chapter 29.
welcome to kitty hawk.

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"It could've been a faulty electrical wire." pope suggests reasonably while the seven teenagers sit on the grass together, backs pressed against john b's tree as they watch the fire continue to slowly burn out the next morning— the château already reduced to nothing but a skeleton of what it once was.

"place was all wood." kie sighs, agreeing with pope previous statement.  "a tinderbox."

"thing just went up." cleo adds numbly, "boom."

"verdicts in, jb." maxine chimes in, "whoever's  up there, does not like you."

sarah lifts her head from her boyfriends shoulder to glare at the younger teen, "seriously, max?"

maxine grimaces, "sorry."

jj exhales loudly, rearing back and chucking a glass bottle at the ruins of the château, causing it to shatter into pieces and join the ash already on the ground.

"When did you say the pilot was getting in?" john b asks sarah, gathered down at the dock.

"probably an hour." the blonde answers, "i mean, once he's here, my dad says we can leave whenever we want."

"okay, well, as much as i would love to ghost my parents again, i can't."

"pope, we're talkin' el dorado here." max chimes in, "can't you, like, just slip out the back or somethin'?"

"great advice, max." kiara compliments sarcastically.

"it always worked for me." jj shrugs, "how to avoid unpleasant circumstances one oh one; if there's a problem, you don't wanna face it, turn that face and keister around and walk the other way."

"i'm not doing that, okay?" pope hops down from his spot on the docks railing.

jj sighs, "just want you to be there, dog."

"i'm gonna be there." pope promises, "i'll meet you guys at the airstrip in an hour?"

john b nods. "yeah, we'll see you there."

"one hour, pope." jj compromises, "not a second later."

cleo follows after pope as he starts down the dock, "think you should let me talk, pope. think your mom kinda likes me."

"i don't think it's gonna be pleasant for either of us."

"i'm gonna take a stroll back to the shack." jj decides, "for old times sake." he rises from his seat on the dock, "i always wanted to go to south america. great surf, cheap weed." he starts down the dock as well, calling over his shoulder, "see you guys on the tarmac!"

"i guess i'll go pack some stuff and break the news to my parents." kiara sighs, jogging after jj.

maxine watches as the pair stops halfway down the dock, too far away for the remaining three to overhear their conversation. max looks to john b and sarah and wags her eyebrows.

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"Okay, so you're sure that the pilots gonna be there?" john b asks, driving the twinkie down to the tarmac.

"yes." sarah nods, turning to face the boy as he drives.

"and your dads not playing some trick on us?"

max chimes in from the backseats, voicing her agreement. "yeah. i mean, why would he help us?"

"guys, the planes gonna be there." sarah promises, "the pilots gonna be there. he promised it's gonna take us straight down to the orinoco. i believe him."

they reach the tarmac, where jj is already waiting. he throws his backpack onto the pavement, "dude, where is everybody?"

john b shrugs, "i don't know, man."

"we should get 'em." jj points to the van, "we should get in the twinkie, and we should just get 'em. that's what we should do."

"just give them five minutes, all right?"

max points to an approaching dirt bike, "guys, guys. there's pope and cleo, right there."

the arguing pauses as jj throws up an arm, "god!"

"were you guys waiting for us?" cleo asks, arms still wrapped around popes shoulder from the ride.

"yes, we were." an exasperated jj answers, "you're late." he hoists his backpack over his shoulder, exhaling. "did you actually convince your pops this time or..."

pope climbs off the bike, jutting a thumb towards the girl still sitting on the back. "cleo convinced him."

"that's my girl." jj high fives cleo, "that's what i'm talking about." they do the infamous pogue handshake, "i thank you for being apart of thy crew."

"anytime."

"hey, where's kie?" pope notices the lack of their fourth member.

"i don't know." sarah admits, "it's gotta be her parents, dude. they've been up her ass."

"they must've said she couldn't come." pope guesses, "we're gonna have to do this without her."

"no." jj declares, turning to john b. "give me the keys."

"no, dude. no, no, no."

"gimme the keys right now."

john b places both hands on the blonde shoulders, "it's doesn't seem like a really good idea right now, jj."

"look." jj scoffs, "her parents already hate me, all right? just give me an hour. it'll be like a black ops mission—in and out. surgical removal type shit, all right? plus..." he lays both hands firmly ontop john b's shoulders, "i kinda owe her."

a look of realization crosses over john b. "oh."

"stop making that face and gimme the keys." jj demands, holding out his hand.

john b shrugs. "okay. well, yeah, you owe her, right?" he drops the keys into the blondes palm, "you owe her. i get it. i just appreciate the honesty, okay? hurry back."

"hurry, hurry." sarah parrots.

jj rushes toward the twinkie, launching himself through its open passenger window. john b sighs, "no, no, no—"

"that door opens, bro!" pope shakes his head.

jj slams on the gas, driving all over the place as he exits the airstrip. john b calls out, "feather the throttle, you know?"

maxine cups her hands over her mouth, "you got fifty nine minutes, jj! fifty eight!"

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Max sits with cleo, sarah, and pope on the steps of wards plane when john b's phone rings. "jj?" he answers, holding the phone up to his ear. "oh, no."

"what do you mean oh no?" max calls over, as the other teens can only hear john b's side of the conversation.

the older boy only holds up a finger, continuing to speak into the phone, "eight hours? i don't have eight hours! we've got a jet here, we're all waiting.....no we can't—we can't—no, jj. listen, we can't wait for you."

"jj?" the call suddenly cuts short, and john b slowly lowers his phone, muttering, "son of a bitch."

"yo," pope calls, "what's going on?"

"yeah, what was that all about?" max adds.

john b shrugs. "i'm gonna kill him."

"oh, shit." maxine curses as she notices a familiar jeep approaching. "sarah, look who it is."

the blonde looks up, immediately beginning to panic. "oh god. oh god." she stands up, jogging down the jets steps to meet none other than topper thornton.

"hey, sarah." he greets, meeting her halfway. "what're you doing? you're just seeing john b off, or what?"

sarah bits her bottom lip nervously. "i'm sorry i, uh, i didn't call. i meant to call you last night."

"oh, you meant to call me last night?" topper scoffs, "okay. no, it's all good. i was actually asking around myself and heard your dads plane was here and i was like, 'oh, that's interesting.' so, are you leaving with him?" when the blonde doesn't instantly respond topper snaps, "are you leaving with him? yes or no, sarah."

sarah looks down before slowly nodding in response.

topper exhales angrily. "you're just..you're just a damn liar, sarah cameron. you've always been a liar. after everything we've been through, this is what you're gonna do to me? i'm done, okay? you literally just promised john b would go away, you would stay here with me. i can't keep doing this to myself, man." he shakes his head.

max narrows her eyes at the way the older boy is speaking to her friend. "hey, top." she calls over, "you got a little something right here." the young teen traces a finger all around her face, grinning from ear to ear.

"why don't you shut up?" topper spits, "how about that?"

"woah, woah." john b steps in, "don't talk to her like that, okay man? she's got nothing to do with this."

topper scoffs, stepping closer to the other boy, "oh, buddy, john b, you better be glad i didn't swing back at you at the wreck cause i think you know what would've happened."

"i'm not taking the bait, top." john b speaks, keeping his voice level. "you're right. you would've kicked my ass."

topper wets his lips, "i heard they're remodeling the château. that's tough, man. how'd that happen?"

"what did you just say?" john b stills, "no, topper, what'd you just say?"

topper only steps back towards his car, "hey, you guys just have a nice life, all right?"

as soon as the teen had gotten back inside his vehicle and started its ignition, cleo speaks up. "that's what you call a kook?"

"oh yeah." pope nods. "big time."

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"Has he called?" sarah asks nervously, still awaiting jj's return hours later.

"have you heard from him?" pope parrots, the sun having already set.

"no, nothing." john b shakes his head.

"we have to go. we don't have eight hours." sarah persists, "and topper might've already called the police!"

"okay, okay. i'll call him." john b relents.

"wait." cleo speaks up as the distinct sound of a motorcycle approaches, "that might be jj right there."

the bike comes to a stop and it's driver and passenger remove their helmets, revealing themselves to be rafe and ward cameron.

"you're okay, dad." rafe is reassuring his father, "come on, you're good."

during his attempt at climbing off the bike, ward trips and lands flat on his back against the pavement. maxine bites her bottom lip harshly to keep herself from laughing as the man groans in pain.

rafe rushes over to his father, yelling at the pogues to help. "don't just stand there! i need some help, please. come on."

sarah hesitates, shaking her head until she sees the look on her dads face as rafe helps him to sit up. the oldest cameron once again begs for help, "please! please! come on."

sarah rushes over, helping ward to walk with one arm around his daughter and the other around his son. "what happened?"

"let's go on the plane." is rafes only response as they struggle to support their fathers weight, "a fisherman spotted him, all right? they know he's alive. we gotta get him off the island right now." rafe starts up the planes steps, turning to help ward do the same. "i got you, i got you."

once her father and brother are on board the plane sarah turns back to her friends, exhaling. "shit. this cannot be happening." she rushes back towards the jet, disappearing inside.

pope turns to the remaining teens. "no. hell, no. we can't. we're not getting on a plane with him. no way! hell no!"

cleo hesitates, facing a silent john b. "are we still going?"

"don't worry, he's not coming?" max parrots sarah's previous promise as the older girl comes bounding back down the planes steps.

"he wasn't supposed to." sarah pants, "i told you." she goes to stand beside john b, "he stays on this island, he gets arrested."

"no, sarah, i don't think you understand." john b faces his girlfriend, "i don't know if i can get on a plane with that guy."

"just listen, john b!" sarah argues, "this is his plane. i can't stop him from leaving. but he will still give us a ride to orinoco, so if you don't wanna get on the plane i get it. we'll find another way."

"there's no other way." john b shakes his head. "let's go." he looks deeply at sarah, "if you're going, i'm going. it's you and me." he turns back to pope, cleo, and maxine, "let's go, get on the plane. come on, we're getting on the plane! we gotta go."

max cocks an eyebrow. "with them?"

"yes. we don't have any other choice."

cleo agrees with john b, "just stick to the plan. come on."

as max follows after cleo and pope to board the plane, rafe starts down the steps. he pauses briefly as he and pope stare at each other before the cameron boy continues down the stairs.

pope reaches out, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder, "we're not done." for once, rafe doesn't respond.

"hey." cleo moves pope forward, "don't let the devil tempt you. go." they board the plane, max and then sarah following not far behind. a few moments later john b joins, and then they're off to south america.

as soon as the plane is at full altitude, sarah begins tending to wards apparent stab wound.

sitting in the row in front of john b, maxine warily eyes the man who has caused her friends so much harm and suffering. she watches as sarah silently rises to her feet after bandaging her fathers wound, ignoring his expressions of gratitude.

"thank you, baby. god bless you, thank you." once sarah has returned to her seat across from john b, ward turns to face the teens. "john, thank you too. i know you won't believe it, but you have nothing to worry about from me, not anymore. i'm just here to help you." he gestures to the other three teens, "all of you. i have a lot to make up for. for what it's worth, i'm glad your fathers alive."

max looks over her shoulder at john b, muttering a quiet, "yeah, glad 'cause that's one less body he'll go to prison for if he gets caught." she misses the way ward falters, getting his first close up view of the girl who mysteriously looks like someone he used to know.