P4L | Outer Banks | JJ Maybank

Crash Landing

Portis was reaching for the stuff in JJ's hands aggressively, and the plane had begun to go down without a pilot in control.

Screams and yells were overlapping each other, drowning out any and all noise.

Cory and Kiara met eyes, nervously looking around.

Some of the Pogues had begun to plead with Portis, but he seemed adamant on getting his stuff back from JJ's hands.

Once he heard one too many beeps, he turned back with wide eyes.

"Come on, Fish!" he pleaded, trying his best to steady the plane.

But they were coming down too fast, and the water was approaching too quickly.

When the plane made contact, they were all thrown around, most of them hitting their heads on something.

The plane leveled out quickly, but water was already spilling in, filling up to their shoulders in no time.

The Pogues picked themselves up, coughing up water.

Cory felt a hand on her arm, holding her up as much as possible.

"Is everybody good?" Pope asked.

The group immediately started toward the back of the plane–the side with less water in it.

JJ moved after the others quickly, beginning to pull Cory along.

She glanced back nervously at Portis in the cockpit, his head lolled against the steering.

As JJ pulled her forward, Cory and Kiara made eye contact, their thoughts seemingly lined up.

Cory bit her cheek nervously as she watched John B climb out first. Then Sarah, Cleo, and Pope.

Cory and Kiara made eye contact as JJ hopped out.

The boys attempted to keep the door open, but when neither of the girls reached a hand forward to hold it, it slammed shut.

"Cory?" JJ's voice asked nervously.

"We'll be right behind you!" Cory yelled back.

Cory and Kiara exchanged a glance, and then the two of them were wading as quickly through the water as they could, approaching the nose of the plane.

They could hear the cries of their friends, calling out to them from outside the plane, as well as their splashing.

The two girls inside the plane moved quickly, and Cory reached the end first.

She unclipped Portis from his seat, and attempted to pull him out, finding the side door to the cockpit. She managed to pull him out, struggling to hold him up, as well as herself.

Kiara was right behind her, helping quickly to lift Portis' legs and take some of the weight out of Cory's hands.

They turned to the shore, beginning to kick as hard as they could, while attempting to keep Portis above the water.

Cory grunted in exertion, but a moment later, they were pushing up onto the sand.

Two bodies from the beach came running, locals, who were grabbing onto Portis and helping him further onto land.

Cory and Kiara crawled forward, coughing up water.

In between them, they found Portis looking up at them.

"Thank you," he said softly.

"You lied to us," Kiara spat. "Who are you?"

Engines revved nearby. Kiara and Cory looked up with wide eyes, spotting Barbadian police officers approaching on vehicles.