"𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯!" Emerson screamed, as she shoved her way past John B and towards Peterkin.
Emerson leaned down, and started to sob next to her. John B ran over to help apply pressure to the wound with his bandana.
"Hey, hey. Hold still. Hold still. It's okay. Where is it?" John B frantically said. Emerson watched as John B applied as much pressure as he could to the gunshot wound, but she couldn't stop sobbing. Peterkin was the only parental figure she had left, and she was on the verge of death.
"Call." Peterkin wheezed. "Call for help." her voice was faint. Emerson grabbed the radio to call for help, until she saw Rafe pointing the gun right at her.
"Rafe, no! Rafe!" Ward begged him not to shoot. If he shot Emerson, then Rafe would've been in even more deep trouble then he already was.
"Don't try it, bitch." Rafe said, pointing the gun right at Emerson's head. John B tried to shove her behind him, but she wouldn't allow it. She didn't want to leave Peterkin's side.
"Em, sweetie, give me the radio." Ward said, while trying to calm Rafe down. "No." Emerson replied.
Eventually, Emerson gave in and gave him the radio. She noticed Peterkin constantly gasping and groaning in pain.
"Momma Peterkin, please stay with me. I can't lose you, please." she sobbed. John B looked at the girl, sympathetically. He knew how close the officer and the Kennedy girl were, it was like losing another parent in Emerson's eyes.
In the back, they heard Sarah sobbing in disbelief that her father and brother were both murderers. She witnessed her brother shoot Peterkin, and now she was witnessing him about to shoot the two 16-year olds helping out the dying officer. Her dad repeatedly told him to calm down, but the Cameron girl was scared what his next move would be.
"Run." Peterkin wheezed. "I'm not leaving you." Emerson cried, uncontrollable tears spilling out of her eyes.
"Run." Peterkin wheezed out again. "I'm sorry." John B's voice broke, starting to stand up. "I'm sorry, Momma Peterkin. I love you." Emerson sobbed, as she stood up.
"I love you too, Pumpkin. Run." Peterkin gasped for air. She didn't want to leave her there with the two murderers on the runway, but she didn't really have a choice.
As the two teenagers slowly started to back away from Rafe and Ward, Rafe didn't fail to notice them about to run away.
"Where you going? Huh?" he shouted at the two. Sarah told the two to run, as she tried to stop her brother from going after them. Ward stepped in, and tried to grab him too.
As Emerson and John B were running as fast as they could, they heard gunshots being fired at them. They looked behind them to see Sarah and Ward, struggling to keep Rafe under control. They didn't look back anymore, as they continued to run towards the woods.
···
The two teenagers have been running for awhile now. They both haven't spoken a word, and they didn't know what was going to happen next. They had no idea where to go, and where to find the Pogues, until they heard a bunch of commotion coming from somewhere.
They turned the corner of a shed- like building, and found the Pogues there. Pope was the only one facing towards them, and he immediately straightened up. Kie and JJ looked behind them to see Emerson and John, looking like a mess.
"Dude! Guys, you good?"
"Oh my gosh!"
"Em, John B!"
The three Pogues ran over to the other two Pogues, but realized they were awfully silent and quiet. They look traumatized.
JJ ran up to the two first, but eyes immediately widen when he saw blood. It was all over their clothes and hands.
"Is this yours?"
"Whose blood is that?"
"Hey, you okay?"
All of a sudden, they heard a police siren in the distance. They immediately ducked under the closest thing next to them. Emerson couldn't get the image of Peterkin out of her mind. The officer was like her second mom, so watching her get shot was something that would traumatize her till the day she died.
Emerson and John B slowly looked at each other, with horror and fear in their eyes. They didn't know what was about to happen next.
···
"Man, I swear she sleeps everywhere." Emerson heard JJ said. They were currently on their way to the police station. Everyone thought Emerson was asleep, but she just couldn't. She couldn't get the image of Peterkin dying on the floor.
"Shut up. I'm gonna go in there, and telling them what happened. Someone's gotta do it." John B said quietly, trying to not wake Emerson up. "I'm coming with you." Emerson spoke up, and everyone jumped in surprise.
"Holy shit, I thought you were sleeping." JJ said, putting his hand on his heart.
"I'm going with you. Most of the police know me here, so most of them should be able to trust me." Emerson said, and John B nodded.
As they stepped out of the car, Emerson couldn't help but feel scared. She was worried they wouldn't believe her.
Emerson and John B stepping into the police station, and heard the people on the radio talking about Peterkin. Emerson whimpered quietly when she heard Peterkin's name, but John B held her hand tightly.
"Uh, excuse me." Emerson spoke up. "Emerson, not the time, sweetie." the lady at the front desk said. She had seen Emerson come to the station often, so she immediately recognized her.
"We know who shot the sheriff." John B whispered. The lady immediately raised her head, looking at the two disheveled kids. "You stay put. I'll get a deputy." she said, and ran off to get one of the deputies.
John B and Emerson stood in silence, until they heard the one thing they didn't want to hear.
"We have a suspect in our 31. John Routledge." the radio said, and Emerson and John B looked at each other with wide eyes. "16-year old white male. Six foot. Last seen wearing board shorts, a "Bad Brains" T-shirt, and a faded red hoodie." the radio said, just as two deputies walked into the room.
The two deputies looked at John B and Emerson warily. The 'suspect' was right in front of them.
"Just breathe. Alright?" the female deputy said. Emerson looked at the two deputies, but when she did, her heart dropped. Those two deputies were the deputies who absolutely hated Emerson. They hated how everyone on the island loved her and her family. They were envious of a 16-year old.
Emerson knew they weren't gonna listen to her. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 16-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦?
Emerson knew this wouldn't end right, so she grabbed John B's hand, and ran out the door. "Kie, start the car! Start the car, Kie!" Emerson shouted at Kie, who was the driver.
Kie immediately started the car, as Emerson and John B hopped in. All the Pogues looked at the two in shock, asking them a bunch of questions.
"What? John B? Em?"
"What did you do?" the Pogues all frantically asking.
"The cops! Go! Kie, drive!" Everyone shouted at Kie to go, as they saw the cops approach them. "I'm going! I'm sorry!" Kie shouted back. Thankfully, they got away.
"Holy shit." Emerson whispered, her breaths becoming uneven. She wasn't the type to have panic attacks, but her anxiety was raising rapidly.
"Hey, it's going to be okay." John B lied, hugging her. He knew that whatever happened next would not be good.
···
"Okay. Okay. Alright, no." Pope frantically said, running up to the car. They were currently trying to get tickets to the ferry, so that John B could escape the island.
"Pope, can you act normal?" Kie asked him, noticing him stressing out.
"So, um, okay, so, bad news. The ferry's closed, and there is this." Pope handed Kie a piece of paper. Emerson leaned over to see what it was, and it was a picture of John B with a 25K award. She gasped, and she couldn't help but tear up.
John B looked over at Emerson, and saw her on the verge of tears. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, and JJ showed him the 'wanted' poster of him.
"Well, John B, uh, this is a good framer of you." JJ said, and Emerson sighed. She hadn't spoken since the police station incident, and she barely got any sleep last night. She was physically and mentally exhausted, and she wanted to kill Ward and Rafe for what they both did.
"Okay, so the whole island's looking for John B right now." Pope spoke up. "That's a lot of money." Kie said. "Congratulations, John B. You're now famous." JJ sarcastically said.
Kie suggested that they should get the HMS Pogue, so that John B could get off the island, but then realized it was at the Chateau. They couldn't go there, since it was probably on lockdown. After all, it was John B's home.
"Why can't Emerson go tell the cops what happened? Don't the police love her?" JJ asked.
"Most of the cops may love me, but the two deputies that we saw at the station HATE my guts. They've always been so jealous of me and my family, so there's little to no doubt that they won't listen to me. As for Shoupe, yeah we might be close, but he's even closer to Ward. He probably wouldn't believe me, he would think I was defending John B." Emerson spoke up for the first time since last night. Everyone looked at her, knowing she was right.
Everyone sighed until Pope spoke up. "JJ, does your dad still have that boat? The cigarette boat, the Phantom? The one he used to race."
"Maybe." JJ replied, clenching his jaw at the sound of his dad being involved.
"You could get right up the coast, no problem." Pope said. "It won't be easy, Pope. I don't know where the keys are." JJ tried to argue, not wanting to face his dad. "Well, find them." Pope snapped.
"Why is nobody moving forward?" Pope started to get mad. "Relax." Kie and Emerson told him. They didn't want to look suspicious, and attract attention.
"JJ, how much weed did you give him?" Kie asked.
"Guys, your car's on the poster." John B whispered. He didn't want to yell to attract attention, but Pope did the mistake of honking the horn.
"Can we move it, please?" Pope started honking the horn. Everybody told him to stop, but it was too late. They heard voices coming from somewhere, and they looked outside to see a little kid with his mom, pointing at their car.
"Shit."
"No, fuck."
"We got a snitch. Pope, turn the car on."
The Pogues all started to yell at Pope, until a guy walked up to the car and started pounding on the window with a smile. It attracted a lot of attention, and eventually got the police's attention too.
"Pope, turn the car on!"
"Pope, go!"
"I'm trying!"
Eventually, Pope got the car to turn on, but immediately crashed into the car in front of them. Pope started to drive, but he was crashing left and right. They eventually made it to the road, and crashed into a bunch of mailboxes. "Pope!" Everyone screamed at him.
Emerson was starting to get dizzy, and JJ and John B seemed to notice. She held her head in her hands, and tried to remember the moments when everything was okay. 'Before her parents and Big John disappeared' moments.
"I should be the last to say this, but you are not okay to drive. Stop!" JJ said, and Pope hit the brakes.
"John B, get out." Pope said. Emerson looked at Pope, then to John B.
"He's right. We'll draw the cops, you run. Em, you stay with us. We can't get you arrested, you might be our last resort." JJ said, and Emerson started tearing up again.
"I'll get the rig, and I'll meet you in the dump tomorrow, okay? Three o'clock, okay?" JJ said, as John B hopped out of the car. John B gave Emerson one last kiss, just in case it was the last.
"Three o'clock tomomrrow at the dump, okay?" JJ shouted, as John B ran off. Emerson watched as John B left, and she couldn't help the tears rolling down her cheeks. JJ noticed, and brought her in for a hug. He knew Emerson would take it the hardest, since she's known John B her whole life, and she was dating him.
···
author's note [word count: 2123]
we're almost done with the book :) i wanna finish this book before school starts for me.