SEASON TWO,
CHAPTER 35:
POGUELANDIA
"I claim thee Poguelandia."
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THE SEVEN TEENAGERS have been floating upon the icy waters for awhile, having nothing expect each other for company. They've been travelling in an unknown direction with high hopes that they'll all return back to their home, to the Outer Banks. But everyone has grown tired after the series of events that they've all recently been through. All attention has mainly been focused onto Delilah and JJ to ensure that they're okay after both falling unconscious earlier.
Nearby, there's a lonely island that looks like nobody lives upon it. The shore is covered with small grains of sand, varying between wet and dry depending on whether the oceans water has reached it. Large rocks reside near the edge of the shore and causes the cold waters to crash against it before spraying up into the air. Palm trees stand tall and tower above everything else as a few coconuts are growing within the leaves. Nature ranges from multiple shades of green, which only makes the whole island look more beautiful.
The group of friends have mutually agreed to stop at the sandy shore and rest for the night, not willing to be out at sea in pure darkness. The lifeboat has been dragged up to the sandy beach and tied to one of the trees to avoid it drifting back into the oceans water. The seven are all seated around upon the fallen logs as they just relax and soak in one another's comfort, needing this time to cool down after everything that has just happened.
Currently, Delilah is sitting upon the grains of sand with her back pressed against her boyfriends front as his arms remain loosely wrapped around her smaller frame. JJ's chin rests on top of the girls shoulder as the pad of his thumb brushes patterns into her bare skin, hand resting on her hip. Blue eyes stare at the palm tree towering over the both of them, watching as Delilah carves into the trees rough bark with his pocket knife. A wide smile tugs at the corners of JJ's face as he reads what she's written for everyone that passes by the island to view — 'D + J' is written in the middle of a heart, and 'P4L' rests nearby to that.
"P4L, baby." JJ states.
"P4L." Delilah gently repeats, glancing down at the tattoo on her ankle. "Always."
"I love you." JJ whispers.
"I love you too." Delilah replies with a smile.
The couple have refused to be apart from each other ever since the awful incident occurred within the sea. They almost lost one another tonight, and would've had to experience a wrenching heartbreak. Both of them barely coped with John B and Sarah's 'death', so they'd be even worse if they lost their other half.
"How are you guys feeling?" John B asks them.
"Little dizzy." JJ admits.
"I've been better." Delilah replies as she fiddles with the blond boys rings. "But I'm okay."
"Anyone know where we're at?" Kie questions.
Pope shrugs. "Deserted beach. Unknown island."
"I'll take that as a no then." Sarah says, sighing.
"Plan A, huh? That went well." JJ comments.
"This is the lowest we can go." Pope states.
"It's probably our fault for saying that we don't have anything left to lose." Delilah tells him.
"Okay, but we literally have nothing else to lose now. The cross is gone. The gold is gone." Pope reminds.
"Seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we got beat up, I'd say we're at a dollar fifty." JJ informs.
"That's more than I've got on me." Kie says.
"That somehow doesn't make me feel better." Sarah replies.
"You're right." John B agrees. "But we've had some good stuff happen, right?"
"Name something." Pope challenges.
"Um... The boiler room." John B replies, turning to look at the new girl of the group. "If the boiler didn't explode, i'm I wouldn't have gotten away from Rafe. I couldn't have gotten the Zodiac and gotten us all out of there."
Cleo shakes her head. "That wasn't luck. That thing was gonna blow the second I stopped feeding it."
"Stealing my thunder, Cleo." John B mutters before pausing slightly. "Okay then. Pope, you're related to Denmark Tanny. That's crazy!"
"And I lost all of his inheritance." Pope fires back.
"That's an extremely cheery mood you've got there, Pope." Delilah jokes.
"I can name one." Kie informs, grabbing all of their attention. "Lila and JJ finally got together during this whole treasure hunt thing."
"Wooo!" The couple cheer in unison.
"They weren't already a thing?" Sarah questions in confusion. "Oops, I thought they were."
"See, this is how much people thought you guys were already together." Kie tells the two. "It's been a long time coming."
Laughter then proceeds to fill the peaceful air of the night as wide smiles spread across all of their faces. To Delilah, it's relaxing to see every single one of her friends look so happy when they're together like this. They've all been through so much together, and yet, nothing has broken the power of their friendships.
"Guys." John B begins. "This is it. This is the Pogue life. We're stuck in the Caribbean. And it's our own little slice of paradise. With my best friends, with my family. I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else."
"I'm gonna have to agree with you on that." Delilah tells him with a smile. "JJ? John B? What do you think about those burly lefts out there?"
"There's some slabs out there." JJ states
"Read my mind, Red." John B informs.
"Kie, you in?" Delilah questions.
"There's no boards." Kie reminds.
"Well, we can just bodysurf until we make some boards." John B reasons.
"Lame." Kie argues.
"Pope?" Delilah calls.
"They do look pretty tasty." Pope admit. "And there's nobody around. I guess we could squat here for a bit. Kind of belongs to us now."
"You've got a point." Sarah agrees.
"Seven-way split?" Pope questions, receiving nods in response. "It's settled then."
"Poguelandia." JJ declares.
"Oh, boy." John B mutters.
"i claim thee poguelandia." JJ informs with a thick accent, switching back to his normal voice. "I like the ring of it. I'm gonna make a flag. It's gonna have a chicken on it. With a coconut bra, smoking a J, while wearing crocs."
More laughter fills the air as the blond boy gives out his ideas for the island, finding amusement in it all. JJ smiles at the fact that he's managed to make them laugh, but still remains completely serious about his suggestions for 'Poguelandia'. Delilah just shakes her head at her boyfriend while a smile reminds etched upon her gleeful face.
"Can you wear a coconut bra?" JJ suddenly asks, a grin on his lips. "I think you'd look hot."
"I'm not wearing that shit, J." Delilah refuses with a laugh. "I love you, but no."
"Come on, love birds." Kie urges as she turns to look at them both. "We've got work to do."
"What happened to relaxing?" Delilah complains, groaning loudly.
"We can all relax after everything is set up." Pope assures. "We need stuff to eat and places to sleep."
Meanwhile, as the group of friends begin to work on building a temporary new home, every single person back on Outer Banks have suddenly been sent into a frenzy. Missing posters are plastered all around the island with contact details sprawled across the very bottom of the printed papers. Six teenagers are said to be missing right now, and those same six are the ones that happen to have their faces on the posters.
"The missing teens were last seen on the night of September 27th on the road leading out to the point. No foul play is expected at this time. We've set up a hotline. If you happen to have any information that can lead to their whereabouts, then please give us a call." Shoupe announces to the public.
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The full moon casts a natural lighting down onto the island where the seven teenagers are situated in this moment of time. It reflects off of the oceans waves as it gently crashes against the rocks that are resting on the edge of the sandy shore. The stars twinkle within the pitch black sky, showing that there's still hope it can all be resolved and a happy ending will happen.
Seated in a circle around a roaring campfire, fallen logs have been placed down that the group of friends find themselves sitting on top of. The orange flames create a bright light upon the lonely island and only provides warmth for the seven teens. Twigs are held in their hands as they cook their meal over the fire, the boys having caught some fish and killed. As they do this, Delilah takes a seat beside JJ and allows her head to rest upon his broad shoulder. In response to this, an arm snakes around the redheads waist as her body is pulled closer to his own.
Smiles are etched upon each all of their faces as the sound of laughter can be heard for the thousandth time tonight. Multiples jokes are made to lighten the situation that they all find themselves stuck in, just trying to take their mind off of the recent events and relax in the moment that they've been given. They all have the island to themselves, and this is something that not everyone gets to experience in their lifetime.
Even though they've all technically hit rock bottom, this is the happiest the teens can be; with each other.