THE NEXT morning, Aurora woke up to the distant sound of Pope talking. She walked out of 'her' room at John B's and walked outside. Her head was throbbing from the drinks, and she smelt of pure nicotine- like always.
She grabbed a cigarette from the table and lit it with the purple lighter from her denim-short pocket.
"Shit, are you alright?" JJ asked protectively, as he stopped throwing rocks at a tree.
"Mhm." Rory hummed, as she inhaled the cigarette and sat down next to Pope, who was reading a book.
Pope questioned, "Don't you remember what happened last night?"
"As clear as day." Aurora replied sarcastically, then changed the subject when she saw JJ looking at her worriedly, "Where's John B?"
"Inside." Kiara replied, "Sherif Peterkin came looking for him, saying about DCS."
"Shit." Aurora sighed, exhaling smoke into the air, "Is he okay? I mean, he passed out, right?"
"Yeah, out cold." JJ replied, "So did you."
Rory sighed, "JJ, can we not-"
"I'm calling it off, alright?" John B joined the group outside- saving Rory from that conversation, "Peterkin said, if I stay out of the Marsh, she'll help me with DCS."
"And you believed her?" JJ questioned.
John B sighed, "Yes, I believe her, JJ."
"An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop." JJ retorted frustratedly.
"All I've got to do is stay out of the Marsh for a few days and she'll help me out." John B raised his voice, "And it doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."
"Rory should've just let Topper drown your ass." JJ replied.
"Shut up, J." Aurora snapped, resting the cigarette between her fingers.
"Topper was gonna drown me?" John B questioned sarcastically.
"Sure looked like it." JJ replied, "Have you looked in the mirror recently?" He paused and raised his voice, "They always win don't they, man? The Kooks always win!"
"Alright, okay!" Kiara raised her voice to try and calm JJ down.
"They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it." JJ explained, as he turned to Pope, "And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the Golden boy. You got way too much to risk." He turned to Kiara, "And you, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?" He turned to Aurora and John B, "Bus us, we've got nothing to lose. And I know it never used to be that way for you."
"I don't wanna talk about this." John B muttered, walking away, "I don't want to talk about it."
"Come on, man." JJ reasoned, "I have a plan!" He paused, "You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?"
"No, JJ." John B sighed.
"There's scuba gear inside, man." JJ explained, "We just borrow that, then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man."
***
"Diver down."
John B dived into the water, using the scuba gear from Ward's boat. Despite none of them had been diving before, they were doing pretty well in Rory's eyes. They all leant over the boat, waiting for John B- he had a maximum time of 15 minutes before he ran out of air.
Sirens wailed in the distance, and the police boat came closer in the distance. The four on the boat acted as natural as possible, trying not to give away that John B was in the depths of the water.
"Evening." Shoupe said, as he drove his boat next to theirs, and tied a rope to the end of it so they didn't drift away, "How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?"
"Closed?" Aurora repeated.
"No."
"No. Wow."
"Why? Why is it closed?" JJ questioned.
"We're conducting a search out here. Boat went down." Shoupe explained, "Seen anything?"
The group all shook their heads, almost saying 'no' in unison. In conclusion, they couldn't act natural if their life depended on it.
"Where's your friend you always hang with?" Shoupe questioned, "He here?"
"No, he's, uh, sick." Aurora replied.
"Alright." Shoupe announced, untying the rope from their boat, "Let us know if you see anything on the way out."
"Will do." Pope replied, "Will do."
The police boat drove away, and the group watched as John B came up for air. They exhaled in amazement that he didn't drown from running out of air.
"Did you find anything?" JJ questioned, as he helped him get back onto the boat.
"Did I find anything?" John B questioned with a mischievous smirk on his face. He chucked down a leather black bag, and everyone shared excited laughs.
"Guys, bogie, two o'clock." Kiara said, looking at the boat in the distance.
"What are they doing here?" Aurora questioned, "The marsh is closed."
"Just go, go." John B panicked, "I don't like the look of this."
"Hurry." Pope whisper-yelled, "Go into the marsh."
"I'm going." John replied, "Act natural."
"Guys! They're following us." Kiara panicked, as they all looked back to see the two men on the boat getting closer.
"You have to go faster." JJ worried, "Gun it!"
Suddenly, one of the men took out a shot gun and pulled the trigger. The Pogues all ducked down, as the echo shot through the air.
"What the hell!" Pope panicked.
"Holy fucking shit." Aurora panted, almost laying on the boat floor next to Pope.
"John B! Get down!" JJ shouted.
"Oh my god, we're gonna die." Pope worried, as he gripped tightly onto Rory's hand.
"Shit." Kiara whispered, before standing up and heading towards the back of the boat. She grabbed the fishing net and untangled it, before throwing it into the water.
"Kie! Get down!" Rory shouted, shoving her fingers in her ears so hard that she could hear the fast pounding of her heartbeat.
The men on the boat jolted forward, as the net got caught up in the engine. The HMS Pogue carried them out alive, thankfully, as JJ cheered,
"Pogue Life, baby!"
Aurora knew that JJ was scared, but they both have different ways of dealing with shitty situations. Her brother will joke about it, make it seem like it's not a big deal, then cry himself to sleep. However, Aurora would just stay silent- she did that usually. Her dad never let her talk or she would, you know, get hurt.
They arrived back at the deck, and John B quickly opened the black bag. A bronze compass fell out, and John stared at it for a while.
"Good job, everybody." Pope said sarcastically, "We found a compass."
Aurora scoffed, "We got shot at for a compass?"
"It's worthless, dude." JJ looked at John B, "What?"
John B smiled slightly, "This was my father's."
