Playing Through High Tides (PIL fic sequel to PfK )

Chapter 4

(Allison's POV)

The next morning's breakfast was quieter than we were used to, everyone kinda stuck in their own thoughts. Our original plan had to change, though none of us seemed sure on what to do next, and the clock was ticking. We only had five days left, and it wasn't looking good.

"I hate to bring this up, but obviously we need to figure out what we're doing next." I finally break the silence, looking at the rest of the crew. Morgan, Chris, and Nate all seemed especially quiet, though I understood, this was no time to dwell on it.

Morgan sighs, before meeting everyone's gaze. His stormy grey eyes looked dull compared to normal, and you could tell he had lost some of his usual spark, with Cece gone. "You're right. I want everyone's opinion on this, I'm not exactly sure what course of action we should take next myself, if I'm being honest." Morgan admitted, his usual casual and teasing demeanor gone, replaced by a more serious one.

              "We need to get the treasure and the girls, but go about it in an order where we can meet the deadline." Eduardo speaks up first, drawing our attention to him. "I say we go with the closest to our current location first, then work our way towards the farthest. It makes sense, and that way we don't back track." He finishes, and everyone nods.

               What he said made sense, but it was a difficult choice to make. No matter how we went about this, someone was going to end up waiting on us. Depending on who we went to get first, two of the girls were going to be spending days with their captor, extra time we didn't want them to spend there, but we had no choice.

             "So where to first then?" Captain asks, looking to Eduardo.

             Eduardo looks hesitant to answer, glancing at Nathan and Christopher before doing so. "I'd say mermaids bay. We can get Luna, and the Heart of Zerzura in one trip. It's the closest, and we could get one treasure out of the way while getting Luna back." He says, meeting Morgan's gaze.

               Morgan nods, before looking to everyone else. "Any objections?" Morgan asks, though his hand clenches into a fist as he looks around the room. I knew it was because Cecilia would be waiting on us, and I'm sure Morgan didn't like it. None of us really did though.

              "No. But where to after that Ed?" Chris asks, looking to the navigator once more.

              "Well... That depends. The isla de muerte is the farthest. So Id say that's last." He says, glancing at Dee, who was currently sitting in my lap. The little girl had pretty much been glued to my side, though at night she slept in Nathan's room, because me and Thomas didn't have the room.

              We had offered to make room, but Nathan didn't seem to mind, and since Arabella wasn't there, he had the extra room.

             "Though I'm not sure where Cecilia is, we should go for her and Arabella before heading to the island last." Eduardo adds, glancing at everyone.

             "So mermaids bay first. No matter what, this blows. Two of the girls are going to be waiting going through God knows what, no matter where we go first." Russell exclaims, slamming his hands down on the table in frustration.

"We have no choice Russ... I know it's bullshit, but Ed's right. I don't like it either, but we're doing the best we can." Kris speaks up, placing her hand on Russell's, as she tries to calm him down.

"I think we need leverage, as well. I'm not saying we won't succeed, but how do we know black beard and Jones won't fuck us over? Is there anything we can get to use just in case?" Penelope asks, her green eyes grazing the room.