"Watch it, woman." JJ said to Iris, who was still clutching onto JJ, immediately loosening her grip on him.
"Should we get on the boat?" Pope asked.
"Shit." Kie said as they saw the door open.
It was John fucking B.
"Wait, no way." JJ scoffed.
"No fucking way." Pope muttered.
"You've got to be kidding me." JJ laughed as John B walked towards them.
"Shoupe let me take it for a spin."
"Okay, that's believable. I'll buy that for now." Kie said as John B walked onto the dock, followed by JJ and Iris.
"It wasn't easy, bro, but I got the Phantom for you and she runs like she was made yesterday." JJ said, throwing him the keys, "You ready to go?"
"Wait, where's Sarah?"
"She's not with you?" Iris asked, chewing on her lip anxiously.
"No, we got separated in the swamp. She said she'd meet me here."
"We haven't seen her." Pope explained.
"Okay, well, I'm not leaving without her-"
"John B, look at me." JJ said as he turned to him, "I know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time, man. You've got plenty of gas, and plenty of food. Once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to Dismal Swamp, okay? Once you get there, lay low, alright? Hang out for a couple of weeks then go overland, cross the border at Brownsville, got that? Brownsville. Hey!" He grabbed his head, "You got that?"
"Yeah, Brownsville."
"Alright, let's do this." JJ said as John B got onto the boat.
He turned back and looked towards the four of them, "Hey, hey. Uh, I'm sorry for basically throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing."
"John B, we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?" JJ replied, "At least we did it together, though."
And JJ pulled Pope and Kie closer to him as they all wrapped their arms around each other.
"Pogue style." JJ smiled, looking at Iris then back at John B.
"Pogue style."
"Get out of here! Please." Kie said.
"Now! We'll see you in two months, down in Mexico! Iris is paying for the trip." Pope added.
"Get going before it's too late." Iris added in, ignoring Pope's comment.
"Love you." JJ said to John B.
"Hey, hey, wait a second. Tell Sarah I said goodbye, okay? Iris, please."
She nodded, "I will."
"Don't forget. Cross the border at Brownsville, okay?"
"Got it, JJ."
And the four of them pushed the Phantom out, watching John B speed off.
They stood there for a few minutes before Iris let out a deep breath, "I have to find Sarah."
"Iris, what if she's at home?"
She understood what he meant.
Rafe.
"That's a chance I'm willing to take."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah."
"Kie? Can you drive?" JJ asked and she nodded as the cops pulled up.
Shit.
Meanwhile, Rafe sat with Barry, more pissed off than ever.
And upset. And sad. And depressed.
He had never felt so many emotions at once.
He lost Iris, that was a fact.
But it was Iris, she would come back.
And if she didn't, he would find a way to get her back.
He would do whatever it took for her.
He would do what he needed to do to get her back. Absolutely anything.
Barry finally broke the silence with a slight smile, "Sheriff Peterkin, huh? Badder than I thought, Country Club." Rafe glared at Barry, "But you'd better hope that you're worth a hell of a lot more to me than that 30K reward." Barry began to walk towards his bike, "Hey Country Club! I own you now." He sat on his bike before looking over at Rafe once more, "You should figure something out before the Kook Queen figures it all out."
"She was there, Barry."
His jaw dropped as he chuckled slightly, "Ah, shit, now everything makes fucking sense. Wow. She was there. Hm, did she provide any words of encouragement?"
"Shut up."
"No? None?"
"Shut up, Barry. Iris has nothing to do with this."
"Yes, she has everything to do with it. Remember, I fucking own you." Barry put on his helmet and drove away, leaving Rafe to sit in silence with his thoughts once more.
Anger ran through his veins.
And before he knew it, he yelled in frustration.
Back to the Pogues...
The cops surrounded the four of them. They were told to put their hands up and stay still.
Shoupe yelled in frustration because he realized that John B was already gone, "All right, where the hell is he? Where the hell is he? JJ? I see you're living up to your name."
"Don't talk to him like that." Iris snapped as she watched JJ widen his eyes at her.
He'd never heard her protect him before. And he liked it, a lot.
"Iris Campbell. Running around with the Pogues now? Need I remind you, you're an adult now, so anything happens, you're charged as an adult. You understand that, don't you?" Shoupe said as she stayed quiet, "That's what I thought. Pope, how about you? This isn't a fucking game! You can do the right thing now! Where'd he go?"
All four were silent.
The cops gave up eventually, knowing they wouldn't get a word out of them and they were loaded into the cop car, being brought downtown.
"When we get there, you go find Sarah, okay?" JJ whispered in Iris' ear as she nodded.
And the second they got out of the vehicle, JJ nodded at her and Iris carefully took off. She ran as fast as her legs would take her to the Cameron house. And she saw Sarah, running down the dock. She ran after her as she watched John B come closer in the Phantom.
"John B!" Sarah yelled, still running.
"Sarah!" Iris yelled as she ran down the dock after her.
Sarah turned around at the end of the dock as John B had pulled up, "Iris? What? What are you doing here?"
Iris' eyes filled with tears, "I needed to say goodbye to you."
And Sarah pulled her into a tight hug, tears streaming down both of their cheeks.
"I'm going to miss you so much."
"Me too. You're like my little sister."
"And you've always been my big sister." Sarah sniffled, "Take care of Wheezie for me, please."
"Always."
"And watch out for Rafe, okay? Make sure he and my dad get what they deserve. Then we'll come back, right John B?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
"I love you."
Sarah smiled at her, "I love you too."
"Take care of her, John B. I'm putting my full trust in you."
"I've got her."
"Be safe. Please." Iris said as they nodded and drove off, leaving her on the dock, in tears.
The storm worried Iris. It was going to be a bad one and she felt sick to her stomach over the fact that something terrible was going to happen to them.
After a few minutes, she got up and started to walk back up the dock, making her way back to the rest of her friends, without being seen by anyone at the Cameron residence.
And she succeeded.
"Oh, there she is! Where have you been?" JJ said, as she appeared outside one of the tents.
"Sorry, I had to go pee and I live right there." Iris muttered, but it seemed like the cops didn't care.
"Sit down and don't move Iris. We've got a lot to talk about. Your friends have been waiting for you." Shoupe said as Iris sat beside JJ.
They could hear the cops panicking over the fact that John B and Sarah were right there. Iris prayed that they got out of the area quickly. They were on the run and the four of them knew it.
Iris hoped they weren't headed into the storm, but from the sounds of it, they were headed directly into it.
And they were trying to contact them.
By using Ward, who said a whole shit load of lies.
Lie after lie after lie-
Iris bit her tongue to stop from having an emotional outburst, but Ward was sitting under the same fucking tent.
And John B yelled back at Ward finally, making Iris smiled slightly to hear him talk back to Ward in a way that left him speechless.
But the radio signal was lost.
~
Rafe showed up awhile later. The fact that he had the audacity to show up made Iris want to punch him in the fucking face. He glanced at her briefly before going over to his dad instead, not noticing JJ's hand wrapped around Iris', as they all hoped for the best.
The cops came back in, leading JJ, Kie and Pope to stand up and walk over to them as Iris stood behind them. And of course, Ward stood up and went to Shoupe's side to hear the news, which left Rafe alone, sitting across from where Iris stood.
"Did you find them?" Pope asked.
"No." Shoupe replied.
"So they got away?" Kie asked, looking at JJ.
But the look on Shoupe's face was enough for Iris to know what was happening.
They were gone.
"No, we, uh, we lost them." Shoupe said, "I'm sorry."
"Lost them?" Pope asked as Iris let out a sob, "What do you mean you lost them? Like they're gone? What are you talking about?"
"They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Pope."
"So, they're dead?" Kie whispered.
"We don't know."
"You drove them straight into the storm, man!" JJ said, tears running down his cheeks, "Are you kidding me?"
JJ had to be pulled off Shoupe while Pope was getting in Shoupe's face. All three were crying.
"This is all your fucking fault! It's all your fucking fault, Rafe!" They heard Iris yell as she shoved him, pounding on his chest, "You killed my best friend! You killed your fucking sister!"
"Iris! Calm down." He said, trying to grab her arms, failing as he looked down at her sadly.
"You did this! It's all your fault!" She sobbed as JJ pulled her off of him, earning a glare from Iris.
"Hey, I lost Sarah too!"
"You don't give a shit about Sarah!"
"That's not fucking true!"
"If you gave two shits about her, you wouldn't have let them take the fucking blame, but you and your psychotic father did!"
"Iris, I swear to fucking god-" Rafe yelled as Ward pulled him away at the same time as JJ pulled Iris away, the two wrapping their arms around each other, sobbing as Rafe almost lost it on the site of them.
And as their parents filled into the tent, Iris was wrapped in between her parents, who were visibly upset as well. They'd known Sarah forever.
And she saw JJ standing alone, pulling him into their group hug, to which he cried more.
And they grieved.
Over their friends who were dead.
Or so they thought.
~~