*3rd POV*

"We're the Pogues, and our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time." A voice said as a young man was standing on a roof, drinking a beer. He was balancing on the roof.

"That's what, a three-story fall to the deck?" Another voice asked as a black young man stared up at the one on the roof. "I give you about a one-in-three chance of survival."

"Hm." The one on the roof said as he licked his finger and held it in the air. "Should I do it?"

"Yeah, jump." The young black man said as another young man was sitting and watching this play out with a beer in his hand. "I'll shoot you on the way down." He said holding a drill up to to the one on the roof.

"You'll shoot me?" The one on the roof asked. "Yep" The young black male said. "They're gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers." A young woman said as she walked out from inside the house.

"And they're gonna have heated counter tops." Another young woman said as she followed the other woman. 

"Of course. Why wouldn't they?" The young man that was sitting and watching said as he drank his beer. 

"This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about the turtles, I guess?" The first woman asked as she looked up at the ones above them.

"I can't have cold towels." The one sitting said. "Can you not kill yourself?" The second woman asked staring up at the one on the roof.

"Don't spill that beer. I'm not giving you another one." The one sitting said, before the one on the roof, dropped his beer.

"Whoa! Oh, shit." The one on the roof said, after he dropped his beer. "Of course you did." The one sitting said. 

"Smooth." The second woman one said. A car pulled up onto the side of the building, causing the young black man to peak around. 

"Dumbass." The first woman said. "Hey!" A man shouted. "Hey, uh, security's here. Let's wrap it up." The young black man said.

"Boys are early today." The one sitting said before he got up quickly, which caused all of them began to leave.

"Let's go boys." Both women said. "Gary is that you?" The one that was once sitting before said as he looked at the man. 

The other two men were telling him to get down. "Gary, good to see you, man!" One of them said. "Is it time?" Another one asked. "You're asking for it." One of the women told him. "JJ!" Gary yelled.

They all began running through the house after each other cheering. JJ almost got grabbed by a security guard. "I got him!" He said but JJ managed to dodge him. "Not much of a hugger!" JJ said as he followed the others quickly. 

"They're going out front!" A guard yelled as they kept running. "Go, Pope! Go! Go, go, go, go, go, go!" JJ shouted as Pope was jumping the fence and hit the ground hard. "Get up, Pope, fatso's coming." JJ told Pope.

"Hey!" The guard shouted. "Come here, you little pricks!" The other guard shouted. "Bus is leaving!" The man shouted as he was in his van. "Come on, boys! Whoo!" Both women said as they were inside as well laughing as Pope jumped inside with a grunt along with JJ.

"Hey, hey! Hey! Hey!" Gary shouted as he ran after the van. "Check out, Gary, gunnin' for a raise." Pope said watching. "Come on, Gary! Wait. Slow down." JJ said as he moved towards the open door.

"Hey! You little pricks!" Gary shouted. "You're gonna give him a heart attack." One of the young women said. JJ was leaning out the side of the van with a beer in his hand out towards Gary. "You're so close! You can do it. There you go." JJ said before tossing the beer to Gary, who missed.

"They don't pay you enough, bro." One of the women said as she appeared leaning out of the passenger seat window. "JJ, stop. Stop." The other woman said pulling JJ back inside. "Oh, come on. That sort of initiative is just begging to be punished." JJ said as Gary groans.

All of them were laughing as the van drove past a sign that read 'Welcome to the OUTER BANKS Paradise on Earth.' "The Outer Banks, Paradise on Earth. It's the sort of place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes, one island." One of the young men narrated as he was driving his van.

"All right. This is Figure Eight, the rich side of the island. Home of the Kooks. So, guess where we don't live." He narrated. "Bro--" JJ said as the van kept going. Both girls cheered happily. "And then, this is the south side or The Cut. Home of the working class who made a living busing tables, washing yachts, running charters. The natural habitat of...drumroll, please...the Pogues. That's us." He narrated as it showed the group of five piling onto each other on a boat happily.

"Pogues, pogies, the throwaway fish. Lowest member of the food chain. Okay, so the downside of Pogue life is we're ignored and neglected. But the upside of Pogue life? We're ignored and neglected, which means we do whatever we want, whenever we want." He narrated as the five of them were on a boat enjoying their time, when fish were dumped on the boat.

"Nice haul, dude. Look at that." JJ said liking the haul of fish. "Ugh, John B." One of the girls said disgusted by the fact the fish were on the boat. "Been all bait, for like, three weeks." JJ said before John B threw a fish at him.

JJ laughed. "Gross." One of them said smiling. Soon enough, they were on a bigger boat out in the sea. "That's JJ, my best friend since the third grade. He's about as local as they come. Latest in a long line of fishing, drinking, smuggling, vendetta holding salt-lifers who made their living off the water. Best surfer I know. Just don't tell him I said that. Mild kleptomaniac and a future tax cheat." John B narrated.

"Do we have a name?" A girl asked John B. "Hey." John B said smiling. "Is this guy in prison?" A girl asked. "How has that not happened yet?" A girl asked. "Come on." John B said as he wrapped his arms around the girl.

"Get off me. Don't even get me started on microplastic. Have you even heard about that island? That little island of just..." The girl said as she made a wild gesture. "And that's Kiara, or Kie, as we call her." John B narrated.

"Oh, everything--" Kie told JJ as she was standing with him. "When not saving turtles or listening to Marley, or getting a dolphin tattoo, she hands out with us. I'm not really sure why, though." John B narrated as it showed Kie laughing with John B and the others. 

"So, she's a rich kid, actually. Foot in both worlds." John B narrated as it showed Pope and John B throwing things at her. "Stop guys! My dad is gonna kill me." Kie said as she was holding a tray as she walked up a ramp. 

"Her family owns The Wreck, this Outer Banks institution. Total cash cow with the tourists. You know, I'm not really sure how her parents feel about us." John B narrated as it showed Kie having fun with all of them.

"We all sort of have a thing for her." John B narrated as it showed all the boys staring at her smiling. "Get out." Kie said as she pushed JJ playfully. "That's Simran, my twin sister. She's the type of person who's a no-nonsense type." John B narrated as it showed Simran wrestling with JJ easily.

"But other than that, Simran is the best twin sister. She helps keep me in line when I'm tempted to do something stupid. She does that for all of us." John B narrated as it showed Simran taking a joint from JJ. "No, sir. Not before you eat something." Simran told JJ. "Come on Sim!" JJ pouted.

"And that's Pope, the brains of the operation... finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit Scholarship. And the smartest person I know." John B narrated as it showed JJ and Pope somewhere and JJ went to touch something.

"Stop touching that." Pope told JJ who immediately pulled his hand away. "I want to be a coroner." Pope told a girl one night. "What?" The girl asked. "Little bit of a weirdo. His father's this legendary character, Heyward. Anything you wanted on the island, Heyward could get for you." John B narrated as he handed bags to Pope who put it on the giant ass boat JJ had.

"Now, I'm not sure Heyward knew what to make of his oddball son, but it didn't matter. He was a Pogue, just like the rest of us." John B narrated as they all were having fun. "So, that's my crew." John B narrated as it showed the five of them standing together. 

"Hey, Mr. Sanchez! Good to see ya." JJ said as they were riding in the boat. "And that's me, John Booker Routledge. And this is where my sister and I live." John B narrated as he walked through the house and shut a door to a room JJ and a random girl was in.

"Morning, Kie." John B said as he saw Kie laying on the couch. "Morning." Kie said tiredly. "Morning, sis." John B said as he saw Simran sitting in the kitchen and kissed her head in a brotherly manner.

"An old fish shack on the marsh. The Chateau, as our dad used to call it." John B narrated as John B put up a picture of his and Simran's parents. "There's Dad. He disappeared at sea nine months ago, looking for a shipwreck. Who disappears at sea these days? I miss him." John B narrated as Simran appeared beside her brother to look at the picture as well.

"And then there's Mom. She split when we were three. Last we heard, she was in Colorado. I think it was Colorado." Simran narrated as her and John B looked over the pictures. "Uncle T!" John B said as he tapped his beer against a picture as he walked off. 

"Since Dad's vanished, he's supposedly our legal guardian. At the moment, he's in Mississippi, building houses..." John B narrated as him and Simran head outside. "Hey." Simran told Pope who was laying on the couch on the porch since there was screen covers all around it.

"Oy." Pope said as him and John B did a handshake. "...Which means it's just me and Simran right now, on our own, hangin' out with our friends." John B narrated as him and Simran walked into the yard.

"Three months after our dad was missing, he was officially presumed dead. We refuse to sign the papers. Until we see a body, we're not giving up." Simran narrated as her and her brother laid in the hammock, they had outside.

*Simran's POV*

"John, Simran, it's come to our attention that you are two unemancipated minors living on your own." The caseworker said. John B and I scoff. "No...no. No." John B said. "John, Simran, I need honesty to help you. That's what we want, right?" The caseworker asked us.

"Yeah. We're being honest." I said looking at her. "Okay, then when is the last time you spoke to your Uncle?" The caseworker asked. John B looked at his wrist as if he had a watch on. "Uh.... 34 minutes ago." John B said as he looked up at the caseworker.

"When's the last time you saw him?" She asked us. "Two hours and... 43 minutes ago?" I said as I looked at her. "John, Simran, we're gonna come out there tomorrow to talk to your Uncle. If he's not there, we're gonna move forward with foster care. I want to assure you, we're gonna find you a safe and loving home." The caseworker said as we looked at her with annoyance.

*3rd POV*

"They actually thought we were gonna be happy to hear that." John B narrated.

*Simran's POV*

"Jefferson!" Pope said as we were sitting together. "And that's where this story starts. Mine and my sister's dad missing, our Uncle MIA, and the Bride of Frankenstein threatening foster care." John B narrated as we were sitting away from Pope, Kie, and JJ.

"Mrs. Jefferson was the Swamp Thing." Pope said as they were laughing together by a fire. "But we caught a break." John B narrated. "Hurricane Agatha continues its steady march towards Kildare Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina..." A news reporter said as John B and I stared at the TV screen.

"Holy shit." We both said. "Hurricane Agatha, coming in the same day DCS was supposed to do my assessment." John B narrated as we walked out of the building we were in. "Hey, Howie." I said as we walked out.

John B and I kept walking before John B got his phone out and dialed the DCS number. "DCS, an I help you?" A voice on the phone said. "Yeah, uh.... I think we're probably gonna have to reschedule." John B said.

*3rd POV*

And before they knew it, John B and Pope were at the beach with their surfboards. "It's a double overhead out there, bro." John B said as he got to a small hill with Pope. "Double overhead?" Pope asked as he got to John B's side.

They stared at the beach that had a 'Beach Closed' sign up. "Those aren't surfable waves, bro." Pope told him. John B laughs. "Says who?" John B said as he began running towards the water cheering. 

He kept having the time of his life as he looked out into the water, but as he looked, he saw a boat in the water that shouldn't be there. "What the hell?" He asked as he watched the boat, but he soon lost sight of it. The storm in Kildare soon cut the power off on the island

*Simran's POV*

I sat up from my bed as I checked my phone, but something caught my attention as I tried to do something. "No service?" I asked, before I heard John B flipping a switch. "No power. Great." John B said as we both walked through the house.

"Yo, JJ, you been outside?" John B asked as I slammed his leg. "I have polio, bro. I can't walk." JJ said before me and John B pushed the doors open to the outside to see tree branches everywhere.

"That's no good. That is not good." John B said as we took a stroll through the yard. "Agatha did some work, huh?" JJ asked as he walked outside. "Yeah, she did." I said as I put my hands on a branch.

John B tossed some branches off our boat. We heard more thunder, but we paid no mind to it. "What you thinkin'?" JJ asked as he joined John B who climbed onto the boat. "I'm thinkin' that storm surge pushed all the crabs out on the marsh maze. All those drum are gonna case the crab." John B said as I joined JJ's side.

"What about the DCS? Wasn't that today?" JJ asked. "Nah, they're not gettin' on a ferry. Come on, think about it. It's God tellin' us to fish." John B said as he was holding a branch in the air, gesturing to the sky before he threw it.

And soon enough, we were on the boat, on the way to get Pope. "Yeah." JJ said as John B was telling us what he saw when him and Pope went surfing. "It's kind of a smuggler's boat." John B said. 

"Uh... Good mornin'!" JJ and John B said to some people as I was sitting. "Sure hope Guffy's boat didn't sink. He doesn't have insurance." JJ said as John B guided the boat. "Yeah." John B said. 

"Hi, Miss Amy! You guys get through it?" I asked as we waved at her. "Still here." She told us as John B guided his boat. "She totally looked at me." JJ said as he looked at us. "I saw it." John B said causing me to laugh.

"Dude, look at this place." John B said as we looked around. "Agatha, what did you do?" I asked as we looked around. "She is a crazy lady." John B said. "Hard core, dude." JJ said as John B kept guiding the boat.

"Phew." John B said. "Hurricane surge." I said as we kept looking around. "Yeah." John B said. "We'll be cleaning this all summer." JJ said. "That is my nightmare." I said as we saw Pope. "Well, look who we have here?" John B asked as he guided the boat.

JJ whoops happily as we saw him. "We have a safety meeting. Attendance mandatory." John B said speaking into his shoulder before making static noise as if he's got a radio. "I can't. My pop's got me on lockdown." Pope told us as Heyward watched from behind Pope.

"Come on, man." JJ said before mimicking radio static. "Your dad's a pussy. Over." JJ said before making more of the radio static noise causing me to laugh. "Oh, I heard that, you little bastard." Heyward said as he looked at JJ.

"We need your son." I said as I looked at Heyward. "Yeah, and island rules. Day after a hurricane's a free day." JJ said as we were passing by. "Who the hell made that up?" Heyward asked as he stared at us. "Uh... Pentagon, I think. We have security clearance. I have a card." JJ said as he stood and looked Heyward in the eye.

"Think I'm stupid?" Heyward asked. "I'll do it tomorrow. I promise. Tomorrow." Pope said looking at his father. "You think-- No, no. Hell no. You doin' it right now." Heyward told Pope. "Get in the boat." John B whispered to Pope.

"Make a run for it." JJ said. "Boy, if you get in that boat--" Heyward began, but Pope dropped what he was holding and jumped into the boat. "How does that feel?" JJ asked. "Go, go, go." Pope told John B who immediately began to speed up. 

"Bring your ass back up here." Heyward said. "I promise I'll do it tomorrow, Dad." Pope told him. "Whoo!" JJ said happily as John B and I waved at Heyward. "You gonna clean shrimp, clean fish." Heyward said. 

"Love you, Pops." Pope told him. "You'll clean your dirty-ass room!" Heyward shouted to us. "Well bring him back in one piece. I promise!" I told Heyward as John B drove the boat. "And I don't like your friends!" Heyward shouted.

We were soon at Kie's getting her. "Oh, Top o' the monrin' to ya." John B said. "Good morning, boys, Sim." Kie said as she reached the end of the docks. "Morning, pretty lady." I said as I smiled. 

"Whatcha got? You got some juice boxes?" John B asked. "You know, just some yogurts and carrot sticks." Kie said as John B guided the boat. "How about my kind of juice box?" JJ asked as he held his hand out to Kie.

"Yeah." Kie said as she grabbed JJ's hand and got onto the boat. "Brace for impact." John B said teasingly as we all got some beer. "Salud." Kie said as we clinked our cans together. "Skoal." JJ said as we sipped them.

We all cheered happily. We were all having fun as Pope was now driving the boat. "Let me show y'all a party trick." JJ said as he walked past me and Kie as we sat in our bathing suits. "Terrifying." Kie said as we watched him.

"Hey, Pope. Can you go a little faster?" JJ asked. "Oh, God. Here we go. I'm movin'." John B said as he moved out of the way. "Doesn't work. We've tried this like 6,000 times." I said as I moved to where John B was. 

"I got this. It's gonna work!" JJ said as Pope sped up to let JJ try to do his trick, which was trying to get some beer into his mouth as he stood at the edge of the boat, with the wind in his face. "You're getting beer in my hair!" Kie shouted.

"Oh, my God. All right. All right!" Pope said as we all looked away to avoid getting the beer in our faces and hair. "All right, you're done." I said. "All right, stop!" Pope said before the motor suddenly rattles and stops, causing us all to scream as JJ was flung from the boat.

"Jesus, Pope!" Kie said as John B was laying on the bottom of the boat as had caught myself. We heard JJ groan as he resurfaced. "You okay, JJ?" I asked worried. "I think my heels touched the back of my head." JJ said in pain as John B groans in pain. 

"Kie, you okay? You, Sim?" John B asked. "I'm all right." Kie said. "I'm good, beside the small whip lash." I said as I rubbed my head as we all were in some type of mental pain. "Pope, what did you do?" JJ asked. 

"Sandbar. The channel changed." Pope said. "No shit." JJ said as he swam back to the boat. "Ugh, this is probably gonna mess this whole place up." John B said as JJ stayed in the water, not attempting to get back into the boat

"Hey, I saved the beer, though." JJ said. "Congrats, JJ." John B said as Pope was looking into the water. "Guys... I think there's a boat down there." Pope said. "Shut up. What?" John B asked. "No way." I said as I looked over at him.

"No, no, guys. I'm serious. There's a boat down there. For real." Pope said pointing causing me and Kie to join his side. "Guys... is this... It's a boat!" Pope said pointing. "Holy shit, he's right. Let's go." I said as I began taking my shorts off as John B took his shirt off as Kie took her shorts off.

"You think there's a dead body down there?" Pope asked before John B dived into the water. "Guys, wait up!" Pope said as he began undressing. "Whoo!" Kie and I said as we jumped into the water and we resurfaced.

"Pope, get your ass in here!" JJ said. "Come on!" John B said before we dived down to look at the boat. We swam closely, and we saw nothing of the sort, before we swam back up for air. JJ gasped. 

"You guys saw that?" JJ asked. "Yeah." Pope said. "Yeah, I did." Kie said. "Yeah." John B and I said as we were all smiling. "What the... that's a Grady-White. A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy." JJ said as we all swam to the boat and climbed on. 

"That's a primo rig." I said as we were all sitting on the boat. "Yeah. That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge. Maybe it hit the jetty or something." John B said. "You surfed the surge?" Kie asked.

"Yeah." John B said. "That's my boy. Pogue style." JJ said happily. "What the heck?" Kie asked. "Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?" Pope asked. "No, but we're about to find out." John B said as I began digging in the boat.

"Dude, it's too deep." JJ said. "Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ." I said as I kept digging. "Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front." JJ said. "That's fine." John B said as I grabbed the anchor. 

"Simran." Kie said. "What?" I asked chuckling. "Diver down, fool." Pope said. "Diver down." John B said. "Yeah, she is." JJ said before he pushed me into the water, and I began to sink down before I swam to the boat.

I looked around the boat, and grabbed something, before swimming back up. I resurfaced coughing. "Oh, my God. That took forever!" Kie said. "Ah, jeez." John B said. "Any dead bodies?" Pope asked.

"Looting potential?" JJ asked. "No. No. I found this motel key." I said holding the key up panting. "A key." Pope said. "Yes, a key, Pope." I said as I swam to the boat and grabbed the side of it. "Great! We salvaged a motel key." JJ said as I pulled myself onto the boat with John B's help.

"Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard. Maybe we'll get a finder's fee." Kie said as Pope was driving the boat. "Yeah, and not work all summer. Thanks, Agatha, ya batch." JJ said as we kept going.

*3rd POV*

What the group of teenagers didn't notice that a few hundred feet from where they drove by, was a body laying faceup in the water.

Meanwhile, on the rich side of the island, aka Figure Eight, workers were cutting down trees at a very large yard. "You haven't seen him since?" A man asked a woman. "Not since before the storm." The woman told him.

"What did the police say?" The man asked her. "Well, they said I have to wait 24 hours before I can report anything, but I know something's wrong." The woman told the man as they began walking through the yard.

"Nothing is wrong. You know, it's Scooter. He knows how to handle himself in a storm." The man told her as they began walking towards a very expensive house. "Well, when was the last time that you saw him?" The woman asked him.

"Uh, last time I saw him, he was prepping the Druthers with Sarah." The man told her as they walked into the house. "Sarah!" The man called out as they kept walking. "You seen the princess?" The man asked his wife.

"She's out back." His wife told him as she walked upstairs, and soon a light came back on in front of them. "Let there be generators." The man said. "Thank God. It's like living in Nicaragua." His wife said.

"It didn't fall near the house. It completely uprooted it. Oh, look at this. Storm blew it right into the pool. Be careful with that. Rose is gonna kill me." The man said to another man who was cleaning his pool.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Cameron." The man cleaning the pool said. "I don't wanna know how much it cost." Mr. Cameron said as he kept walking with the woman. "Dad, the Wi-Fi's not working. I can't post anything." A young girl said looking at her father.

"Wheezie, there was a hurricane, sweetheart." Mr. Cameron told his youngest, Wheezie. "No. No, no, no!" A young woman's voice said as she was doing something. "What is your sister doing?" Mr. Cameron asked Wheezie.

"Saving mice." Wheezie told him before she looked back at her phone. "I'm sorry. Sarah!" Mr. Cameron called out to his other daughter. "I'm busy!" Sarah said as she was holding a tennis racket and swinging it at a bird.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Cameron asked as him and the woman began walking towards Sarah. "The burrows filled with water from the surge. The birds are having a field day." Sarah said as she ran where the birds went.

"The birds have to eat too, Sarah." Mr. Cameron told his daughter. "No, it's a mouse genocide out here. No!" Sarah said as she kept swinging the racket at the birds. "The cycle of life is what it is, sweetheart. Now, come on." Mr. Cameron told his child.

"I can't be a part of it. First, they came for the mice, Daddy." Sarah said as she finally looked at her father and the woman. "I have a human being..." Mr. Cameron said. "Oh, my God." Sarah said as she walked over.

"You might help." Mr. Cameron told his daughter who shook hands with the woman. "Hi. I'm Sarah. I'm so sorry." Sarah said as she looked at the woman. "This is Lana, Scooter's wife. You were storm prepping with him, right?" Mr. Cameron asked Sarah.

"Yeah. He helped me and Zayden latch the cabin on the Druthers." Sarah said looking at them. "Last night?" Mr. Cameron asked. "Yeah." Sarah said nodding as she pants a little. "And did he go out after that?" Mr. Cameron asked.

"From here?" Sarah asked. "Yeah." Mr. Cameron said. "No. Are you crazy? There was a hurricane." Sarah said. "Well, did he say where he was doing? Get a phone call or mention anything?" Lana asked.

"He didn't say anything to me, or Sarah." A voice said as a young man walked over. Zayden. He joined his twin sister's side as he looked at Lana and his father. "I'm so sorry. Is he okay?" Sarah asked worried.

"He's absolutely okay." Mr. Cameron said. "I hope so." Lana said. "He's hunkered down somewhere. We'll find him." Mr. Cameron said as he began guiding Lana away. "We're so sorry." Zayden told Lana. 

"Thank you." Lana told them both softly as she walked with Mr. Cameron. "He's hunkered down somewhere with a six pack..." Mr. Cameron said before Sarah looked up at the birds again as Zayden sighed.

*Simran's POV*

The five of us were walking on the docks, and as we arrived, we walked into the building me and John B were in the day before. "Excuse me! Excuse me. Hey, man, we-- we found a boat." John B said but of course there was a lot of people speaking over each other.

"You're gonna wanna hear this." I tried, but was of course, not heard. "Hey! Calm down." The man told us and we looked around, before we walked off. "Well, that went well." Pope said sarcastically. 

"So, what's the plan?" JJ asked. "I think I know how we're gonna find that guy who owns that boat." John B said as I looked at the motel key that was still in my hands. "We don't know whose room that is. It could be anyone." Pope said as JJ took the key from me, and tossed it to Kie.

"I'm in." JJ said. "Come on. I'll be lookout." Kie said as we all walked. "Finder's fee. Just sayin'." John B said patting Pope's chest. "And, hey, at least you'll only be an accomplice." I said as we kept walking.

"Man." Pope said turning as he began following us down the dock back to the boat. "Come on, bubba." John B said as we walked, and soon enough, we were going through the marsh, when we came to the shittiest motel on the island.

JJ whistles. "I thought the Chateau looked bad." JJ said. "This place is a shitshow." I said as we looked at the motel. "Motel or meth lab?" Kie asked. "You be the judge." Pope told her. "Doesn't look like a place somebody with a Grady-White would stay." JJ said as he was standing at the front of the boat.

"No. Looks like a place someone with a Grady-White would get killed." Pope said as John B guided the boat. "All right. Here we go. This is your captain speaking. HMS Pogue comin' in for landing. Whoo!" JJ said as the boat hit the edge and he jumped down and got the boat tied. 

"We good?" I asked. "Yeah, we good." JJ said. "All right. Here goes nothin'." John B said as me and him began walking. "Hey." Pope said looking at us. "Yeah?" I asked as we looked at him. "Don't let him do anything stupid." Pope said pointing at JJ.

"Oh, we will." JJ said. "I'm not making promises." John B said. "Yeah, I know." Pope said as I walked and was helped off the boat by JJ. "Uh, be careful. I mean it." Kie told John B as she handed him the motel key.

John B chuckles, almost like a girl. "Yeah. Let's go." John B said as he pats JJ's shoulder and we began following my brother. "Why are all these mattresses out here?" John B asked as the three of us walked.

"After a hurricane, they ditch 'em 'cause they're moldy. Just be careful, John." JJ said as he caressed John B's face as we walked on the second floor of the motel. "God, you're so weird." John B said shoving JJ's hand away from his face.

"What was that about?" I asked my brother as we walked. "I don't know. Maybe she wants us to be careful." John B said as we walked. "Since she heard you and Sim being threatened with exile, she's just been, like, "Oh! Be so careful, John B."." JJ said as he put his hands on my brother's shoulders.

"Get off." John B told him. "'Oh, give me that John D already." Like when are you gonna swoop on that, man?" JJ asked gesturing. "Bro, you know the rule. No Pogue-on-Pogue macking. Besides you're the one always hitting on her." John B said looking at JJ.

"Of course I'm hitting on her. She's a super hot, rich, hippe chick slumming with us. Why? I can't figure it out either, but who cares, bro? I know that door's locked because I've tried it. Have you?" JJ asked.

"You need help." I told JJ as I pat his chest. "Not a little help, you need a lot of help. Because it's like every girl who just has a heartbeat, you're like... "Uhh!" John B said as we kept got to the end.

"What? It's not a big deal." JJ said as I took the key from John B and looked at the number. "Is that us? Twenty-nine. This is it." I said as I point at the number. "Okay." JJ said before he knocked on the door in some type of rhythm.

"Housekeeping." JJ said in a high-pitched voice. And we didn't hear anything. "Should we try it?" John B asked. "Yeah." JJ said as I began putting the key into the door. "No power. No security cameras. No one's gonna know." JJ said as I pushed the door open and we walked inside. 

"Huh." John B said as we saw a simple looking room, but with a bag on one of the beds. "Okay." I said quietly. "Check the bag. See if there's a name on there somewhere." John B said as I shined my flashlight on the bag and began looking. 

"A jacket." JJ said. "Denim slides." I said as I looked. "No name on the jacket." John B said. "It's a nice jacket, though." JJ said. "Definitely over 50. He's got New Balances." I said as JJ and John B walked past me and looked at something on the table between the beds.

"Yo, Sim, come here. Maybe this is where they were fishing." JJ said as I joined their sides. "Let me see." John B said. "Right there." JJ said pointing at a sticky-note. "No, that's off the continental shelf. That's Big Swell. Nobody fishes there." I said looking at JJ before back at the papers.

"Okay." JJ said before I found a paper with '61666' on it. We kept looking around. "Coffee?" John B asked in some type of accent. "Yeah." JJ said as we kept looking around. "Standard." I said. "Tissues for when you get lonely... Ooh!" JJ said.

"Did you find anything?" John B asked. "A really awesome Dopp kit you won't let me steal." JJ said as he was looking at the kit. "Yeah, 'cause we're not stealing shit." I said as I heard JJ put something in his pocket. We kept looking until me and John B came across a safe. "One, one, one." John B said as he was putting in a code. A stupid code for anyone to have.

*3rd POV*

"Biggest pet peeve?" Kiara asked Pope. "Yeah." Pope said smiling at her. "Easy. Giving one percent to the environment." Kiara said as she looked at him. "What's wrong with that?" Pope asked as he looked at her.

"We only have one Earth, Pope. We should be giving it 100 percent, bare minimum." Kiara told him as they kept a lookout. "Right. That's not fiscally sound." Pope said. "Neither is destroying the planet we have to live on." Kiara said before Pope noticed something.

"Hey, hey, cops." Pope said as him and Kiara began getting down. "Shit." Kiara said as she looked in the same direction as Pope. "Call them." Pope told her. "I can't. Towers are down." Kiara said as she got out of the boat.

"If I lose my merit scholarship, I'm gonna kill someone." Pope whispered as he followed Kiara. "Maybe they're not going up there. Maybe-- Maybe they're looking for a room." Pope said trying to think that they weren't going to the room their friends were in. "They're going up there." Kiara said snapping Pope out of his own world.

*Simran's POV*

"One, one, one, two." John B said as he typed in another pin, but the safe beeped. "Punching shit at random. That will... definitely work." JJ said before he walked back to the table between the beds when I suddenly remembered something.

"Wait a second, wait a second." I said as I followed JJ but picked up the piece of paper with the '61666' code. "I don't know. I don't know about the second one. These coordinate, they..." JJ said as I walked back to my brother and the safe.

"Wait. My cousin said you could catch swordfish here." JJ said as I gave the paper to John B, who turned back to the safe. "Six, one, six, six, six." John B said as he punched in the code. "Nah, that wouldn't make any sense." JJ said as we focused on the safe.

John B and I heard the click of the safe. I twisted the lock to the safe and opened it. Inside was stacks of cash and a gun. We chuckled. "Holy shit." I said as I reached in to grab a stack of cash. "Is this a surf spot? Have you heard of shoals?" JJ asked but me and John B gasped as we saw they were stacks of $100s.

"Uh... JJ?" John B asked. "Hm?" JJ asked turning to us but we kept facing the safe. "You're gonna want to see this." I said smiling with my brother as I held the stack of cash up in his view.

*3rd POV*

The police were walking up the stairs to the second floor as Kiara and Pope got to the side of the motel. "Okay, do something. Do something." Kiara said. Pope looked around before he grabbed something.

"Stand back." Pope told Kiara as it was either a rock or piece of glass he picked up. "Okay. You got it." Kiara said as she got out of the way from getting hit. Pope tried to throw it, but it didn't make it anywhere near the window.

Kiara looked at him in disbelief. "Didn't you ever play baseball? Dude!" Kiara said as she bent down to find a rock. "I was on the math team." Pope said trying to defend himself.

*Simran's POV*

"Dude, dude, dude!" JJ said as he had grabbed the gun from the safe. "You grabbed the gun." John B said. "This is a SIG Sauer." JJ said happily. "Put the gun back, JJ!" I said as he shined his flashlight on the gun but looked at me and my brother with sparkles in his eyes basically.

"This a fucking spendy gatt, man. Just... Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!" JJ said as he was pretending to shoot the gun like a kid on Christmas morning. "Think about it!" John B said as we tried to get it from him. 

"Bam! Bam!" JJ said not paying attention to either of us. "We are not stealing anything." I told him through gritted teeth as he shined the flashlight on me and John B.

*3rd POV*

"You want a free mattress?" One of the police men told the other as they walked to the room. "A mathlete?" Kiara asked Pope, facing him after she found a rock. Pope gave her a look before Kiara turned away and threw a rock that almost hit the window.

*Simran's POV*

"Just take a pick of me. Right here." JJ practically begged us. "You want us to take a picture of you?" John B asked in disbelief. "Yeah, dude, like..." JJ said as he was having to much fun posing with the gun. "Make our own incriminating evidence? Is that what you're talking about?" I asked unamused as JJ looked at us.

*3rd POV*

The police were walking to the door, when finally Kiara managed to hit the window with a rock.

*Simran's POV*

We heard something hit the window. "Wait, what was that?" JJ and I asked at the same time as me and John B went to check the window. We looked out. "What?" John B asked before I moved the blinds in general and saw Pope and Kie at the bottom. "Cops. Cops! Cops!" I heard them say quietly.

John B and I sprung to another window and looked out. "Shit." I said. "What is it?" JJ asked. "Cops." John B whispered as knocks on the door was heard. The three of us began moving quickly and quietly. "Kildare County Sheriff's Department!" Shoupe's voice was on the other side of the door.

*3rd POV*

"Should we peel?" Kiara asked as her and Pope were back on the boat after they managed to warn John B, Simran, and JJ. "You never leave a Pogue behind." Pope said as he looked towards the building.

The door to the room was open and they saw nothing inside the room that looked out of the ordinary. "No, seriously, should we peel?" Kiara asked worried as they were keeping down a little bit.

"Maybe." Pope said nervously. "Go ahead and check the bathroom." Shoupe told his partner, who immediately began walking to the bathroom. "Yes, sir." She said as she approached, she grabbed her flashlight and shined it around and opened the shower curtain to find nothing. "It's clear." She told Shoupe who kept looking around.

*Simran's POV*

We were standing outside the window, we somehow got out of before they walked into the room. "What are you guys doing?" Pope whispered as we looked at them and gestured to be quiet.

"Oh, my God." Kie said as they stared at us as John B and I barely looked through the window and we saw them at the safe, we once were going through. We saw them take an envelope out and look at something.

"Go ahead. Throw these in a bag, would you?" Shoupe asked his partner as he held the envelope to her. Soon enough, we saw Shoupe pick up a stack of cash. "Sir?" Shoupe's partner asked confused.

"Everybody's gotta dip their beak." Shoupe said, causing the three of us to look at each other. "What the f--" JJ whispered but didn't finish as me and John B kept watching. "Right, right. Their beak." His partner agreed as Shoupe chuckled.

"Do you believe..." JJ said before he suddenly dropped the gun and the clutter was loud and we made faces. Shoupe opened the blinds and we stayed out of sight as Pope and Kiara looked like they were talking. We stayed out of sight and were relieved once Shoupe was leaving.

| Later |

"Well, that was fun. Could have warned us sooner." JJ said as we were now all on the boat again. "We would have, except Pope was on the math team." Kie said. "You were on the math team?" I asked.

"The cops took everything like it was a crime scene. Did you guys find anything?" Pope asked us. "Did we find anything? No, I don't think so. Oh, yeah, we did." JJ said as he held up a stack of cash and the gun.

"What the hell?" Pope said as he stepped away from the wheel. "Dude, what?" Kie asked in disbelief. "Dude, chill. Come on." JJ said. "Why would you take that from a crime scene?" Pope asked him in disbelief.

"Better than cops having it." JJ said acting like that's a reason. "You serious?" Kie asked me and John B in disbelief. "I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship." Pope said as if it's the end of the world if he does.

"Hey, hey, hey. Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh. At least you have us, right?" JJ asked Pope. "I'm living the nightmare." Pope said as he sat down.

*3rd POV*

"So, what happened?" A woman asked. "Well, I was up at the Mason Outlet, and, uh, I seen this lump, and the crabs was just goin' to town on it, you know? So, I figured the best thing to do was, uh... throw him over in the ice chest and then call y'all." A man explained to a policewoman.

"Six-seven. Call the ME." A medic said as a group of medics brought a gurney with a body on it. "I never saw anything like that before." The man said. "Scooter?" Lana asked before she approached the body. "Scooter? Oh, God!" Lana said in disbelief as she looked at her dead husband with tears.

*Simran's POV*

"Who's that?" John B asked as we watched from a few feet away. "It's Scooter Grubbs. He was out during the storm. Check out this pic I got. Dead body." A girl said as she showed us. "Insane." She said. 

"Holy shit." John B said. "What kind of boat did he have?" JJ asked trying to make it sound like curiosity. "Somehow, that dirtbag copped a brand-new Grady-White. Everyone's out looking for it." The girl said, and the realization hit me and the other's really quick.

| Later |

We were now at the Chateau. "Okay. So, um... we didn't see anything. We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia." Pope said as he sat down. "Actually, Pope's right for once. See, I agree with you sometimes. Deny, deny, deny." JJ said as he got up from where he was sitting.

"Guys, we can't keep that money." I said as I looked at them. "Okay. Not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, like our dearest Kiara, Sim." JJ said looking at me. "We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs." I said.

"Otherwise, it's bad karma." Kie said as she agreed with me. "Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too. We gotta go dark." Pope said. "If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree." JJ said as he joined me and my brother where we were standing.

"I don't agree." John B said as he walked. "What? Why?" JJ asked his best friend in disbelief. "Just think about it. This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about. Same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole." I said as I watched John B walk.

"Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than 40 bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden, he's got a Grady-White? Just sayin'." John B said before we were standing on the docks, as Pope was fishing.

"All right, so think about it, Pope. How does a marina rat get a Grady-White?" I asked as I was sitting on the railing. "Prostitution." Pope said with a big inhale. "Square groupers, bro. Okay, flying under the radar, no aerial surveillance. They don't do that stuff during a hurricane. What does that mean? JJ?" John B asked as he faced our best friend.

"They were straight smugglin'." JJ said. "Smugglin'. And I guarantee there's a serious amount of contraband in that wreck." John B said as he looked at Kie. "Hell, yeah. Fish on!" JJ said as he caught a fish, and we were soon in the house again.

"For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it..." Pope explained. "Mm-hm?" John B hummed as he sat on the windowsill. "...It probably belongs to someone else." Pope said.

"Minor details." Kie and I said at the same time. "They could come looking for it. Taking it would be catastrophically stupid." Pope said as he was holding the stack of cash. "Right." JJ said as he took the money from Pope. 

"Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time." JJ and I said at the same time as JJ spreads out the money in his hands. "All we need to do is figure out a way to get into the cargo hold on that wreck. Until then, we just lay low. Just act normal." JJ said as he was enjoying the money. "Right. And how exactly do we do that?" Pope asked. "Kegger?" Kie asked as we all looked at each other.

And soon enough, we were at the Boneyard. "Tally-ho." John B said. "Hey-up." JJ said as we were walking around, getting ready for the annual kegger we have every summer. For both Pogues and Kooks.

We were having fun as we got drinks ready and soon enough, we were having our usual fun with everyone. "All right. You can't understand the Outer Banks without understanding the Boneyard. It's kinda like a three-layer burrito." John B narrated.

"Yo, what's up, homie?" John B asked with a smile as he saw a bunch of our Pogue friends. "There's us and our friends, the working-class derelicts." John B narrated. "Yeah." John B said as he was passing out beer.

"Then, there are the Kooks, the rich second-homers. They're mostly from poncey-ass boarding schools, just rich trustafarian posers. Our natural enemies." I narrated as John B was screwing with a Kook with the cup of beer.

"And then, there are the Tourons." John B narrated. "Want a beer?" John B asked. "Totally clueless. Here for a week on vacation with their families." John B narrated. "Thanks." The girl said as she took the beer from John B.

"Hey, you, uh... you want a beer?" John B asked as he held a cup of beer out to another Touron. "Chum for the sharks." John B and I narrated. And we were all having fun, even if we were a mix of Pogues and Kooks.

Kie and I walked up behind my brother as we watched something in the distance. "Sarah! Sarah, be careful, okay?" A voice asked as we watched. "What is she doing here?" Kie asked pissed. "It's so... Huh?" John B asked as he looked in the direction we were.

"That's Sarah Cameron. Kook princess." John B narrated. Soon enough, we saw another person climb up there with Sarah. "Zayden! Get down damn it!" Another voice said. "And that is Zayden Cameron. Sarah's twin brother." I narrated.

"Kiara and Sim's best friends in the ninth grade, worst enemy in the tenth grade. Or so, Sim says with her and Zayden." John B narrated but said the last part quieter. "Me and John B work on their dad's boats, so, you know, we've seen them around. Even if it pisses me off sometimes." I narrated.

"What are you doing?" The same voices asked as they came into our view. "Then there's Topper, Sarah's not so pleasant boyfriend. And that's Talia, Zayden's not so pleasant girlfriend." John B narrated as they tried to get their lovers down, who brushed them off.

"Topper and Talia actually thinks Pogues were bred to mow lawns." I narrated as John B and I stared at the four of them as they were smiling.

*3rd POV

Shoupe had walked into a museum. "Sorry, museum's closed." The person at the desk told him. "Yeah, sure, chief. I'll be just a minute." Shoupe said as he walked around as he was holding the envelope he got from the motel room.

He got to a display and stared at it, before he saw the label. 'The Royal Merchant. Lost at Sea'. He looked down at the open envelope and pulled a piece of the picture out to look at an angel at the front of the picture, then back at the model of the Royal Merchant and saw the same angel.

"The Royal Merchant sunk in the great storm of 1829 with $400 million of British government gold onboard. The dream of generations of islanders." The man told Shoupe who was looking at the model.

"Yeah. Huh." Shoupe whispered to himself. "Lovely work, don't you think?" The man asked Shoupe. "Mm-hmm. Yeah. Lovely." Shoupe said with a small chuckle.

*Simran's POV*

Soon enough it was completely dark outside and we were just enjoying the nice time we were having. "Let's go." Topper told Sarah, who got up with him as Talia pulled Zayden up with her and the four began walking together.

"How you doing?" John B asked as he was refilling beers for everyone. JJ and John B were having a fun time over beer and shit. "Hi." Sarah's voice was close to us, causing JJ to turn. "Oh, wait. Hey, hey. Hey, Sarah! Zayden!" JJ said and I immediately walked over to make sure JJ doesn't pull anything JJ would pull.

"Sarah, Zayden, can I interest you in a tasty Milwaukee beverage?" JJ asked them both, being friendly. "No, thanks." Zayden said. "Sorry." Sarah said. "Is it not fancy enough for you?" JJ asked.

"No. We were just leaving." Zayden said. "Hey, you know what? I'll take it. I'll-- Thank you, man. I appreciate it." Topper said as he tried to took the cup from JJ. "That's nice, Topper, but I didn't ask you." JJ said.

"JJ." I said warningly as I stood by him. "If you said pretty please, maybe, but you didn't." JJ said to Topper. "Oh, pretty please." Talia said mockingly. "Yeah. Sarah. Zayden. You can have it." JJ said holding the cup out to them.

"JJ--" I began but was cut off as Topper, and Talia at the same time knocked it back into JJ's face. "They said they don't want it, you--" Topper began. "Okay." Sarah said before JJ began trying to fight Topper.

"No, no, no, no." John B and I said as we pulled JJ away. "You're so funny, man." JJ said as he had managed to shove Topper back. "Hey." John B said as I had my hand on JJ's arm as Pope had joined our sides.

"Dirty Pogues! Especially you, Simran!" Topper shouted, which caused John B to turn quickly and shove Topper back further. "Oh!" Sarah and Zayden said shocked. "John B!" I said shocked as well.

"We're supposed to be incognito, remember?" Pope told John B. "Babe, babe, babe, babe---" Sarah said before Topper got close to my brother and punched him. John B hit the ground. "John B!" I shouted worried.

"Guys! Guys! Chill!" Sarah shouted as Topper had shoved my brother towards the water. "Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, all right?" Topper asked before he kicked my brother.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" The crowd chanted as John B got up and tackled Topper. "Damn it! You gotta be kidding me!" I shouted. "John B, let it go! Stop, you guys!" Kie shouted as they kept fighting. 

"Topper! Stop!" Sarah shouted as Zayden pulled her behind him. "Get him, Topper!" Talia shouted. They kept fighting and hits were landed on each other a lot, before Topper got John B in the face.

They kept fighting, as they were in the water mostly. "Oh, my God." Sarah said, before I saw that Topper was holding John B under the water. "No, no, no. Topper, stop! No!" Sarah shouted as he was drowning John B.

"He's drowning him." I said as I could tell. "Topper!" Zayden shouted. But before anyone could do anything, JJ had approached Topper, and pointed the gun at Topper's head, causing Topper to freeze. 

"Yeah, you know what that is. Your move, broski." JJ said. "Come on. Chill, dude!" Pope shouted. "JJ!" Sarah said as everyone had ran but Sarah and Zayden. Even Talia took off running.  "Chill!" Pope shouted.

"Stop! JJ!" Zayden shouted. "Put the gun down." Sarah said. "Did you say somethin', princess?" JJ asked. "We're good. We're good." Topper said. "Put the gun down!" I shouted. "All right? Come on, man!" Topper said as he got off John B.

I ran passed them and to my brother. "Kie! Can you check your psycho friend, please?" Zayden asked as I checked on John B who was gasping for air. "Okay, everyone, listen up! Get the hell off our side of the island!" JJ said before he shot into the air, scaring all of us.

"Are you crazy? You idiot!" Pope asked him. "Stupid!" Kie told JJ. "I'm saving his life, okay?" JJ asked. "Stupid!" Kie told him as I checked on John B. "You're gonna jeopardize everything!" Pope told him as John B was panting before he fell back into the water. "JOHN B!" I shouted.

*3rd POV*

"There's something about mine and Simran's father I neither of us have mentioned. The week before he went missing, he says to us, "Bird, Pig, I think I found something. Your Uncle T's gonna come stay for a while. I might have to vanish for a bit." So, he talks about vanishing, and he vanishes." John B narrated.

"Everyone says he was lost at sea, but... he's still out there. I know it. John B knows it." Simran narrated as John B woke up from a nightmare.

*Simran's POV*

John B gasped as he finally woke up. "John B." I said relieved, before Sheriff Peterkin walked into the room. "Get decent, sweetie. We need to talk." She said as John B looked down at us. "Sorry to break in like this, but DCS called. They wanted me to check on you. See how you're doin'. So, how are you, besides the--" Peterkin asked us as she gestured to her own face for John B where he was beat by Topper.

"Oh, no, I'm-- I'm great. Yeah, fantastic. Uh... Thanks for comin' by." John B said as we both walked to the kitchen as we were dressed. "I'm so glad to hear you say that, John B, you too, Simran, but I heard a few things that worried me. Let me see if I can remember. Oh, yeah. One of the things I heard was that your Uncle Teddy, your guardian, hasn't been in the state for three months." Peterkin told us.

"Yeah, that's false." I said as John B and I faced her. "You don't have to say anything. I know it's true. I called the school. They said you used to be a good student, but now you both are failin' all your classes." Peterkin said as she found a joint that was rolled and smelled it.

"No. No, I'm only failing one, and it's history. The dude's a dick. He's out for me--" John B said but was cut off. "I heard there was a fight on the beach yesterday, and a gun was involved." Peterkin said as she walked towards us.

"Okay. Gun? No. did I get in a dustup? Yes, but was there a gun? No. No way." John B said as he scoffed as we walked past Peterkin. "That's okay. I know who it was. I'll get to him. All I'm worried about right now is makin' sure you both are in a safe home." Peterkin told us.

We both scoffed. "Yeah, super safe. Super sound, sturdy. You know?" I asked as I tapped the table. "And Uncle T's coming, so..." John B said. "That what he told you?" Peterkin asked us. "Yeah." I said as we looked at her.

"If he is coming, I think you should be allowed to stay." Peterkin said. "Thank you." We both said to her. "But if I stick my neck out for you, you have to help me. Tit for tat." Peterkin told us. "What--what does tat mean?" John B asked.

"Let me see, how can you help me? Oh, I know. So, a body was found in the marsh yesterday. Were you in the marsh yesterday?" Peterkin asked us as she stood directly in front of us. "Yeah, we were finishin' for some drum." I told her, which was partially true.

"You catch anything?" Peterkin asked us. "Nah, we were skunked." John B said. "Strange. Fishing's usually good after a storm. All sorts of things get stirred up. You come across a wreck yesterday?" Peterkin asked, taking a step closer to us.

"No." We both said looking at her. Peterkin sighed through her nose. "You skimmin' just above the surface, John B, Simran. Now, down here is foster care, juvie. Pretty big drop for smart kids like you both. Up here is you both and your little friends doing whatever you want. Outer Banks... or foster care on the mainland." Peterkin told us, which caused us to move past her slight as we sat down, deep in thought.

"You one inch above the surface, John B, Simran. If I was you both, I'd start flappin' my wings. Now, you sure you didn't come across a wreck yesterday?" Peterkin asked us as she stared down at us.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're sure." I said as we looked at her. "It's better if you didn't, you understand? I'm gonna look the other way, as long as you stay out of the marsh. I got dogs livin' better than this, John B, Simran. You might wanna think about cleanin' up." Peterkin said as she finally walked out. John B threw a can at the wall as he pulled me close.

Soon enough, we were sitting near the water. Kie was playing the bongos as JJ was throwing shit in the water. "Look, I'm callin' it off. All right? Peterkin said, if me and Sim stay out of the marsh, she'll help us with DCS." John B said.

"And you believed her?" JJ asked. "Yes, we believed her, JJ." I said as we looked at him. "An actual cop, Sim. You believed a cop." JJ said as he threw something else in the water. "Look, all we gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help us out." John B said.

"It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun." I said as I looked at him. "You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass." JJ told John B. "Yeah, because Topper was gonna drown me?" John B asked.

"Sure looked like it." JJ said. "Funny." John B said. "Have you looked in the mirror recently?" JJ asked. "Tell me some more. Come on." John B said. "They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win! Goddamn!" JJ said as he punched something that was attached to some string.

"Look, it's okay!" Kie said trying to calm him down. "No, it's not okay! It is not! They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it." JJ said as he pointed at John B.

"JJ--" I said but was cut off. "And I know you know it. I know you do. And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk. And you-- I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother? But you, me, and Sim, man, we got nothin' to lose! We really don't, all right?" JJ said as he looked at John B.

"JJ." John B said as he wouldn't look at JJ. "And i know it didn't use to be that way for you or Sim." JJ said. "I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to talk about this." John B said as he began walking.

"So that's it?" JJ asked. "Just get out of my way, bro." John B said as he shoved JJ out of the way a little. "John B, listen to me. I have a plan." JJ said. "Oh? And what's your brilliant plan?" I asked.

"You and Sim got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?" JJ asked John B. "No." John B said. "There's scuba gear inside, man. We borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man. You don't see rich kids going into foster care, do you?" JJ asked with a grin.

Soon enough, me and John B were on our own boat, on the way to Ward Cameron's giant ass boat. "You know, I should have learned a long time ago to never listen to JJ. He's full of bad ideas, like stealing from our rich boss. But this time, he was right." John B narrated as I tied the boat so it wouldn't float away.

"We had nothing to lose." I narrated as we had climbed onto the boat and John B used the key we had. We heard laughter and saw the family sitting together. "Our dad said the island was America on steroids. The haves and have-nots like any place, but magnified and multiplied. The way me and Sim see it, the game's rigged. Maybe it always had been. No parents, money... and not one looking out for me or Sim, we got no chance." John B narrated as we soon were getting the scuba gear and headed out the door.

"Oh! Hey." Sarah said as she and Zayden were suddenly behind us, startling us a bit. "Are you stalking us? Plotting your revenge?" Zayden asked as he and Sarah leaned against the boat. "Yeah. Why don't you just tell your daddy I blew the bilge on Druthers?" I asked as me and John B walked.

"Everything's good to go. Just toppin' off these tanks." John B said as we walked away from them. "Hey, are you okay?" Sarah asked John B asked. "'Cause that eye of yours looks really gnarly." Zayden said as he and Sarah walked over to us.

"Yeah, you know what? You can tell Topper he won the first round." I said as I got the bags in the boat. "I'll get him next time." John B said as we stepped over the sides of the boat. "So, there's just gonna be a reign of terror on this island now?" Zayden asked.

"Wars have been started for less, Zayden and Sarah Cameron." I said as I worked on the ropes. "Okay. Can we drop the whole Pogues versus Kooks thing?" Sarah asked as she looked at us. "It is really stupid." Zayden said.

John B sighs. "Oh... You know, it's easy to say when you're a Kook." John B said directly to Sarah's face as he knocked on the ship. I started the boat just as Sarah and Zayden acted like they were gonna salute to us, before they both flipped us off, but we didn't give two shits.

*3rd POV*

"Are y'all ready for a water party today? All right. Now, all kiddin' aside, your job today is to help keep privates off the marsh so we can do our job and find this wreck. That's straight from Sheriff Peterkin. Do not forget your sunscreen, ladies. Bring a lot of liquids." Shoupe said into a megaphone.

"Does that include Natty Light?" A woman asked. "I don't care what you bring. That's on your own recognizance. All right. What else do you got to worry about? Let's go!" Shoupe said. "Pull that for me, will you? Thank you, ma'am." Shoupe said as he talked to a few people.

"Bill, I'mma get at ya about that tomorrow, all right?" Shoupe said. "Excuse me, officer. We're here about the missing boat." A man said as two of them approached Shoupe. "Yeah? What can I do for you fellas?" Shoupe asked as he shook one of their hands.

"Associates of the owner. Here to help however we can." One of the men told Shoupe. "Uh-huh. Right." Shoupe said. "We're devastated about Scooter. We just feel sick about it. You mind if we join your armada? Take a look for ourselves?" The man asked.

"Yeah, why not? Extra set of eyes." Shoupe said. "We'll let you know if we find anything, Officer." The man said as him and his partner get in an extra boat. "You do that." Shoupe said as he watched for a moment as the boat began driving off.

*Simran's POV*

"This is empty. You took empty tanks?" Kie asked in disbelief as she looked at the tanks. "I..." John B said before he sighed. "Okay, this one's a quarter full. It's enough for one of us." Kie said as she looked at us.

"Love it when a plan comes together." Pope said. "Does anybody know how to dive?" Kie asked. "Uh...." JJ said. "Anybody?" Kie asked. "It's kind of a Kook sport." JJ said as Kie sighs. "I... read about it. Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die." Kie said.

"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" JJ asked as he looked around. "If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends." Pope said.

"Bends like, bend over and..." JJ said as he demonstrated. "The bends kill you." Pope said. "Right." JJ said as he suddenly stood up straight again. "I can-- I can dive." I said as I sat next to Kie, causing them all to look at me.

"You can dive. I'm cool with that." JJ said. "Since when can you dive?" Kie asked. "I'll do it. It's fine." I said as I got up. "Let me do some calculations real quick." Pope said. "You serious?" John B asked.

"Okay, so, that boat's about 30 feet down." Pope said. "Okay." I said. "So, it'll take 25 minutes at most at that depth." Pope said. "Twenty-five." John B mutters. "Which means you need to make your safety spot at about... ten feet. All right? For two minutes." Pope said.

"Yeah, yeah. Ten feet, two minutes. Got it." I said as I took my shirt off. But soon enough, Kie jumped into the water, causing us to look after where she jumped in. "Uh..." John B said. "What was that all about?" Pope asked confused.

"I don't know, but I liked it. A lot." JJ said. John B clears his throat as I facepalmed. "Really, JJ?" I asked. "Uh, so..." JJ said. "All righty." Pope said. "Yeah. Uh, when you-- uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?" JJ asked as he held up a key to demonstrate to me.

Kie had resurfaced. "Stick in, twist, pull." I said. "Yeah. My dad moved weight back in the day." JJ said. "Who didn't?" Pope asked. "Hey! I tied my T-Shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It's where you need to do your safety stop." Kie said as I was getting the scuba gear on.

"Cool." I said as she began swimming back to the boat. "Keep an eye on this. You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress." Pope told me. "Okay, how much do I need?" I asked as I looked Pope right in the eyes.

"Unclear. Breathe as little as possible." Pope told me. "Zen. Think Zen, you know?" JJ asked as he imitated breathing through the mask. "Yeah. Got it." I said as I moved towards the front of the boat. 

"Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so... better get a move on." Pope said. "Copy that." I said before Kie stepped towards me and gave me a peck on the lips. "Diver down?" I teased. "Diver down." Kie said as I pulled the mask over my face and jumped down into the water. I swam down to the wreck. 

*3rd POV*

"Shit. JJ." John B said as he looked behind them. "Guys, that's the police." JJ said. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Pope said. "Yep, that's the police." JJ said. "Just act frickin' normal." Kie said.

"Evening, officers." Pope told Shoupe and his partner. "Evening." Shoupe said. "JJ, tie it off." John B said. "How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?" Shoupe asked. "No." Pope said.

"No. Wow." John B said. "I didn't know that." JJ said. "Why-- why is it closed?" Pope asked. "Well, we're conducting a search out here. Boat went down." Shoupe said. "Oh." They all said. "Seen anything?" Shoupe asked.

"No." JJ said. "No boats. No." They all disagreed as Simran was still down at the wreck. As she kept swimming the others tried to keep Shoupe distracted. "Where's your friend you always hang with? She here?" Shoupe asked the four teens.

"She's working." Kiara said. Simran swam around the boat as she kept searching. "Hm. I'm gonna check your little boat out." Shoupe said as he climbed aboard. "Yeah." JJ said. "Yeah, hop aboard." Pope said as he got up from the driver seat.

"You wanna check--uh, check her out." John B said as he moved as well. "Thank you." Shoupe said, appreciating their cooperation as Simran had swam up to the spot where Kiara's shirt was tied, but she had seen the extra boat.

"Uh... you got another one of these?" Shoupe asked. "Yeah." JJ said. "Yeah, yeah." Pope said, agreeing immediately. "Of course. It's, uh....it's in the hold." John B said pointing to a certain area on the boat.

"Yeah." Pope agreed immediately. "Show him." Kiara said as she got up from where she was sitting. "Okay." JJ said as he moved and opened the hold. "Yeah, here we go." John B said as he picked whatever was inside up.

"All right." Shoupe said as he studied each of them. The latch clicked shut. Simran kept watching as she stayed under the water as she checked the timer she had on her gear. Shoupe began walking on the edge of the boat.

"Uh, be careful right there." John B said. "Be careful." JJ said. "Be careful. You don't wanna slip." Pope said before Shoupe put his glasses on as he looked into the water, as the others watched. Simran noticed Shoupe and she kept looking at the timer, and back up at where Shoupe was standing.

Soon, Simran ran out of air, and soon Shoupe turned around. "All right." Shoupe said. "All right." The boys immediately agreed. "Beautiful day." Shoupe said as he walked past all of them. "Sure is." JJ agreed.

"Yeah." John B said. "Let us know if you see anything on your way out." Shoupe told him. "Will do. Will do." Pope said as Shoupe's engine starts up. "We'll be gone soon, sir." JJ said. "Yes, you will." Shoupe said as he began driving off.

Soon enough, the others looked over the edge of the boat once Shoupe was far away from them. "She's definitely out of air." Pope said as they all looked into the water. But soon, Simran emerged from the water.

*Simran's POV*

I resurfaced with the gear on. "There she is!" JJ said. "Oh, God! Jesus Christ!" John B said. "Don't scare us like that!" Pope said. "How'd it go down there?" JJ asked before I muttered. "Uh..." Pope said before John B moved quickly, along with JJ.

"Did you find anything?" JJ asked impatiently. "Did I find anything?" I asked, slightly out of breath. "Yeah, there we go! That's my girl!" John B said as I threw something up to him and JJ, who took the bag from John B.

"Jeez, dude!" Pope said as I climbed up. "You okay?" Kie asked. "Yeah, I ran out of air." I said as I looked up at them. "You scared the shit out of me." Kie said as I pulled myself up onto the boat. "Yeah, the cops were here, but, uh... took care of 'em." Pope said.

"My bad." I said as I sat down. "You're all good." John B said. "Yeah, you kinda missed the show, sister." JJ said. "Hey, guys? Guys, bogey, two o'clock." Kie suddenly said, causing us to all look up.

"What?" JJ asked confused as I had gotten the gear off as we looked at a boat approaching us. "Do you recognize that boat?" Pope asked. "I've never seen it." Kie said. "What are they doing here? The marsh is closed." I said as I watched with the others.

"I don't know. Let's not stick around and find out." JJ said. "JJ, get the bowline." John B said as he kept his eyes on the boat as well. "Yeah." JJ said as he began getting everything ready. "Should we wait on 'em?" Pope asked.

"No, we're not gonna wait on them." I told Pope, as me and Kie stared at him like he was nuts. "Go get the stern. Go!" John B told Pope. "Are you joking? JJ, hurry up." Kie said as we kept watching them. 

"Guys, don't wait for me. Go!" JJ said as he was getting the bowline. "Let's go!" I said as John B got the boat up and running as we moved. "Pull out the stern." Pope told JJ, who got the bowline up.

"I don't like this." I said as I stayed near my brother. "Are they coming for us?" JJ asked. "Maybe they're fishing." Pope said. "Go, go, go, go!" JJ said. "Go into the marsh." I told my brother as John B began guiding the boat towards the marsh.

"Let's go!" Kie said. "I'm going. Act natural." John B said as he drove the boat. I heard the other boat's engine rev. "Hey, guys, they're following us." I said as I turned back to see them following us, causing the others to turn as well.

"This can't be good." Pope said. "Shit." John B said. "Dude, you gotta go faster!" JJ told John B. "I'm going!" John B said. "Gun it!" JJ said. "I'm going!" John B said as we began speeding through the marsh.

Suddenly we heard a gunshot, and a bullet flew past us, causing us all to yelp and get down, besides John B because he's driving the boat. "What the..." Pope said as we got down. "Holy shit, guys!" Kie and I shouted.

"John B, get down!" JJ said as he tried pulling my brother down. Another bullet flew past, causing us all to yelp. "We're gonna die!" Pope said as the boat kept speeding at us. Another shot came and Kie and I noticed something.

"Shit." I said. "Pope, move." Kie said as me and her got up, and we got some nets we had. A gunshot was fired at us again, but it bounced on some metal, causing me and Kie to yell. "Get down, Kie, Sim!" John B shouts as he drove the boat.

But we moved to the back of the boat, before we flew threw net into the water and we saw as they began slowing down, which meant the net was caught in the motor. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Pope said as we began speeding away from them, as a gunshot rang out again.

"Oh, my God. Whoo!" JJ cheered as they others stood back up. "Pogue god, man!" I said as me and JJ high-five. "See you, guys!" JJ said. "That was insane!" Kie said as we kept driving and laughing.

Soon enough, we were back home and John B was now opening the bag I had gotten from the boat. "What do you guys think it is?" Kie asked as we gathered around my brother. "Gotta be money, right?" John B asked.

"That or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to mid-mils!" JJ said grinning. "Can we please open the bag?" Pope asked. "Wow, Pope. That's a rare outburst of emotion." I said as John B kept messing with the bag.

"Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation. Open the bag." Pope said. "Jeez." JJ said as John B kept moving the bag around to find the opening to it. "We almost died over this." Pope pointed out before John B finally got it open.

And he opened a canister, before he dumped out a compass. John B and I stared at it as John B opened it. "Oh, wow. Yup. That's about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass." Pope said.

JJ noticed how me and John B looked. "Dude, what? It's not worth anything." JJ said as me and John B kept staring at it. "This was our father's." John B and I said as we chuckled softly before we held a small smile...and hope.