CHAPTER FORTY ONE
[41]
song: boys in the wood by black lips
They sailed down the river in silence for a long time. Everyone exhausted from a day spent traveling and running. Though the engine of the boat was loud, Cleo had found a way to fall asleep, her head tilted back and resting on the edge of the boat.
Everyone else, however, was wide awake. Eyes peeled. On too high of alert to let anyone rest, even for a second. JJ sat at the nose of the ship, steering. While Kiara and Pope sat at the other end and talked.
Cassie sat on the ground next to Rafe, who had been fidgeting with the straps of Cassie's backpack at her side. She hadn't told anyone she had a gun, because she wasn't planning on getting it out for any reason. Maybe she should've given it to her brother, but she didn't want to put that burden on him, either.
"How's your head?" Rafe asked after a while. His voice was low so he could keep the conversation between them.
He was referencing Cassie's motion-sickness induced headaches she usually got. But she'd thought ahead and took medicine before they got off the yacht this morning. "It's fine." She looked at him.
Cassie caught glance at everyone as they carried on about their conversations. Watching as Pope and Kiara laughed and exchanged whispers. She looked over to JJ, who sat up at the boat by himself.
"I'm glad that you're here." Cassie added, confidently. "It's nice, actually. To have all my people in one place. We're missing two, but. The idea is there."
Rafe smiled, just barely. Something you could only see if you were looking for it. It was clear then that he wanted to kiss her, their backs against the same wall of the boat, their heads turned toward each other.
But he didn't. He glanced up at JJ, then refocused his gaze ahead, giving Cassie a weak pat on the leg.
Cassie felt it, too. That urge to lean in and kiss him. She was thankful he had as much awareness that she did in that now wasn't the time or place. But she wondered if it would ever be.
"Hey," JJ starts. "Hey, hey—"
This got everyone's attention, that familiar frantic voice that came from him only when something was really wrong. It even woke Cleo.
"That's the first boat we've seen this entire time." JJ points forward, but turns around to look at the rest of his crew.
Cassie turned around and pushed herself up to her feet, going to join her brother at the nose. She brought John B's fishing hat back onto her head after letting it dangle from her neck by its tie, using it to block out the hot sun above her.
Miles down the river, JJ spotted a small fishing boat. Cassie followed his gaze over to it, squinting to try and see who it was. "You think it's John B and Sarah?" She asked, looking back over to him.
But if that were the case, he'd look excited, relieved. Instead, he was deep in thought, trying to calculate their next move. "No..." he got out quietly.
Pope had gotten to his feet. "What do we do?" He asked.
"Hold on." JJ announced, before yanking the steering wheel in the other direction.
Cassie stumbled back against the fishing nets dangling above her, where she held onto a pole as JJ pulled the boat out of the middle of the river. She glanced over to Rafe, who was looking out from the side, trying to see who was approaching himself.
"Hurry!" Kiara yelled, eyes focused in the same place Rafe's were.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" JJ yelled back over the sound of the engine.
Cassie saw Rafe turn and look at her from the corner of her eye. And from the heat of his gaze, she knew what he was trying to communicate with her. A sort of 'prepare yourself' kind of look.
JJ turned the engine off as they got close to the bank, letting it cruise closer to the tree line. "Get down!" He waved everyone off as he tucked the boat into its own little hiding spot in the trees.
Cassie moved back over to where she previously was with Rafe, hunkering down behind the side of the boat like everyone else did as the other boat crept closer.
"It's Singh." Rafe spoke.
This caused a wave of unease to wash over everyone. Once again, they all exchanged worried, unspoken glances. Cassie looked back ahead just as the fishing boat passed them, holding her breath the entire time.
She could see just the outline of Singh, and some of his guys that she'd come across before. All still holding the same big guns.
"But they're not looking for us." Cassie spoke, as if it were a question. She thought at any moment she'd hear gunshots, or at least see their boat start to turn and make its way toward them. But it carried on like they didn't see them.
"Yeah, they're moving real quick." JJ agrees, still standing, but behind a tangle of ropes and netting. Then, he realizes something. "They're looking for John B and Sarah. They'll know where they're headed." He says, as he quickly begins to move back to the wheel.
Rafe got to his feet, walking over to JJ. "Hey—" he said. Cassie winced at the confrontational tone he started with. "Hey, don't get too close to—"
"I was actually gonna get just right up on their ass," JJ says, as he starts to mess with the engine and get it running again. "But now I won't. Thanks, buddy."
Cassie watched as JJ gives Rafe a pat on the shoulder. One you would usually see exchanged between two friends, but it was clearly not intended that way.
Rafe clenched his jaw. "Listen, man. Your dumbass is gonna end up getting us all killed—"
JJ laughed, then immediately dropped what he was doing to turn and speak to Rafe. "Oh, my dumbass? How about—"
"Guys!" Kiara spoke sternly. "Seriously? So not the time." She looked at the two of them like they were idiots.
Rafe gave up first, passively wiping his nose as he turned back around to join Cassie again, all while not missing the chance to give Pope the same glare he was giving him.
As Cleo went to sit back down; she tripped over something covered by a barley sack. "Shit, man." She said, as she stumbled over it.
Pope pushed back the rest of barley sack, further revealing what Cleo half-way did as she tripped. "What is it?" JJ asked, as he got the boat back up and running on its previous course.
Cassie watched as Pope revealed a pile of machetes. Some rusty, some new. But enough for each of them.
"Who the hell did you buy this boat from?" Kiara asked Rafe, as she walked over to look at them. Rafe shrugged lazily, not as enamored by the discovery as everyone else was.
"Maybe he used them to cut open fruit." Cassie suggested, watching as Pope held one up. This one, in particular, was adorned with a speck of dried red blood on the blade. Cassie's shoulders fell.
"Or heads." Pope responded, then counted them out in his head. "We'll take one each. Just have them in our packs if we need them."
Cassie scoot forward to grab hers and Rafe's, trying to hide how intimated she was by the giant knife as she handed his over.
"Here." Pope says, after he looked around the floor of the boat and finding the previous owners extra pack. He tossed it to Rafe.
Cassie watched as Rafe took it, giving Pope just the subtlest of nods. Whether it was a reflex of his, or he was truly saying thanks, Cassie didn't know. And whether the same thing could be applied to Pope, if his nature of looking out for people around him was reflex, or if he genuinely wanted to help Rafe out, Cassie didn't know that either. But it gave her just the slightest bit of hope.
Rafe put the machetes into the bag, before swinging the single strap over his back. The brown, dirty bag contrasted against the white button-up dress shirt he wore. But Cassie liked it. She liked the sweat on his lip, the way he unbuttoned the shirt down to the third to let in more air. The way he took he leaned over the side of the ship to scoop of water and splash it into his face.
She liked seeing him like this, all rugged and outdoorsy. They almost felt like equals.
When Rafe caught her staring, she quickly redirected her gaze forward like she wasn't, and continued to fidget with the tie of the hat around her neck.
They sailed through the night. Following miles behind Singh on his boat, putting out all of their lanterns so they could follow them through the dark.
Everyone took shifts sleeping and steering. It was a steady course for the most part, the steering duty was just for keeping an eye on their surroundings, and to look out for Singh to see where they stopped. They brought the engine down and let the boat cruise for a while, not wanting to use up any of their gas.
It was quiet, and ironically peaceful. Only the sound of the soft whir of the boat pushing through the water, and the birds and frogs in the trees surrounding them.
The sky was a rich shade of blue, and the bright full moon acted as Cassie's flashlight when she tried to read the map in her hands.
It was her shift to man the boat. She'd gotten about five hours of sleep before Pope woke her up and told her it was her turn. But now she was wide awake, and happy to take the seat at the wheel instead of sleeping on the floor of the boat.
She shifted through the pages of the map, trying lighting a match she found in her pack to illuminate what the moon couldn't. There weren't many landmarks for her to identify if they were on the right track, only the trailhead and a specific mountain. So she had to be sure to keep an eye out for Singh's boat to see where they ended up.
She glanced behind her at everyone, sound asleep, cuddled up with one another to keep warm. JJ and Kiara, Pope and Cleo. Cassie looks over to Rafe, who shifted uncomfortably onto his back, his head leaned up against her bag.
"Hey," Cassie whispered, when she saw his open eyes glisten in the moonlight.
He turned his head towards her and let out a quiet 'hm?'.
"Are you awake?" She asked.
And Rafe nodded. It was clear he would like to be sleeping, but couldn't. He sat up, stretching out his neck before digging his knuckles into his eyes.
She took a breath, relaxing into her seat and nodding for him to come join her at the wheel.
Rafe stood quietly, careful not to step on anyone's legs as he made his way over to her. Pushing some fishing net out of the way, he came and sat on the edge of the boat next to Cassie.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, quietly.
Rafe shrugged.
"Regretting your choice?" She smiled awkwardly. "I know this isn't your first choice of boat." She adds, gesturing to the mess around them.
He shrugged again, rubbing his tired eyes again. "Don't do that."
Cassie tilted her head to the side.
"Don't—" he let out a quiet scoff. "You sound like your brother."
She didn't mean it that way at all. Or maybe she did. She was joking with him, but not in the same way JJ would. "It was a joke." She frowned.
He took a deep breath, and nodded, like he was acknowledging that he overreacted. He took a moment to think, then looked over to the rest of them. "Do they know?"
"Know what?" Cassie asks.
Rafe was focused on her, and it made her uneasy. She didn't know where this conversation was headed. "About us?" He asked, quiet.
Cassie stumbled over her words at first. "Well, they—" she starts. "They know why you're here, and why—"
He looked at her with more intent this time. "But do they know about us?"
Cassie knew what he was implying, and she wasn't quite sure how to respond. She leaned back in the seat and thought for a moment. "I mean..." Cassie thought out loud. "I don't even know what this is. Do you? Are we..."
Rafe looked at her with those eyes that made her breath hitch. So unknowingly intimidating, so serious. He wanted to hear her say it. He'd felt this way about her for a long time, it was Cassie who he'd been waiting on.
"Are we a thing?" Cassie eventually said.
This was amusing to him. The corner of his lip lifting into a slight smirk. "A thing?" He mocked her, with a nod of his head. He reminded her so much of the Rafe she knew before Kitty Hawk in this moment. So confident— no, so cocky.
She smiled, and shrugged. "A thing? Dating? I don't—"
"Yeah, yeah." Rafe whispered as he leaned in, putting a hand at the back of her neck and drawing her in closer, before connecting their lips.
Cassie kissed him for a moment, before pulling away quickly, looking over to the back of the boat to ensure everyone was still asleep, before reconnecting their lips.
She looped a finger around the dainty gold chain he wore around his neck as she kissed him, using it as her way to bring him closer.
Rafe eventually couldn't lean any further off the edge of the boat he sat on, before he got to his feet. He held her face as she sat down, her head tilted back completely as he stood in front of her and kissed her lips.
She pulled away again, before gently pushing him away and wiping her lips. A small, breathy laugh escaping her lips knowing that that was already risky in itself. "Try and get some sleep." She nodded at him.
Rafe leaned against one of the poles as he looked at her. He stood there for a moment, just taking her in, before he nodded back and returned to his spot.
Cassie got to enjoy the sunrise all to herself that morning. A beautiful orange hue had taken over the night sky, and the warm air returned to her skin as the sun began to peek back out over the trees.
They'd lost sight of Singh hours ago. It was inevitable, given the speed at which this boat went when its engine was turned off. But she'd kept a look out all night, every time they passed a lagoon she looked around for their boat.
It wasn't until a few minutes after sunrise that she realized they were creeping up on them. She'd found the trailhead and a mountain, that was her sign she was on the right track to El Tesoro. There were a few small fishing docks off a lagoon to their right, and as she pulled the boat in, she saw two of Singh's men, sat waiting and on watch, their small boat tied up to one of the docks.
"Shiiit." Cassie whispered, quickly leaning up to change gears. She tilted the steering wheel in the other direction, pulling it closer to the tree-line.
The change of course woke Kiara first, which acted as a domino effect for the rest of the group. "Wasn't my shift after yours?" Kiara asked, groggy and still half asleep.
Cassie put a finger to her lips, insinuating they needed to keep it down before pointing ahead at Singh's boat.
"Are we there yet?" JJ spoke at fully volume, slowly rising from his sleep.
"Sh!" Kiara went to cover his mouth quickly. "Shut up." She then pointed ahead to where Cassie was pointing, which brought JJ to his feet immediately.
He quickly walked over to the nose of the ship where Cassie was. "Where's the rest of them?" He asked quietly.
She shook her head, still thinking. "I don't know."
"What do we do?" He speaks. "We gotta get past them somehow."
Pope, who had also gotten to his feet at the sight of them, responded first. "Cleo, you grabbed some of those fireworks from earlier, right?"
Cleo looked proud. "Never pass up the opportunity to blow stuff up."
"Fireworks?" Kiara wasn't convinced.
"We can use them as a distraction." Pope says.
Cassie looks at Rafe, who wasn't so sure either. "What do you think?" She asks him.
Everyone looked at Rafe at once.
"Is he the decision maker now?" JJ says.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize we chose roles." Cassie retorts sarcastically.
"Yeah, no." Pope walks over to where Cleo sat, bending down and picking up her pack. "I don't really care what he has to say about any of this."
Cassie gives Rafe a knowing look. A sort of 'apology' for trying to involve him. She wanted to stick up for him. She wanted to snap at everyone for being such assholes. But there was a part of her that didn't blame them. Rafe had been awful to them. He'd terrorized them for years, and it wasn't that long ago that he melted Pope's cross down to nothing, so he had every right to be rude.
What was hard, however, was knowing that Rafe had the capability of being so gentle and compassionate but knowing that he'd never show it to anyone else. It made all of Cassie's claims that he wasn't everything they said he was feel like a lie. But she knew what he was like behind closed doors. And that's all that mattered, really. Or at least what's what she told herself.
"So we give them a..." Kiara searches for words. "A what? A firework show?"
"Yeah, so it's not really a firework show if the fireworks are being thrown at you." JJ explains.
"Okay. Sure." Kiara shakes her head, still not on board.
They pulled the boat off the river, a couple miles back from the docks where Singh's men were posted. From there they traveled on foot through the woods as not to be seen.
JJ, who lead the short trudge through the jungle, came to a stop. He held a hand out to the rest of the group, then put a finger to his lip.
Everyone bent down through the branches, now on the complete other side of the docks. Giving them a better view of what they were dealing with here.
One man remained on Singh's boat, holding a gun. He was there to keep watch, assumedly, but not very well, as he was fast asleep.
"You three over there." JJ whispered, handing Cassie four little firecrackers that Cleo had stolen off of the stands from earlier. "Wait for my signal."
"What's your signal?" Cassie asked.
"Uh, explosions."
"Got it."
Cassie was split up from the group with Rafe and Kiara, leading them back down the path through the woods and to the opposite side of the lagoon.
Rafe followed shortly behind her, while Kiara dragged slowly behind.
They quickly and quietly made their way over to a fishing shack. A small wooden building made for people who needed to take a break on their long journey down the river. Cassie waved them on after she pinned herself against the wall first, and ensured the coast was clear.
Rafe opened the door quietly, keeping his eyes on Singh's guy who remained fast asleep in the boat, before he nodded Kiara in first, then Cassie.
One of the four walls of the building had been knocked out for fishing as it sat right on the edge of the lagoon, and each of them poked their head around to watch and wait.
"What the hell is he doing?" Rafe whispered quietly, almost like he was talking out loud.
They watched as JJ, in the fishing shack across from them, held a fishing pole and cast it out at the man in the boat.
"They're having way too much fun with this." Kiara whispered.
Rafe watched carefully. "Yeah? They shouldn't be."
The line dropped in the man's boat, waking him immediately. Quickly, he sat up and grabbed what seemed to be a piece of paper on the end of the line.
"What is that?" Cassie whispered.
Then a firework went off, startling all three of them and sending them into immediate action.
Cassie fumbled with the fireworks in her hands, handing them off to Kiara and Rafe before reaching into the back pocket of her shorts and pulling out the matchbook she found on the boat.
"Hurry!" Kiara whispered urgently, holding out the firework and waiting for Cassie's light.
She scratched the match and held it against the fuse, and as it lit, and Kiara went to chuck it outside, she had already moved on to lighting Rafe's.
Another explosion, louder this time.
"Miguel!" The man yelled. "They're shooting at us!"
Rafe looked up at Cassie frantically. "There's another one."
He poked his head around the opening, looking for whoever it was for other guy was yelling for. He threw his firework and ducked back in quickly. "I can't see him." He said, panting.
Another explosion echoed off the water, and this time there was gunfire. The three of them ducked further behind the wall and hunkered down to avoid any stray bullets. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." Kiara muttered with her eyes squeezed shut, as hundreds of bullets flew into the water beside them.
Another explosion, from JJ's side. "There's too many of them!" They heard the man yell, and then a boat engine turned on.
They watched, panting quickly, as the boat quickly charged out in the other direction, another one of JJ's fireworks landing in the water beside him as he sped off.
"Here—" Cassie said, bringing her light towards the last one in Rafe's hands.
And just as she did, the door to the fishing shack swung open and in came the other guy.
There was no time to think, or hesitate, or do anything as Miguel raised his gun up at the three of them, and Rafe chucked the firework Cassie had lit right at him.
And before anyone could react, Kiara was on the move. "Jump!" She yelled.
Cassie heard explosions and gunfire just seconds before she jumped off the dock and landed in the water. It was three seconds of silence under that water before she came back to the surface, coughing out what she'd taken with her.
She found Kiara first, latching onto her arm for support as they both turned back around toward the fishing shack. They couldn't see anything, they were too low in the water to look up into the building. But she knew Rafe wasn't beside her.
Her and Kiara both swam back towards it quickly, as they heard the familiar crackle of a fire begin to take hold. Rafe was pushing himself up off the ground, fresh smoke stains on his white shirt as he coughed out the rest of the explosion.
Cassie let her shoulders fall with relief when she caught sight of him. Everything had happened in the span of five seconds, but her mind immediately went to the worst possible outcome.
However, her relief didn't last long. Miguel came into view as he pushed himself off the ground, too. "Hey!" Kiara shouted, warning Rafe. "Hey, behind you!"
Rafe turned around just as Miguel fired off another shot, however he'd tackled him before it could go anywhere. His gun tilted up, firing lines of bullets through the tin roof as Rafe pinned him to the ground.
Cassie and Kiara frantically swam back to the dock of the fishing shack.
"Hold on!" JJ's voice echoed off the water, or maybe Pope's, Cassie couldn't tell. She was too focused on getting out of the water before someone wound up dead.
Fueled with panic and adrenaline, she somehow lifted herself out of the water and onto the dock. Just as she heard the loud crack of bones ring out in front of her.
She watched, panting, struggling to catch her breath, as Rafe repeatedly pounded the butt of Miguel's gun against his head.
"Rafe!" She yelled, almost choking on her own words.
He dropped the gun as he rose to his feet, looking down at Miguel below him. He stumbled back, still not fully recovered from the blast. And as he put a hand to his chest and caught his breath, Cassie noticed the blood that wiped off his hands and onto his shirt.
She remained on the dock, water dripping from her clothes and hair as she looked at him, and then to Miguel. He wasn't dead, still coughing on the ground and groaning, though he looked like he could be.
When the door swung open again, everyone jumped. Like it was going to happen all over again. But it was only JJ, Pope and Cleo this time.
"Holy shit." Kiara choked out, as she pushed herself up onto the dock next.
Rafe took a deep breath, then coughed again, as the new onlookers took in the sight ahead of them. "What the hell happened?!" Pope asked, his eyes wide ahead at the bleeding man at his feet.
JJ came over to the end of the dock, stepping over Miguel and bending down to help pull Kiara the rest of the way out of the water. "You guys alright?" He asked, his eyes focused on both his sister and Kiara in concern.
Cassie nodded, though she wasn't so sure she really processed what just happened as it had started and finished in what felt like ten seconds.
JJ grabbed onto Cassie's arm and helped her to her feet. "I'm good." She nodded.
"We'll take his gun and tie him up to the post outside." Cleo says, as she went to stomp out the small fire that the firework had started.
Cassie looked at Rafe, who was still adjusting. His once white shirt was covered in ash and blood as his eyes remained glued to the floor. He flexed his hand muscles as he swallowed down his next cough.
Kiara, after ringing out her shirt, looked to Rafe. "You good?" She asked, still out of breath herself.
Rafe looked up. Almost like he'd forgotten there were others around him. Before he cracked his knuckles, stretched his neck, then nodded. Like it was just no big deal.
"He came out of nowhere." Kiara explains.
Cassie made her way over to Rafe, her eyes focused on his in concern, looking for what he wasn't willing to share with the rest of the group. She grabbed his hand gently. "Hey," she spoke quietly, trying to meet his eye-line.
"We could get some information out of him." Pope continued, the rest of the group beginning to plan their next moves.
Rafe shook his head, another one of those moments where he had every right to say 'I told you so.'
"You're okay?" Cassie asked him.
JJ responds to Pope. "Yeah, if he ever wakes up."
Rafe nodded again, moving past her and towards the end of the dock. He bent down and washed the blood off his hands in the water.
Cassie was once again plagued with immeasurable guilt. How quickly that could have gone wrong. How quickly that could have killed him. When he was here for no reason other than her.
"We don't have time to wait." Kiara says. "Singh probably sent more guys down here after hearing the gunshots, we need to start moving. Like, now."
"No bullets left." Cleo spoke, after bending down to examine the gun. She looked up at Rafe. "Nice job, white boy."
Cassie let out a breathy, relieved laugh as everyone started to move out and move on. But before she did, she looked to Rafe one more time. "Thank you." She spoke.
Rafe flexed his hand muscles again. "Shit." He exhaled, getting a good look at Miguel down on the ground as everyone filed out of the shack.
Cassie followed his gaze. The man was withering around on the ground, bleeding from the newfound gaps in his head. She winced at the sight.
Rafe could've killed him, if he wanted to. If Cassie came out of that water five seconds too late. He would have killed this man. But he would have killed him, to save her. And Cassie wasn't sure if that brought her more fear than it did comfort.
As the group began to file out of the shack, and Cassie had ensured that Rafe was truly okay, she started to follow him out the door. But it didn't take much walking for Cassie to realize something wasn't right.
There was a sore, burning pain in her side. Something she hadn't noticed until they started their walk through the jungle again.
She brought her hand under her shirt to the spot and felt around, and when she pulled it back out, her fingers were bloody.
Wiping them off quickly, she looked around to ensure no one saw before she stopped and let the group get ahead for a moment. "One sec." Cassie spoke to Rafe beside her, acting like she was going to get something out of her backpack.
When Rafe carried on, Cassie took her bag off her shoulders and knelt down to the ground. Again, she made sure no one was watching as she lifted up her shirt.
Just under her ribcage on the side, she was bleeding. A lot. Something had hit her. Initially she thought it eas shrapnel from the firework, and then she realized she'd probably been grazed by a bullet jumping into the water.
It didn't hurt, not yet. For now it was just sore, but she was still working off the adrenaline from earlier and knew the pain would come quickly. There was no entrance or exit wound, the bullet was nowhere to be found, but it'd taken out a big chunk of her flesh.
Quickly, she pulled her bandana off from around her neck, unraveling it before she wrapped it around her waist, wincing as she tied it off.
Cassie let out a shaky exhale, processing what happened and what could've happened. This was close. Too close. And she knew fully well that she wasn't gonna last long up the mountain with this.
a/ n
y'all i hate to say this but i think the chapter after this one (ch 42) will be my last update until s4 comes out :(