The four hooked the boat up to Kie's car and made it to the dump where they said they'd meet. The last 20 minutes were spent filling up on gas and loading with supplies like food. Having missed interaction with most of the other world, the four didn't know a storm was coming.
"Where is he?" Kie got twitchy and nervous that John B wouldn't make it for whatever reason. If he didn't make it he would most definitely get caught if he wasn't caught already.
"Give him a second. He'll be here," Pope said, still retaining optimism. Steve had been sitting on the little jetty with her feet dangling over the water, almost not wanting John B to come. Because that would mean actually saying goodbye.
"He's coming. He'll be fine." JJ echoed the words of Pope. The group were calm until sirens which they thought were just driving by, came closer and closer till the police car itself was visable.
"Shit." Stevie stood up quickly, her voice still coarse, "Get on the boat"
"Wait," JJ said as he looked up to see the unthinkable.
"Fuck off," Stevie smiled as she saw non-other than her luck-defying brother casually getting out of the driver's side of the car.
"Shoupe let me take it for a spin," John B said nonchalantly as he put his arms through his backpack and walked over to the boat as if nothing was wrong and he wasn't a wanted man.
"Okay, that's believable for now," Kie sounded shocked as she walked forward with her arms open, ready to encapsulate John B in a hug.
"Are you ok?" Stevie ran towards her brother once Kie had separated from him. Just seeing his face made her whole body relax. For a moment everything was fine.
"It's been a weird day." John B understated the situation as he looped his arms around his sister in a calming hug.
"Yeah, I bet." Stevie smiled when they broke away. She had almost forgotten that the only reason they were meeting was to say goodbye. this would be the last time they'd see each other for a while, Stevie wasn't sure if she could take it.
"Where's Sarah?" John B's smile fell as he noticed the absence of his girlfriend.
"She's not with you?" Kie asked even if the answer seemed obvious.
"No," John B started to panic, "No. We got separated in the swamp. She said she was gonna meet me here."
"We haven't seen her." Pope hatred to be the bearer of bad news.
"Okay, well, I'm not leaving without her," John b was clearly letting his love overshadow the severity and urgency that John B needed to get out.
"John B," JJ grabbed his shoulder. "Look at me. I know you feel bad for leaving but there's no time, man," JJ somehow could always talk some sense into John B. "You've got plenty of gas, plenty of food." JJ reiterated the details about where to go and where to run but as the plan got closer and closer to a reality, John B looked upset and guilty for leaving.
"Hey guys, " His voice was on the edge of tears, making Stevie well up too. She knew it was coming, that the last few days have been all about getting John B out but the whole time she was focused on the next step. She wasn't prepared for John B to actually leave her. Her only family left. "I'm sorry for basically... throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing,"
He had nothing to be sorry for.
"We were bound to turn off a cliff at some point right?" Stevie smiled as the tears flowed down her cheeks and everyone let out pained laughs.
"At least we did it together," JJ linked arms with Pope and Kie who were standing next to him, Kie wrapped her arm over Stevie who was on the edge. "Pogue style"
John B bit his lip and nodded. "Get out of here! Please," Kie too didn't want to see him leave but had to say goodbye to keep him safe.
"See you in two months, in Mexico," Pope said as they started to move, ready to release the boat so John B could leave.
"Wait!" Stevie jumped onto the boat just as JJ started to untie it.
"Evie!" JJ shouted worried that she was now gonna leave with him.
"I'm so sorry this all happened," Stevie consumed her brother into another hug. "I love you so much, man."
"You're gonna be okay." John B started crying slightly, "We're gonna be okay. Routlegde's have an insane amount of luck, you know." he was now closer to sobbing than speaking.
"Stevie he needs to leave," Pope did want to spoil the sibling moment but was conscious of the change John B could still get caught.
"Right, sorry," Stevie broke the hug.
"Love you too," John B kissed her forehead before she jumped off the boat, using JJ's hand to stabilise her as she added back onto the jetty. "Tell Sarah I said goodbye, okay?"
Together the four remaining pogues took a deep breath and pushed the boat out. Pushing John B away with the hope he might escape. Stevie's eyes flooded as the image of her brother got smaller and smaller. Before he got too far she ran to the end of the pier and did the two-toned whistle that they'd done thousands of times before.
John b let out a sharp breath and whipped his head around till he was facing his sister in the distance and whistled back, reassuring her. It was like the final goodbye so Stevie could calm down and patiently wait till they met in Mexico without stressing.
Kie and Pope kissing was the last thing she expected to see when she turned around and walked back from the edge of the jetty. She was amazed that it actually happened. Despite knowing that Pope had had a crush on her forever she was shocked and convinced that Kie didn't like Pope back. But it wasn't her place to intervene. Instead, she smiled as she locked eyes with JJ who was standing on the other side of the kissing couple, who looked equally as shocked whilst still smiling.
"Okay, I'm happy for you both," Stevie broke the silence after they'd stopped kissing, "but I think we should go, police are coming."
But when they'd got ready to go, the police had cornered them.
...
Shoupe had led the four to a police tent positioned under the lighthouse. It was hard for Stevie to not get offended when people were yelling about John B being a murderer and being guilty. Thankfully JJ never left her side. He stayed with his hand tightly grasping hers, keeping the two together no matter what.
It was almost like torture as they sat in the cold damp tent wondering if their friend was okay. They'd been sitting for an hour as the sun went down hoping and praying he was already long gone. Dreams that were shattered when they noticed the lights coming back on across the island and the police shouting, "That's them!"
It was quickly realised that John B wasn't alone, Sarah had made it onto the boat somehow. It almost gave Stevie some hope, thankful that her brother wouldn't be alone and that Sarah would protect him while they were running through Mexico.
Stevie had tried to run out of the tent, unable to sit calmly as she heard police launching a marine attack to catch up with the Phantom and arrest John B. Guards stationed around the tent meant she only got as far as the door.
It had been slightly too long. They'd been sitting in the tent for too long. And worry was clearly painted across Stevie's face. "It's all gonna work out," JJ tried to convince her whilst squeezing her hand, "they'll be fine, they have to be."
"It feels different," Stevie sighed.
Out of the corner of their eye, they spotted three figures in massive high-vis raincoats coming into the tent. The three of them with glum looks. Noise across the police camp had stopped leaving a pit in Stevie's stomach. Did that mean they had gotten away? Had they been caught?
The four stood up sharply and walked over so they were face to face with Shoupe, Thomas and Plumb. "Did you find them?" Pope asked first. Shoupe subtly shook his head before inhaling on the word 'no'.
"So they got away?" Kie hopefully concluded but Stevie wasn't sure.
"We, uh..." Shoupe looked sick to his stomach- barely able to finish his sentence, "We lost them."
Stevie knew what he meant.
The others asked again what had happened but Stevie knew. She didn't hear the rest of the conversation, just the word 'dead'.
And with one word, Stevie suddenly felt like she was drowning. Like waves were knocking her over and over as she sank, unable to breathe. The inch above the water the Routledge siblings had been floating above was non-existent. Both of them slowly drowning.
She saw Kie's look of mourning, still Stevie did not breathe. She saw Pope's argument with the police, still Stevie did not breathe. She saw JJ's fight with Thomas, still she did not breathe.
When air finally entered her lungs, Stevie fell to the ground with a heart-crushing scream.
And everything stopped around her.
Kie stopped looking at the police. Pope stopped arguing. JJ stopped fighting. Everyone in the tent turned to see just a young girl screaming her heart out. All of them were stunned and brought to tears by Stevie's unfiltered, raw reaction. It brought them back to reality. He's not some murderer escaping justice. He's not a criminal that ran away. He's not a guilty man fleeing punishment. He was a girl's older brother, the last of her family that remained.
JJ pushed Thomas off him and ran by Stevie's side, trying to absorb her in a hug and she screamed and cried out of pain. "Evie, Evie, Evie" He tried to comfort her.
"No! No, no, no," Stevie cried before looking back up to the three police officers, all looking sick with guilt. "You knew him! You knew him from when he was a child! He was innocent and you know it!"
"We're still looking," Shoupe tried but the teens were too upset to even care. Pope turned around and embraced Kie in a tearful hug, both mourning the loss of friends they never thought would leave.
Kie ran to her parents and profusely apologised, as did Pope who explained John B was gone. Both Stevie and JJ were still on the floor sobbing harder than the rain outside. They looked at each other for a second and realised no one else was coming. Stevie truly had lost her family.
"Come here," Heyward noticed the two alone and scooped them up into a hug letting them cry everything they had out whilst he held them. "I'm so sorry, my love," Heyward told Stevie, who was almost unable to take in her surroundings.
They had taken the three teens home, letting JJ stay the night and telling him he was always welcome. Most of them went straight to bed, sobbing into their pillows till they exhausted themselves. But Stevie couldn't.
She had retreated into a shell of herself. She wasn't crying anymore, although it wouldn't be hard to set her off, but she was just miserable. The small depression had taken full control over her and everything that was the fun and silly Stevie had gone.
She quietly left her bed and went to the pier outside of the Heyward's house. She sat with her feet dangling over the water and looked out across the water. She whistled.
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