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Eli tried to keep her breathing steady as she swam down to the boat, trying not to waste any of the precious oxygen that she had so little of.

After a few minutes, she finally reached the boat, using the railings to efficiently move around. Her hands moved around to check the various compartments, before finally finding a hatch that seemed promising.

She pulled the lid off, internally cheering to herself as she found a lock that seemed to be the correct fit for the key that JJ had given her.

‘Stick it in, twist, and pull,’ she reminded herself as she followed those instructions, a feeling of relief filling her as she managed to successfully pull the door open. She stuck her arm into the cargo hold, mentally cheering to herself again as she felt something in there. She pulled out what looked like a duffel bag, before glancing back at the monitor, the countdown warning her she had to make her way back up immediately.

Eli began to make her way up towards the surface, making sure to make her safety stop where Kie’s t-shirt was tied, only to realise that another boat had appeared next to the HMS Pogue. She quickly checked the monitor again, only to realise she had about 40 seconds left before she had to be out.

The girl tried not to panic as she saw a figure loom over the water, praying to whatever god was listening for her to not be seen. She glanced back towards the monitor, which revealed that she now only had about thirteen seconds left. The girl took one last deep breath before removing the regulator, and began to breathe out small bubbles in order to protect her lungs. If there was one thing she remembered from when she last dived, it was to never hold your breath when scuba-diving.

She could start to feel the burn in her chest, but luckily for the girl, the unfamiliar boat began to  move away. Eli waited a few more moments before breaking through the surface, desperately gasping for air. 

“Oh my god, Eli!” Kie exclaimed as the girl began to cough aggressively. “Jesus Christ!”

“Don’t scare us like that!” Pope said as he clutched his chest over his heart.

“How did it go down there?” John B questioned, and Eli couldn’t help but beam in response.

“I’d say it went pretty successfully,” she cheekily responded as she threw the bag over the side of the boat, which John B held up in victory.

“There we go!” JJ cheered as held out his hand. “That’s my girl.” Eli giggled as she grabbed onto the blonde’s hand, allowing him to help her back into the boat.

“You scared the shit out of me,” Kie stated as Eli began to pull off the scuba gear.

“Who was on that boat?” Eli questioned, hand against her chest as she attempted to soothe the lingering burn from her violent coughs.

“Yeah, the cops were up here,” Pope answered. “But, uh… took care of them.”

“Yeah, you kinda missed the show, El,” JJ continued as he sat down next to her, helping the girl wring out the excess water in her hair.

“Hey, guys?” Kie suddenly spoke with a concerned tone. “Guys, bogey, two o’clock.”

“What?”

“Do you recognise that boat?”

Kie shook her head. “I've never seen it. What are they doing back here? The marsh is closed.”

“I don't know,” JJ started as he stood back up. “Let's not stick around and find out.”

“JJ, get the bowline,” John B ordered as everyone scrambled to get into position.

“Should we wait on ‘em?” Pope questioned, to which John B immediately cut off.

“No, we're not gonna wait on them. Get the stern! Go!”

“JJ, hurry up.”

Eli nervously watched as the boat got closer, waiting for the boys to finish up so they could get out of there.

“Guy, don't wait for me,” the blonde boy ordered as he continued to pull up the rope. “Just go!”

“Let's go!” Both Kie and Eli exclaimed.

“Are they coming for us?” JJ questioned as he finally finished up, stepping down from the edge of the boat.

“Oh my fucking God, just go!” Eli exclaimed, to which John B finally began to steer the boat away.

“Go into the marsh,” Pope advised, whilst Kie continued to tell John B to get a move on.

“I'm going!” John B finally cracked. “Act natural.”

Eli nervously turned back to look at the strangers, only to realise they were beginning to speed up.

“Shit, they're following us!” Eli revealed with a panicked voice.

“This can't be good,” Pope muttered to himself.

“Shit.”

“Dude, you gotta go faster!” JJ exclaimed.

“I'm going!”

“Gun it!”

Eli continued to keep an eye on the two men, jaw dropping when she noticed what one of them was holding.

“Get down!” she exclaimed as she grabbed Kie and Pope by the arm, pulling them down. “They have a-”

The sound of a gunshot caused Eli to let out a scream in terror, the girl pressing down as far she could as she shook in fear.

“Holy shit,” Kie exclaimed from next to her, hands over her head.

“John B, get down!” JJ exclaimed, trying to pull the boy down.

Another gunshot rung out, causing Pope and Eli to flinch again.

“Oh my god, we're gonna die,” Pope yelled, trying to push himself against the back of the boat to hide from view.

Despite the target painted on his back, John B somehow continued to effortlessly weave through the marsh, without a single bullet landing on the HMS Pogue. After all, John B knew these waters the best.

“Pope, move!”

Eli looked up to find Kie moving to her feet, reaching out to grab something from next to where John B stood.

“Get down, Kie,” John B exclaimed as she finally pulled out a fishing net, carefully shuffling across towards the back of the boat without losing balance.

Kie launched the net into the water with a grunt before ducking down again, cheering as the net got stuck to the propellers, causing an unhealthy sputtering sound and slowing the enemy boat down to a stop.

Eli rolled onto her back in relief, her hand clutching her racing heart as the pogues began to holler in relief.

“Booyeah!” JJ cheered. “Pogue god, man.”

“When I said I didn't wanna be on the receiving end of a gun,” Eli began as she looked up from where she laid. “I wasn't joking. I told you scary smugglers had scarier guns.”

“Yeah, that was insane,” Kie added as she laughed.

The pogues finally made it back to their dock, the adrenaline finally wearing off after their high speed chase in the marsh.

John B made it off the boat first with the mysterious bag, with the others following closely behind in anticipation.

“What do you guys think it is?” Kie questioned as John B set the bag on the floor.

“Gotta be money, right?” John B replied, attempting to find the zip.

“That or a couple of keys with street value to the low- to mid-mils!” JJ added with an excited grin.

“I just hope it's not cocaine or something,” Eli prayed.

“Can we please just open the bag!?”

The group turned to face Pope with raised brows, surprised by his sudden outburst. Eli and JJ couldn't help but let out a laugh.

“Wow, Pope,” John B said with an impressed look. “That's a rare outburst of emotion.”

“Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation,” Pope defended, pointing at John B. “Open the bag.”

“Okay, jeez,” John B let out as he finally reached inside.

“We almost died over this.”

Eli watched as John B pulled out a smaller bag, which contained a metal canister of sorts. She watched with the others as he twisted the lid open, nervously tapping her fingers against the wooden post she was leaning against.

The group let out a collective sigh of disappointment as John B tipped the canister upside down, revealing an old compass.

Pope threw his hands on his head as he groaned. “Oh, wow. Yup. That's about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass.”

JJ pulled off his cap in frustration as he watched John B fiddle with the relic. “Dude, what? It's not worth anything.”

“Are we sure about that, though?” Eli questioned as she turned and leaned over the wooden railing. “Must be worth something if we got shot at over it.”

“Guys,” John B began, in an uncharacteristically quiet tone.

“This was my father's.”

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I know nothing about scuba diving don't roast me pls

Nova x