𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒. ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ¹

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 40.

"Dude just relax!" Jj tried to yell again.

"Chill!" Pope warned Jj with a fearful tone.

"Blow your damn head off!" Another yell, but this time the gun inched forward dangerously.

I nearly shrieked from the volume and vile tone of the voice, my hand covering over my mouth— even though I was told to keep both up beside my head. John B nudged his shoulder into mine, not speaking.

"Lay down in the ditch! Lay down in the fucking ditch!" He screamed.

With the gun pointed at every one of us, I bit down on my tongue and practically threw myself to the floor, thinking he was going to shoot.

The man inched closer. "On your goddamn hands and knees! Down!"

Kiara slowly fell to her knees beside me, Pope laying next to her, and John B on my other side at the end of the line. Jj wouldn't fully lie down.

"Put your face on the ground!" The guy hit the top of Jj's head to force him on the grass. "Stay here just like that!" He yelled into his ear, "Put your heads down!"

Kiara placed her hands on the back of her neck, her eyes looking down at the dirty grass, and I slowly followed her actions, my hands trembling.

"Don't let me see you look up! All right!" I couldn't see, but by the way his voice wavered, I could tell he was stepping towards the van. "That's all y'all gotta do."

I felt tears prickle at my eyes.

Other than items being thrown around in the van at a small distance, we could only hear our heavy breathing, and Jj's quick, and impatient huffs.

"It's a setup guys," Kiara said lowly, to everyone. Her voice cracked.

"That old bat shanked us," Jj seethed with a more-than-angry tone, referring to the pawnbroker. He aggressively punched the ground beside him, "Fuck! Goddamn it!"

"Jj, shut up!" I cried, my volume cautious. A small tear fell from my eye, landing in the dirt below me.

Kiara grabbed my trembling hand. As I reached over for John B's to hold as well, it wasn't there. He was slowly standing up, eyes carefully pinned on the van, to make sure the gunman wouldn't see him.

"Wait, no, no, no, no," I whimpered, once realized that he was getting up. I tried to reach for his hand, which was there to support himself while crouching, but he pulled it away. "John B," I whispered, "No,"

Pope turned his head towards us, "John B." He whispered with an angered tone of voice, "Don't be a hero man,"

"Sh." Was all John B said, a finger rising up to meet his lips.

Jj's breathing trembled. Kiara gripped tighter around my hand.

Then, a gasp was heard coming from inside of the van, along with a small thud of something dropping. John B was running over to the "cop car", ripping the backseat door open forcefully, before throwing himself in. Jj groaned with impatience. Another tear fell from my cheek.

"All right, y'all stay just like that!" The man yelled, after a while of silence. I jumped at his loud voice. "Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road!"

    My face scrunched up, and my heart was beating out of my chest.

    "Don't move your goddamn heads, okay?" He pointed at us with a rough jerk of his arm, and that's when I shifted my eyes up to see the blue cloth in his opposite hand. He had the gold.