ch 22. the coastal venture.

Max could not believe the situations she and her friends sometimes found themselves in; much like now, squatting in a dim shipping container on a ship headed to who knows where. the teen sighs, eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. "some plan, pope. you do know these things lock from the outside, right?"

john b steps forward, "he was just trying to get us on the boat, max. i wasn't thinking that far ahead."

"clearly!" max throws her arms up, "now we're stuck in here like rats. you know what happens to rats that go where they don't belong? they get killed!"

kie fans her face from her perch on a cluster of boxes, "it's hot."

jj agrees, pacing their small corner of the container, "yeah, cause we're in this death cage!"

"okay, jj." pope pipes up, "you're not helping." he juts a finger to an obviously stressed maxine.

"you don't have a whole lot of room to talk right now, pope." jj retorts. "you said you had a plan, but what happened to thinking ahead?"

"i find your lack of self-knowledge disturbing."

jj laughs. "last i checked, you literally shot an oil container with the gat. remember that?"

"oh my god, shut up." kiara cuts in, "shut up! pull it together."

max closes her eyes tightly, taking a deep breath in and out and hopping up beside kie. "yeah. man up."

jj nods, "yeah. okay."

"let's try to find a way out of here." pope
offers.

max is suddenly struck with an idea. "hey, pope, how do you kill a snake?"

"you go for the head." the older boy answers rather tiredly.

"exactly." maxine snaps her fingers, "but the head in this instance is the bridge." she looks at jj, "and to take the bridge..."

"we need maximum firepower." the blonde gets her point. "and i happen to know that there is an armory on this ship in case of pirate attacks."

"pirate attacks." kiara sarcastically repeats, using her fingers to enunciate the quote. "max, why do you encourage him?"

maxine only smirks, "it's entertaining."

jj continues his rant, "so, if we take that—and i'm not just talkin' pistols. i'm talkin' knives—"

"all right, you lost me." kie interrupts, rising from her seat and walking past the boy. "killing everybody here is not a plan."

"ah, we lost her." jj shrugs, jutting a thumb toward the retreating girl, "no, i'm serious. if we get to the armory, i'm talking AKs, pistols, knives, double-barrels—"

"jj!" john b cuts him off, grabbing the boys shoulders. "we gotta get out of here. we can't do anything if we're still stuck in here."

"if i can just get enough pressure, i can spartan kick that thing open!"

"you're not spartan kickin' shit!" max whispers harshly.

jj retorts, "all right, then what do you got einstein?"

"guys!" kie whisper-shouts from further inside the container.

"hey, she's got something." pope breaks up
the fight.

they join kiara in the back, where she has come across a small window. "we can fit through that, yeah?"

"hell yeah." john b breathes, "nice one, kie."

jj pulls out a pocketknife, "what was that about a swiss army knife not comin' in handy?"

"just stop it." john b rolls his eyes.

jj steps on top of a crate, sliding his knife in between the metal grate covering the window. "okay. we raid the armory, get weapons, roll back here, and plot the next move. the armory is on the third deck, aft, near the laundry room. let's roll."

"jj, hold up." pope pauses, "i don't think we should all go out there. it's too risky."

"why?"

"okay, i gotta be honest." john b tells the blonde, "i think you should stay here. i have sarah that i'm gonna go after her, and pope has the cross."

"yeah, lets go get it."

"and also, if you go out there, there's a hundred percent probability that you're gonna do something stupid."

"okay, first of all, i think the correct terminology is 'ballsy.'" jj argues, "that is it."

"okay, okay," john b grabs the blondes arm, yanking him down. "get down here!"

"dude, i'm a field player, all right?" jj continues.

john b shushes him, "look if we go out there, and we get in a bind, we need somebody to look out for us."

"okay, i get it. i get you. i'll be on the b team."

"i never said b team."

kie steps forward, "i'm sorry, are you calling me b team?"

"wait a minute. i'm not stayin' here." max insists. "i never get to do anythin'."

jj looks down at the girl, "yeah, if I can't even go, there's no way they're lettin' you go."

"yeah, sorry max." pope sets a hand on the younger girls shoulder, "next time."

"that's what you say every time." maxine groans. "i'm a good asset. i'm small and can fit in tight spaces, i'm short so very easy to hide—"

"you're also very easy to beat, max. no offense."john b interrupts.

"offense taken." maxine narrows her eyes.

john b backs himself off, "look—this is gonna be hard, and we don't need you getting hurt. again."

max crosses her arms. "bullshit. you just don't want me comin'."

"you said it, not me." john b shrugs, quickly
continuing when he notices max open her mouth in protest, "look. just hang back, hold down the fort."

"great." max nods, refusing to make eye contact. "like always. lookin' forward to it. mm-hmm."

"i'll babysit." kie quips.

"yeah, you guys have fun!" jj calls out, storming away, "i'll be in here...on the bench....chillin'."

max trails behind him, "b team, once again!"

kiara lays a hand on each of the two boys shoulders, "hey. don't get shot. that's all i got."

"um, 'don't get shot.'" john b repeats back to pope.

"well, that's disheartening and scary." pope notes.

john b climbs up onto the crate, "positive affirmations, kie."

"yep. no problem."

pope joins john b on the boxes and together they remove the grate covering the window. the latter boy leans out first, checking if the coast is clear. "okay. let's go. alright, pope, grab my feet."

pope does so, but instead of slowly lowering the boy, he more or less dumps him out of the container. "oh, jesus!"

as soon as both boys are gone, kiara replaces the grate. she sighs, looking back at the two pissed off teens sitting on the floor. "just us now."

⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈

"I've been thinkin'...when all this is over, and we're just rollin' in the dough," jj speaks up after a few silent moments, "i'm gonna get a new board, i'm gonna deck it out, and i'm gonna go on a surf trip. i don't know where, but like, the worlds calling.'"

"where would you even wanna go?" max asks.

"i dunno. name a place."

kie sighs, "spain."

"then after spain, south america or south africa."

maxine raises an eyebrow, "you're gonna go to south africa?"

"one of the south places." he continues, "and then micronesia maybe, and then...and just ride. wherever the wave takes you, you know?"

"so that's the plan?" max adds in, "if we were to get a shit ton of cash, that's the dream. surf trip?"

"rippin' jungle break all day long." jj nods, "bamboo hut, cooking a fish on a fire, and after that you go back out and just hit the waves again. that's the dream."

kiara agrees, "sounds perfect. got room for one more?"

max raises a hand, "man, make that two more."

jj laughs before realizing the girls are serious. "you got your passports?"

"you don't have a passport."

"hell no i don't got a passport. kookiest thing ever. you don't need—"

the boy is cut off by pope whispering from outside the container, "hey. hey, open it!"

kie removes the grate, "you need help?"

"i'm good." pope grunts, pulling himself through the small window.

"thought rafe got you guys for sure." maxine admits.

"no, we're chill." pope pants, lowering himself off of the crate. john b climbs through next.

"all right." kie whispers, "let's put the grate back on."

"no, wait." pope stops her, "hold it."

"what? no. put it back."

as soon as john b hops off of the boxes, a new girl around the older teens age pokes her head through the open window. "jesus christ! i kill you john b!"

"who in the hell is this?" max breathes out, turning to john b.

"just relax." the older boy tells her, "just relax, okay? i told you i had a surprise, right?"

"uh, no, you did not." a confused maxine retorts.

kiara is just as bewildered. "who is she? what's going on?"

"hey, hey. kie, relax. relax." john b explains, "remember i told you about the girl we met in the bahamas that saved us?"

"uh...cleo, yeah?" kie remembers.

john b turns to the girl still standing on the crates, "cleo. she's gonna help us, right?" 

cleo nods. "next time, ask me."

maxing notices the trios lack of weapons. "you seriously didn't grab nothin'? not one single gun?"

"we tried, okay?" john b defends, "i got attacked."

jj scoffs. "this is why i should've gone with."

"let me get this straight." cleo breaks in, "you five, with no weapons, decided you were gonna hijack this tramp steamer on your own? do you have any idea who these people are?"

maxine shrugs. "apparently not."

"eberhimi," cleo enlightens, "if he catch you, he's gonna kill you. dead. cut off your fingers."

"once we're dead or when we're still kickin'? cause if we're already dead who cares if—"

"okay, what about waiting till we get to port?" kie suggests, interrupting a yapping maxine with an elbow to the side, "at least then if something goes wrong, we have a place to run."

"no. no, we can't do that." pope shakes his head, "i've run this scenario over a thousand times in my head, and our best chances are on this ship. there's fifteen crew members and five of us. three to one odds, that's the best it's gonna get. if we wait till we get there, they're gonna trap us."

"we have no chance!"

"no, kie, there's something else." john b speaks up, "wards alive. he's alive, and he's on this boat."

"what?" maxine spits.

"you gotta be kidding me."

"are you serious?"

john b nods. "it was all a setup. blowing up the boat, the confession to shoupe. think about it—that was to clear rafes name. and then he does what? goes to the druthers. and what's on the druthers?"

"scuba." kie answers.

"bingo."

"so wards alive, huh?" jj scoffs. "and he has the gold, and the cross, and sarah."

"thanks for rubbin' that in." kie says sarcastically.

max chimes in, "so he's just gonna get away with everythin' again, huh?

"not happening." jj shakes his head, "we're not watching this movie again. right, pope? you said we need the win. and with her," he points to cleo, "we're going to the bridge, and we're gonna take it right now. you with me?"

"let's do it." john b agrees.

"i'm with you, and i wanna be the one to take the bridge." pope compromises.

"that's what i'm talking about!" jj claps.

cleo laughs, "he's gonna take the bridge? he couldn't even take me."

"seriously?" max stifles a laugh.

pope advances, "okay first of all, i was going easy on you."

"i went easy on you." cleo shoots back.

kiara and john b shush pope, "shh! shut up!" "relax, all of you."

jj turns to cleo, "if you're really with us, if we use that knife, we can go up into the bridge and hold it up against the captains neck, then we go on the intercom and make him tell the rest of the crew to meet up in the forward hull. once they're in the  same place, bam, we lock them in there and we take back what's ours."

"i like it." pope compliments, "it could work."

max quirks a suspicious eyebrow, "could it though?"

"are you with us, then?" jj asks cleo.

"no." the girl answers strongly, "this is stupid."

they hear a voice from outside shout, "all right, let's open these things up!"

"they're checking the containers." kie realizes with a panic.

cleo promptly climbs back ontop the boxes stacked below the window and removes the crate.

"wait. no, cleo."

"what are you doing?"

cleo only shushes the worried teens, climbing out through the window.

"well, fuck." maxine curses, slumping down against a row of crates. "she's gonna snitch."

they listen to cleo shout from outside, "hold up! this one's clear, sir. went through it inch by inch. nothing but tubing and plastics in there."

max pumps a fist, "never doubted her."

"okay, she's on our side." pope breathes out with relief, "that's good."

"okay pope, you're up." jj whispers, "we'll wait for your signal, okay?" 

cleo reappears outside the small window, whistling to gather their attention. pope removes the grate and climbs back out, thanking cleo for covering for them.

moments later, an announcement is made over the ships intercom: "attention, all passengers, all crew, report to the tween forward hull. that's an order. repeat. all hands and all passengers report to the tween forward hull immediately."

maxine breaks out into a grin, "they did it! they took the bridge."

"that's our boy!" jj hops up to remove the grate, "all right, let's split up. once they're all in the hull, kie and i will lock them inside."

"max and i'll find sarah and get the lifeboat." john b adds.

"then we'll meet you, load up the cross, and get outta here." kie finishes.

"okay, let's roll." jj concludes, crawling out of the container first. john b is next, followed by kie and finally maxine.

max is smiling ear to ear as she shimmies out through the small hole, "finally! i finally get to fight somebody!"

"simmer down, kujo." john b nudges the girl, "lets hope that isn't needed."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Spoiler: it was in fact needed. maxine and john b shamelessly barrel through the ship, calling out for a still-missing sarah. the older boy jiggles a handle, banging against the door, "open up! sarah!"

maxine tries another room down the hall, grunting as she slams her weight against the locked door. "sarah! you in there?"

with no response, the duo continues down the hallway and into the engine room. "sarah! sarah!"

suddenly, a fishing gaff-hook slices through the air, nearly gutting maxine. she gasps, jumping backwards. "rafe."

the eldest cameron sibling sticks his head out from around the corner, "watch where you're going, kid." he steps forward, advancing toward the younger teens, "so what the hell are you two doing here?"

john b steps in front of maxine, "just put that thing down, all right?"

"why would i do that?"

"look, this isn't about you, okay?" john b promises in an attempt to deescalate.

"it's not about me?"

"no. this is about sarah."

rafe shakes his head. "i don't know. i think it is."

john b reaches behind himself, subtly but urgently pointing for maxine to run. as much as she felt guilty leaving her friend to fend for himself against the psycho that is rafe cameron, max desperately needed to find sarah.

she abruptly darts out from behind the boy, racing toward the exit. rafe starts after her, swinging his gaff at the younger girl and causing a piercing shriek.

"this is between me and you, rafe!" john b shouts, lunging after the boy and blocking his path to maxine. "leave her out of it."

max takes off, not once looking back as she sprints back the way they had come. she reaches the deck, audibly letting out a sigh of relief at the sight of a familiar blonde girl lowering a life boat into the ocean below.

"sarah!" max shouts, running toward the older girl.

the blonde looks up, a smile spreading across her face as she recognizes the young girl. "max!" they meet each other halfway, embracing in a tight hug. "how—why—"

"we're stowaways now." max announces proudly. "well, on a rescue mission."

"i've never been so glad to hear that you've committed a crime." sarah beams, grabbing the girls hand. "where are the others? john b?"

"john b's beatin' the shit out of your brother, and everyone else is gettin' the cross."

"glad to hear it. all right, let's go home." the blonde leads max back over to the life boat, unclipping it from its hold and pressing the button to lower it into the water.

maxine begins unfolding the ladder that'll bring them to the life boat when ward cameron appears, blocking her path. the young teen just about pisses herself.

"no." sarahs voice breaks as she points to her father, "no! you get the hell away from us! i'm not doing this shit anymore! i'm not going with you!"

"i know." ward agrees, "i get it. i mean, it took a while cause i didn't wanna believe, but..." he takes a deep breath, exhales. "i finally understand what everybody was trying to tell me. you're not one of us, right? not anymore. and you never will be. you're one of them. but now the problem is this—what do i do now?"

maxine speaks up, "you let her go, you psychotic son of a bitch!"

"let her go? let her go back and tell everybody that in alive and tell them where we are?" ward steps menacingly closer to sarah, "tell them what we've done? baby, come on now. you know i can't do that." he harshly grabs his daughters face. "i don't know what to do with you!l

"you're scaring me." sarah tries pushing him away, "don't. no."

"get off of her!" max shouts, lunging forward. all ward does is simply backhand the younger girl, sending her flying back against the ground and harshly banging her head against the metal flooring.

"no!" sarah cries out, "don't touch her!"

ward only latches his hands around his daughters throat, "what do i do? what do i do?"

"dad." sarah frantically whimpers with whatever breaths she has left.

"don't call me that." ward tearfully shakes his head.

"dad."

"don't call me that! you don't mean it." ward tightens his grip, beginning to raise sarah off of her feet.

slowly, maxine comes to, rising to her feet. she tackles the man, shoving him away, "get off her!"

just as ward lunges back at maxine, john b races around the corner and grabs the man by the back of his shirt, punching him squarely across the face before slamming him into a metal pole.

maxine rushes to sarah's side as the blonde coughs, gasping for air.

john b quickly joins them as his exhausted girlfriend collapses to the ground, "sarah. hey, look at me." he gathers her face in his hands, wiping stray tears, "i told you i wasn't gonna leave you, right? i got you. it's okay." he looks over at max, noticing the rapidly forming red mark on her left check, "you good, kid?"

maxine holds up two thumbs. "never better."

like a cockroach who never dies, ward suddenly comes up behind the boy, tightly wrapping his arms around the teens neck.

"no!" both maxine and sarah frantically scream, clawing at the man, "no!"

"it's your fault!" ward repeats as he continues to strangle the teen, "your fault!"

john b sends a harsh punch into the man's stomach, twisting around and out of his grip. they continue fighting, throwing punches every which way as the girls quickly work to finish lowering the life boat.

"come on ward!" john b antagonizes, grabbing the man's shirt collar and sending a punch directly to his face. one final blow sends the cameron man backwards, cracking the back of his head on the metal edge of the boat.

he groans in pain, reaching back with his fingers. when he pulls his hand away, it's dripping with blood.

john b looks over the man, "is this how you did it? is this how you killed my father? you just threw him in the ocean?" he steadies wards face, holding back tears. "i never got to say goodbye because of you. this is all your fault." the teen grabs at ward, preparing to dump him into the water below when he catches a glance of sarah's face; max looking nearly as equally distraught and afraid.

john b sets ward back down, turning to the two girls. "hey, we gotta go, okay?" he helps sarah to her feet, "come on. we gotta pick up the others."

the trio stands by the edge of the ship; sarah in the middle, gripping tightly onto either teens hands.

"you ready?" john b counts down, "one, two, three!" the teens leap off of the ship and into the ocean below. as soon as they bob to the surface, they hurriedly swim towards the waiting life boat.

"pope!" max shouts, noticing the boy floating nearby along with their new friend, "cleo!"

"guys, we're over here!" sarah joins in, frantically waving her arms to capture their attention.

max leans over the side of the raft, "give me your hand!"

"pope!" john b helps pull the boy onboard.

sarah gasps at the presence of her friend, "cleo, holy shit! i got you, i got you. come on." she struggles to pull cleo out of the water, "guys, help!"

pope climbs over, "i got you, i got you."

"cleo!" sarah breathes out as soon as the other girl is safely on board.

"long time no see, girl."

sarah embraces her friend, "what are you doing here?"

"always trouble with you guys."

maxine looks around, noticing the absence of their other friends. "where's jj and kie?"

"i though they were with you!" pope pants.

sarah shakes her head, "no!"

"shit." john b curses, "we gotta find them!"

"last time i saw them was on the other side of the ship." cleo points.

they quickly motor towards the other side of the ship, hearing a familiar voice cry out, "john b! help!"

"that's kie." sarah realizes.

"where are they?"

max points as the group goes around the corner of the ship, "there they are! jj!"

kiara is struggling to stay afloat, holding an unconscious jj above water.

"oh my god." pope gasps, "jj!"

"no, no, no, no!" john b shouts, leaning over the side of their lifeboat with pope and helping to pull jj aboard, "i got you."

maxine leans over, helping kie up next. the engine stutters, "oh no, no, no! john b, what's happening?"

"shit." the boy curses, climbing over his friends and pulling at the engine, "we're stalling out."

maxine groans, "right now of all times?"

"are you serious? we're sitting ducks, man!" pope exclaims.

"we gotta go!"

"i'm trying!" john b insists, "forward or backwards...if everyone just tries to relax!" he interrupts the groups frantic pleads.

"uh, rafe's got a gun!" maxine points at the older cameron standing aboard the ship, aiming a shotgun at the teens.

"he's pointing at us." pope follows the girls gaze, "hurry!"

"i'm trying, okay?" john b keeps pulling at the motor.

kie shakes a still unconscious jj gently, "please, wake up!"

"we gotta get moving!" pope shouts just as john b gets the motor up and running. "yeah! go, go, go!"

"jj, wake up!" kiara continues pleading. "j! please! please! please get up!"

"wake up!" john b joins in, "you gotta wake up."

max repeatedly taps the boys chest, "c'mon, get up! get up!"

jj suddenly opens his eyes, spluttering out water.

"there you go. yeah, cough it out." john b laughs nervously, "cough it out, baby!"

the blonde sits up, violently coughing up ocean water.

"hey, hey buddy," pope remarks, "welcome to the land of the living, dude."

"no cpr needed, huh?" john b quips.

jj notices kiara's hand resting on his shoulder, turning to look at her.

the brunette smiles, "hi."

"'sup." jj flirts, causing the girl to laugh and playfully shove his head away.

"thought you were a goner for sure." maxine admits, "always lookin' for attention, huh?"

"whatever it takes, right?" jj presses a hand to his head, noticing blood. "what the hell happened?"

kie holds a bandana to the wound, "blunt end of a machete."

"machete?" jj sits up.

"the blunt end."

"next time, duck." max quips.

"i'll try to remember that next time, thanks."

pope glances back toward the ship, watching the cross be lugged back aboard. "this shit ain't over."

"no it ain't." john b shakes his head.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Hours later, the pogues wash up on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. the girls hop out first, leaving the boys to lug the lifeboat to shore. maxine leans back in the sand beside sarah and kie, encouraging the other three teens while not moving a muscle, "good job, guys."

john b notices his friend stumble slightly, "jj, you all right there buddy?"

"yeah, still a little dizzy." jj walks further up the beach, joining the group. "anybody know where we're at?"

"deserted beach." pope states, "unknown island."

"all right, i'll take that as a no." jj looks around, "plan A, huh pope? that went well."

"this is the lowest we can go." pope shakes his head, "we literally have nothing else to lose. the cross, gone."

"the gold, gone." sarah adds.

"seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we got beat up, i'd say we're at a dollar fifty." jj quips.

"more than i got on me." kie speaks up.

sarah sighs, "that somehow doesn't make me feel better."

"yeah, you're right." john b shrugs, "but i mean, we've had some good stuff happen, right?"

"name something." pope challenges.

"um...uh, the boiler room. if the boiler didn't explode, i wouldn't have gotten away from rafe. i couldn't have gotten the zodiac and gotten us out of there."

cleo scoffs, shaking her head. "that wasn't luck. that thing was gonna blow the second i stopped feedin' it."

"stealing my thunder, cleo." john b tries again, "okay...pope. you're related to denmark tanny. that's crazy—"

"and i lost all his inheritance."

"damn, pope." max quips, "way to be a debby downer."

"what do you got max?" pope shoots back, "please. enlighten us."

the younger girl rises to her feet, "guys, this is it. this is the pogue life. we've got our own private island!" she shrugs, "i dunno about you guys, but you're all i've got. my best friends-my family. i wouldn't wanna do it with anyone else."

john b snaps his fingers, standing up as well. "exactly. and while you guys were complaining about every little thing...jj?" he turns to the blonde, "i was looking at those burly laps."

jj follows his gaze to the ocean, "there's some slabs out there."

"just a few." john b turns to kiara, "kie, you see that? i know you wanna get out there."

"we have no boards."

"well, we can bodysurf till we make some boards."

"lame."

"pope? come on, man." john b tries pope.

"they do look pretty tasty." the boy rises to his feet, "there's nobody around. we could squat here for a bit. kinda belongs to us now, huh?"

"you got a point."

pope holds out a fist and the two do a quick handshake, "seven-way split?"

"pougelandia." jj speaks in a posh accent, "i claim thee poguelandia."

maxine shrugs, "i like the ring of it."

"i'm gonna make a flag," jj declares, "it's gonna have a chicken on it, with a coconut bra, smokin' a j....in crocs."

"i could use a j." kie shrugs.

"i call makin' the chicken." max raises a hand.

"uh—absolutely not." jj argues, "my idea, my chicken."

sarah laughs, "can we vote on this?"

maxine rolls her eyes, extending a hand to kie and helping her up from the sand. "we'll talk about it."

pope helps cleo up as well, "welcome to the pogues."

"thanks," the girl asks, "what is a pogue anyway? what is that handshake you guys do?"

pope begins teaching cleo the pogue handshake as maxine walks off with sarah and kie, the other two boys close behind.