Valuation

320 Valuation

Both were criminals, but with different skill sets.

One was an arsonist, while the other an enforcer. The former sent to torch the place. The other, charged with keeping an eye on the property. It was a large warehouse, empty save for a recent, and extremely large shipment of drugs stacked in one corner under a tarpaulin, waiting for distribution. The firebug had dowsed the place thoroughly and had rigged an incendiary device with a timer. He was covering it back up when he heard something. He looked around to find a man entering through a small door at the far end of the building. As he approached, he pulled a hefty looking hand gun from his jacket pocket. He held it up at shoulder level, pointing it directly at the other man, as he made his way towards him, maintaining eye contact.

When he was only a dozen or so metres away, his foot caught something and quite suddenly he was stumbling forward. As he went down the gun flew out of his hand and rattled across the floor. He jumped to his feet quickly and saw where the gun had ended up. The torch man also saw where the gun had ended up.

The two men stood, gauging the distance. There was nothing in it. The weapon had slid to a halt midway between them. They stared at it, transfixed. It was certain that if one of them moved, they both would. There was no going back now, it would be him or him.

One of them took off and they both went. Like two charging bulls they met head on, literally. The sound of their skulls cracking together echoed around the warehouse. They both went down, out cold.

A few minutes later, the device exploded with a thunderous boom. The shipment was burning ferociously in an instant, while the two corner walls collapsed outward, weakening the roof structure. Moments later the entire roof began caving in. Several minutes later, when all emergency services arrived, the whole building was flattened and still burning.

In pragmatic terms, it was hard to put any real value on any of it.

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