Carson Keller used to think her biggest problem was their rivalry against the Kooks, but that was until buried secrets rose to the surface. Now her biggest problems included a dangerous treasure hunt and a hot-headed teenage boy.
✰ season 1-3 ✰
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IT WAS THE SOUND of Cleo's voice telling them to wake up that made Carson slowly open her eyes. It was the sight of the plane in the sky that made them shoot open.
"Holy shit," she muttered as she jumped to her feet. JJ did the same to wake up John B before the two of them walked onto the beach.
"Hey, we're over here!" John B shouted in a desperate attempt to flag the pilot down. Pope and Cleo were doing the same at the top of one of the cliffs where they started the bonfire that they planned to use in case this event ever did occur. Unfortunately, none of seemed to work because then the plane was gone. But just a matter of seconds later, it was turning around.
"He sees us," Kiara stated.
"He's gonna go to the pond. Come on," John B said. The others began making their way towards the pond, but JJ didn't seem quite as urgent. Carson looked over at him and grabbed his hand.
"We have to go," she told him. "I'm sorry." He shook his head and finally started walking forward.
"Come on." They jogged up to the plane where the pilot opened the door and let down a small set of stairs.
"Well, what do we got here?" the man asked. He was dressed in a striped long-sleeved shirt with a pair of sunglasses on and long hair pulled back into a ponytail.
"Uh, you know, just some castaways," John B said vaguely.
"Well, I'll cross that off the grocery list," the man joked. "Uh, hang on. I got just the thing for y'all." Carson stepped forward up next to Sarah who was staring at the man cautiously.
"Hey, look at this guy. You think he works for your dad?" John B said. "It's okay."
"We can't be too sure," Carson reminded him. After everything that had happened, it became pretty apparent that Ward was capable of much more than they would have thought.
"So, what's the story? You guys sank a boat?" the pilot asked.
"Jumped off one," John B answered. "Her dad's." Sarah shot him a look and Carson didn't blame her. It wasn't smart to just be offering up any kind of information without knowing what the pilot knew first or why he was even there in the first place.
"In-laws, man. They're tough," he said. "Well, have no fear. Jimmy's here." They all began piling into the plane, though maybe a bit hesitant to do so. They didn't have much of a choice though. If they wanted to get off the island, this might be their only option. They couldn't really afford to wait for another ride that may not come.
"So, what were you doing all the way out here?" JJ inquired, seeming to try to do what he could to get some answers about the mysterious pilot.
"I got a little guide out in Saint Vincent," Jimmy said. "I was spotting fish."
"What were you spotting?"
"You know, the usual. Wahoo." That answer was clearly the wrong one because John B and JJ locked eyes, seeming to both get that this guy wasn't telling the truth. "I'd hang on to something. Gets a little spicy on takeoff." They all grabbed a hold of something as the plane took off, a bit too late to try to get off now. That meant they had to think of a new plan of action.
"Wahoo don't run in September," JJ informed them. "Ever. Alright? So whoever this man is, he's not a fisherman."
"Maybe the run just starts earlier out here," Pope offered.
"Maybe we should just start assuming that everyone is lying, hm?" Carson said. "It's not like we've experienced much honesty from people recently."
"I know what this is," Sarah said. "He's working for my dad, and he's probably been looking for us the entire time." It was possible that Sarah was traumatized by everything that she just developed a bit of paranoia, but Carson felt the same way. Even if they were skeptical about most things, they hadn't been confronted with anything else that would contradict this theory.
"Alright, well, we gotta find out," JJ said. "Start looking for some sort of... clues." He instructed John B to distract Jimmy while he searched through the pilot's bag, hoping that they would find anything that would give them the answers that they needed. It was the picture of the ship that they had jumped off inside a book called "The Loss of El Dorado" that told them what they had suspected.
"He's working for my dad," Sarah stated.
"Hey, y'all better hold something. We got some unexpected turbulence up here," Jimmy told them.
"Guys, whatever it is, it's happening fast. Look," Kiara said. They all glanced out the window to see land below.
"That looks like Barbados. I've been there with Terrance," Cleo realized.
"How did we go from island paradise to island hell?" Carson said.
"Okay, there's seven of us, one of him," JJ immediately started scheming. "You know my vote. We storm the cockpit."
"No. Who's gonna fly the plane, dumbass?" John B reminded him.
"I've seen Pope fly simulators."
"I crop-dusted for my uncle last summer," Pope said. "This is not the same thing."
"Yeah, I trust Pope and all, but not sure how much I trust him to fly this load of junk," Carson said.
"We don't have time to pretend that's real option," Kiara added.
"Why don't we just wait until the plane lands somewhere safe, and then we sneak out?" Pope offered. "And if somebody comes to mess with us, we mad-dog them."
"I like the mad-dogging part," JJ said. He reached forward to try to slip the book back into the bag, but clearly it wasn't going to be that easy because the pilot noticed and immediately reacted. They started fighting with him as the plane went unattended, dropping them down way too fast for him to have time to get a hold of it back. The plane dove nose-first into the water, making them all fly forward.
"Is everybody good?" Pope asked as they all coughed up the water that was already flooding into the plane. "We gotta get out of here."
"Oh no. They don't look friendly," John B said when they realized there was a group of men with guns standing on the beach.
"Wait, Kie, we can't just leave him," Carson said, referring to the pilot who looked like he might have been unconscious in the front of the plane. Kiara looked back to see the pilot and nodded.
"Alright, go. I got him," she assured her, as she was the one closer to the pilot. "Go, Car. I'm right behind you." Carson wasn't sure at first but then she nodded and began swimming away like the rest of them. By the time they reached the rocks underneath the pier, they turned back to see Kiara wasn't behind them.
"Wait, guys, where's Kie?" JJ asked.
"She said she was right behind me. We couldn't just leave the pilot," Carson said.
"You mean the guy who tried to kidnap us? Yeah, we could have," he responded. "Now they're gonna get her."
"I'm sorry, okay? He would have drowned," she snapped. She didn't realize that was going to happen, but she didn't need him to make her feel guiltier than she already did.
"Dammit, what are we gonna do? Going after her, right?" JJ said.
"What can we do?" John B said.
"Where are they taking her?" Sarah asked.
"This is my fault. I'll go," Carson said. She went to swim away but before she could, JJ grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her.
"Hell no. They're not getting you too," he said.
"Come on. We can't save her if we get caught," Sarah said. None of them wanted to just leave Kiara, but Sarah was right. The last thing they needed was for them all to be screwed.
