𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞- 𝐣𝐣 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

14.

🦋☀ 🌊 - 14

"Alright, JJ, stop the boat here!" John B yelled over the wind.

JJ eased off the throttle, the motor cutting into a low hum. The storm clouds that had been sitting on the horizon all day were rolling closer, painting the sky a bruised gray.

John B crouched down, fiddling with the underwater drone. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen," he said, grinning. "To going full kook."

"Full kook," Pope repeated, shaking his head with a smile.

Kiara dropped the weighted line into the water, counting aloud as it slipped through her hands. "Eighty... ninety... one hundred feet."

"Alright, JJ, we're right over it," John B said, eyes glued to the screen. "Ten seconds northwest."

"Copy that," JJ called back, turning the wheel slightly. "Ten seconds northwest."

Pope suddenly gasped and jumped back. "Holy-!"

"What?" Olivia darted to his side, her heart already racing.

"It's- it's a squid," Pope admitted sheepishly.

JJ groaned. "Don't do that to me, man." He pulled his hat lower and glanced out toward the blackening sky. The wind had started to whistle. "Storm's moving in fast."

"I'm sorry! I thought I saw something," Pope said, going back to the monitor. John B adjusted the map beside him, tracing a finger along the coordinates.

Olivia stood beside Kiara, helping her keep track of the depth. Their fingers brushed occasionally as they worked the line together, the rope rough and wet against their palms.

"And with the hobbit, down down to goblin town," Pope muttered under his breath. "Down down you go, my lad."

"Four hundred feet!" Olivia called.

"The tide's turning," Kiara warned.

"Hey, JJ," John B said, squinting at the screen. "Ten seconds easier, southeast. Alright?"

"Copy that!"

"JJ, seconds mid-speed, alright, south!"

The girls struggled to keep the line steady as the waves grew rougher. The wind was slapping Olivia's hair across her face, salt sticking to her lips.

"JJ, hold it steady!" Kiara shouted.

"Trying!"

"Nine hundred!" Olivia yelled, her voice barely carrying over the wind.

"JJ, we're gonna turtle in the storm, man!"

"920!"

"John B, there's too much current - we're gonna lose it!"

"South-southwest! Hard!" John B barked.

The deck erupted in chaos - shouts overlapping, equipment sliding across the floor, everyone trying to do three things at once. Pope held the camera monitor in a death grip, his eyes wide.

A red light blinked on the screen. "Wait- wait- we're right on top of it!" Pope shouted.

"What do you got?" John B leaned in.

"Nothing- a whole lot of nothing!"

"960!" Kiara called.

"970!"

"980!"

"I'm at the bottom!" Pope yelled, adrenaline in his voice. "We got it, we're at the bottom!"

"JJ, steady!"