P4L | Outer Banks | JJ Maybank

The Royal Merchant

The next day, the Pogues set out on the ocean, ready to go home with gold.

"Alright, JJ. Pin it here," John B said.

"Rodger that! X marks the spot!" JJ responded from inside the cockpit.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen," John B said, preparing the drone. "To going full Kook."

"Full Kook," Cory mumbled, sitting nearby JJ. They exchanged a glance, knowing that with this money, they would be free from their home lives. They fist-bumped.

"Alright, JJ, we're right over it," John B called out. "Ten seconds northwest."

"Got it!" JJ responded, messing around with the wheel. "Ten seconds northwest."

"One hundred feet!" Kie called out from where she was lowering the drone.

Pope gasped, looking at the monitor.

"What, what, what, what?" John B scrambled.

"It's nothing," Pope responded. "Sorry, I thought–"

"Don't do that to me, man!" JJ complained.

"My bad," Pope continued. "I just thought I saw..." He was silent for a few moments and then, "And to quote the Hobbit, 'Down, down, to Goblin Town. Down, down, you go, my lad'."

Cory made a face, turning around to look at Pope. "Is that what you say during sex?"

He waved her off.

"Just saying," Cory said, raising her hands and giggling. "Maybe that's why he doesn't bring home any girls."

They continued on, Kie calling out every hundred feet of tether. At some point, however, the tide turned, and the ocean started to get rougher.

"Okay," JJ mumbled as they were tossed around. Cory was almost thrown into JJ, but he caught her. "Gotcha."

Cory looked up at his face, flustered, pulling herself away.

"Thanks," she mumbled. JJ's brows furrowed, but he couldn't pursue anything as the boat began to rock more and more.

"JJ, hold it steady!" John B called out.

"Are we almost there?" Cory yelled back to him.

"900!" Kie answered.

"JJ, we're gonna turtle in this storm, man!" John B yelled.

"920!"

"Crank it north by northwest! Ten seconds!"

"Holy shit," Cory mumbled. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe they shouldn't be going on a treasure hunt for something people had been looking for for years. Especially in a storm like this. Cory wondered how this happened, because they had gone out at complete calm.

"There's too much current, we're gonna lose it!" Kie yelled.

"South, southwest, JJ!" John B yelled. "Hard!" A moment later. "Halfspeed, steady at this bearing, JJ!"

Cory watched as Pope and John B talked, though their voices were muffled through the storm.

"You think it's really there, Jay?" Cory asked softly.

JJ smiled lightly. "I do, Core."

"I'm at the bottom!" Pope yelled.

"Steady here, JJ!" John B said. "Steady here! Quarter speed, alright?"

Everyone went silent for a moment.

"See anything?" JJ eventually yelled.

"It's the Royal Merchant," John B said.

Cory and JJ exchanged a glance, smiles growing on their faces. Cory left JJ's side, running to see the drone image for just a moment.

Pope moved the drone around, going inside the Merchant to get a better look for the gold. When it turned around, all that was there was a rusted metal skeleton of a ship, and no gold. Their smiles dropped.

"What?" Cory asked.
"Just, let me," Pope muttered, moving the camera through. He passed through once. Then twice. Then three times. Still nothing.

John B finally sighed, pulling away from the monitor. "It's not there. Look, just–just pull the drone up."

"Look, we can do another pass," Pope tried. "Recharge the battery. We can... we can go back down.

"Guys, we've been through it three times, theres nothing there," JJ yelled from the cockpit.

"Shut up!" Kie yelled.

"What, its true?"

"The gold could be buried, we don't know!"

"If it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay?" John B yelled. "Somebody beat us to it."

"Or it was never there," JJ muttered.