𝟎𝟕𝟗. 𝐟𝐢𝐳𝐳, 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞, 𝐩𝐨𝐩

dynamite        ────       taio cruz

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖥𝖮𝖫𝖫𝖮𝖶𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖬𝖮𝖱𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖦，𝖶𝖤 𝖥𝖨𝖭𝖣 𝖮𝖴𝖱𝖲𝖤𝖫𝖵𝖤𝖲 𝖶𝖠𝖳𝖢𝖧𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖲𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖧'𝖲 𝖦𝖴𝖠𝖱𝖣𝖲 𝖥𝖱𝖮𝖬 𝖠𝖢𝖱𝖮𝖲𝖲 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖶𝖠𝖳𝖤𝖱．They're just sitting there, likely waiting to hear orders from Singh, but if we want to progress on and follow the map to El Dorado so we can find the others, we need to get these guards away and out of sight.

I'm sitting beside Kiara in the boat, peering over her shoulder as she reads off the map that we were given by Barracuda Mike. We know there's a dirt path behind the guards that leads up a hill towards El Dorado. Yes, a hill, but we need to get to John B and Sarah. We need to make sure they're okay and alive.

"Hey." We look to Emory who we find to be holding dynamite sticks. My eyes widen, not expecting that to be in the hands of somebody like her. "This Barry Mike guy is wild," she comments, grinning at the sticks of dynamite like they're the most beautiful things in the world.

"Barracuda Mike," JJ corrects, his voice below a whisper.

"What are you doing?" I ask, reaching out to snatch the sticks from her but she yanks her hand back, keeping a tight grip on the dynamite.

"I've got an idea." She chucks one of the sticks to JJ that he barely catches. Bless. She then throws another stick of dynamite towards Pope.

I pout, feeling a twinge of jealousy at not being gifted a stick of dynamite. "I wanna throw one."

"You cannot be trusted," Emory bites out, acting like she knows me well enough to make that kind of judgement. Whatever. I don't need to throw dynamite even though I really, really want to.

I frown, casting a glance at JJ. Now, because he loves me and because I have the biggest puppy-dog eyes in the world, he falls for my charm. "I'll let you throw one," he whispers, dragging a hand down my back.

I kiss his cheek. "You're the best."

Across from the guards, we find a wooden hideout where we can throw the dynamite without being caught. Well, hopefully we don't get caught. We don't have much luck in, well, anything, but I hope we don't get caught otherwise we'll be dead, dead.

First, we start by devising to send a threatening message via a fishing rod because, naturally, Mike also keeps rods on this boat and we need to capture the attention of the guards somehow. I'm in charge of writing said message as I, according to everybody around me, I have the neatest handwriting, not that it matters when we're supposed to be threatening.

As I scribble a message onto a scrap of paper, I question if it sounds menacing enough. "In five seconds you will hear a gunshot, that's your first warning. The next one will be in your head," Pope reads over my shoulder, speaking in a deeper tone to make it seem more spooky.

"What do you think?"

"Lose the smiley face at the end, Brooke."

Yeah, I didn't think I'd get away with that, but I wanted to throw in some of my B. Routledge charm. Sighing, I reluctantly scribble over the lopsided smiley face I wrote at the end of the note. "I just wanted to leave something nice before we, you know, throw dynamite at them."

JJ squeezes the back of my neck in a comforting way. "We're not actually going to hit them with the dynamite, Sunny."

"Well..." Emory leans against the wall, a murderous look in her eye. "We'll try not to."

Kiara glares at her, her intense look softening Emory's murderous one. "You won't hit them." I hide my smile behind my hand as I watch Emory back away almost immediately, silently agreeing with Kiara that she won't actually hit the guards with the dynamite even though she really, really wants to.

I attach the note to the hook on the end of the rod, and because I can't aim for shit, JJ is the one who throws the line instead of me. Yeah, perhaps if I had paid attention to Dad when he taught me how to fish, I would've known how to aim the damn rod and get it close to the guards.

Sorry, Dad. I swear I'll listen to you on how to fish if you're alive. Well, I probably won't, but that doesn't mean I want him dead or anything. Okay, now I'm teetering on the edge of panic.

Kiara, Cleo and I are in charge of keeping an eye out as the guard on the boat retrieves the note from the water and reads it. Emory, JJ and Pope get to have the fun job── if you wanna call it fun── of throwing dynamite at the guards.

Five seconds pass. "Okay. Now!" I offer the boys and Emory a thumbs up before I hear the first fizz, crackle and pop. Okay, so the dynamite doesn't produce a pop kind of noise, more of an exploding kind of noise── a loud one.

Cleo, Kiara and I keep watching outside the small windows in this hideout, watching as the guards frantically duck to avoid getting hit by what they believe is a gun.

I laugh, finding their panicked behaviour to be a little amusing. "It's working!"

"Fire them up!" Several more sticks of dynamite are thrown, hitting the water, and causing a ripple effect with each explosion. The guards attempt to search for the culprits── us. They fail, of course, not knowing which direction we're in.

I feel a hand grab mine as the guards spin, looking in our direction with their guns raised but they don't catch onto us. Gunshots are then released, firing haphazardly in a lame attempt to hit us. Not a single shot comes even close to hitting us, not that I thought it would.

The boys and Emory know what they're doing, and with us to guide them, they continue to throw the dynamite in the general direction of the guards.

Emory absolutely wants to hit one of the guards, that much I can see as while that murderous expression has softened, it's still very much there. However, it would be catastrophically stupid as we're not here to kill anybody, not today. We just need to drive the guards away so we can sneak up this mountain with ease and without the fear of somebody catching us.

We peer back out the windows, watching as the guards begin to untie their boat, needing to get away before they die not that we have any plans to kill them, but they obviously don't know that.

"Hey, Sunshine."

I turn my head, looking over my shoulder as JJ holds out a stick of dynamite in my direction, a trace of a smile on his lips. "Really?"

"Really?" I hear Emory say, but I ignore her, moving to take the dynamite from JJ.

I look up at him, utterly in awe as this is his last stick of dynamite and he's letting me have a little reckless fun. I gotta say, I'm a lucky girl.

If a man offers you dynamite, ladies, you take it.

Poor advice, I know, but when JJ Maybank offers me something, I ain't saying no, especially when that something looks like a lot of fun.

I hold the dynamite, letting JJ light the end. It begins to fizzle, ready to ignite, and the minute it looks ready to explode, I throw as hard as I can, hoping it lands somewhere close to the guards as Emory and Pope throw their last sticks. I hear the explosion burst in my ears, finding that to be one of the sweetest sounds I've heard in a long time. It sounds freeing, loud and fucking incredible.

I almost wish I had more dynamite.

JJ claps his hand over mine, and I laugh bursts out of me as I squeeze his hand, shaking our arms excitedly. "Nice one, Sunny."

"They're leaving!" Cleo yells, beginning to walk towards us with Kiara following behind her. The guards are fleeing the scene, giving us the chance to get up the mountain to reach El Dorado and the others in no time.

I'm coming, John B.

JJ steps away from me, clapping his hand over Pope's. The boys share the famous Pogue handshake, pretty proud of themselves. "Think we're getting better at this."

Cleo steps in between the two, stopping them from enjoying this moment of bliss and quiet. "Hey, hey. Ain't no time for celebrating. We didn't do nothing yet."

Cleo walks ahead, Kiara following behind. I hear Emory ask Kiara, "Is that the infamous handshake?" I chuckle, knowing full well that she wants to be taught the handshake, and one of us is absolutely going to teach her.

"I thought we did something," JJ mutters.

"We did." Pope nods, ignoring the girls who begin to walk towards the dirt path that leads up the hill. He claps JJ's hand again. "We absolutely did."

I applaud, entertaining their supposed victory. "Well done, boys."

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𝖨'𝖬 𝖫𝖠𝖦𝖦𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖡𝖤𝖧𝖨𝖭𝖣，𝖠𝖡𝖲𝖮𝖫𝖴𝖳𝖤𝖫𝖸 𝖤𝖷𝖧𝖠𝖴𝖲𝖳𝖤𝖣．I hate running, yes, but climbing? Well, it's my newfound enemy. Sweat is dripping off me because of this horrifying heat. Seriously, if I plan to go to all these exotic places and countries with JJ, I need to befriend the warmth even if I feel as if my skin is beginning to burn and sting.

I'm going to have a deadly sunburn later, that much I know.

Maybe JJ and I should just run away to all these cold countries like, I don't know, Canada which, I know, isn't far, but at least I won't have this burning sensation all over my skin.

JJ and I have been walking beside each other ever since we began trekking up this giant hill, but we've barely shared a word with one another, too focused on needing to catch our breath and stay upright in this heat. Kiara and Emory walk behind us, lagging even further behind than we are while Pope and Cleo walk way up ahead.

"Hey, B."

I curse out that voice, wishing that the person who calls me that was actually behind me and not her. I don't cast a glance over my shoulder, knowing who is coming towards me. I just nod to JJ, instructing that he falls behind to join Kiara so Emory can join my side.

If she wants to talk, I'm not sure how I'll do in holding a conversation when I'm sweating and wishing to be drenched in ice water. I can barely breathe, constantly inhaling uneven intakes of breath, so I'm not sure I'll be able to hold a coherent conversation.

Emory is at my side, walking in step with me. "Hey," she repeats, not sounding exhausted in any way.

I breathe heavily, chest burning. "What?"

"I wanted to, uh..." Emory's glances over her shoulder, supposedly looking at Kiara. "I wanted to apologise for, you know, how I-I was with you... earlier. I was, um... I was rude, and I'm sorry."

I come to a slow, processing those words as I can't believe that they're coming out of her mouth. Since I met this girl, she's shown her hatred toward me in a number of ways── glaring at me, back talking me, pissing me off. She's been a literal pain in my ass, a thorn in my side, and constantly in my way from the second I met her, angering me to the point of wanting to jump off a building just to escape her.

Never in all my seventeen years of life has anyone ever infuriated me as much as she has, and that's saying a lot seeing as I've met a lot of annoying people.

Now she's apologising, and I can only guess why. "Kie told you to apologise, huh?"

She scoffs, head shaking, but the word that leaves her mouth isn't convincing. "No."

I cast her a glance, not knowing her well but knowing enough that if the girl she likes tells her to do something, she'll do it. "Yeah, right."

"Look, I'm sorry, alright? Can you just accept it?"

"Oh." I laugh at how quickly she changes like she has some kind of on/off switch. "Well, there's no need for all the hostility, Emory. I thought you were apologising."

"I am sorry." She does her best to sound sincere, I'll give her that, but I'm still unsure if I can trust her words.

"So you like her?" I look to Emory who stares ahead. I find that her jacket is now pulled around her waist, her t-shirt tied with a knot and hairband. She doesn't even appear to be breaking a sweat, her hair pulled up high much like mine. Damn her. How can she cope in this weather and look like that?

Emory doesn't respond to my question, not that I should expect her to. She's not looking to be friends, not with me, but she doesn't want there to be bad blood between us as Kiara and I are best friends which, in our world, is more important than... more-than-friend-type-people── whatever that means.

"Look, I accept your apology," I say instead, knowing she doesn't want to talk to me, but I have a tendency to never shut up once I begin speaking. "We don't need to be friends or anything, alright, I'm not interested but..." I place my hands on my hips, inhaling a sharp breath. "I know you like Kiara, I can tell, and I think she likes you too."

"And you know that because..."

"Because she's my best friend," I say, blowing out another puff of air.

"Nothing more?"

I sigh, knowing where this is going to go. "I get it, you hate me, but I can't change the past, and I don't want to."

"I don't hate you."

"Really? Could've fooled me."

"I don't hate you, I just don't get along with many people." She smiles, but it's fake. I know that because I have offered many fake smiles in my lifetime. "I really don't hate you, okay?"

"But you don't like me," I voice, clearing my throat. She makes no attempt to argue with that comment, allowing me to continue. "You don't like me because of everything that happened between Kiara and I ages ago. Well, I'm sorry, but that's no reason to hold a grudge. Kiara didn't know you, and we were both single so..."

"I'm not holding any grudge, B, I'm just trying to apologise, alright? I'm trying to be a friend."

"Wow. You must really like her." Emory shakes her head, really not wanting to discuss her crush on Kiara with me. I guess I can't blame her when she barely knows me, but she can always get to know me if she wants, I'm not against that. "Emory, she likes you too, I can see it."

"You can see it because she's looked at you in a similar way." She sounds defeated, like she can't quite believe that Kiara and I ever had something, not that our something was anything big or anything. We kissed a few times, and while those moments we shared together were magical and definitely life-altering, that was the extent of our relationship.

"There's nothing going on between Kiara and I, not anymore," I say, speaking with as much sincerity as I can muster at this given moment.

"Yeah, you and blondie are now mad in love."

I grin, liking that. "You jealous?"

"Of you two?" She scoffs, finding the notion ridiculous. "Definitely not."

"It's okay if you are. We are adorable."

"More like sickening but okay."

I smile when I catch her own lips twitching upwards. I think, against all her wishes, she actually enjoys spending time with me. I think, in some freaky way, we actually get along. Or at least, I think we can get along.

"We don't have to be friends or anything, Emory, but if you ever want to talk... I'm here." I stumble, knocking my arm against hers in a friendly-ish way, definitely not because I accidentally fell into her. "If you like Kiara, you should go for it."

"I don't need advice from you."

"I know." Something tells me she's never taken advice from anyone, instead doing everything in her power to only listen to herself. Hmm. "You don't have to follow my advice, just listen to me when I say that Kiara deserves somebody great, and if you think you can be that person, be that person, alright?"

After a beat of silence travels between us, Emory nods once. "Okay, B."

"I'm sorry, but you need to stop calling me that." That nickname is reserved for my brother, and for my brother only. Rafe called me it once, as did my dad, but I hate to hear it from their mouths. From Emory, however, it's not so bad but still, it's John B's nickname.

Her head shakes. "Nah."

"Okay, fine." I cock my head, watching her as she begins to quicken her pace, wanting to get ahead. "If you call me B, I get to call you... Emmy."

She snaps her head to me, looking downright mortified as her steps begin to falter. "Excuse me?"

"Yep."

"You aren't calling me that."

"Afraid I am, Emmy." I laugh, clapping my hand over her shoulder as I begin to walk by her. "I'll teach you the handshake later, alright?"

"You said I didn't need to learn the handshake."

"That was until you realised you wanted to be apart of our crew." I keep walking, quickening each step as I want to reach Cleo and Pope who are likely at the very top of this hill by now. "Welcome to the crew, Emmy!"

"Bitch!" she shouts, falling back to rejoin Kiara and JJ.

I always liked even numbers, and having eight Pogues sounds far better than seven, doesn't it?

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❀ soph speaks

shorter chapter bcos i'm lazy and rlly desperate to finish the end of season three and start season four

potential friendship between emmy & b???

thankyou for reading!!