Deep Water [OuterBanks]

08: without warning

Boredom pricked at Alana's warm skin as she sat on the edge of the dock just outside of The Chateau. Her legs dangled over the side of the dry-rotted wood, her toes just barely skimming the surface of the teal water. Humidity threatened to swallow the island whole as a storm brewed tediously in the distance, likely to hit Kildare within the next day or so. The breeze was still subtle, weaving through Alana's blonde curls as she watched Kiara and John B swim underneath the foggy waters of the marsh, engaging in a test run with the borrowed drone.

JJ and Pope were on the dock with her, both boys hovering over the drone's control console. "What's this right here?" JJ's restless fingers moved to touch a button on the equipment, but Pope swiftly swatted his hands away.

"Don't touch that." He stated. To the Pogue's, Pope Heyward was the equivalent of a near genius. So, inexorably and without saying a word, his four friends had decided that he would be the one to control the drone.

"God bless geeks, Pope. Truly, man." JJ commented coolly. "What would we do without you to control the drones?"

"Technically, it's not a drone. It's an ROV." Pope corrected, his brown eyes fixated on the equipment in front of him.

"Shut up. It's too early for that." JJ continued, moving away from the Heyward boy. His rough fingertips poked at Alana's exposed abdomen, tickling her sides as he sat down beside her.

"Stop it." She writhed, laughter leaving her lungs while she shoved him lightly as Kiara and John B broke the surface of the calm water.

"Hey, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim." John B shook the water from his brown curls like a wet dog.

"That's bullshit." JJ declared, looking out at his friend through squinted blue eyes. "Why do we have to do that?"

Pope took a break, finally standing from his place behind the control console. "Well, there is maritime salvage law. You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up."

"I know." JJ looked up at Pope. "It's just lawyers aren't cheap, bro."

"As soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp." John B assured.

Kiara scoffed, still floating in the teal water beside him. "How do you know all of that?"

"Because my dad said it, like, a million times."

"Yeah, that's fair." Kiara shrugged before swimming over to the dock and climbing up the old rusted ladder.

"This tether is, like, really long." Pope averted the conversation as he looked down at the yellow cable beside him. "In the wrong weather, this thing could get pushed around."

"Then we'll go at dead calm." John B decided and thunder rumbled in the distance, causing Alana to look up as more clouds were beginning to roll in off of the coast.