chapter 7.
you wanna be one of them?
(yeah.)

୨୧

Jo sits in the charter shop, head peering over cleo's shoulder as she researches blackbeard and sarah rings up customers. jj and john b had gone to meet boogie; who knows where pope and kiara had gone. josephine is slowly beginning to enjoy the teens company; its jj she's still getting used to. he was dirty and loud and reckless — all things jo despises the most.

"woah." she comments now on the google image cleo has pulled up. "is that really how he died?"

"head chopped off." the older girl hums in acknowledgment. "gross."

sarah hands her customer their receipt. "come back anytime!" she cheerfully calls as they exit, adding, "except when surfs good."

"smell that?" cleo smiles knowingly. "money."

sarah chuckles, repeating the same just as a second customer approaches the counter. "good afternoon, ladies. y'all remember me?" josephine did not; however, judging by the look on their faces, the other two girls certainly did. cleo speaks first. "how could we forget?"

the man nods at the teen. "i like that accent. welcome to our country." josephine bites her tongue, prepared to step in just as sarah beats her to it. "can we help you?"

he reaches into his pocket, sliding a paper document across the counter. "got something for you here."

"you shouldn't have." sarah grins falsely and joey strains to see over her shoulder.

"i can take this place off your hands at anytime, for a fair price."

"i don't think that's necessary." josephine finally jumps in. she couldn't risk losing yet another home. "can we offer you a keychain?" sarah smiles sweetly at their guest. "maybe a glass bong, a pipe? you look like you need one."

the man drops his friendly-neighbor act. "you know, y'all are gonna lose this place. you might as well sell now." he steps away from the counter, gestures to cleo. "and you have safe travels back to your homeland!" he leaves and sarah immediately picks up the page beside the register. josephine cranes her neck to see. "what is it?"

"once second." sarah mutters, scanning the notice. she looks up with a huff and passes it to cleo. "it's changing the zoning. it's a way to force owners out of their property."

josephine widens her eyes. "is that even legal?"

"if you have the money." and thanks to jo's brother, they certainly did not have said money. "we're gonna need a lot more than five thousand dollars."

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"All right guys, listen up." john b leads as the group gathers on the dock at sunset. "we're in and out. this is one night only. slip down under, stay under the radar. jj goes down, sarah and cleo—"

"um, actually." kiara interrupts, holding up a hand. "i'm going down too."

john b looks hesitantly towards jj before exhaling, repeating the plan. "okay, jj and kie go down. me, jo, and pope stay up." he turns to the two girls on the dock. "sarah and cleo, you guys drive out to the lighthouse by the coast guard base, stand watch. we do this right, and we'll be home by midnight."

"clocks ticking!" jj chirps, climbing inside the boat. jo gladly follows. this felt like four summers ago, sailing through the marsh to explore scooter grubbs sunken boat—only a week before everything went to shit and jo was sent away. she had only wanted to be apart of something; only wanted to be like her brother.

"later y'all!" jj salutes as the boat pulls away.

"don't do anything we wouldn't do." cleo instructs. sarah cups both hands around her mouth. "jo's in charge!"

josephine blushes and they retreat into the sunset. the closer they get to the wreck, however, the more tense the energy becomes. jj notices it, can feel the change in the air. "guys, lighten up, okay? you're making me nervous. we're gonna slide down there, take a peek. worst that can happen is it's not down there, old farts disappointed, we go home, pogues win. okay? that's the worst." he pulls a can of beer out from seemingly nowhere. "in the meantime, who wants to crack one with me?"

john b pulls the can from the blondes grip. "no drinking." jj swipes at his mouth with the back of a hand. "it just takes the edge off, but all right."

pope spots a familiar landmark. "john b, we're in coast guard territory now. should be about twenty yards, one o'clock." he taps jj, who's steering the boat. "hey, slow it down. we're at the drop site now."

"jj, what's our depth?"

he checks the monitor. "seventy eight."

"here we go." josephine watches as pope turns into a leader. he orders the teens around. "jj, switch out. you guys get ready. john b, keep us in position. jo, you're on radio." he tosses the younger girl a walkie talkie.

"honestly, it's kind of like surfing the point, you know?" jj tells kiara as pull on their scuba gear. jo worriedly bites her thumbnail into the flesh of her index finger. she has an awful feeling about this. "we're upstream, and then the rip is just gonna take us out."

"right." kie pulls her oxygen tank on john b jj sets a speargun in front of her. "is that necessary?"

"yeah. i mean, reef, fish..."

"and the man in the grey suit." jj finishes. john b nods. "that too."

josephine speaks up, ever the worrier. "don't forget to do your safety stops, okay? fifteen feet for three minutes. jj, did you hear me?"

"yeah, yeah." the blonde waves away his little sister. "since when did you become a nerd?"

"it's called knowing the health risks." jo rolls her eyes. "i'm serious, all right? fifteen feet down for three minutes."

"or what?"

"or you'll get the bends." josephine answers seriously. "nitrogen in your blood, excruciating pain, death, et cetera, et cetera." she knew the risks of everything. the truth was, the world is terrifying; best to stay ahead of it as much as you can. stay prepared; the small backpack hanging down josephine's back was always stocked with emergency bandaids and hand sanitizer. one can never be too prepared. jj gives his sister a look, gesturing to an increasingly worried kiara. jo only shrugs. "she should know what she's gettin' into."

jj rolls his eyes and glances at his girlfriend. "hey, you good?" kiara nods and he reaches down, extending a hand to help pull her to her feet. "let's do it then." they sit on the edge of the boat, briefly adjusting their gear before plunging into the ocean below.

"hey pope?" john b calls. "the tides turning a little bit. i don't know how long we're gonna be able to keep it."

"well they've only got about forty five minutes of air, so it should be quick." he turns to josephine. "jo, any company?"

josephine jolts as she remembers the radio in her hand, raising it to her mouth. "everything good over there? see any cutters?"

"nothing yet." sarah cameron's voice speaks back. "no sign of the coast guard, but we've got some fog moving in. once that hits, we're blind."

jo clicks off, looking to pope. "you get that?" he nods, looking out into the water. "you know, i'd be lying if i said this wasn't making me feel a little bit nostalgic." josephine sinks her teeth into her bottom lip. she knows what he means; she feels it too.

"hey, we're drifting. take it back to starboard." john b curses, moving the boat slightly. "hold it there, hold it there."

"the tides definitely turning."

"yeah, no shit." john b curses. "how much we got, pope?"

"fifteen minutes."

"the fogs getting too thick." josephine notices. "they need to hurry up." she grabs the radio, reaching out to the other two girls. "still good out there? can you see anything?"

the signal is silent for a moment before it beeps to life. an urgent sarah speaks back. "guys, there's someone else out here. get out of there right now! bogies are coming your way; it's not coast guard!"

"shit." josie curses, turning to the boys. "we've got company."

"cut the engine, cut the engine!" pope hisses. "are the warning lights off?"

"everything's off, everythings off." john b works fast. "just get low, all right?" pope grabs at jo. "get down, get down." john b sinks to the floor of the boat. "nice and slow. no sudden movements."

jo worries the second boat might be able to hear her heartbeat. she darts her eyes around, catching john b's. he slowly brings a finger to his lips, signaling her silence. the bogies get closer, speeding right past them thanks to the heavy fog concealing the teens. "how much time they got left, pope?"

"five minutes."

josephine tightly squeezes her eyes shut. she hasn't had a brother for four years and might be about to lose him again. "we gotta get them out. now!"

"let's start looking for 'em." pope agrees, slowly rising from the ground as the second boats motor sounds further and further away. jo follows, scampering to her feet. "where the hell are they?"

"john b! hey! we're over here!" faint shouts can be heard and pope squints through the thickening fog.

"there they are!" john b maneuvers the boat towards the waving teens, careful not to alert the bogies to their presence. "shh, we're coming! stop screaming!"

"pope, get the ladder!" josephine shouts, rushing to the edge of the boat as soon as it reaches the teens. she's not even thinking about the salt water seeping under the bandage as she extends a hand to her brother, helping him aboard. she knew he didn't need it, but she did anyways, because she could. (because she had returned, despite his abandoned promise.)

"kie, hand me your stuff." pope tells the girl, noticing a missing piece of equipment. "wait, where's your bcp?"

"it's gone." kiara pants, pulling herself up the ladder.

"what do you mean, it's gone?"

"i mean, it's gone." she repeats. jj collapses on the floor of the boat. "there's a guy down there that tried to kill us, pope!" josie's eyes widen. "there's another boat out here, that must be his!"

"yeah, and they were armed!" pope stresses. he works to remove jj's scuba gear as john b takes kies. "we gotta get outta here now!"

"no, you don't understand." jj presses. "there's a guy down there—"

pope shouts over him. "there's a boat out here, we just saw it pass!"

"grab the ladder!" john b orders in a rush. "grab the ladder, let's go!"

"get the ladder!" jo parrots. she anxiously tucks a strand of pink hair behind her ear, watching impatiently as pope pulls the ladder up out of the water. she kneels beside her brother. "are you okay, jj?"

"i'm fine." the blonde assures his little sister before shouting to john b behind the wheel. "go! get out of here!"

"i'm going, i'm going!" john b shouts back, gunning towards shore. they meet sarah and cleo back at the dock. "all right, what the hell happened?"

"someone tried to kill us." kiara pants, still catching her breath after their dramatic rescue.

"what? why would someone try to kill you?" josie lurches forward in her seat, hands on her knees in curiosity. "that doesn't make any sense."

"obviously they were going after the same thing we were, right?" john b suggests. "that amulet is worth something." cleo agrees. "that old man is keeping some secret, then someone else is waiting down there? i knew that story was bunk."

josephine tunes out the teens words, too busy watching her worsening brother. his head lolls backwards as he gasps for air, eyes frozen in pain. she turns rapidly towards kiara, who's in a similar condition; doubled over, hands cradling her middle as she groans. "my stomach feels like shit."

pope makes knowing eye contact with josephine. he rushes to jj's side. "hey man, did you take your safety stop?"

"i'm gonna say it one more time." jj wheezes out slowly. "someone was trying to kill us, we did not make the safety—"

josephine's eyes widen. "they have the bends!" she shouts, slinging kiara's arm over one shoulder. "we need to get them to the hospital now!" sarah and john b rush to help kiara off the boat, taking her from a worried josephine who immediately races to her brothers side. cleo and pope are already helping him onto the dock; joey rushes forward, starting the twinkie and sliding open its back doors, hopping inside.

"go, go!" she sits beside jj as john b swerves in and out of traffic, speeding towards the closest hospital. he violently swerves in and out of lanes and joey curses, balancing unsteadily on her knees as she'd attempts to coach kiara's labored breathing. "deep breaths, deep breaths. like you're blowin' out a candle." joey demonstrates. she shouts over one shoulder. "john b, can you go any faster?"

as the driver presses the gas pedal down even further, pope looks to jj. "who was down there with you guys?"

"no idea, pope." the blonde pants, clutching his stomach. "but y'all are not gonna believe this." a shaky hand shoots up over the seats, gripping an object wrapped in cloth.

he hands it to sarah, who cradles it gently. cleo sits up straight. "what is that?" josephine's eyes widen in realization. "oh shit."

"you found it?" sarah uncovers the object, revealing a red amulet. "holy shit!"

"that's what he was looking for!" cleo exclaims, capturing john b's attention. "why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"i was too busy dying." jj groans. "my bad."

"you a rockstar, girl!" cleo shouts, gently clapping kiara on the back. "fifty thousand!"

"it was worth it." kie decides, clutching her middle in pain.

john b suddenly slams on the breaks so hard joey lurches forward, head colliding with the seat in front of her. she curses, hopping out and racing to the other side. she throws the sliding door open, "come on! hurry!" sarah and john b take kiara while pope and cleo support jj; josephine sprints forward, propping the buildings doors open and rushing to the front desk. "hey, hey, i need help! they got the bends!"

hospital staff approaches quickly, taking the couple and helping them down the hall. joey worriedly follows, trailing behind john b and sarah until they reach an open doorway. she watches anxiously as her brother and his girlfriend is placed into a hyperbaric chamber. "their vitals and mental status is stable, and the pain scale is moving in the right direction." a nurse reassures the worried teens. "but they still need time in the hyperbaric chamber. they just bought themselves twelve hours in the tank."

josephine sighs in relief. she was glad they'd be okay, but she hated hospitals. they were crawling with sickness. she presses her thumb into the bandage on her index finger. "okay, see y'all in twelve hours." sarah playfully rolls her eyes, chuckling as the group makes their way back to the parking lot.

"while we wait, i say we go back to genrettes and demand cash for this amulet." pope exhales, leaning against the twinkie. "i don't know about you guys, but after everything we've been through i think we're owed a lot more than fifty k."

now inside the passenger seat, sarah draws her eyebrows together. "where'd that come from?" she's right — it's rare for pope to express such strong emotion.

cleo whistles. "cheese on bread."

"i think you've been hanging out with my brother too much." josephine quips, sliding open the vans backdoor and climbing inside. she sits behind sarah, leaning through the open window.

"i'm just saying." pope defends, "whatever dude is hiding from us is worth a lot more than fifty k. we need to go see him. now."

there's a brief moment of silence before john b steps forward, slinging an arm around popes shoulders. "i think that's a damn good idea."

"yeah, no it's not." josephine argues. "i think that's a damn stupid idea." pope shoots a glance toward the girl. "the dudes cheating us for sure, all right? we deserve more for all this bullshit." he gestures pointedly to the hospital parking lot they were currently idling in.

"yeah, come on jo." john b tries. "are you with us, or would you rather wait in there for twelve hours?" josephine risks a glance at the hospital. she shivers as her brain swells will the multitude of different diseases just existing within those walls. "with you."

"that's what i thought." john b claps, jogging around the van to climb into the drivers seat. "lets go!"