THEY WAITED FOR Pope's signal before exiting the shipping container. He, Cleo, and Kie had gone out to take the bridge, and Jo honestly couldn't believe her ears when she heard the captain announce over the intercom that all of the crew was to meet at the hull. A small smile ghosted her lips as the remaining three friends grinned triumphantly.
"They did it," John B breathed. "They took the bridge."
"I'll be damned," Jo murmured, turning to smile at JJ.
"That's our boy," JJ hummed. He pulled the grate off the small window and hoisted Jo up so she could slip out onto the ship. "Okay, so once they're all in the hull, Jo and I will lock them inside. John B, you find Sarah and get the lifeboat. Then we'll meet you, load the cross, and get outta here."
"Hey," John B called. He glanced between his best friend and his sister. "Be careful." The couple nodded their heads as they parted ways and JJ led Jo along the ship and towards the hull. She was surprisingly calm as she followed the blonde, but that was mainly because she was only thinking about keeping JJ safe.
"Alright, you ready?" JJ whispered. He paused just outside of the hull and turned to look at Jo. She swallowed thickly and nodded, pushing her hair out of her face. The wind was strong as the boat tugged along and it whipped her hair in every which direction. "Okay," JJ breathed. "Just stay close and follow my lead."
Jo nodded again and squeezed his hand. JJ pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before he ducked inside and showed her the way to the room where all the crew members were gathering. The pair pressed themselves against the wall on either side of the doorway, watching silently as the workers filed inside.
"Pst," JJ called softly. "How many?" Jo peered around the doorway, watching as all of the crew mates gathered. She held up 3 fingers and quickly ducked out of their view when she saw Rafe approaching, pressing her head against the wall again and squeezing her eyes shut. JJ furrowed his brows and peeked around the doorway curiously, quietly cursing and retracting his body as Rafe crept forward. The two teens held their breath as they waited and eventually, his footsteps faded.
"That's all of the crew," Jo whispered once the trickle of employees finally stopped. "Except Ward," JJ hissed. "We need Ward."
Jo winced at the mention of the man who had made her life a living hell. She was secretly glad he wasn't here and although she knew a big part of the plan was making sure he was locked in with the crew, she knew that they wouldn't wait long before getting suspicious.
"We can't wait," Jo replied quietly. She kept her body pressed against the wall, terrified that if she moved even an inch then their cover would be blown.
JJ sighed heavily and shut his eyes as he thought over the situation. He opened them a few seconds later and nodded, then gestured his head towards the door. Jo took a deep breath and forced it out through her lips, mentally preparing her antsy body for what they were about to do. She darted forward quickly and grabbed the door, pushing it closed as quietly but efficiently as possible.
The crew's reaction was immediate. They all rushed forward and started shouting as they pushed against the door. Jo yelped as it was pried slightly open and she slammed her entire body against it, summoning all her strength to keep it closed. JJ cursed under his breath as he placed his hands on either side of her waist and pushed the door shut. His body was flush against hers and if they weren't in a life-or-death situation, Jo would have turned around and let him pin her to the wall.
"Lock it!" She cried, still straining to hold the door against half of the crew as they banged on it. JJ held one hand on the door and used the other to reach for the lock and chain they brought. Jo turned the door handle so it locked the door from the outside and JJ quickly wrapped the chain around it, finishing it off with clicking the lock in place. Jo finally let go and slumped against the door, trying to catch her breath.
"Nice," JJ praised, smirking down at her.
"Check the other door!"
Their relieved smiles dropped at one of the crew mate's words. Jo's eyebrows shot up as she straightened her posture. "There's another door," she breathed.
"Go, go, go!" JJ hissed. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, pushing her forward as he followed right on her heels.
Jo leapt towards the door and slammed it shut, thankfully able to shut it all the way before the crew reached it. She let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the men as they banged on the door and shouted angrily.
"Alright," JJ panted. "Come on. We gotta go get the cross and meet the others."
Jo nodded and JJ took her hand. She gave him a smile as he pulled her through the ship and in a few minutes they had reached the storage room where the cross was being kept. JJ let go of Jo's hand as he bounced over to the large box. Beaming, he threw the cloth off of the golden treasure and turned to look excitedly at the brunette.
"There she be," he breathed, his eyes glowing as they darted back to the cross. "Surf trip?"
Jo couldn't help but grin as she shook her head. They were actually going to pull this off. "Hell yeah. I'm never coming back."
"Me either," JJ murmured, smirking as he ran his hand over the cross's shiny surface.
The couple looked up when the floors began to move and on the deck of the ship stood Pope and Kie, looking as majestic as ever as they stared down at their friends. Jo scoffed out a laugh, staring at the pair in awe.
"Whoo!" JJ whooped. "That's what I'm talkin' about! Let's go!" Jo chorused his victory cries as Pope curled his hand into a fist and raised it in the air. "The time where people do shit to us and we just sit back and take it is over!" He boomed. "Hell yeah!" Jo cried, pumping her fist along with her friend. "That's my boy!" JJ hollered. "Let's get this done, baby!"
"Here, tie it up," Jo said, tossing a large rope across the box so JJ could catch it. He grinned and shook his head, still in slight disbelief that they had made it this far.
Jo glanced up at the deck, shielding her eyes with her hands. She watched Pope climb up into a tall crane-like machine and squinted in confusion. "Does he even know how to work that?"
JJ chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "He's Pope. He'll figure it out." Jo pursed her lips and shrugged in response, figuring JJ was right. Pope was the smartest of them all. If anyone could figure it out, it was definitely him.
Sure enough, the crane came whirring to life minutes later and Jo watched the giant hook swing around. She used her hands to guide him and tell him to bring it closer towards her, and Pope was somehow able to man the machine almost expertly. JJ and Jo waited for the hook to lower enough to reach them, and then they hooked it onto the rope they had wrapped around the cross.
"Take her up, Pope!" JJ called. Jo took a step back and watched as JJ helped guide the cross up. She was extremely nervous since Pope almost smacked the cross into the side of the ship, and JJ had to yank it back towards the middle. "Slowly!" Jo yelled. The word had no sooner left her mouth when the cross came swinging towards her. She yelped and threw herself to the ground, laying flat on the floor as the cross flew back and forth.
"Whoa, whoa!" JJ yelled, jumping forward to grab the rope. "Sorry!" Pope shouted. "My bad!"
Jo grunted as she pushed herself back to her feet and dusted her pants off. When she looked up again, she saw Cleo beside Kie and grinned. "Did John B get the lifeboat?" She called.
"I don't see him!" Cleo yelled back. Kie bit her lip and frowned, shrugging her shoulders to tell Jo that she didn't know where the boy was. Worry bubbled in her stomach as she thought about all the things that could have gone wrong while John B was looking for Sarah.
"Where's Sarah?" She asked next.
"We don't know!" Kie called back. She looked around but shook her head and Jo sighed.
"Shit," Jo murmured. She moved out of the way of the cross, not wanting to get almost hit again, and crossed her arms over her chest. Once it was high enough that Pope could pull it up without JJ's guidance, he came to stand beside her and gently rubbed her arm. "Hey, it's gonna be okay," he assured her. "John B's got this. And we got the frickin cross!"
Jo couldn't help but smile as she gazed up at the huge treasure. "I still can't believe it," she confessed. JJ grinned and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go find John B and help him load it up." The girl nodded and squeezed JJ's hand, dashing after him as he ran over to the ladder and climbed onto the deck.
The wind was still as strong as ever, despite the air being warm. Jo looked around to make sure that there was no one nearby and JJ ushered her forward. She tried to keep an eye out for both John B and potential crew members, but she hadn't realized just how large this ship was.
It felt like they had been walking forever. They had to stop every now and then and peer around corners to make sure the coast was still clear, but so far they had made it without any issues. That was until they rounded the corner right below the captain's room, and Jo was face to face with the captain himself.
"J," she called, her muscles going rigid as she backed away from the large man. JJ had been peering over the railing trying to locate John B, but he spun around at the sound of Jo's distressed voice.
"Of course," Eberhimi growled. "There's more of you." Jo gulped as he pulled out a rather large machete and crept towards them. "On your knees."
"Yeah, not gonna happen," JJ rushed out as the man lunged at him. Jo cried out in fear as JJ dodged the machete and pushed Eberhimi against the wall. "Hit him!"
Jo swung open a little cabinet door and grabbed the man's arm, holding him in place while she smacked him. JJ punched him across the face and kneed his side, pushing him to the ground. Eberhimi got up just as quickly as he was knocked down, however, and flung JJ sideways into the wall.
"JJ!" Jo screamed. The boy let out a cry as his side collided with the wall and he landed on the floor in a heap. He groaned as he got up and punched the captain again, giving them a few seconds to regain their composure.
"Where's John B?" JJ yelled.
"John B!" Jo shouted her brother's name as she peered over the railing, praying he'd come running into view at any second. Unfortunately, he never did. Jo turned around at the sound of JJ screaming her name and she grunted, ducking and narrowly missing a blow from the angry captain. JJ felt his heart nearly stop at the close call and he jumped forward, grabbing Eberhimi's wrist from behind and trying to restrain him. JJ yelped as he was elbowed and knocked to the ground, and Eberhimi advanced on the girl.
"No!" JJ screamed. "Jo, look out!"
Jo turned around again just in time to see the captain stalking towards her. She didn't have enough time to try to deflect him as he reached forward and grabbed her by the hair. She cried out in pain as she stumbled and his grip switched to her neck, forcing her down to the ground.
"Get off her!" JJ bellowed. He pushed himself to his feet and ran at the captain, seeing nothing but red as rage filled his body. He didn't know how good his chances were against a man at least twice his size, but no one touched his girl and got away with it.
Jo rolled out of the way and propped herself up on her elbows, not able to do anything but watch as the two boys scuffled. She quickly snapped out of her daze and got to her feet, thinking of the only thing she could at the moment and jumping onto the captain's back. She wrapped her legs around his middle and her arms around his neck, leaning back to try and pull him away from JJ. But he was much stronger than the girl and was able to throw her off of him easily. He grabbed her arm and twisted, sending a sharp pain down her body as she whimpered. He shoved her forward and she tripped over a pile of rope, sending her falling to the ground. She groaned as pain radiated throughout her body.
With Jo still on the ground, Eberhimi turned and advanced on JJ. Jo painfully pushed herself to her feet and watched with fearful eyes as JJ tried to deflect his blows but was knocked to the ground. She knew they couldn't keep fighting him; the didn't stand a chance. Their best bet was to get the hell off this ship.
"John B!" Jo screamed. She leaned her upper body over the railing as she whipped her head back and forth, desperately trying to find her brother. "Come on, where are you?" She murmured anxiously.
"Jo!"
Jo straightened herself out just as Eberhimi grabbed her from behind. She gasped in surprise and flailed her limbs, trying to deter him from carrying her. He spun around as he struggled and Jo lifted her legs, pushing against the wall as hard as she possibly could. The captain was hardly fazed though, and his grip on her tightened. Jo moved her arms up to try and grab his face, but she was still unsuccessful. She bent her head forward and then flung it backwards, wincing as it gave her an immediate headache. Finally Eberhimi stumbled enough that she could wiggle out of his grip and she fell to the floor. She ran over to JJ, who was standing by the railing.
"We gotta go!" She cried.
"You're not going anywhere," Eberhimi growled. He stomped forward and flung his machete. Jo yelped as she ducked, but JJ turned around just in time to get hit. Jo gasped as he was knocked over the rail and fell into the water face first.
"No!" She screamed.
Eberhimi continued to advance. Jo acted on instinct and lifted her leg, kicking him square in the chest. He grunted as he fell backwards and Jo knew she had to act fast. JJ was laying limply in the water, and despite her desperate cries and hoping he would lift his head, he didn't. So without any further thought, Jo threw herself overboard and held her breath as she hit the water below.
"JJ!" She cried the second she resurfaced. He was a few feet away from her so Jo quickly paddled over to him, grabbing his body and turning it so that his face was no longer in the water. "J, stay with me," she whimpered. She used one arm to hold his body up and moved her free hand to grab his face. She tapped his cheek lightly and squeezed his jaw, trying to get him to wake up.
"JJ, please! Please!" Jo wailed. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at his lifeless body. "Stay with me," she panted.
It was becoming harder and harder for her to keep her hold on him. Treading water has never been a strong suit for the girl, let alone having to hold another body and keep them both above the surface. She was getting tired far too quickly and she knew they both wouldn't be able to make it if someone didn't get to them soon.
"JJ, wake up!" Jo screamed. "Please, you have wake up!"
Staring at his blank face was painful, but she couldn't drag her eyes away. She couldn't stop thinking about how he looked dead and in that moment her world came crashing down. She didn't want to live in a world without JJ Maybank. She didn't know how she could go on if he didn't make it.
"John B! Help!" She screamed as loud as she could, praying with all of her might that someone would come to their rescue. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. Her lip trembled as the tears finally slid down her cheeks. Her body screamed in pain, practically begging her to stop keeping herself afloat.
There was a voice in her head that was telling her to keep fighting. They had made it so far, they had defied all the odds stacked against them and they were still here. But one look down at JJ made all of those thoughts disappear. Maybe it was selfish of her to not want to live without the boy she loved, but she didn't care. She was tired of it all. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe this was how it was supposed to happen. For the first time in her life, Jo didn't fear death. She had spent far too long running and living in fear and heartbreak. She had the boy she loved in her arms and she had lived a good life. Dying with the person she loved most seemed like a pretty good way to go.
And so, despite the pain she felt in her chest at the thought of her friends having to live without them, she closed her eyes and let her head sink below the waves.
° ° ° ° °
A/N - lol oops. pls don't hate me <3