer slid an item on the surface. She couldn't wait to get out of that hell hole and finally earn some real cash. Her father had asked if she could get a job to help out. She didn't mind of course, the only problem was that she had to constantly smell the sickly remains of smoke or alcohol on an customers breath

"Oi Viv, restock Aisle 5 for me!" Barked an older man, his mean eyes shooting at her. "After that you can leave, no one's comin' here this late at night."

She rolled her eyes, slamming the magazine on the counter before grabbing a golden key that was sitting next to a row of others that were collecting dust. "A please would be nice." She spat under her breath. She walked over to a large gray door, where they kept the extra food and snacks, and inserted the key in its lock. She dug her hand in her pant pocket, shoving a pair of airpods in her ears. She pushed the cart out noisily, music pounding into her head. She rolled the cart towards aisle 5.

A distant ring filled the gas station.

Oh, another customer? Mark will get it. She thought.

She bent down, her hands flying over the various chip and candy bags as she put them to their correct row. Suddenly a loud bang filled the room, and one of the ceiling lights died out as it's glass shattered to the floor. A small, smoking hole remained behind. Vivian jumped up, immediately taking the little devices out of her ears before putting them away.

"Sit your ass down!" A harsh voice commanded from an aisle over. "I won't hesitate to shoot you old man!"

Vivian's breath caught in her throat, she stayed where she was, her heart hammering in her chest. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Are we really getting robbed?

She slowly began to crawl out from the aisle, past the refrigerated drinks.

"Get up and give me all the money!" The voice said again. It sounded muffled, but the girl knew that it was a man by the sound of his gravelly voice.

She managed to peak around the corner. A tall man dressed in black stood holding a gun pointed at Mark. She could tell that he was wearing what looked like a mask, since she couldn't see his face. All the lights were turned off. She saw Marks' bony hands frantically push the buttons on the cashier.

Shit what do I do?

An idea popped in her mind, she quietly felt around for her pocket, and pulled out her phone.

It suddenly burst to life as an incoming call message popped on the screen, echoing across the room. The name Victoria shone in against the black screen.

She felt her heart stop as the voice screamed at her direction.

"I know someone's there! Come here, now!"

Vivian could feel tears brimming her eyes as she shakily pushed herself up. Her curly brown hair sticking to her wet cheeks. "Please." She squeaked quietly.

"Here. Now." He growled, pointing a gloved finger infront of the counter.

She held her shaky arms up. She felt sick from fear as she urged her legs to move. She looked down as she made it to her destination. The tip of the gun just in her vision.

Someone please help me.

"Any sudden moves and I'll kill both of you!" The man spat. "The money," He turned his attention to Mark. "Give it to me, you're already testing my fucking patience."

"Get out of my damn store." The elder said suddenly, his hand flying underneath the counter. "Or the cops will do it for you."

"Mark!" Vivian yelled in disbelief. "Just give it to him!" She screamed, her voice cracking as hot, wet tears rolled down her cheeks.

She shrieked as she was suddenly grabbed, cool metal being pushed against her temples.

I'm gonna fucking die.

She shut her eyes, her knees going weak. She was waiting for her heart to just burst out of her chest already.

"Do it and the girl dies." The voice growled from behind.

She opened her eyes, meeting Mark's, who grimaced. "Fine." He slowly raised his hands up, one scooping the green paper and shoving it towards the man.

"Now stand infront of me."

"I am."

"Mark!"

The old man sauntered over, looking at the man. Vivian suddenly felt the strong arm let go of her, as the masked man struck the elder in the head with the butt of his gun. She watched in horror as red liquid formed a line on his forehead, as he fell to ground, a breath escaping his lips.

She whipped around, screwing up her face before the gun was brought down on her own head.

She fell to the ground immediently. The last thing she saw was the man's black boots rushing out the door, and a pair blue and red lights, the sirens screaming into the dead of the night.

And then all went dark.