So, now John B had one gold nugget, they needed to get the rest out of there. Apparently, there had been a secret tunnel off the side of the well, and inside it contained all the nuggets.

Pope, of course, had been the one to make the plan of how to get the rest out of there. It had been drafted already, and Elora, Kie and Sarah were sat in the open Twinkie looking at the piece of paper right now.

"So, he said it looked something like this," Kie said.

"So..." Sarah put her finger to the page. "That's fifty feet down, and they're using an a hundred feet rope."

"So I guess this little wagon will go..." Elora trailed off, laughing with the other girls at the terrible drawing. "Straight to the gold room."

Sarah laughed. "Who drew this?"

"Who'd you think?" Kie giggled, staring over at Pope.

"He needs to take some fuckin art classes," Elora grinned, causing another bout of giggles. "Almost as blind as Mrs Crain from last night."

"Kie!" JJ called, causing the giggling to stop as he dumped the three gold nuggets down, a blowtorch with them. "This better work. We can't pawn this with a giant wheat symbol on it."

Kie shrugged, picking up the blowtorch. "It's gonna work."

And it kind of did, as Kie melted the gold in a pot that was resting on the stove and the rest of the Pogues stood around her, watching.

They got it melted down soon enough, making no hesitation to drive straight to the pawn shop to try and get their first round of money.

"Hell of a job melting it down, Dr Frankenstein," JJ commented to Kie as they all got out.

Kie rolled her eyes. "Like you could've done any better."

"I could have done much better, I took a welding class-"

"When? Huh, wh-?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey!" John B got in between them. "Chill out, okay?"

JJ shrugged. "Easy for you to say, you don't have to try and pawn this piece of shit off. How did I get this job, anyway?"

They'd managed to get the gold melted into a sort of blob with a flat bottom. It didn't look the best.

"Cause you're the best liar," Pope replied lightly.

The shop bell rang as they all stepped inside, JJ going first with the gold.

"Afternoon, ma'am."

"Afternoon," the shopkeeper was a woman with a very skeptical expression.

"I see you buy gold," JJ said conversationally, sliding in in front of the whole group.

They got a sarcastic reply. "That's what the sign say, don't it?"

"Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, cause I'm about to blow your mind," JJ smirked.

"Well, I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it."

JJ grinned, taking the gold out his pocket and placing it down on the counter. "How bout them gold apples?"

The woman took one look at it and chuckled. "That ain't real."

"That ain't real?" JJ repeated. "Feel how heavy it is."

She frowned, picking it up and feeling that it was indeed very heavy.

"Let's get some light on that," JJ said, and she nodded, picking up a magnifying glass with a light on it.

"Spray painted tungsten," were the three words she spoke.

"Spray painted tungsten? Really? Okay..." JJ sighed, arms crossed. "Why don't you see how, uh... soft it is?"

She did, and seemed surprised when the test was actually passed. JJ, meanwhile, grinned and said. "Wow, would you look at that?"

"Hold your horses," she advised him. "We ain't got to the acid test yet."

"Ooh! The acid test," JJ looked to the rest of the Pogues. "My favourite, guys."

Unsurprisingly to all them, the gold did not change when the acid was placed upon it, and the woman frowned. "Well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted..."

"Ma'am, I'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long," JJ told her.

"It looks like somebody tried to melt it down," she said accusingly, looking JJ in the eye.

"My mum," he said, without hesitation. "She had all this jewellery laying around the house, and she thought it was best to- to melt it down. To 'consolidate' it."

The pawnbroker raised her eyebrows, putting the gold on the scale. "Seven pounds? That's a lot of earrings."

"Okay, to be honest, ma'am..." JJ paused. "It's really hard to see my mum fall apart with alzheimer's."

The woman looked him up and down. "Give me a minute."

"Take all the time you need, ma'am."

Whilst she disappeared out back, the Pope and Kie went to JJ, trying to get his story straight. But the pawnbroker didn't take long, coming back out quickly.

"So, uh... I talked to my boss," she told them. "And, uh, this is what I can do."

She placed a small receipt on the counter and JJ looked at it.

"Fifty thousand?" JJ demanded. "You think I walked in here not knowing the spot price? Ma'am, I know for a fact that this is worth one forty, at least."

"Well, sweetie, you in a pawnshop," smirked the broker. "This ain't Zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?"

Behind him, Elora clenched her fists. Shit.

"Ninety, or I walk."

"Seventy. Half price... and, um, I don't ask questions about where you got it."

JJ looked sideways at Elora and John B, both of whom were stood with their elbows on the counter. They stared back at him, nodding.

So JJ said. "I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please."

They were all grinning, barely containing their excitement.

Then the pawnbroker broke the news.

"Well, here's the snag," she said. "I don't have that much denominated, not here, anyway. I can write you a cashier's cheque."

"Cash-? No, ma'am, I want the cash hard. That's what the sign says," JJ sighed, pointing to the sign above the door that said 'Cash for Gold'. "I want cold hard."

"Well, I'll have to send you to the warehouse, we have the money there. That alright?" The woman asked him.

JJ stared back, all six Pogues behind him tensed in anticipation. "Where's this warehouse?"

𔓘𔓘𔓘

The radio played at a low volume as the Twinkie drove towards it. Elora was sat next to Tyler, hand running through her hair.

"So, they keep money out here?" Pope frowned.

"I guess so," shrugged Elora.

"That's what she said," nodded JJ, before chuckling. "Heh, that's what she sai-"

"Stop!" Pope complained, as both JJ and Elora grinned.

"I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive," Tyler put in, referring to the place they had been told to go.

"Cause you're rich," JJ said immediately.

Elora rolled her eyes. "And you've totally heard of it, haven't you?"

Tyler's lips twisted, because she had just defended him, and Kie brought them all back to the present by saying. "There's nothing but weeds back here."

"Alright, just cause there's weeds, doesn't mean it's, like-"

JJ was cut off by a siren behind them.

"Cops?" Elora demanded under her breath, looking out the back of the Twinkie to see the fucking black car with the red and blue lights. "Out here-?"

"Are you kidding me?!" JJ clenched his fists.

"What did we do?" Sarah snapped.

"Fuck all!" Elora retorted, but she wasn't angry at Sarah.

"Stash that!" John B hissed to JJ, who quickly wrapped the gold in a cloth and shoved it inside his bag. Then his eyes went wide. "Did you bring the gun?"

"No," JJ said immediately. "Everyone told me to leave it back at my place."

"Thank god, just put everything in your bag," Kie told him.

"I am! I am, alright?"

"How much weed do you have on you, bro-?"

Click.

Everyone went silent as the sound of a bullet clicking into a chamber sounded, and it became apparent that a gun was pointed at John B's head.

The man holding the gun was wearing a skull bandanna around the lower half of his face. The part visible showed long brown hair, dark eyes and an angry expression. He held the gun tighter and asked. "Why don't I go ahead and see them hands in the air, right now?"

All seven of them were absolutely shocked, only doing so when he yelled. "All of y'all's hands up in the air right now!" He pointed to John B. "You, outta the car! Let's go!"

John B, hands still up, slowly opened the Twinkie door and got out. When he was standing opposite the guy with the gun, he yelled. "Let them out! What you waiting on? Let them out!"

"This dude is batshit crazy..." Elora muttered, eyes wide as she and the others were let out the back of the Twinkie.

JJ was last, yelling. "We're broke, we're b-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP! SHUT THE HELL UP!" The man in front of them shoved the gun barrel into his chest.

"Okay! Okay!" JJ shouted.

"Lay down in the ditch!" He continued yelling, talking to all of them. When none of them moved, he screamed. "LAY DOWN IN THE DITCH! Come on, put your face on the ground!"

Elora, body shaking slightly, did as she was told along with the others. The road was rough against her elbows, and she did not want to take her eyes off this dude, but she had to to avoid being shot.

Surprisingly, Tyler next to her was seemingly calm. His eyes kept darting to her, as if wanting to check if she was okay, but he didn't seem as scared as he should be.

"That's all y'all gotta do," the man said, as he kept the gun trained on them but headed back to the Twinkie.

By this point, everyone was nervous. He began to rake through the Twinkie, starting in the glove box and working his way backwards.

"It's a set up, guys!" Kie hissed, voice full of worry.

"The old bad shanked us," JJ cursed, hitting the ground. "Fuck! Goddammit!"

Elora was feeling much the same.

But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tyler begin to move. He was sitting up, face lit up in fury, fists clenched.

"What? Tyler, no-" Elora started.

"Tyler!" Pope hissed too, his head suddenly up and alert. "Don't be a hero, man!"

"Shh, shh, shh," Tyler held a finger to his lips, now crouched but up on his feet.

Clink!

At that noise, Elora's head snapped back to the Twinkie, where (fuck) the man with the bandanna had found the gold.

Tyler, meanwhile, wasn't going for the Twinkie, but for his car, crawling into it and stealing the keys out the ignition. Elora was still on the ground, hands in her hair, tears pricking her eyes. It was scaring her; how scared she was to think something might happen to him.

"Alright, y'all just stay like that! Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads, okay?!" The man was out the Twinkie now, clutching the gold in the cloth and pointing his finger at them all.

He didn't seem to notice they were one less in number.

As he ran over to his car, a tear leaked from Elora's eye. Her heart was beating like crazy, because Tyler was just putting himself in danger for them, when he had no reason to do so.

As the man jumped in the car, Elora lifted her head up, knowing that Tyler was hiding in there, poised and ready.

And sure enough, when he struggled to start the car, the blonde boy surfaced, throwing a well aimed punch in the small space.

"Urgh!" He grunted as he wrestled the gun from the guy, winning without much force.

"Guys!" He yelled, prompting them all to stand up. "Guys, I got the gun!"

JJ was the first to run, both Tyler and Barry getting out the car just in time for a full blown brawl to start. The man threw a punch at Tyler, who ducked it and kicked him, sending him spinning in John B's direction. He punched him, sending him backwards as Kie attempted to fight him off and he fell to the ground. Sarah then hit him with the car door and he fell again.

Elora, meanwhile, had gone after the gold. She ran into the car, diving amongst the seats and seeing it glittering, pulling it out just in time.

"I got the gold!" She yelled, as Tyler kicked their ambusher against the side of the car.

"You son of a bitch!" He yelled.

The man was in no condition to reply, his head lolling and his eyes going unfocused as JJ leaned down and pulled the stupid bandanna off.

Tyler and JJ both gasped.

The man, however, chose Tyler to look up at, grinning slightly. "Well, Ty, I never thought I'd see the day. You, hanging with a bunch of Pogues?"

"Shut up, Barry," Tyler growled.

"Wait, you know this piece of shit?" Elora asked him.

"Yeah, he's a basehead," Tyler rolled his eyes. "Topper bought off him a couple times."

Sarah nodded. "Probably knows my brother."

"He sells coke to my dad," JJ nodded.

"Hey, listen, I couldn't hurt any single one of y'all-" this Barry said loudly, being silenced as JJ hit him in the head with his own gun.

"JJ!" Kie shouted, as the others held him back, Barry now wheezing on the ground.

"Come on, let's get outta here," Pope said wisely, as JJ nicked some sort of ID off him.

Then, he snapped. "We got one last stop. Let's go see where this son of a bitch lives."

Elora didn't know what he was talking about, or what he was planning on doing at Barry's house.

"Hey."

But she forgot all about that when Tyler spoke and touched her arm, making her look up at him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Elora nodded, because she wasn't sure what else to do. "Just, don't try to play the hero again, will you?"

Tyler smiled. "Don't count on it."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

"Welcome to Crackhead Wasteland," Sarah commented as they pulled up.

Barry lived in a run down trailer on the Cut, with loads of weeds and long grass around it. Elora wasn't even surprised.

"I don't know about this, man," Pope said, as JJ stopped the car.

"Dude, why are we at Barry's?" John B asked.

JJ shrugged, opening the door. "This'll only take a second."

"Where are you going?" John B asked, as he walked up to the door.

"Yo soy justicia," JJ replied, running up to the porch and letting himself in.

"Did you glean anything from that?" Pope asked as they watched him go.

Kie shook her head. "You know, someone should probably-"

"Yeah, I got it," John B said, climbing out himself and running to catch up with JJ.

Elora sighed heavily, sitting back in her seat. A memory from a while ago was floating about in her head,

"My mum used to buy from this guy," she said absentmindedly. "I remember coming to this house with her, and her not telling me why we were here. I just never knew it was him that was selling to her."

The others let this sink in for a second, all looking anywhere but her. Tyler, specifically, was avoiding her gaze, because he knew he'd been insensitive about her family in the past and he didn't want to screw his second (actually probably around fifth by now) chance with her.

"Jeez, y'all are so silent," Elora said, chuckling slightly. "She's missing, remember? Not dead."

Yet.

And in fact, that was the only way Elora could find for coping with it. Making light. She couldn't cry about it right now, so she had to laugh.

So silence prevailed until a few minutes later, until JJ came swinging out the house with a black duffel bag, John B behind him with an exasperated expression on his face.

JJ, however, seemed unfazed as he said. "Alright, we're looking at five grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit."

Everyone got out the Twinkie, absolutely shocked as they watched the blonde boy flick through stacks of bills.

Kie found her voice first. "So that's what we're doing now?" She demanded. "Robbing drug dealers?!"

"This Barry guy's gonna find out," Sarah added. "And he's gonna come after us."

"Yes, he will, this is not the time to start wilin out," Pope snapped.

"How'd you like having a gun pulled on you?" JJ snapped harshly at all six of them.

"Relax," Elora hissed, stepping close to him because she was so confused.

JJ scoffed, pointing at her head. "He had it right here on you, Ell-"

"Look!" Tyler said sharply, before Elora could shove him, or do worse. Everyone turned to him and he continued. "We've got to focus on the gold right now, and go get that. So hand that shit over, JJ-"

"You know, Tyler, you need to keep your ass outta this, you're rich already!" JJ shot back.

"Don't talk to him like that," Elora snapped. "Just give me th-"

She took a swipe for the bag, and missed, so JJ grabbed her shoulders and stared at her, nostrils flared.

"Get off her!" Tyler shouted, but the redhead wasn't even concerned about that.

"Do you feel good right now?" She snarled at him, because she was angry too. "Do you feel tough, hm? What the fuck are you planning on doing when he comes for us-"

"We punch him in the throat," JJ told her, words biting in hard.

"Yeah, like that'll do shit," Elora scoffed, forcing his hands off her. "Just fuckin put it back."

"I'm not putting it back," JJ said loudly, taking his eyes off her and heading to the Twinkie. "Your guys' loss, I guess."

John B rolled his eyes. "We're sick of your shit, JJ-"

"Of my shit-?"

"Yes, of your pulling guns on people shit!" Kie yelled.

Pope nodded. "You acting like a frickin maniac-"

"Okay, Pope, I took the fall for you, man!" For the first time, there was hurt in JJ's voice. He was looking at their friend with genuine desperation. "You know how much money I owe because of you?"

Tyler shifted uncomfortably on his feet, and Elora knew why. Because it was his family that JJ owed, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"JJ, listen-" the other blonde boy said.

"Shut the fuck up, Tyler. It's your family's fault I'm even here," JJ replied drily.

"Yeah, his family," Elora snapped, taking a step forward. "Not him. And JJ, honestly you should fucking know the feeling of hating being told you're just like your-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, ELORA-"

"JJ, listen!" Pope shouted desperately. "I'm gonna pay you back, and I didn't even ask for it-"

"I just did!" JJ snarled. "Pay it back."

Pope's eyes widened.

"Right here, right now, by myself," JJ told him, turning away. "You know what? That's exactly what I'm gonna do. Go off, by myself."

And then they all just watched.

They all just fucking watched as JJ collected his bag from the Twinkie, and departed, Barry's money still in hand.

"JJ-" Pope tried to move, but John B stopped him.

"Hey, wait, man," he said.

"Just let him go," Sarah said disdainfully.

Elora, meanwhile, stared after him with crossed arms, and a desperate yet pissed expression on her face.

"You alright?"

Tyler, meanwhile, was staring at her.

She turned to him, not knowing how to feel about the look of caring yet concern on his face, and nodded.

"Yeah."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

The six of them sat inside The Wreck, which was empty. None of them had said anything in the past ten minutes, or on the drive here.

Then, finally, John B said. "Look, he'll come around, alright? It's... he's doing a JJ thing."

"You think he'll go home?" Kie didn't look up from the table.

Pope shook his head. "There's about a zero percent chance that JJ goes home."

"Yeah," Elora nodded, eyes unfocused. "I mean, speaking from personal experience, a home like his is the worst place to go."

The situations weren't the exact same. She didn't exactly have an abusive home situation, but it was still a shitty one that she wasn't always comfortable talking about.

"Okay," Pope said, beginning to pace about. "It's too dangerous to pawn this thing off piecemeal, so our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it. Bring it all up at once, put it in- in a vault or a safe or something, I don't know. Just until we can find someone who won't rip us off. Okay, I can go figure it out tonight, get it done, and we can be out there tomorrow morning."

"Alright, let's do it," nodded John B.

"I'm in," agreed Elora.

"Easy," Pope smiled slightly.

Then Sarah looked at John B. "What about that thing with my dad?"

"Shit," John B cursed under his breath.

"What thing?" Elora demanded.

"I have to go fishing with Ward," John B told him with gritted teeth.

Pope banged his head on the table and Kie raised her eyebrows. "You can't get four hundred mill cause you're gonna go kill fish?"

"Just make something up to get out of it," Tyler shrugged.

"For fuck's sake..." Elora muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Look, I have to go," John B implored. "He- he saved me, alright? And if it weren't for Ward, I'd be in foster care. So... I have to go. Plus, it'll be better to do it at night. Right?"

He looked around at them all; Sarah was trying to look supportive, Kie was rolling her eyes, Pope was exasperated, Tyler was sighing and Elora was midway between amused and pissed off.

"Fine," Pope said finally. "Fine, go fishing."

"Yeah, and at least JJ will probably have washed up by then," Kie shrugged.

Elora sighed, looking sideways at Tyler, who was shrugging.

Great.