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The two robbers do not appear to hear Anders’s sarcastic remarks and continue their robbery. The man with the shotgun hands his weapon off to his partner, pushes the guard to his knees, handcuffs his wrists behind his back, and knocks him to the floor by kicking him between the shoulder blades. He then retrieves his shotgun from the other robber and moves toward the security gate at the end of the counter. Anders notes that the robber with the shotgun is a short, round man who moves slowly and lethargically. The other robber threatens the tellers with his pistol and orders them to let his partner past the gate. Once they buzz him in, the robber with the shotgun walks up the line of tellers and hands each of them a large garbage bag, presumably so that they can fill it with cash.
When the robber comes to the empty window, he asks who usually works at this station, and the woman who closed her section just before the robbers entered says that it is hers. The woman puts her hand to her throat in a gesture that is meant to encapsulate her terror at being singled out. The robber then makes fun of her appearance, telling her to get her “ugly ass in gear” and approach her station immediately so that she can fill her own garbage bag. Anders, realizing that this is the teller who caused the argument between him and the two women, sardonically turns to the pair and tells them that “justice is done.”
Anders’s comment finally draws the attention of the robbers. The man with the pistol reprimands Anders for talking and calls him a “bright boy.” Anders makes fun of the robber for the second time and compares him to the hitmen from the short story "The Killers" by Ernest Hemingway, who use the same insult. The robber is angry that Anders is not taking his threats seriously, so he walks over to Anders and presses his pistol against Anders’s gut to frighten him. The robber asks if Anders thinks he is “playing games,” and Anders says no while resisting the urge to laugh because the pistol is tickling him. To keep himself from laughing, Anders stares directly into the robber’s eyes—the only discernible feature that Anders can see through the man’s ski mask. He also notes that the robber’s breath has a strong chemical smell. It is only then that Anders begins to comprehend the seriousness of his situation and he starts to feel uneasy. The robber is unnerved by Anders’s unforgiving and unwavering eye contact, and he prods him in the stomach again before derogatorily insinuating that Anders is propositioning him for sex. Anders denies this accusation and finally breaks eye contact by staring at the robber’s shiny wing-tip shoes. The robber is not satisfied by this either, and he places his pistol under Anders’s chin and forces him to look up at the ceiling.
