Jane knew what she was getting into. It was a deliberate decision. One last heist. The riskiest one yet, and the one with the most profit. After this she would be set for life. Nevertheless did it turn out harder than she anticipated.

She and Felix have done heists together since they were old enough to walk. First, they were small childish things. Stealing something from their parents or siblings. A toy, or a piece of jewelry. Nothing much, but enough for them to learn the basics and get into a routine together. Then they started stealing from classmates and shops, sometimes getting caught, but improving more and more. As children, you get away with a lot.

Their whole lives whenever they saw something they wanted, they just took it. But not just simple stealing. They lived for the thrill of planning and then executing the plan as perfectly as they could. 

So after they dropped out of school and ran away from home, that is how they lived. One heist after another, getting into a community of criminals but also being able to afford many luxuries. It was a good life, full of risks, but also of thrills, excitement. 

That was until Jane met Kyle. Kyle was a teacher. He was a good and honest man. And Jane fell for him. They met in a Cafe. Jane was reading and enjoying her coffee. The cafe was full, so Kyle asked if he could sit with her. They started talking, small talk at first, then decided to go on a proper date together.

They got serious very fast and Jane needed to get out of the life. She couldn‘t let Kyle get involved, he couldn‘t know. He thought she worked as a consultant for property security, which was kind of not a lie. After all, she showed security vulnerabilities by using them to steal.

Felix understood it. He was sad of course. His partner would be gone, but he wanted the best for her. And he was sure that being with Kyle and getting out of this life would be best.

There are a lot of creeps in the scene and some of them have been disrespecting Jane behind her back. Her being around those people regularly was only a matter of time until something bad would happen. He could only protect her so much.

But there was one last thing they had been wanting to steal for a long time now, never feeling ready for it. It would be only a job for the two of them because there was no one else they could trust enough. And it would be a good last heist for Jane. 

Together they decided to finally do it, as a last goodbye. The loot they got would help Jane settle into a normal civilian life and even Felix would be able to retire if he wanted to, though he probably wouldn‘t.

The target was the jewel collection of one of the richest persons in the world. It was located in an underground bunker on a private island. The billionaire was of the paranoid type and built an island to go to in case of the next world war. It was fully equipped to defend itself against whatever would come its way and included a whole underground system of bunkers that would resist any kind of bomb or aftereffects thereof. He planned to be the last surviving human in the world if the worst came to pass. 

And in one of these bunkers he had a collection of unmarked and unregistered, highly valuable jewels he plans on using as money in whatever kind of trade system will come after the apocalypse.

Jane and Felix had planned this heist multiple times, collecting all the information they could, stealing plans from the builders of the facilities on the island, even having stolen some plans and documents from the man himself. They created more plans for this heist than all the separate heists they did together. They planned it to perfection. Just that even after all this it wasn‘t a 100% safe plan. It was impossible to create such a plan. They would need to depend on luck and their own abilities. But this was their last chance to do it and they were determined to go through with it. So they did.

Felix was to be the outside guy, keeping an eye on the overall situation and hacking the systems from the outside where possible, doing what he could to support Jane.

Jane would be the one physically breaking into the island and collecting the loot.

Both roles were essential, but Janes was of course the riskier of the two. But she didn‘t mind. This was how they had worked for decades now and Felix saved her life more often than she could count.

The first step of getting on the island was easy. Jane got a cleaning job to work on the island. Faking her background was no issue, they had multiple identities they could use for it. But security was tight. They would rather go for it at night when almost no one was on the island, but there was a people count when arriving and leaving. If any person is missing, the island would go into a lockdown and a manhunt would start. Additionally while on the island everyone had to personally check in every hour. 

That meant that instead of the whole night, she only had a maximum of one hour. And an island full of people. Not the most optimal circumstance but one has to work with what one gets.

Jane had a total of 8 hours to scope out everything she still needed to do and do the steal. The security was so paranoid, that staff like the cleaners would only be hired for one day and then never again. They took biometric data to ensure no one would be able to step foot on the island more than once.

Everything worked perfectly. Jane was able with the help of Felix to find the pattern the guards did and figure out the ideal timeframe to slip into the bunker complex.

When the opportunity came Jane managed to enter the bunkers unseen. She found a panel fast and opened it without a sound. She was lucky, behind it was just what she needed to get Felix in. She attached the hacking device she got from him to the cables, just as they had trained too many times.

‚Good one, now go straight until you reach the first security gate,‘ Felix instructed through Janes's earpiece.

He had hacked into the security system and was able to see not only where Jane was located, but also where everything else inside the bunkers were. Including the guards roaming the tunnels. He hopefully also will be able to open any locked doors she encounters but that was still to be confirmed.

Jane made her way through the tunnels as fast and silently as she could, keeping an ear out for any sounds of steps that might be coming closer. She trusted Felix to warn her if he saw anyone, but better be safe than sorry.

It didn‘t take her long to reach the gate. Just as she was approaching, the sound of unlocking could be heard, and the lights around the gate that were all red a second ago turned green. Jane was able to go through without having to stop and also didn‘t stop to watch the gate close behind her again, instead just confirming it by sound. 

First gate done. We are doing really good so far. Only 7 more security gates and 43 minutes until you have to do a check-in, 53 until they start hunting for you,‘ Felix informed her. Jane didn‘t answer, just rolled her eyes which she was almost sure he could see through the cameras. He always likes to put on extra pressure. Not like she had a watch that reminded her every 5 minutes of the time left.

She continued hurrying forward. She couldn‘t tell if someone had heard the gate open or closed. There were still no steps to hear, nor did any alarm sound. 

‚Next turn left,‘ Felic instructed. He sounded serious. She had studied the plans intensively and was supposed to turn in 3 crossings, not the next one. Maybe a guard?

She wasn‘t in a position to worry about it though. Trust Felix. That is all she could do. So she did as he instructed, not even slowing down. Keeping a steady pace helped Felix calculate where she would be when. 

‚There is a door to your right in about 5 meters. Hide in the groove.‘

That is what she did. Jane pressed her body as flatly as she could against the door. Now there were step sounds coming closer, running. Maybe someone had heard the gates? 

The steps stopped for a few seconds, then continued, now moving away.

‚It is clear. Continue down the tunnel.‘

That was what Jane did.

They continued on like this, Jane following instructions and Felix making sure she would arrive at the target location fast, safely, and unseen. 

After the last gate, Jane stepped into a large room. It reminded her of the sitting room in a mansion. The walls were covered by curtains, red velvet furniture that looked somewhat uncomfortable, large bookshelves covering one whole wall filled with antique-looking books, expensive statues standing in illogical places. Nothing showed that this was a bunker underground anymore. The metal walls that she got used to in the tunnels were nowhere to be seen. Even the gate looked from this side like a big wooden door. 

‚37 minutes. Better hurry up!‘ Felix's voice brought her back from analyzing all the art that was collected in this room. Together it was worth at least half a billion dollars, a lot of it considered „lost“ art, which is short for stolen. Some of it was even stolen by her and Felix. 

‚Ok, so which book was it again?‘ she asked, just to make sure. Part of the bookcase is a hidden door. One had to pull the correct book for it to open. When they found it out they thought it rather cliche. But the richer the target, the more they tended to follow the classic cliches found in movies and books. It did make things usually easier for them.

Pulling the right book would reveal the door of the save, behind which the jewel collection was stored. She would have to open it. Felix had no way to access it and the lock was purely mechanical. Safe cracking wasn‘t her favorite discipline, Felix was better at it, but with her being the one physically there, she would have to do it. She did practice a lot. They got a safe of the same type for her to learn how to do it fast.

‚You know the one. The encyclopedia botanical volume J to O.‘

Jane just nodded in response and approached the bookshelf. With more time she would have had a better look, maybe browse a bit and even take some. But with the little time she had left, she solely focused on finding the correct book. 

It didn‘t take long for her to find it and she pulled on the book. Just that she now had the Encyclopedia Botanical Volume J to O in her hand, and nothing happened. Panic started rising in her.

‚That's not it. It is the wrong book…‘ she whispered, not covering her panic in front of Felix.

‚Stay calm. Maybe you just chose the wrong book, maybe the mechanism is different. Check in the gap, maybe there is a button or something.‘ Felix instructed. The best thing against this kind of panic is structured instructions.

Jane nodded and did what he told her. With her gloved hands, she first felt around the gap she created by pulling out the book. But there was nothing. Then she had a thought. She opened the book to look inside and indeed, there was a hole cut in the pages and a remote control hidden inside. ‚Perfect!‘ she muttered to herself, pressing the open button on the remote. Almost without a sound, the bookshelf slid to the side to reveal a safe behind it.

With a sigh of relief Jane informed Felix ‚It is the right safe. I‘m putting on the device and start cracking it now.‘

The display of the magnetic device rapidly showed number combinations at a speed Jane couldn’t make out any of them. She did as she had trained and started slowly turning the dial, one ear to the safe. The time seemed to not move forward and run at high speed at the same time. After the first couple of numbers were confirmed by the device her watch gave her the signal for the 30-minute mark. She was slowly running out of time.

‚Come on…‘ she mumbled, urging the device to reveal the correct sequence of numbers to her, tempted to turn the dial faster, but knowing that that would likely reset the progress. 

‚Stay calm. You know that the worst case time is 10 minutes for this safe.‘ Felix reminded her in a calm voice.

Hearing Felix's calm voice used to always help her stay calm herself. When they were little and their parents would fight, shouting so the whole neighborhood could hear it, Jane used to cower in her closet, crying, holding her ears in a desperate attempt to not hear the anger and malice in her parent's voices. Felix would come in, asking in a low kind voice if he could join her in her cave. He would bring a flashlight and a book and upon her nodding sit beside her, doors closed, and started reading the book out loud to her. Calming her down with his voice and stories, managing somehow to drown out the noise with his low voice, almost a whisper.

Despite the circumstances, these were some of Jane’s fondest memories. 

A „beep“ brought Jane back from her memories. The display was showing a number sequence. With somewhat of a routine, she removed the device and entered the code into the safe, careful to not do it wrong. The safe rewarded her with a click and she was able to pull it open. Inside she found bags of satin filled with little hard things. Just to be safe, she peeked inside one and was met with colorful sparkliness. These were definitely the right bags.

She shoved them into a sachet she brought and then hurried to close the safe and return the bookshelf to its place. The later someone realised the gems were missing the better.

‚Ok, 19 minutes left. You need to hurry now. The tunnel outside the room is clear.‘

Jane wasted no time and made her way back the way she came. She almost ran, hoping that she wouldn’t be heard. On the way in it took her almost 20 minutes to reach the room. Now she had a maximum of 10 to get out so she could send the loot away and reach check-in before they started the hunt. She ran, trusting Felix to open the doors and warn her about guards.

‚Stop! Silent!‘ Felix instructed her suddenly. She immediately stopped and pressed herself against the wall, desperately trying to suppress her fast-going breath. After some moments she could hear the steps coming closer. Someone was around the corner of the next crossing, getting closer. Jane wanted to curse. She didn’t have time for this. Then the steps stopped. She couldn’t see anyone and now also not hear them. Why did they stop?

‚It’s alright. They are just binding their shoes. Their route is to turn back at the crossing.‘ Felix answered her unspoken question.

How long can someone need to bind their shoes?

Finally, Jane heard the steps move away again. Her nerves were at breaking point and fear came in. If she didn‘t get back in time, they would hunt her down and she was trapped on an island. They did have an escape plan, but that one was risky.

‚Ok, the coast is clear. You should not encounter anyone else. No alarm has been raised yet. You are below 10 minutes now though, so they have noticed that you didn‘t check in in time.‘ Felix informed her in his calm voice. He must also be frantic by now, but he did a good job of not showing it.

Jane continued running. She was only about 3 quarters of the way out.

When she finally stepped out into the sunlight a wave of relief washed over her. She took a second to catch her breath and took a look at her watch. The 5-minute reminder came up already, and now the watch told her that she had 3 minutes left. No way she would be able to report back in time. She would go over to plan B.

‚Drone is waiting.‘ Felix reminded her. Without answering she turned the corner and saw the small device hidden in the shade of some trashcans. Quickly she attached the bag with the gems inside to the drone. 

‚Done, bring those babies to safety.‘ she announced with a smile and immediately the drone with a quiet buzzing sound flew up and was out of sight in seconds. 

‚Better bring yourself to safety too. 1 minute until they start the hunt.‘ 

She didn‘t need Felix to tell her twice.

‚I won’t be able to report back and we know they don’t ask questions. We read about enough people who vanished here…‘ Jane said, though both of them were fully aware of that fact.

She hurried to where she knew the camera's few blind spots were through which she would have to go to even have a chance. She needed to reach the port area and then go around the isle to reach the jetski they had hidden there some time ago as preparation.

She was fast and didn’t need Felix to tell her where to go, but he instructed her anyway. Just as she reached the point where the big gap in the wall towards the port was visible, alarms started to go off and she could hear dogs barking.

‚Your time is up. Better run!‘ Felix said in her ear as if she hadn’t noticed.