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Panic erupted through the room instantaneously. Affinity ran her hands through her hair nervously as she repeatedly mumbled 'oh my god' under her breath like it would solve anything. The remaining four that had been hunched over the piece of paper joined Affinity looking out the window.
"Is that them?" Kiara asked, her voice rattling with fear. "Is that them?!" She repeated a little more desperately.
Affinity remained speechless, her eyes trained on the men that rounded a corner to start towards the front porch.
"Jesus, John B. I told you, man, I told y-," JJ muttered a little too calmly before John B grabbed fistfuls of JJ's shirt and shoved him up against one of the wooden walls.
"Where's the gun?" John asked impatiently through gritted teeth.
JJ's brows furrowed and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember where he could've possibly placed the stolen weapon that might actually be useful to them now. "The gun? Uh-"
Kiara clasped her hands over her mouth. "The one time we need a gun you don't have the gun?"
John B and JJ collectively spoke as they tried to figure out the last time he had it. "It's on the porch," JJ sighed.
John B urged him to the door and opened it. JJ raced down the hall but before he could get very far, one of the men screamed, "John Routledge!"
JJ scrambled back into the room so that John B could slam the door shut and throw himself against it before the two men saw.
"They're on the front porch, guys," JJ whispered.
"Where you at, boy?!" He continued to yell. The muffled sounds of furniture being tossed around the room and belongings crashing to the floor erupted throughout the entire house.
Affinity's eyes frantically flickered past the perimeter of the room for any way out. She hurried over to one of the windows and kneeled next to it, jamming her fingers at the bottom of it to try to open it.
"JJ, give me a hand!" She hissed.
JJ kneeled next to her and tried to help but the window was painted shut from the outside. Pope came up from behind the two and tried to lift the window pane up from the top but it was useless.
"We need something to jam underneath," Affinity grunted.
Kiara started back towards John B's father's desk and rummaged around dozens of papers until she found a letter opener. Affinity reached over and took the letter opener from her hand, gripping it tightly before she jammed it in the crack. She continued to move down the window sill, prying downward to push the window up. Kiara, Affinity, and JJ worked quickly, eventually shimmying the window out of its sedentary position as Pope and John B blocked the doors. John B could hear heavy footsteps approaching, causing him to lift a finger to his lips, motioning the three to be quiet. All of a sudden, a foot collided with the flimsy wooden door.
