After driving for miles and determining the law would no longer catch up with them, the Pogues paused to refuel the truck and their bodies. While Cleo patched up their protesting engine, John B poured gas into the tank, Sarah and Kie heckled a salesperson to mark down their prices, and Pope examined the maps; JJ and Grace went for a stroll through the small town they'd wound up in.
"I can't believe you used 'boyfriend material' on a guy with a gun," JJ said through a grin.
Grace shrugged as she chewed on one of the pieces of batbout they'd purchased with the money Sarah and John B stole from the boat. They were on a mission to find any supplies that could be useful, but that wasn't going to stop her from filling her empty stomach. "I had to distract him somehow," she replied after swallowing.
"And that was your first thought?" the blonde teased while wandering a shop that looked rather promising. Despite their subpar French skills and even worse Arabic skills, it was clear that the shop served a similar purpose to Poguelandia. Fishing supplies galore.
"Hey, you try to distract a dude with a glock and then get back to me. I was working on the fly." Her fingers fiddled with a long line of rope. The displays were chock-full of random trinkets, and the shelves were narrowly packed into the humid shop.
"Plus, you're the one who ran up on an active shooter," Grace added, leaning against the dusty wall and crossing her arms.
The shopkeeper was dozing off at his counter, only watching them out of the corner of his eye. They couldn't blame him; with such heat, it would be hard not to.
"It's all good, Sunshine. And hey, if we're looking for tools, it got me the best one," he told her, casually lifting his shirt to show the very pistol the Corsair was flaunting tucked into his belt.
Grace didn't bother protesting; she didn't really see the point anyway. JJ was right after all. Everyone knows you can't bring a knife to a gunfight. "We'll be careful, right? And no splitting up. We're sticking together."
JJ mocked saluting, but she knew he meant it.
After paying the sleepy shopkeeper for the supplies, the couple wandered back to the fixed-up truck.
Without further ado, the Pogues were back on the road.
With John B at the wheel, their buggy sped through the sandy streets towards what they hoped was endless wealth.
"John B, this is the turnoff here." Pope had to raise his voice to be heard over the thundering engine. "Looks like there should be a well or something up the road. We can stop for water and then head on to Agapenta."
Grace had to be honest; when the engine spluttered off, she was glad. The roads were anything but smooth, and after their short refuel break, they'd been driving for hours. The bumping and rocking was getting to her a bit, and based on Sarah's scrunched-up expression, it was getting to her too.
"Well, well, well," said Grace as they all clambered out of the truck.
JJ hummed approvingly while wandering towards the well. "Classic."
As the others got occupied stretching out their stiff bones or rationing out their final bits of food, JJ's blue eyes caught on something.
A duffel bag. In the middle of the desert.
And to make matters worse, he'd seen it before.
JJ dropped to the ground, rifling through the bag in disbelief.
"Is there even any water in this thing?" Sarah grumbled as she strolled over to the well.
"Fingers crossed," Grace replied.
YOU ARE READING
𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 - JJ Maybank
FanfictionGrace Cameron was a Pogue. Always has been. Sure her dad and half-siblings were the Kookiest a Kook could get but her mom had grown up on the Cut so she did too. Her friend group vowed to have a good time all the time but when a boat goes down in th...
