JONES → JJ MAYBANK

012. stop barking at the snakes

Edited June 20, 2023 

𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐁 had managed to convince Kiara to rejoin the group. Mackenzie was happy to have the girl tag along, as she was riding in the van for the first time and was acting. Although the group had started to call Mackenzie one of them, she was still struggling with feelings of self-doubt and hatred.

"You mind if I just relax on this one?" JJ questioned from the back of the van, another blunt in between his fingers. "It's been a long day and a lot of crazy stuff's gone down."

"I think I might stay also," Mackenzie agreed softly, she shifted her weight so she was able to slump down and rest her head on the blonde's shoulder. The rest of the group shared the same odd facial expression but decided to keep their mouth shut.

JJ looked down at the brunette girl as she closed her eyes and watched as her nose scrunched up, something he was starting to notice she would do during stressful periods. The boy placed a hand on her head, playing with her hair without thinking. She didn't seem to mind, so he continued to softly play with her brown locks of hair.

"I'm just gonna lay low." He whispered to his friends as they continued to watch the pair with confusion. John B shot JJ a personal look through the rearview mirror, which JJ ignored, he knew that John B was jealous. "Oh, did you want a hit of this?" JJ raised his eyebrows, offering the blunt to Pope.

"I keep the signal clear," Pope said, politely declining the hit.

"Dude, okay. Do you understand that your problem is, that you don't get creative?" JJ explained to you the boy, taking another hit of his blunt.

"Look I-I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, and pretty much wrong about everything else going on." John B cut JJ off, talking about his situation now. "But I was right about one thing. Okay, my Dad is trying to tell me something."

The group left the two alone in the van as they headed to go investigate on their own. A few minutes passed by before JJ decided to break the awkward silence.

"Do you want to talk about last night?"

Mackenzie opened her eyes but kept her head resting on the blonde's shoulder. "I remember, it was nothing special." She said, not intending for it to come out the way it had.

JJ, very clearly taking it the wrong way stiffed up, his voice was dull as he responded, "Okay good. Just making sure you didn't think it meant anything."

Mackenzie felt her heartbreak, "Not at all," she mumbled as she sat up from leaning against JJ.

Thankfully the other had arrived back and invited the two to come along after finding something. They all grabbed lights before they left the van, being that it was pitch black out. JJ grabbed a headlight and John B grabbed a lantern, while Pope, Kie, and Mackenzie all grabbed normal flashlights.

"Hey, come on!" John B yelled to Mackenzie and JJ, who were still getting out of the van.

"We're coming." She responded softly, trying to keep her composure and not give off that JJ had hurt her feelings. The girl flicked on her flashlight, holding it in front of her. The pair joined the rest of the group as they walked through the graveyard.

"This place is scary." Kie pointed out. "John B, what are we doing?" Kiara asked.

"Shut up, shut up. Ok, so you know how you're trying to remember a song and you can't remember who sings it?" John B asked them metaphorically. "So, Redfield. This whole time, I thought it was a place, right?" John B held a lantern up in front of them as they walked. "But it's not a place." John B finally stopped at a tomb, all their eyes glued to it. "It's a person."