SEASON THREE,
CHAPTER 3:
HAWKS NEST PART TWO
"How about you go first and cushion my fall?"
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AFTER THE TEENAGERS climbed over the wall to escape the guards and the dogs, they were quick to catch their breaths before taking off to put distance between themselves and Singh for now. They choose to go around the back of the streets, not wanting to be out in the open where anyone can find them and chase them down. But despite keeping a careful eye out for Singh's guards, they also try to not raise any suspicion amongst civilians, otherwise the strangers could risk giving away their location.
Cleo then leads them all away from the swarmed streets and across a small beach that's almost hidden away from the public eye. She directs them towards a cliff where an abandoned hotel is located; parts of the structure are missing, and all of the glass from the windows are no longer standing in its places, either being manually knocked down by humans or by storms that sweep across the island. Nevertheless, they climb up the steep stairs that rest beside the hotel, waiting to be used.
All of a sudden, many guards are heard shouting below, barely audible beneath the loud engines of the ATVs that they ride on. Delilah's hand is quick to latch onto JJ's wrist as she ducks for cover beside their friends, pulling him with her to avoid either of them getting caught. They stand side by side behind the crumbling walls of the hotel, their arms brushing against one another with each movement they make. But as the guards roam the ground below, JJ reaches out and slyly pulls her closer to his body, wanting to make sure that she won't potentially be spotted from a particular angle.
"All clear!" A guard soon shouts.
Once it's safe enough, Cleo proceeds to direct them to an opening in the wall, leading them towards an area that will be safer for them. One after the other, they run up the narrow steps before eventually walking out into another open area. The majority of the walls are missing, which allows the overgrown ivy to hang down from above. A few chairs rest in the middle of the room, as well as other belongings that were left behind by people who would hole up here too. In front of them, a large hole can be seen in the floor that drops down to the ground below (where they just were).
"We hole up here." Cleo informs. "Terrance and I squatted here before."
The three boys don't hesitate to carelessly jump over the large hole to get to the other side. They instantly head towards the pillars and the remaining walls so that they are able to peek out from behind the tall structures; they want to make sure that the guards are all definitely gone and aren't hidden somewhere nearby, not wanting to risk the possibility of being ambushed at any given second.
"Watch your step." Cleo warns while glancing over to the girls. "Massive sinkhole."
"I wouldn't have noticed." Delilah replies, sarcasm laced in her voice.
"Home sweet home." Sarah mutters.
The three girls then cross over a hole in the floor to get to the other side. They each glance around to get a better look at their surroundings, noticing just how many items have been left behind by their previous owners. As well as that, Delilah notices that the open area gives them a beautiful view of the ocean below, allowing them to watch as the sun's rays reflect off of the salty water and glisten. However, her attention is quickly pulled away from the view as she turns to look at the boys, who have peeled away from their spots and are making their way back over to them.
"Coast is clear." JJ informs. "All the guards are gone. Lets home they don't come back."
"We need to get Kie out of there." Delilah states.
"We can't storm the fort or call the cops. And we can't negotiate because we don't know what they want." Pope tells them.
"None of that is helpful, Pope." JJ comments.
"It's got to be about the cross or the gold." Pope continues, ignoring the blond.
Cleo shakes her head. "No. Guys like Singh, it's always about money."
"Whatever it is, we just need to get Kie back and get off this damn island as soon as possibly." John B states.
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Curled up on the ground, Delilah can be seen laying next to Sarah after the two girls share some cushions that they had found earlier. Her eyes are closed and her breathing is steady, peacefully sleeping to regain her energy and to give her body some time to relax after everything they've been through in the past 24 hours. Sarah, too, is sleeping; her blonde hair is tied back by a bandana to stop it from falling in front of her face.
JJ leans back against one of the tall pillars as he sits on an old chair. Remembering the phone that he had previously stolen from Jimmy Portis, he pulls it out of his pocket and switches it on. Air shoots out of his nose as he lets out a breath laugh upon realising that there's no passcode to get into the phone, remaining permanently unlocked. JJ instantly looks for the app that holds Portis' contacts, beginning to carefully search through the list of names.
Unbeknownst to the boy, Sarah catches sight of him and slowly sits up from where she lies on the floor nearby, trying to get a better look at what exactly is in his hands. She then lightly shakes Delilah's arm to reluctantly wake her friend up from her slumber. Del rubs her eyes awake before she meets Sarah's gaze; a mixture of concern and confusion is crossed over her face, almost as if she's assumed something bad has happened during her sleep. Sarah gives her a small smile to silently reassure her that it's nothing bad, then motions her head towards where JJ sits.
"What is that?" Sarah asks.
"Portis' phone." Delilah replies. "I actually forgot that he had it with him."
"It's a little souvenir that I plucked from him." JJ comments.
Sarah's eyes widen. "JJ, you have a phone?"
"I forgot I had it, okay? It was in my back pocket. That's my bad." JJ apologises.
"Can we go anywhere without you stealing?" Pope questions with a sigh.
"You already know the answer to that, Pope." JJ replies. "I steal shit. That's my job."
"Nice work, rude boy." Cleo comments.
"Come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up?" Delilah sings.
Sarah grins. "Come here rude boy, boy, is you big enough?"
JJ's eyes drift over to where Delilah is sitting, a smile splitting across his face at the sight of her looking so happy (even if its just for a short moment). He then stands up and makes his way over to where Pope is seated, passing him the phone while informing him that there's no passcode needed. Then, just like JJ did, Pope scrolls through the contacts in search for Carlos Singh, but frowns once he realises that the contact doesn't exist.
"Didn't Portis call him something else?" Sarah reminds.
"Yeah, he called Singh something when we were jumping his ass." JJ informs.
"Can't remember." Cleo replies.
"Rockfish? No..." JJ thinks aloud. "Holy shit! What the hell was it?"
"I keep thinking of Mr Krabs." Delilah whispers to the blonde girl beside her. "You know, the whole desire for more money and stuff."
"Catfish?" Pope suggests.
"Kingfish." John B corrects from his slumber.
"That was it!" JJ states.
Pope immediately searches through the contacts for a possible Kingfish. It doesn't take him long to find the contact, it being the only one that's saved under section K.
"Okay, we're in business. Text him." JJ insists.
"And say what exactly?" Pope asks.
"Negotiate. Pretend to be Portis and ask him to meet somewhere in private. Then bam! We jump his ass, tie him up, and politely request for Kie in return for his life." JJ explains.
"Not a bad idea." John B agrees.
"We should think this through." Pope reasons.
"Thinking never helps when you already have the idea." JJ tells him.
"No, hang on. I agree with Pope." Sarah speaks up, coming to his defence. "This could make things ten times worse for us and Kiara."
John B's brows furrow. "How much worse can it actually get?"
"I can think of a few ways." Sarah replies.
"While they're thinking, why don't you just send the text?" John B tells the blond.
JJ then reaches out and takes the phone out of Pope's grasp, fumbling around as he writes out a text to send to the number. He asks for some volunteers to act as hostages, so John B. and Sarah (with much reluctance) pretend to look upset while they sit close together as if they're tied up. JJ is quick to snap a picture then sends it to Carlos Singh, acting as if he's Jimmy Portis since the text will be received from his number.
"Yo, he's texting back already! It's doing the little bubble thing." JJ informs, the ringtone soon going off. "'Send me your location. I'll meet you.'"
Pope frowns. "He wants to know our location?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what we wanted." JJ replies.
"No. Send him a different location." Delilah quickly tells them. "We can't give away where we are. We need the advantage to this."
"We could send the horse tracks." Pope suggests. "I saw them yesterday. It's a wide open space. We could do surveillance."
"Okay, I like it! Now we're working." JJ exclaims with a smile. "And if we have to make a getaway, we'll hop on some horses. Guns a-blazing!"
"We're not horse-backing with guns." John B argues.
"Scratch the horses." JJ mumbles.
"John B, we can really plan this out." Pope tells him. "Maybe we sneak from behind and use JJ as bait. Put him in the middle of the field."
"No." Delilah bluntly refuses.
"Just got another text." JJ announces. "'Never mind. I just tracked your location and I'm sending my men. They'll be there in ten minutes to pick you up.'"
Silence suddenly sweeps past them. All eyes turn to JJ, blankly staring at him as they process what Singh has just texted back. JJ says nothing, chewing at his bottom teeth as he glances between each of them.
"Well, that doesn't sound good." Delilah comments.
"Wait, JJ, did you turn off your location?" John B asks in realisation.
JJ pauses. "So, um..."
"You didn't turn the location off?" Pope exclaims.
"Never mind, you can use him as bait." Delilah mutters to Pope in disbelief.
"This is an iPhone!" JJ shouts in a desperate attempt to defend himself. "I have a Samsung! And I haven't even used that in over a month!"
"Give it to me!" John B demands, snatching it from his hands. "I have a Samsung too."
John B desperately fumbles around with the phone, skimming through the settings. He finally manages to turn the location off. However, it's already too late because the damage has already been done and they can't reverse any mistakes now.
"This right here is why you need a plan!" Pope shouts.
"Everybody relax for a second! Lets just think about this." John B exclaims. "It's done, okay? We've just got to figure something out."
"And hope he doesn't kill us?" Pope fires back.
"We're running out of time." Cleo states.
"What are we gonna do?" Delilah asks. "We can't help Kie if we're caught too."
"I know you guys might not want to hear it, but we have the home-field advantage. We can turn this around." JJ tells them. "We're gonna booby-trap this shit. We're not running from this dude. This is our best chance to get Kie back. We've got ten minutes, come on."
Delilah sighs. "Better than nothing."
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Running on limited time, the group (specifically JJ) quickly created a plan that will put themselves at the advantage. Despite arguments rising whenever they try to agree on different things, all of them can agree that they just want to rescue Kiara and leave as soon as possible. But Singh attempted to back them into a corner, but they refuse to run away and allow him to feed off of their fear, wanting to stay and fight back instead.
As the sound of ATVs and SUVs draws closer to the abandoned hotel, the teenagers are quick to disperse and make sure that they are set up in their positions. Delilah currently stands inside one of the rooms with Pope and Cleo after it was mutually agreed that they will work together to carry out a portion of the plan. The three silently hide behind the crumbling walls, waiting for a sign to move and proceed with the plan.
From the floor below, heavy footsteps can be heard as people walk along the cold stone floor and rotting wooden planks. Their movements are slow as they wander the area, trying to be as careful as possible so that they will be able to see or hear anything out of place. Voices soon quietly fill the tense air as two of the guards communicate to one another.
"Yo, I got them up here! There's two of them!" JJ suddenly shouts, pretending to be Jimmy Portis.
Running is then heard pounding along the staircase as JJ makes his way up it, trying to be quick with his actions so that neither of the guards will see him. He hurries down a narrow corridor then turns a corner, pressing his back against the wall — the paint has been chipped away with age and only threatens to fall into his messy blond hair. JJ listens out for their footsteps, immediately noticing that they've split up and one remains downstairs while the other follows after him.
"Portis?" The guard slowly calls.
"Take a left at the hallway. The stairway's on your right." JJ informs.
The blond boy then moves away and hurries through a passageway, moving an old, dirty bed sheet out of the way so that he can slip past with ease. He runs up the next set of stairs and stops at the next floor, leaning against an open doorway that belongs to the room where Delilah, Pope, and Cleo currently stand. The three instantly turn their attention towards JJ as his gaze drifts between each of them, lingering on Delilah for a little longer.
"He's coming upstairs now." JJ warns. "Are you guys ready?"
"Yeah." Pope replies.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Delilah asks, worried.
"I'll be fine, Ly." JJ reassures. "Make sure to stay with these two. Don't stray from them."
"I can handle myself, JJ." Delilah reminds.
"I know you can." JJ replies, a grin making its way onto his face.
JJ disappears from the doorway and continues his way up to the next floor. The blond makes sure that his footsteps are loud enough to echo around the building, wanting the guard to follow after the noise. Pope then turns to look at the two girls so that they can quickly go over the plan and ensure that they are all on the same page, otherwise it will be harder to work together in unison.
"Remember, you guys hit him in the head and legs. I'll go for the gun." Pope tells the,.
"No, you're too slow." Cleo bluntly replies with a shake of her head. "Let one of us go for the gun."
"No, I'm going for the gun." Pope insists.
"Why do you have to argue everything?" Cleo mutters.
Delilah just rolls her eyes at the pair. However, they both quickly fall silent at the sound of the guard's heavy footsteps filling the air as he makes his way up the stairs to follow after JJ. Slowly, the three exit the room that they currently stand in, moving away from where the guards stands to avoid getting caught.
"Up here! One more flight of stairs now! You're almost there!" JJ exclaims.
Silence. JJ then anxiously peers down the set of stairs, wanting to ensure that the guard is definitely following after him. A dreadful feeling of fear swirls in his stomach at the mere thought of Delilah, Pope, and Cleo getting caught by the guard, knowing that they will either be shot dead on the spot or whisked away to wherever Kie is being held captive.
"You're coming, right?" JJ asks.
"Yeah." The guard replies.
Satisfied with that answer, JJ continues on with his portion of the plan and slips into another room. He then closes the door shut behind him, not caring if it slams because it will only give the guard even more of a reason to follow after him. JJ presses his back against one of the walls as he crouches down to keep himself hidden from the eye.
"Portis?" The guard calls.
"I'm still here." JJ informs. "You just gotta come right in here."
"Alright, Portis. I'm coming in." The guard states.
The door suddenly bursts open, threatening to fall off its hinges; it slams back against the wall behind, leaving an indent from where the door handle has just collided with the weakened plaster. In the centre of the room, John B and Sarah are both seen bound to a single pole by ropes that have been 'tied' around their wrists. Their gazes snap towards the guard as looks of worry and panic are crossed over their faces, mixing with a hopeful feeling of relief at the idea of him coming to 'save' them.
"Please untie us!" John B begs.
"Help!" Sarah shouts, pleading.
"Keep your hands still." The guard orders.
As the man then goes to take a step closer to the two teenagers, the sound of wood cracking suddenly fills the air around them all. The guard falls through the floor with a loud yell. He hits the floor beneath with an echoing thud, a grunt slipping past his lips. The man looks up from where he lies to see a large sink hole that he hadn't seen because a dark blanket was draped over the top with the (successful) intention for him to fall into the trap.
With thin metal rods gripped tightly in their grasps, Delilah, Pope, and Cleo emerge from where they had been hiding in a neighbouring room. As the guard tries to scramble back up to his feet, Cleo is quick to run forward and smashes the weapon around the back of his head. Pope does the exact same thing but to the guard's legs, sending him crashing down onto his knees with a shout of pain. Delilah then uses this moment to her advantage, grabbing his head and slamming it down against her knee.
Delilah reaches out to grab ahold of the fallen gun, which lays discarded on the floor beside her foot, but she stops at the sight of another guard entering the room. A gun is held firmly in his grasp, finger ready to pull the trigger at any second. The guard's gaze darts between the teenagers and his coworker lying on the floor in agony, carefully eyeing the metal rods that the three hold in their hands.
"Freeze! Put those down. Slowly." The guard yells.
As they slowly place the metal rods onto the ground, shouts are suddenly heard from within the hallway. JJ then stumbles into the room shortly after pushing the door wide open, the shouts belonging to him. But he immediately falls silent and stops in his tracks at the sight of the second guard now pointing a gun at the three of them.
"Don't move! Hold it!" The guard demands.
JJ says nothing. He slowly lifts his hands up into the air to show that he's unarmed. JJ allows his gaze to drift over to where Delilah stands, instantly meeting her eyes. However, she soon breaks the eye-contact to glance down at the gun, silently communicating with JJ through just her eyes alone. But the guard catches notice of this.
"Don't even think about it." The guard warns.
All of a sudden, another person comes falling down through the sinkhole; John B drops down and makes sure to land directly on top of the guard, sending the two crashing to the ground. The gun slips from out of his grasp, sliding along the floor of the hallway and away from where everyone stands. But Delilah is quick to move from her place and kick the other gun (which belonged to the first guard) backwards. This then allows JJ to pick it up from the floor, holding it firmly in his grasp. He immediately points it at the two guards, watching as their eyes widen.
"Take it nice and slow." JJ tells them. "It's time for you to freeze now."
Sarah appears from the hallway with the rope that they used to carry out the plan for her and John B to be used as bait. Then, once the two guards are pulled to sit back to back, Pope and Cleo use that exact rope to tie them both up, wrapping it tightly around their bodies in order to make sure that they're secured in place. JJ then snaps a picture of the guards stuck in their restraints and sends it to Singh, followed by a text demanding for Kiara in exchange.
"Stage three: hostage swap." JJ states. "We're gonna give your boss a little ring-a-ling, so hang tight."
When going through the plan earlier, it was agreed that John B should be the one that negotiates with Carlos Singh over the phone; he can be more firm with his tone, and, unlike JJ, he will at least attempt to think things through. So, JJ passes the phone over to the brunet soon after he pressed the button to call the contact, allowing it to ring. Fortunately for them, it doesn't take long for Singh to answer the incoming phone call.
"Mr Portis." Carlos Singh says, his voice laced with a thick accent. "Do you have Ms Carrera's friends?"
"Yeah. Yeah, we found them." John B replies. "My name is John Booker Routledge. We have your men tied up, and they're in for a really, really... really harsh time if you don't give us Kiara back right now. I mean that."
"Kill them. Go ahead and kill them, John Booker Routledge." Singh taunts with a laugh. "It doesn't matter to me. But just know that if you do, the hotel is surrounded. All of you inside will die."
Delilah's attention turns away from the two guards as she peers out from behind the pillars. SUVs are now parked outside of the abandoned hotel as more guards clamber out of the vehicles. Bulletproof vests are strapped around their torsos while weapons are held firmly in their grasp. They make their way up the side of the steep cliff, rapidly closing in to trap the teenagers into a corner.
"Shit." Delilah curses under her breath.
"We need to go right now." Sarah states.
Without hesitation, everyone takes off running and chooses to leave the two guards on the floor tied up. They sprint over to the balcony, but quickly realise their mistake upon seeing even more guards below. Panicked shouts fill the air as the teenagers then run through the nearest hallway, unsure of where they could possibly go to escape Singh's grasp. But Pope manages to catch sight of an old elevator and quickly moves the metal gate to one side (with the help of John B). Everyone stares down at the empty elevator shaft, weighing the options that they have.
"There has to be a better option, right?" John B asks with a shake of his head, refusing. "This is like the Hawk's Nest part two. I'm not doing this."
"I think we need to think about this from a risk and reward perspective." Pope tells them.
"How about you go first and cushion my fall?" JJ suggests.
"How about no?" Pope counters.
"Whatever! Forget this shit." Cleo exclaims.
Without wasting a single second, Cleo runs forward and jumps into the elevator shaft. She's quick to grab onto the thick metal rope, keeping herself stable and to prevent herself from falling the entire way down. Cleo slides down with ease before finally reaching the very bottom of the elevator, allowing her feet to make contact with the ground once again.
Delilah and Sarah pull their gazes away from Cleo to glance at one another, sharing similar expressions as they silently communicate. The two girls then move in unison, jumping forward to latch onto the metal ropes; they make sure to grab onto separate ropes, distributing their weight evenly. John B attempts to shout after the girls to show his disapproval, but he quickly realises that they're not going to listen.
As the girls continue to slide down the ropes, a loud thud is suddenly heard bouncing off the walls above them. Delilah glances up the shaft once she reaches the bottom to see that JJ and Pope have also jumped together at the same time. Their actions are fast and careless, almost as if they are just trying to get it over and done with as soon as possible. But this is what causes them to crash into the sides of the elevator, thus creating the loud thud.
"JB, hurry!" Delilah shouts.
John B hesitates. He, much to his reluctance, then follows after his friends. Gunshots suddenly echo through the air as bullets are fired towards the boys. This immediately sends John B into a panic, causing him to then let go of the metal rope without thinking twice about his actions. John B falls towards the two boys as Pope shouts at him to grab onto something, but his body then crashes into JJ's and causes the pair to fall through the air with intense speed.
The three girls, who are at the bottom of the elevator shaft, quickly find themselves diving out of the way. John B and JJ hit the hard floor shortly after, groans of agony tumbling past their lips. John B rolls away from JJ while mumbling a faint apology, receiving a string of swears from the boy in response. Delilah's eyes only widen at the sight of them; she scrambles forward to make sure that they're okay, her hand reaching for JJ's.
"Am I in heaven?" JJ mumbles.
"If your idea of heaven is an old elevator shaft that's inside an abandoned hotel, you need to rethink your life choices." Delilah comments.
"We need to go." Pope states as he lands beside his friends. "Now!"
Everyone helps pull JJ and John B back up to their feet so that they can get moving as soon as possible. The guard, who was shooting at John B, then leans out from the open and continues to fire bullets at all of them. But he's just a few seconds too late because they are already sprinting down the hallway to leave the building at the first chance they get. JJ chooses to linger at the very back of the group to make sure that nobody has fallen behind, attempting to fire bullets back up to the guard with the gun that he had stolen.
As the teenagers go to run down the staircase that they used to enter the hotel, they immediately stop in their tracks at the sight of a guard standing at the bottom with his back to them. John B quietly breaks away from the group to pick up a glass bottle from the ground. He then throws it over the wall, which instantly captures the guards attention and makes him walk towards the sound. This allows all of them to head down the rest of the staircase and slip past, hurrying to disappear around the corner.
They sprint back in the direction that they originally came from. Sand is kicked into their shoes, but they just ignore the uncomfortable feeling and continue running in order to put distance between themselves and the guards. As they swiftly make their way back onto the crowded streets, Cleo runs ahead to take the lead once again. She slips through a gate before then turning a corner that leads to the stables for horses.
"Go, go, go!" John B urges.
Assuming that Cleo had just run down the street and turned another corner, the Pogues do exactly that; they hurry past the stables, mumbling apologies to anyone that they accidentally bump into along the way. Their actions are rushed and are not properly thought through since they are attracting unwanted attention from the public, but this because they are afraid that Singh's guards are trailing closely behind them.
"Bloody rasshole!" Cleo mutters before shouting out to them all. "Hey! Come!"
"That way!" JJ says.
Each of them quickly turn on their heel and run to the stable that Cleo currently stands in. She directs them further inside, turning a corner and entering an area that's full of hay bales. Everyone instantly ducks down to ensure that they are hidden, keeping as low to the ground as they can. John B then inches closer to the metal fence that separates them from the street, peeking out through the diamond-shaped holes to see if anyone was following them.
"They coming?" Cleo asks.
"I don't see anything." John B replies.
"So what's plan B? We just kicked the hornets nest. We need to think of something quick." JJ tells them.
"Calm down." Pope says.
"Calm down?" JJ repeats. "If we do something to their guys, they're going to do something to Kie."
"That was your idea!" Sarah reminds.
"I know that was my idea!" JJ exclaims as he holds his hands up. "My bad! That one's on me!"
Silence fills the air. Each of them appear to be lost in thought, trying to think of a plan that will help them safely get Kiara back. Carlos Singh is definitely out to get them now that they've crossed him, so it may be harder for them to sneak around because he has people everywhere. He also has the advantage since they have never been to the island before and have no way to navigate unless they use the phone or ask random civilians.
"What if I offer myself up as a hostage?" JJ suggests.
"That's quite possibly the worst idea you've ever had." Pope replies.
"Hear me out. What if I got inside the walls and did the Trojan horse type thing? That's how wars are won!" JJ continues.
"That's not how a Trojan horse even works!" Pope exclaims.
"JJ, we're not gonna let you give yourself up to be a hostage." Delilah states.
"Okay, fine. We won't do that then." JJ agrees.
Pope raises a brow. "Oh, so you'll listen to Del instead?"
"Hey, do any of you hear the church bells?" John B asks, interrupting their conversation.
"Bells?" Sarah repeats with a frown, confused.
"My dad used to use it to call me home." John B informs, smiling at the memory,