----
The pair made their way throughout the ship, making sure to look out for Rafe. They turned a corner in the maze of hallways when they heard a scream. Looking down the hallway then back at each other, Liv and John B took off down the hallway towards the familiar cries. They reached a door and John B shoved it open, revealing who stood outside.
Ward was looking down at his daughter as she clawed at his hands. Ward's knuckles were white from the sheer amount of pressure he was applying to Sarah's neck.
Liv and John B did not hesitate to jump into action. John B closed fists connected with Ward's cheek sending him backwards as Sarah's body fell to the ground. Liv ran to her sisters aid, grabbing the girl's head.
"Liv," Sarah coughed, tears forming in her eyes, "I was coming to get you. I promise-"
"Hey, hey, hey," Liv shushed her, running her fingers through Sarah's hair to try and calm her down. Of course, she would come back to get her, Liv did not doubt that for a second.
Once Ward was on the floor, struggling to breathe like his daughter, John B knelt next to them, moving into Liv's position and comforting his girlfriend. As Liv stood up, she didn't notice her father behind her. His arms wrapped around her neck pulling her backwards. She cried out in pain as she was thrown to the ground. Pain shoots through her already bloody head, making the next few moments a blur.
She missed John B attempting to tackle Ward but instead, the man was able to get a good grip on his neck and pulled him away. She missed John B pushing Ward, making him fall back and slam his head onto the edge of the ship.
Her eyes slowly open as she regained consciousness after a few seconds. As she sat up, her eyes widened at the sounds of her fathers whimpers and groans.
"Is this how you killed my father?" John B cries, grabbing the man by the shirt, "You just threw him into the ocean? I never got to say goodbye. Because of you."
Liv's heart ached for John B as she watched him wrap his hands around Ward's flannel shirt, pulling him upwards. John B's tear filled eyes lifted up to meet his girlfriend's numb face as she nodded slightly.
His head then turned towards his best friend. However, Liv did not meet his eyes at first. Instead, she continued to look at her father, with an expression full of anger. But after a few seconds, she looked up at him, with a blank expression. She knew he was confused with what to do, torn between revenge or letting go for them. And she didn't want to effect his decision, she wanted it to be his and his only.
So he let go. Ward groaned slightly as his head hit the floor. Sarah's eye closed, letting a single tear fall down.
"Hey, we gotta go," John B said, grabbing his girlfriend's hands and standing up.
Liv stood up, stumbling slightly as dizziness over took her.
"Hey, you okay?" Liv flinched at the sound of her best friend's voice and her eyes opened to see the pair staring at her.
"Never better," Liv smiled reluctantly.
"Well, we gotta pick up the others," John B said and grabbed Sarah's hand, walking to the edge of the ship. Counting down from three, the pair jumped from the ship.
Liv paused for a second, looking down at Ward. His eyes were staring right back at her with an expression that Liv couldn't decipher. And she couldn't help but grimace back at him.
"You just can't stop, can you?" Liv growled, eyes narrowing, "Karma's a bitch."
Then she jumped.
----
Just like they had planned, a few seconds later, Pope and Cleo leaped off the ship and into the ice cold water. She watched Pope and Cleo's heads bounce around in the ocean as John B drove the lifeboat towards them.
"No, no, no!" Pope shouted and her eyes travelled to the cross. The cross was hanging off the side of the ship, with Rafe and others from the ship trying to pull it back up.
Once the group had finally reached Cleo and Pope, Liv and Sarah ran to the side of the boat and helped them back into the boat.
"Thank you," Cleo smiled at Liv, gratefully, once she was on the boat.
"Cleo?" Sarah exclaimed, grabbing the girl by the shoulders.
"Long time no see," She laughed and her arms wrapped around Sarah.
"Where's J and Kie?" Liv asked.
"I thought they were with you!" Pope said, eyes widening.
"No."
"Shit."
"We gotta find them, alright!" John B panicked.
"Last time I saw them was on the other side of the ship," Cleo told them and they set off towards the other side of the ship.
----
"Liv, John B! Help!" A voice cried out and their heads flew up, eyes scanning the water.
"Over there!" Liv pointed towards the two bodies in the middle of the water, "Kie, JJ, we're coming, just-"
But then something made her heart drop. JJ's head was flopping around in the water. He was unconscious.
"John B," Liv cries, "Hurry, something's wrong with JJ!"
Their boat finally pulled up beside them and they all rushed to the side of the boat. The boys grabbed the unconscious boy, pulling him onto the boat. Once JJ was out of her hands, Kie swam towards Liv and let the blonde girl pull her into the boat.
Liv quickly kissed the girl before they both moved around to JJ.
"Shit, shit, shit," John B cursed, attempting to start up the boat.
"You serious? We're sitting ducks!" Pope shouted.
"We gotta..." Liv started but her voice trailed off as she noticed a figure up on the ship. Rafe stood against the railing, gun pointed at them, fingers on the trigger.
"Guys, he's pointing at us," Pope told them, also noticing Rafe.
As the rest of the group shouted at John B, Kie and Liv knelt beside JJ.
"Come on dude!" Liv slapped his face many times attempting to wake him up.
The engine growled and John B cheered. And once the boat sped up and drove away, everyone turned towards the blonde boy. Liv moved to the side to let Pope sit beside his boyfriend.
"Please wake up," He begged, running his hand through his blonde locks.
"Get up!" Kie cried, banging JJ's chest aggressively. Suddenly, his head lifts up, water pouring out of his mouth.
"Oh thank god," Liv sighed.
"Cough it up, cough it up, baby," John B said, rubbing JJ's back.
"Welcome to the land of living, dude."
"No CPR needed, huh?"
JJ looked a bit confused at first as his eyes travelled from person to person. They finally landed on Pope and a grand smile appeared on his face.
"Hi," Pope squeaked.
"'sup," JJ winked, making everyone laugh.
"Glad he's back to his old self," Liv grinned.
"Always looking for attention, huh?" John B added.
"Whatever it takes, right?" His hand travelled to the bloody wound on the side of his head, "What happened?"
"A blunt end of a machete happened," Kie answered.
"Next time duck," Cleo said.
"I'll try to remember that next time, thanks."
Liv noticed Pope staring at the cross that was successfully pulled back up and onto the ship. She nudged him a bit and the boy turned around quickly.
"This shit ain't over," He growled.
"No it ain't."
----
"Come on, guys," JJ huffed as the four of them pulled the boat onto shore. After what seemed like hours of searching, they finally found an island that seemed to be deserted. Liv stood next to Pope, tugging the boat along with the other boys. She looked behind her at Kie, who sat with Cleo and Sarah. Liv winked, attempting to impress the girl.
"Stop flirting with Kie and pull the damn boat," John B groaned, earning a kick in the shin from Liv. Soon enough, the boat was on the shore.
"Good job, guys," Sarah called out.
"Did you like that?" Liv grinned, kissing Kie on the cheek before she sat down.
"Shut up," Kie laughed and pushed Liv's face away, jokingly.
"JJ, you alright there?" John B asked him after watching him stumble.
"Yeah, still a little dizzy," He placed a piece of fabric on his wound, "Okay, anybody know where we at?"
"Deserted beach, unknown island," Pope answered.
"Alright, I'll take that as a no... Plan A, huh, Pope," He sat down next to Pope, "That went well."
"Ok, we do not need your negativity right now, JJ," Liv groaned, head in hands.
"This is the lowest you can go," Pope added, "We literally have nothing else to lose. The cross, gone."
"The gold," Sarah said, "Gone."
"Seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we got beat up," JJ chimed in, "I'd say we are at a dollar fifty."
"That's more than I got on me," Cleo joked.
"That somehow doesn't make me feel any better."
As everyone around her moaned about their situation, Liv stared off into the sea. For her, it wasn't so bad being stuck on this island. For her, it was like all of her troubles had been washed away. No Rafe, no Ward, no one around to tell her what to do, no kooks attempting to beat her up and no pogues giving her looks that said 'you don't belong here'. She was with the people she cared the most about, her family. And that was all she needed.
"Yeah you're right," John B agreed with them, "But we've had some good stuff happen, right?"
"Name something," Pope called out.
"Um," He hesitated, "The boiler room. What? If the boiler didn't explode, we wouldn't have gotten away from Rafe." He nudged Liv, with a small smile on his face. "We couldn't have gotten the Zodiac and got out of here."
"That wasn't luck," Cleo laughed, "That thing was gonna blow the second I stopped feeding it."
"Stealing my thunder, Cleo, uh..."
"Sorry."
"Okay, Pope... you are related to Denmark Tanny. That's crazy."
"And I lost all his inheritance," Pope sighed.
"Sure, but you also found it," Liv interrupted, "Pope, you were the first person ever to figure out where the cross was. You, a sixteen year old boy, were able to beat hundreds of years worth of research and find the cross with only a diary. Doesn't that count for something?"
"No," He retorted, "Because I lost it. It's all gone. Everything I did was for nothing."
"Guy," John B exhaled, "This is it. This is the pogue life. We are in the Caribbean. It's our own little slice of paradise. With my best friends, with my family. I don't know. I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. Look, and while you guys were complaining about every little thing... JJ, Liv," He called the girl over to where the two boys were standing, "I was looking at those burly lefts."
The trio looked from one to another, with mischievous grins on their faces.
"There's some slabs out there," JJ said.
"Just a few," He turned to Kie, "Kie, see that? I know you wanna get out."
"No boards," Kie shrugged.
"Well, we can bodysurf till me make some boards," Liv offered, kneeling down behind the girl and grabbing her shoulders.
"Lame."
"Pope? Come on, man."
"They do look pretty tasty," Pope muttered.
"Oh yes they do."
"There's nobody around," Pope stood up, "We could squat for a bit. Kind of belongs to us now."
"There's the Pope I know," Liv cheered and let him put his arm around her shoulders.
"You got a point," John B laughed.
"Seven way split?"
"Poguelandia," JJ attempted to do a British accent but again, failed miserably, "I claim thee Poguelandia," He returned 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... in crocs."
As Liv laughed, she turned to the side and noticed Cleo's confused face and Liv whispered, "You get used to his endless rambling."
"I could use a J," Kie muttered.
"Can we vote?" Sarah asked.
"Shall we get to work?" John B turned to Pope.
"Let's get to work."
"Let's start working on provisions."
"Welcome to the pogues," Liv held out her hand and pulled Cleo up.
"Thanks."
"Going full pogue," Kie grinned.
"What is a pogue anyway?" Cleo asked, "What is that handshake you do?"
As Pope began to teach Cleo the handshake, Liv ran up to Kie and wrapped her arms around her waist.
"Full pogue," She whispered, looking up at Kie with the widest smile. She was finally home.
----
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE ON THIS STORY!! It's actually crazy how far this story has gone, I did not expect any of this. I am so excited to start Season 3, however, I am going to take a break for a bit (Probably won't be long though) to focus on my other books!!