THE REDHEAD ☾ jj maybank

38 | was it a farewell forever?

Many minutes soon pass, the four teenagers sitting there being as silent and respectful as they possibly can, hoping that everything will go according to plan. All they've been able to do is watch as deputies urgently run past the tent that they sit in, and listen to the sounds of multiple radios going static due to the amount of rain pouring out from the stormy sky.
Not a single one of them have a clear understanding of what's going on, despite that fact that they're the only family that John B has left.

Soon enough, Sheriff Shoupe peels back the opening to the tent and makes his way inside with two other deputies trailing right behind him. Water is dripping off of his hair and sheriffs uniform, an unreadable expression crossed over his face. The friends stand up from their seats at the mere sight of the officers, remaining silent to hear what the news is about.

"Did you find him?" Pope asks, deciding to be the one to break the silence.

"No, we didn't." Shoupe replies.

"So they got away?" Kie questions with a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"We, uh..." Shoupe begins, looking cautiously between the four. "We lost them. I'm sorry."

"You lost them? What do you mean you lost them? Like, they're gone? What the hell are you talking about?" Pope demands, urgency clear in his voice.

"They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Pope." Shoupe states.

"So, they're dead?" Delilah questions, voice cracking.

"We don't know." Shoupe admits.

If sounds from the teenagers hearts breaking could be heard, it would've created a loud and devastating noise that would've echoed around the inside of the crowded tent. At the response the sheriff gave them, many emotions suddenly brewed in their bodies; sadness at the fact they may have lost a best friend, anger to the people who have taken part in the leads to their possible deaths, worry that the two may be drowning out there with no help, etc.

The four are feeling all of the negative emotions in one go. There is no hope left inside any of them. A mental pain takes over their bodies, drawing back for a bit before hitting them full force once again.

"You drove them straight through the storm, man! Are you kidding me? Come here! I'm gonna kill you, you bastard." JJ snaps.

The blond attempts to lunge forwards and attack the sheriff, wanting to shove all of his anger and sadness onto the man that's just trying to do his job. One of the deputies grabs ahold of JJ before this can take place, holding him back from causing violence.

"Fuck you all!" Delilah screams, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Peterkin was wrong, we can't trust you! All you do is lead the broken people to their deaths. You don't stop to listen to the other side of the story for a fucking second."

Delilah runs forwards to try and land an attack onto Shoupe as well, but she is pulled away. The second deputy grabs ahold of the girl by the waist and yanks her away from the sheriff, feeling her body go limp in their arms from exhaustion. Tears continue to stream down her face as she screams and shouts at the top of her lungs.

Anyone that happens to walk by that particular tent is able to feel the anger and sadness that's radiating off of the four friends. They're trying as hard as they can to use that anger as a weapon, unable to control the emotions that are spilling out all at once. It's a possible thought that if they are able to hurt a police officers then it may be able to bring their two friends back to them. But no, that's not how life works.

"You're the murderers!" Delilah exclaims.

John B has always been there for the redhead ever since the very beginning of their friendship, just like JJ has been too. The three have been through thick and thin together, becoming a well known trio that eventually welcomes in Pope and Kie. Delilah refuses to accept that this is how their journey will end as a group. And she refuses to believe that their carefully thought-out escape plan failed and has gotten two members of the group killed because of it.

Pope and Kiara's parents suddenly start to pile into the tent, eyes scanning the area before their gazes fall onto the broken teenagers. They walk forwards with speed in their step, engulfing their children into tight embraces to provide comfort during this rough time. But this is only a painful reminder to Delilah and JJ that how their families don't love them the way that the Carrera's and Heyward's love theirs.

The redhead's squirms from within the deputies grip comes to an abrupt stop as her body completely goes limp, allowing the weak feeling to crash over herself. An uncontrollable shake takes over Delilah's body, breathing rapidly speeding up by the second as she now starts to feel herself hyperventilating. The world beneath spins around like a whirlwind, which only causes her to become unsteady on her own two feet.

At the sight of this, JJ rips himself out of the officers grip and hurries over to her within an instant. Lila's arms don't hesitate to tightly wrap around the boy as her cold face is buried in the crook of his neck. JJ's arms snake around her smaller frame while holding her body as close to him as possible — almost as if he's shielding the girl from being hurt any more by the world. Tears don't stop running down both of their cheeks, soaking into each other's clothing.

"I'm sorry!" Pope cries to his father.

"They didn't make it, Mom." Kie sobs as her mother holds her face.

"We lost them." Delilah states.

The girls voice is being straight, nearly unable to get a word out through her loud sobs. She's barely even able to breathe properly as she cries into JJ. The boy just gently rubs circles into her back in order to provide reassurance. Meanwhile, Delilah is holding onto him like her life depends on it. Her fingers are brushing through the long blond strands of hair on the back of his head.

Pope and Kiara soon pull away from the warm and loving embraces of their family, turning to see that Del and JJ are crying their eyes out. In an instant, a group hug is formed as the four friends throw their arms around one another. All of them hold onto each other tightly, fearing that another person is going to be snatched away by the cruel world.

But the sight of the teenagers is truly heartbreaking, the feeling becoming overwhelming. It touches the hearts of those who are inside of the tent with the four or can hear their uncontrollable sobs above the loud sounds of the storm circling above the island.

The group lost a best friend tonight. And they lost another person that was on the verge of becoming their best friend too, only just joining them on their chaotic adventures. But if they had all known that it was we going to be their last time seeing John B, it would've made their goodbyes longer and a lot more meaningful. If they had known that none of them were going to see Sarah again, they would've found the blonde and thanked her for everything that she's done to help them on this journey.

What was once a simple group of five Pogues had risen to the next number in order to add a Kook, who had ended up becoming very special to them all. But now they're down to four Pogues. They have lost two important people along the way of the treasure hunt. Never, not even in a million years, did any of them think that this wretched day would come of having to lose one of their best friends.