𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄 , 𝐣. 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 ⁽¹⁾

𝟑𝟒. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐓

"So they keep money out here?" Pope asked, glancing around at the trees that surrounded them.

Elle looked back at him from her spot behind John B. "That's what she said." She replied with a small shrug.

The blonde boy next to her chuckled loudly and looked at the two. "Ha! That's what she said-"

"Stop." Pope interrupted, clearly not wanting to hear his joke. Elle laughed queitly to herself after the exchange, even if it really wasn't that funny.

Sarah looked back at the group from the passenger seat and raised an eyebrow. "I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive." She mentioned.

Elle nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too."

"Cause' youre rich." JJ said, glancing back down at his legs. Elle leaned forward and glared at him with a "seriously?" type of expression. "In what world am I rich?" She asked, laughing to herself. "I don't even have a house."

JJ laughed. "I was talkin' to Sarah, dumbass." He joked.

"Oh yeah?" Elle replied."Well, you haven't heard of it either. Are we sure it's even a real place? Like, imagine, the woman just lied to something and we gave her the gold for free."

The Pogues hadn't thought about that. Their expressions made that very clear. "Well- uh-" JJ stammered. Just as he opened his mouth to talk, the group heard sirens coming from behind them.

"Cops?" Kie said, turning back swiftly too look out of the back window. "Out here?"

JJ put his hat over Elle's head as he hid a small stash of his weed that was laying in a bag on the floor. "What did  we even do? Are you kidding me?"

Elle's eyes bugged out of her head as she waved her hands menacingly. "It's the old lady!" She joked.

No one seemed in the mood to laugh about crazy old ladies, and instead they were busy freaking out about wether or not JJ had brung the stolen gun. "No. I didn't. Okay? Everybody told me to leave it back at the place."

Kie's brows unfurowed as she sighed in relief, taking in a deep breath of air. "Thank God." She watched JJ as he struggled to stuff a bunch of shit into his bag. "Please, stuff everything else in your bag."

"I am! I am! Alright?" He replied, urging Elle to help him. The group all argued with each other as JJ and Elle struggled to fit everything into the backpack. Suddenly, as the "officer" stepped to the window, the car got silent.

A fully loaded gun was mere inches in front of John B's face. His breathing hitched as the man holding it moved it slightly closer to his nose.

Elle gasped and JJ grabbed her lower arm, squeezing it tightly in the spur of the moment. "Sh." He urged, trying to keep her quiet as they watched John B climb out of the car, his hands over his head.

"All y'all's hands up in the air, now!" The man yelled, causing everyone to gasp and hold their arms up. "Out of the car, let's go! Hurry!" He said to John B. "Let them out!"

John B hesitated before stepping to the side of the van, and resting a hand on the passenger side door. He mumbled an apology to Sarah as he opened her door, allowing her to climb out.

"There you go, pretty girl." He said, motioning the gun towards Sarah. Elle looked at John B, who was fuming with anger. Well, and fear, obviously.

The rest climbed out, Elle being the last. The man tapped her back with the gun, causing her to wince and move closer to JJ.

JJ went to argue, but the man just yelled at them to lay in the ditch, ever so slightly moving the gun closer to their faces. "Lay down in the ditch!"

They did as they were told, all laying down on their stomachs as they shook with fear. JJ could hear Elle's quiet whimpers, but to be fair, it could have been anyone making those noises. There was a lot of quiet cries coming from the group.

He slowly reached one of his hands from the top of his head to Elle's hand, grabbing it, and squeezing it tightly. "I'm here." He whispered. "You're okay."

The man quickly ran over to their van and started rummaging around, looking for something in particular. JJ breathed heavily and slammed his fist against the ground in anger. They'd been tricked.

"That old bat shanked us." He grumbled, looking at Elle. "You called it."

She stared with wide eyes. "I was just joking! I didn't think—" She hesitated. "We were tricked by an old woman."

Sarah looked next to her to see John B slowly standing up, not breaking his gaze on the robber in front of them. "Wait. No, no, no, no." Sarah mumbled through tears. "John B... no.."

Elle watched as he backed away quietly towards the police vehicle. He swiftly opened the back door and climbed in, making every single person in that ditch completely sure that they were going to die.

"Shit." Elle mumbled, feeling one of the worse burn marks on her arm rub against the hard ground. It wasn't exactly the best feeling.

She quickly got quiet as the robber stepped out from the Twinkie, holding his gun out. "All right, y'all stay like that. Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads, okay?"

Sarah whimpered as the man ran back to the police car, a turquoise towel in his hands which were wrapped around something, no doubt the gold.

He slid into his car and shut the door, making Elle practically stop breathing. John B was in that car.

Suddenly, he lurched forward, grabbing the man's face and pulling it into the headrest. He grunted as he was caught offguard, and John B punched him across the face.

Once disoriented, he grabbed the gun from the passenger seat, and pulled it back with him. The group watched in horror, collectively deciding if they should stand or stay laying down.

Obviously, they made the worse decision, as usual, and they stood to go help him. John B climbed out of the car as JJ rushed over, and started punching the man in the stomach.

Kie ran towards him, but only resulted in getting thrown onto the ground. Elle tried just the same, but she landed a punch on his jaw before she was thrown against the side of the car.

She winced in pain as her knee hit a rock on the ground. Even though there was no doubt that she was bleeding, she still stood. She still went to help her friends. Her family.

John B knocked him down with the gun and Sarah used the car door to slam against his side, causing him to lay on the ground.

Pope kicked him up against the car so they could get a clearer view of his face, when Elle leaned forward, ripping his skull-face mask off.

Elle froze as she went to stand tall again. She'd seen him before.

"Elle," Lorelai started, wiping her nose with the back of her tanned hand. "This is a—uh, friend of mine, Barry."

She furrowed her brows and rested her hands on her hips. "Barry." She grumbled his name like it was the worst thing in the world. "Nice to see you again."

"Elle?" John B asked, looking over at her questionably. "You know this piece of shit?"

She hesitated before answering. "He was 'friends' with my mom. I met him once."

"He's a basehead." JJ added, his arms hanging at his sides. "He sells coke to my dad."

Barry sat up slightly and forced a threatening and deep voice. "Listen, I could have hurt any one of y'all—."

Elle stepped forward and kicked him in the.. area. A chilling mask of anger struck onto her typically kind and gentle face.

John B pulled her back and had her arms held behind her. "Chill, chill." He said as Barry's wheezes filled the humid air.

"C'mon," Pope said, turning towards the car. "Let's get outta here."

JJ reached forward and pulled his wallet out of Barry's shorts. He glared at his ID before taking it out and throwing the empty wallet onto the injured man.

"We got one last stop."

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AUTHOR SPEAKS !

elle my queen.

xoxo, kenn