𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐲𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧 ~ 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧

It was dark by the time we arrived in Wilmington. The other Pogues and I stood atop a train car, glancing around the railyard. It was clear there was some serious tension all around, thanks to me, but we all knew there was no time to worry about it.

"There's like a thousand trains here," Sarah sighed.

"Well, we know it's car 750X on the track to Raleigh," Pope spoke up.

"Yeah, so now we just gotta find it," JJ said.

Kiara turned to them. "News flash. We're not getting out of here unnoticed with a giant cross,"

"We won't have to," Pope told her. "We can nab it somewhere further in the country. Just gotta figure out how to stop the train,"

"Leave that to me," JJ said.

Cleo furrowed her brows. "How you gonna do that?"

"I got an uncle up in New Bern, right? When he got tipsy, he'd just throw an old chain across the tracks, just for shits and giggles, and that old little chain would stop all the train traffic in coastal Carolina," He replied.

Kiara looked at him skeptically. "A chain?"

"He's actually right," Pope confirmed. "There's a low-voltage current that runs across all rail tracks. Throw a chain on it, you close that circuit. It would read as another train. Crossing lights come down. The science is actually pretty sound,"

"Science. I knew my science," JJ said, seeming rather proud of himself.

"Well, we don't have a chain, but I bet Topper's dad has jumper cables in the truck," I chimed in. "Would that work?"

Pope nodded but didn't turn my way. "Yeah,"

"What's going on?!" Topper yelled, causing us to look down at him. "Are we doing this or what?!"

"Quick screaming!" I hissed. "Do you wanna get caught?!"

He muttered something I couldn't quite here then turned back toward the truck.

"Alright, you all wait here. Me and Pope will go look for it and send a signal once we find it," Cleo told us.

"Do we actually have a plan right now?" Sarah questioned.

"I think we do," I replied, smiling.

"That's impressive," She laughed.

"Let's not jinx it," Pope said. "Come on,"'

-

The remaining four of us stayed crouched atop the train car, waiting for Pope and Cleo's signal.

"What's taking on long?" Kiara said.

"Maybe they-" I stopped when I noticed a light coming from the top of one of the train cars. Pope held his flashlight and waved it back and forth, signaling that they had found the car.

Sarah smiled. "That's it. We're green,"

Suddenly, a train whistle sounded followed by a clicking noise.

Kie furrowed her brows. "What's happening?"

"You hear that?" JJ questioned.

The train then began to move slowly, causing my eyes to widen.

"The trains moving," I huffed. "Shit!"

We scrambled down the train car to the ground and approached Topper, who was anxiously pacing around.

"Hey, do you have jumper cables in there?" My sister questioned, opening the door to the truck.

"Here I am involved in illegal activities," Topper said, his annoyance and panic visible.