FOR WHAT was probably the first time this summer I rode shotgun as John B sped to the airstrip in the VW. I don't know how I managed to snag the front seat but everyone else seemed to dive to the back of the van in a rush, so I just took the opportunity to take the front seat. I kind of regretted it now though because John B was driving like an absolute lunatic. He didn't even drive very well on a good day either.

But we were against a serious time crunch so I saw the need for a rush, almost all of the odds were against us right now but were we hell going to give up now. We'd risked our lives once or twice to get this gold, what was a third time going to do?

"So, we go in there, guns a—blazin'." JJ said, formulating a very messy plan. I wanted to obligate and remind him his plans never worked well for us but he was the only one with an idea at the minute. He'd picked himself up since we found out about the gold but I still didn't know why he was down in the dumps first place. He had been all right when we woke up this morning, "We make Ward Cameron beg for mercy, abscond with as much gold as possible and vámonos, get the hell out of there." He carried on, loading his gun with bullets. I didn't want to know where he'd obtained them from, sometimes ignorance was bliss.

John B looked to me, "We send that shit right down the Intracoastal."

"Wait for the weather." Kie nodded.

"Exit to Cuba." Pope chimed with a small smile.

"Cuba?" JJ asked, looking to Pope, "No, man, Xcalak.. Jewel of the Yucatan. Lobsters so thick, mangos and no word for money." I turned in my seat when I heard JJ pull the chamber of the gun and saw it in his hands. I made a mental note to take it from him as soon as we got out the van. If we went in pointing a gun to Ward's head it would go down horribly, I could just see it not ending well in our favour.

"Let's do this shit." John B said to us.

He continued driving until we pulled up at the airstrip, quickly scrambling out of the minivan and to the large scale metal fence, "What's the plan?" Kie yelled, "Broad stokes."

"I don't think we got that far." John B muttered as we got to the fence.

Pope pulled his binoculars out and held them up to his eyes, "They're loading up the gold."

I could see Ward's big plane, all his men working on getting it ready and a black Ranger Rover honked as it pulled to a stop next to the plane. John B took the binoculars from Pope and looked through them, "There's Ward."

"Well it's no good just standing here." I muttered and I put my hands through the loops in the gate, pushing off my foot to climb over. We couldn't do anything from behind the gate and I honestly saw no other way of getting in either. This was probably our only option, safe or not.

"Woah.. woah." John B muttered, dragging me back down with a hand wrapped around my waist, "That's not a good idea."

"Why not?" I asked as I dropped back to my feet, he continued to look through the binoculars.

"There's barbed wire." Kie told me, pointing to the top of the gate.

I looked up and saw the wire attached to the top of the fence with sharp metal spikes. If I'd of grabbed that it'd of gone straight through my hand and we couldn't afford that right now, nor did I want to experience that sort of pain, "Yeah, I knew that." I grumbled in response.

John B lowered the binoculars slowly and I turned to see a look of absolute disappointment on his face. He looked as if he'd just had his heart broken and his sad eyes made my chest hurt, seeing John B upset was something I hated, "What?" Kie asked panicked from besides me, "What?"

"It's Sarah." He muttered to us.

"She's with him?" Pope asked in surprise.

I took the binoculars from John B's hands while shaking my head, "Surely not." I muttered. I couldn't quite believe Sarah would actually of betrayed us and what would've made it worse was that I stuck up for her against Kie. She would've been the one to tell Ward we found the gold, that meant she was on his side and not ours after everything we had gone through and that sucked. Now Kiara would have the opportunity to say 'I told you so' to us.

I held the binoculars up to my face and looked through them and sure enough I saw the back of Sarah's blonde head.

"I don't want to be the one to say it." Kie mumbled.

"Then don't." I snapped, looking at Sarah as I narrowed my eyes to get a clearer look. She was walking around back and forth trying to talk to the men Ward had hired, asking them questions as they shrugged her off and walked away. She was trying to dodge Ward as he followed her about until he grabbed her arm and pulled her into him, "Hang on.." I muttered uncertainly, watching the exchange between Sarah and her dad. He looked to be dragging Sarah along, almost forcing her towards the door of the airplane.

"What?" John B asked me. I swallowed nervously as Ward picked Sarah up off her feet to carry her the rest of the way and looked away, lowering the binoculars as I met John B's eyes and handed them to him.

My friend took them from my hands with a confused frown and hurried to look back out of the microscopic lenses, "He's hurting her." John B muttered.

"What?" Kie asked.

"What?" JJ repeated.

"They're fighting." I told my friends.

John B reached over and passed the binoculars off to Kie quickly while grabbing my hand and tugging me, "Oh shit."

John B dragged me back and away from our friends, towards the van and pushed me towards the passenger side while urging for me to get in, "I need your help."

"What?" I asked him incredulously with wide eyes. I opened the door, "What for?"

He climbed in and started the engine, "Just get in." He replied dismissively.

I sat in the passenger seat and closed the door, "Do you actually have a plan?" I asked and he stayed silent, putting the car into reverse and turning to see out the dirty window in the back, "John B?!" I pressed, my voice getting higher when he ignored me.

He stopped the van having reversed quite a ways back from the fence and our friends and put it into gear before looking to me, "Hold on." He said simply before he pressed his foot on the gas. I sank into my seat, cowering into myself as we quickly built speed, racing towards the metal fence.

"John B stop!" Pope yelled, trying to intercept the van as John B ploughed ahead but he had to scatter out of the way.

"Hold on, man!" JJ tried, his loud voice carrying through our open windows and over the revving engine of the VW.

"Dude, stop!" Kie yelled.

"You know, if you kill me I'm going to be seriously pissed with you, JB." I told my friend, laughing nervously as I gripped to the handle above my head.

"John B, don't be a hero dude!" JJ yelled to him and I cringed into my seat as he drove into the gate. It broke, absolutely shattering the windscreen of the van and we swerved out on to the runway at an unreasonable speed.

He pressed his foot further on the gas as I gripped to the outside of the van, my arm out the open window. I could see the plane ahead of us and in the few minutes we'd spent talking and breaking into the airstrip the people working on the plane had disappeared. The runway was empty bar the plane and we quickly caught up to it as it travelled down the runway, gaining speed of its own, "All right, you wanna hear the plan?"

I laughed nervously, "Yes, please!" I yelled to my friend.

"I need you to distract them while I get ahead of the plane!" John B said to me, his voice raising to carry over the noise the airplane was creating.

"And how do you expect me to do that?!" I yelled incredulously, my hair flying about in my face with the wind.

"I don't know!" John B responded loudly, gaining speed. We were pushing the VW to her limits here, she was already old enough and I feared this would finish her off.

"All right." I nodded trying to think of a reasonably safe plan to distract Ward and Sarah without getting out of the van, "All right, okay."

I moved in my seat, hooking my leg tightly in between the door and the seat and I manoeuvred my body out of the van so I was sitting on the ledge of the window. My upper body was outside the vehicle, my hand gripping round the head rest while the other held to the hand rest on top of the car, "Shit!" I swore to myself as the wind caused my hair to fly to the side of me.

This was the worst plan I'd ever come up with. It wasn't safe, nope, no way on earth was it fricken safe. In fact I was almost positive I was probably going to die. I could only imagine what JJ, Kie and Pope were thinking right now watching us from the fence. Hell, if I was watching me I think I'd be pretty nervous.

"Really Mally?" John B yelled out to me.

"You said to do anything!" I shouted back, "I'm improvising!"

My body started to tingle, an adrenaline rush taking place and giving me that edge I needed to carry on. One day my daredevil side was going to get me killed but I just hoped that wasn't today. I had too much to do, too many places to be.

"Sarah!" I shouted as loudly as I could, "Sarah!"

She turned her head to the side to look to the sound of my voice and her broken expression morphed into one of relief as a smile broke out on to her face. I imagined she was relived to see John B rather than me but hey, ho.

"Mally!" She shouted to me through her open window, "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"It's fine!" I yelled with a smile, "I'm all right! Daredevil remember?"

She opened her mouth to reply to me but Ward pushed her back further into her seat, leaning forwards to shout to us, "Get off the runway! Get off!"

"Sarah you have to stop this plane!" I shouted to her, "C'mon, I know you don't wanna do this."

She turned to her dad and I saw her reach for the gearstick but Ward slapped her hands away, shoving her harshly against the side of the airplane. I clenched my jaw watching them argue, heading Sarah cry out in pain after her father shoved her and I hoisted myself up even further.

"Get off this damn runway!" Ward shouted to us, "You're gonna get us killed!"

"Stop the plane Ward!" I narrowed my eyes at him in response as he kept looking over to John B and I, "We know what you did!"

"Mally get in!" John B shouted to me as he overtook the plane. He slapped my thigh several times lightly and I pulled myself back into the van, exhaling while pushing my wild hair out of my face. I sat back down in my chair and put my seatbelt on, I hadn't worn one in the VW in a while but I had a feeling this called for me to wear a seatbelt.

"What now?" I turned to him.

John B swallowed nervously, glancing to me for a quick second, "Hold on."

"What—"

He pulled on the handbrake on and turned the wheel completely, putting the full lock on and doing a handbrake turn. I grabbed to the sides of the van in shock, a small squeal leaving my lips as we flew about until the VW came to a complete stop right in front of the plane. John B's side was facing the nose of the aircraft and it powered towards us at a speed it would kill us going.

I watched with wide eyes as it ploughed towards us, not showing any signs of slowing down, "Oh my god, we're dead!" I yelled in a panic.

Ward Cameron was literally going to kill us by crashing an airplane into us. There was no making this up, we were about to die.

"Shit." John B swore loudly and he grabbed ahold of me, pulling into him protectively. I heard the tyres of the plane screeching loudly, under strain from the breaks that Ward had decided to pull on but whether he would manage to stop the plane in time before he hit us I didn't know.

John B and I hid away, panting heavily as we buried our heads in each other's necks and it wasn't until a few seconds had passed did I dare to look up. Miraculously, the plane had stopped completely, the nose of the large vehicle only looking to be inches away from us. The engine turned off, the propellers slowed down and I sighed in relief before scrambling to get out of the car, pushing my door open quickly and running round the van.

"Sarah!" John B yelled desperately as I stood by him, looking through the window to the now empty cockpit.

The door to the plane opened quickly and Ward jumped out, not even waiting to lift the stairs down as his feet landed on the tarmac, "You trying to kill her?" He yelled angrily as he ran to us, "What are you trying to do, get us killed?!"

"You stole the gold!" I yelled at him from John B's side.

"No, no, no!" Sarah cried as he jumped out the plane after her dad. She ran straight passed him and to John B, cupping his cheeks as she stared into his eyes, "John B, you're okay. I—"

"—Get away from him." Ward snapped, moving to grab Sarah's wrist to pull her back. He was furious, his eyes were wide as he looked at John B and I wildly.

I couldn't help but notice how unkept he looked. There was no physical change to his appearance, he still had the same length beard and all but he just looked so messy. His under eyes were tinged purple from stress or lack of sleep I didn't know but he wasn't as groomed as he normally was. It had been a few days since I'd seen him last at Midsummers and there he looked like the most polished man on the island but now.. now he looked so disheveled.

He looked like he was breaking. His facade of pretending he had this pristine and untouched life was falling down. All of his secrets were spilling at a rate he couldn't control and it was rattling him. That's why his appearance had changed so drastically without him even changing anything. It was the way he was carrying himself and portraying himself.

"No!" Sarah yelled, whipping around to face her father as the three of us backed away, "Don't touch me." John B wrapped his arms protectively around her and pulled her away, "And don't tell me what to do."

I stood with them, watching Ward apprehensively waiting to see what he was going to do. He couldn't stop three of us from raiding his plane and stealing the gold back — not like it was ours in the first place, we'd only found it.

I didn't particularly know what was going to happen next. When I had planned out the scenario in my head of how I thought this was going to go it didn't look like this, in fact it kind of looked like the opposite of it. I could imagine John B didn't anticipate this outcome either, or Ward, but now it had not a single one of us knew what to do.

I tenses as I heard a police siren. I thought maybe it was just in passing, on their way to a disturbance on the other side of the island or perhaps to a fight somewhere but it only grew nearer with each wailing sound. I swallowed apprehensively, nerves swarming my stomach like a hurricane and I looked up to John B while pressing my lips together. I didn't want to get arrested for trespassing or dangerous driving or whatever the hell I could get accused of right now.

Probably attempted murder if Ward Cameron had any say in it.

"You think this changes anything?" Ward said to us before he shook his head as the squad car pulled on to the tarmac, speeding down towards us, "It doesn't." He seemed triumphant that this was twisting to work out in his favour but I was too busy trying to figure out who would've called the cops down here.

The squad car pulled up behind Ward and Sarah turned to John B with wide and desperate eyes, "You gotta get out of here. You've gotta—"

Ward had still reported John B for assault after their fishing trip had gone square shaped yesterday. My friend would get picked up by the police and we would fall short, not retrieving the gold and leaving Ward to take off to wherever he was going scott free.

The tyres of the car screeched to a stop and Peterkin got out quickly, her eyes hard as she looked around. I tucked myself into John B's side, ready to protect him no matter the cost but in the back of my mind I was thinking this was Peterkin so maybe she'd give John B the benefit of the doubt. She seemed pretty hell bent on keeping him on the right path and away from trouble, she steered him as best as she could despite what her colleagues warned her about him.

Maybe we would be all right?

"Oh, thank god you're here." Ward said quickly as Peterkin slammed her car door shut. He sighed, switching on this fake 'I'm the victim here' jig as he walked to the Sheriff, "Susan, I told you he's lost his goddamn mind. Look at him, he pulled in front of my plane, he even dragged his friend into this! He almost killed me and my daughter."

"That's bullshit." I blurted out, unable to hold my tongue as he lied.

"Put your hands on your head." Was the only thing Peterkin said, reaching for her gun in its holder on her belt. Her tone was hard to match her exterior and she never tore her eyes away from Ward.

Ward turned to us with an amused smile, "I'd do what she said."

I watched as Peterkin pulled her gun out of the holder and held it up to Ward, aiming at the back of his head. I swallowed as my lips parted lightly while I watched the exchange. So maybe Ward hadn't called the cops? But then Peterkin would be here on the off chance.. unless she knew Ward was planning on making a quick getaway tonight.

"She's talkin' to you, Ward." John B replied, sounding just as confused as I felt.

There was silence and Ward's face dropped before he turned slowly to see Peterkin holding him at gunpoint, "You're under arrest for the murder of Big John Routledge." She said to him coldly, reading him his caution.

Sarah gasped suddenly, falling into John B and I hearing her dad was being arrested for the murder of someone. Not just someone though, her boyfriend's father. I put my hand on her shoulder to steady her as my friend wrapped his arms around her, "I got you." He told her quietly.

I could hardly believe what Peterkin was saying myself but it was music to my ears in a weird and twisted way. I didn't know how she'd come to have known that Ward killed Big John but I wasn't complaining, not at all. It meant this was turning in John B and I's favour, finally someone in uniform believed the side of the poor instead of the rich.

The level of social injustice on this island was disgusting and I had lost my faith in our justice system at a very young age. If you were a Pogue you were apparently more likely to commit a crime than if you were a Kook. If you were a Pogue and a teenager there was no doubt it was you and it was sickening how easily the finger was always pointed to us. It was like just because there was the odd one or two who offended on the Cut we all did, we were labelled as felons automatically because of where we lived.

Peterkin was one of the rare few — if not only — officer on this corrupted island who didn't hold Pogues to their stereotypes and it proved as she stood before us arresting Ward. I knew she wouldn't arrest him for murder not having a solid amount of evidence it was him because she liked to prove things fair. She played by the books instead of jumping the gun like her officers did.

It made me think, if Ward had killed Big John maybe he had killed them square groupers as well...

When Ward didn't comply with her demand Peterkin pressed him again, "Put your hands on your head."

"Are you kidding me, Sue—"

"—Put your hands on your head!" The Sheriff yelled over him, warning him for the third time. I watched as Ward finally complied, doing as she asked as he slowly locked his hands behind his head in the air, "Turn around!" He did and the expression on his face gave everything he'd been hiding away. He was in disbelief. Ward thought he'd done it, that he'd already gotten away with it but here we were.

His jig was up.

"Drop to your knees!" Peterkin instructed him. Once Ward was on the floor she reached for her cuffs and fastened them around one wrist tightly, "I don't like being used." She told him lowly as she tightened the metal, "I've waited a long time for this."

And just as she went to cuff his other hand Ward tried to grab her gun from her. The three of us jumped back in shock as Peterkin pushed Ward to the floor, pulling her gun out the holder again and pointing it to him. There was a seconds hesitation as Ward grunted and then a loud gunshot rang around us.

The sound caused me to flinch massively, jumping back into John B. The memory of the square groupers firing at us back in the marsh before we dived too deep into this mess replayed in my mind, bouncing around in my head for several seconds.

For a minute I didn't know what was going on, Ward wasn't falling to the floor and Peterkin was still stood with her gun aimed high — she was panting on an adrenaline rush but then when I saw her fall to her knees I knew she was the one who the gun had been pointed at.

"Oh my god." I murmured, my jaw dropped as my eyes were wide.

Peterkin was the one who had been shot but I couldn't see her assailant anywhere and that terrified me. I looked around quickly, trying to find the person who had fired the weapon — afraid me or John B could be next — but I couldn't see anyone anywhere. I'd never been more confused. I could feel the blood pumping through my body quickly, my heart was thumping so quickly in my chest the beat was echoing in my ears. I didn't know what to do, where to look but I felt my knees shaking as I stood there open mouthed.

John B wrapped his arm around me tightly and his other around Sarah like his one true purpose was to protect us from whoever the shooter was.

And then the person I least expected to see stepped out from behind the aircraft, holding a gun in his shaking hand.

"Rafe." Sarah whimpered, "No."

My blood ran cold. It was an unexplainable feeling but I was scared. I could honestly say that seeing Rafe standing there with a loaded firearm terrified me, especially after our feud. I didn't trust him not to aim and John B or I and pull the trigger. If he shot the Sheriff without hesitation he would shoot any one of us easily.

This was not turning in John B and I's favour anymore. In fact, I don't think it was in anyone's favour at the moment.

"What?" John B muttered in confusion, his breath hitching and I turned to see his face twisting in anger.

"Rafe." Ward muttered to his son, still on the floor with one cuff locked around his wrist, "What did you do?"

Peterkin let out a sharp breath in pain and she dropped to her back, letting go of her gun as it clattered to the tarmac of the runway. I watched as Rafe smiled, chuckling under his breath, "I saved you, dad." He said, his eyes were rimmed red as he sniffled, "I saved you." And then Rafe aimed his gun at us.

I swallowed nervously, frozen under the threat of being aimed at.

Peterkin started coughing from her place on the floor and slowly I rose my hands in surrender while edging forwards. If nobody applied pressure to Peterkin's wound she would die.

I took exceptionally slow strides as I broke away from John B and Sarah, well aware of the gun Rafe was aiming at me and I lowered to my knees, crawling the rest of the way over to Peterkin.

John B edged forwards after me and he rushed towards us as I put pressure on the woman's wound, "Hey, hey. Hold still. Hold still, it's okay." He told the woman, "Where is it?"

Peterkin had done a lot for the both of us — John B especially — and she's done a hell of a lot more than what any other cop on this damn island would've. She helped us out, she saved our asses and she looked out for us. In my eyes I was indebted to her, she was the sole reason those square groupers didn't take me that day.

"John B." I spoke shakily, talking to my friend as my hand trembled. I could feel tears burning my eyes after the shock had settled in and from my side Sarah let out a shaky breath as she cried. She hadn't expected her own brother to shoot someone, "You need to put pressure on it, okay?" I told him and I placed my hands over his on the wound for extra support.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." John B spilled out, looking at the Sheriff as she spluttered, gasping for air.

John B pulled his hands out from underneath mine, leaving me to put pressure to the wound and he pulled his bandana off from around his neck, "Mally, your hands." He said to me and quickly I removed them, letting John B take over again. I looked to my fingers and I forced down the urge to vomit, my skin was stained red from her blood and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

My eyes stung as tears prickled my eyes, my mouth becoming watery like it did whenever I was sick but I forced myself not to throw up.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." John B continued to apologise, as if they were the only words he could find at the moment.

Peterkin looked between him and I, "Call—" She wheezed, "—Call for help."

This was probably our only way out, using for radio to call for assistance but I looked around anyways incase that plan failed. My eyes scanned the tarmac until I caught sight of Peterkin's discarded gun on the floor a few feet from me.

I slowly lifted my eyes from the weapon to Rafe and Ward who were arguing with each other heatedly, Rafe still wielding the gun and while John B picked up Peterkin's radio I snuck forwards to retrieve the gun.

"Hey, hey!" Ward yelled to John B, turning back to us. My fingers were inches from the gun and Ward hadn't seemed to notice I was retrieving it but just as I reached that little bit further to pick it up it was kicked out of my reach. I watched as it flew across the tarmac and I looked up to see Rafe standing over me, his gun pointing right to my forehead.

"The hell do you think you're doing Davis?!" Rafe shouted loudly, pressing the barrel into my skin, "Huh? You trying to kill us?"

"Rafe, no! Rafe!" Ward yelled to his son, reaching his arm out to him. He was torn between stopping Rafe from shooting me and getting the radio out of John B's hands.

I swallowed nervously as I looked up at him from my knees, "Rafe—"

He shook his head, "Don't try it Davis."

"She's going to die Rafe!" I yelled in distress, tears running down my cheeks.

"I didn't ask you to talk!" He yelled hardly in my face. Rafe didn't miss another second before he grabbed my hair and pulled me up to my feet. Everyone around us yelled for him to stop, to let me go but Rafe pointed the gun to my temple with one hand and as he shoved me over towards Peterkin's squad car. He pushed me against the bonnet with his hand latched his hand around my neck tightly. My back was flush with the vehicle, one foot on the ground while the other was resting on the edge of the grill, my hands gripping around Rafe's wrist as I tried to pull him off me.

He squeezed my neck so hard and I clawed desperately at his arm.

"R-Rafe—" I stuttered, gasping painfully for air as he tried to choke me, pushing me further against the car, "—S-stop!"

"Get off her!" Sarah shouted over to her brother in distress as she cried, "Rafe, stop it! You'll kill her!"

My tears clouded my eyes and I could barely even see him properly as he stood above me but I could feel as he only tightened his grip on my neck. I was starting to see stars, panic skyrocketing through my body as my need to breath only grew worse.

Rafe was strangling me, he was going to kill me.

"Rafe—" Ward yelled to his son, trying to coax him to let go of me, "John B, give me the radio."

"No." John B muttered.

"Put the radio down asshole!" Rafe yelled, he took his hand away from my neck and while I was disoriented he pulled me off the back of the car. I gasped for breath he spun me around, pulling me into his chest and wrapping his arm around my neck instead like I'd done to Barry however many days ago and fixed the gun back to my temple, "I'll kill her!"

"Rafe, stop!" Sarah pleaded, crying out to her brother.

"Give me the radio." Ward instructed firmly, reaching for John B's hand and pulling it from his grasp, "Give me the damn radio."

I hit Rafe's arm has best as I could as I tried to fight for air. I was begging him to let go of me, or for him to at least loosen up his grip so I could suck some air in though my nose or mouth.

Ward stood up with the radio as Peterkin gasped loudly again and closed my eyes as tears ran down my cheeks, my nails digging into Rafe's arm to try and get him off me.

"Rafe, I've got it." Ward said to his son, "Calm down, let go of her. You're going to kill her."

"What if she deserves it?!" Rafe yelled angrily in my ear.

"Rafe." Ward reasoned and I looked at him, my eyes pleading with the Cameron father. I needed air, I could feel my body's natural instinct of shutting down starting to process.

"Let go of her." Cameron ordered his son.

I felt a massive weight being released from my neck and I gasped loudly as he pushed me forwards. I fell to the ground while I sucked in as much air as my body could take. I tried to scramble as far away from Rafe as I could while breathing heavily, coughing from the lack of intake and once I'd gotten a distance away from him Sarah rushed to me, helping me up to my feet and wrapping her arm around me. I put my hand around my neck lightly, feeling the sore area where Rafe had squeezed so hard just seconds ago.

John B was still on the floor, putting pressure to Peterkin's wound and I looked down to see my shirt and hands covered in her blood. It was everywhere, even on my thighs. 

"You need to go." Sarah said to me quietly as she cried, "The both of you, you need to run." I shook my head, trying to swallow before speaking but Sarah shook her head at me, "You're probably going to lose your voice but it's all right, you'll be okay."

I saw John B stand up, backing away towards Sarah and I and Rafe saw him too, "Where are you goin' huh?" He yelled to him.

Sarah grabbed my hand and passed it to John B. He gripped to it tightly, "Run." Sarah said to us, pushing us away.

I tried to take in as much air as I could as I gripped to John B's hand tightly. I didn't even think I had it in me to run right now but that didn't mean I was going to stand here while Rafe was wielding a gun.

"Mal, come on." John B said to me and he tugged me away behind the plane. We broke out into a sprint, absolutely pelting it through the overgrown grass and weeds that surrounded the runway in the airfield and the sound of my heavy breathing echoed around us.

A shot echoed out and I jumped somewhat, pushing my legs to go faster. A second shot rang and John B squeezed my hand tighter. I could hear Ward, Sarah and Rafe arguing as we ran away and my heart clenched at the thought of leaving Sarah behind with them. They were both murderers, we should've brought her with us.

We continued to run, I don't even know where to and John B pulled me through a forest and out on to a dirt road only to be knocked straight over by a car. The front of the vehicle hit into my legs and I grunted in pain as my friend fell on to the floor but I forced myself up and I grabbed John B's hand again. The both of us groaned in pain as we walked, "C'mon we need to get out of here."

"Hey!" The driver yelled, "Hey you're bleeding, you need some help?!"

We didn't turn back and we slowed to a stop what might of been five minutes later. My lungs were screaming, my windpipe felt as if someone had put a burning hot poker down my throat. I doubled over, trying to get as much air into my lungs as humanly possible but it was absolutely futile — with every breath I took I still felt as if I was choking.

"John B—" I stuttered, looking to my friend and he nodded his head.

"I know." He responded, "I know."

We were both thinking the same thing, Peterkin was most likely dead now and this had just took a horrible turn for the worse.

• • •

I couldn't remember when at what moment I had started crying again but tears had been falling down my cheeks for some time now and I couldn't stop them. I can't remember if it was when I saw the now dry blood of the Sheriff on my hands and clothes or when I saw the airplane with all the on gold fly over us.

I don't know.

I couldn't think straight, I couldn't comprehend what had just happened to us — what we'd just been apart of — and I couldn't string a sentence together. My body had finally set into that shocked state after the adrenaline I was running off had died. It left me not knowing what to do, even putting one foot in front of the other was hard.

I couldn't let go of John B's arm though, I practically clutched to it and for what? Comfort, safety? I didn't know. I walked with my head resting against his shoulder, both of my arms tangled around his and gripping to his sweaty hand. Or maybe it was mine that was sweaty?

I didn't know where we were going and I don't think John B did either but we walked so far until we came to a bunch of random outdoor open metal storage units. I heard voices, familiar voices — voices of my friends — but I had nothing inside of me to react to them. It was a strange feeling being stuck in this trance and just letting John B lead me but when he stopped I stopped too.

I couldn't look up though, my eyes were set on the ground.

"Hey!"

"Dude!" JJ yelled, "You guys, you good?"

"Oh my god!" Kie sighed in relief.

The three of them ran over to us and JJ grabbed the both of our hands, "What?" He muttered in confusion, looking to the dry blood, "Is this yours?"

"Whose blood is that?"

"Are you okay?" JJ asked me. He cupped my cheeks, his hands warm against my face and I could feel his eyes on me but I couldn't look up to him or reply.

"Guys, are you okay?" Pope asked us.

I heard a siren approaching and that was what forced my head to snap up, my eyes were wide as I watched the squad car drive down the road at the bottom of the street.

"Shit." Pope swore and JJ grabbed my hand, pulling me into the storage unit as we ducked for cover away from the cops.

We hid and I dropped my head, leaning against the wood we were against while breathing heavily.

"All right, do you two wanna tell me what the fuck is going on?" JJ asked John B and I. I turned my head to meet his eyes and he looked at me, "You're scaring the sh—" He cut himself off and I watched his jaw clench. JJ reached up to my throat, tracing his fingers over my raw skin, "What the fuck?"

I turned around and I sat against the wooden strip, drawing my knees into my chest, "Peterkin.." I muttered, hiccuping as I continued to cry, "Rafe he—he shot her."

"What?" Kie asked me in shock, "Rafe Cameron?"

I forced myself to swallow and I nodded, "He showed up at the airstrip. That siren was Peterkin, she.. she was arresting Ward for Big John's murder but Rafe he-he shot her. I tried to grab her gun from the floor but he—" I caught on my words, a lump forming in my throat.

"—He started choking her." John B muttered quietly, his eyes glued to the floor as he came to my aid, "Ward wrestled with me for the radio and we ran."

"He tried to kill you?" JJ asked me, his voice was hot with anger — it was radiating from him.

I nodded, pressing my lips together as I cried, "I-I.. I'm scared you guys." I admitted.

JJ pulled me into his chest and I wrapped my arms around him tightly. He held me comfortingly as he pulled me to sit in his lap but I could feel how tense he was with anger as he held me.

Where we would go from here now I didn't know but one thing for sure was that Ward wouldn't tell the cops his son shot the Sheriff. I knew exactly what he was going to do, he was going to pin it on John B and I or quite possibly just John B but regardless we had to clear our names. It was going to be hard enough getting someone to believe us, sixteen year old Pogues against King of the Kooks. Who would you choose to believe?

I just prayed that despite the odds, Peterkin survived because at least then she'd be able to help prove John B and I's innocence if it came to that.

"We need to get out of here." John B muttered, "Find somewhere to go."

"Yeah." Kie agreed, "You guys stay here, I'll go get my car."

"It's ages from here to Figure Eight." I hiccuped, looking to my friend through puffy and sore eyes.

Kie stood up while shaking her head, "It's all right." She replied, giving me a small smile, "Don't worry."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Pope asked her but he didn't sound like he really wanted to go.

"I'll be fine." She said to us, "Just don't move, okay? Stay here."

JJ nodded as he rubbed my arm, "We'll be right here."

• • •

A/N; welcome aboard the shitshow train on a steep incline downhill until it crashes at the bottom