𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞: 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐁 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐘 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐘 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 up to the dock that they were supposed to meet the pogues. a smile grazed coby's lips when she had seen her friends, seeing the three of them start to panic at the sight of the cop car. john b flicked the sirens off before he got out of the car, coby climbing out as well with a wide grin on her face. she placed her bag onto her shoulders as she walked over to the three other teens.

"shoupe let us take it for a spin." john b told them as him and coby walked over to them.

coby laughed when she felt kie's arms wrap around her neck. the taller girl hugged back, wrapping her arms around kie's waist. "okay. that's believable. i'll buy that for now." kie nodded as she pulled away from coby to go and hug john b.

"it wasn't easy, guys, but i got the phantom for you." jj announced, gesturing to the boat that he was standing on as coby went over to hug pope. "and she runs like she was made yesterday." the blonde boy finished, handing the keys to john b. "ready to go?"

"where's sarah?" coby questioned, looking around at her friends.

"she's not with you?" kie asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

"no, we got separated in the swamp. she said she was gonna meet us here." coby answered.

"no, we haven't seen her." pope told her.

"okay, well, i'm not leaving without her."

"jake, look at me." jj jumped in, making the curly haired girl turn to him. "i know you feel bad for leaving - i know the both of you do, but there's no time. you both have plenty of gas, plenty of food. once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to dismal swamp, okay? once you guys get there, lay low, all right? hang out for a couple of weeks and then go overland, cross the boarder at brownsville, you got that?" jj told his two best friends since elementary, earning a nod from john b. but coby was looking over at the road, hoping that sarah would make an appearance. "jake! you got that?"

"uh, yeah. brownsville." coby nodded, taking her eyes away from the road.

"all right. saddler her up, saltwater cowboy and cowgirl. let's do this. yeah." jj said, getting off the boat while john b and coby climbed on.

"hey. hey." john b called. "i'm sorry for basically. . . throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing."

"hey, john b, yo. . . we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?" jj shot back, his voice shaking. that made coby let out a watery laugh. "at least we did it together, though. pogue style." he finished, wrapping his arms around pope and kie.

"pogue style." john b repeated.

"get out of here. please." kie said.

"now. we'll see you in two months, down in mexico." pope added.

"love you." jj called.

"hey, wait - wait a second." coby mumbled while john b went to go start the boat. "tell sarah i said goodbye, okay?" she told the pogues, making them nod. "and, jj, don't touch my damn skateboard, okay? if i come back and it's broken, it's gonna be hell for you."

"yes, ma'am." jj nodded, a teary laugh escaping his lips. "don't forget. cross the boarder at brownsville, okay?"

"got it." john b and coby responded in unison. with that, the pogues pushed the boat away from the dock. john b started the boat up, it slowly gaining speed as it moved away from the dock. coby waved at their friends one last time, a sad smile on her lips

she couldn't actually believe that they were running away to escape exile. she watched as the dock got smaller and smaller the farther the boat went away, not even paying attention to what was being said over the radio that john b had turned on. she heard something about a storm that was approaching the island, but that literally went in one ear and out the other. but, something pulled her out of her thoughts. it was a familiar voice that called out her name, making her furrow her eyebrows. she turned around slightly, looking at john b to see if he had heard what she heard. and when the routledge boy pointed over to one of the docks that they were approaching, coby smiled. running towards the end of the dock was sarah cameron, calling out coby's names.

"sa - sarah!" the sawyer girl called.

"guys! wait!" sarah yelled out, quickly approaching the end of the dock.

"go to the dock, man. go to the dock." coby ordered even though john b was already in the process of slowing the boat down. when they had pulled up to the dock, coby moved away from john b and over to the blonde beauty, her eyebrows raised. "hey. what are you doing? i didn't think you were coming. you weren't at the dock." she told her as she helped sarah onto the boat.

sarah brought her hands up to cup coby's cheeks, taking in all the exhaustion that was written all over the taller girl's face. she then wrapped her arms around coby's neck, pulling her closer. "you were just gonna leave without saying goodbye?" before coby could say anything, sarah went onto her tiptoes to make their lips meet. coby immediately kissed back, wrapping her arms around sarah's waist. "don't ever leave me again." sarah breathed out.

"is this whole trip gonna be me third wheeling?" john b asked, making the two girls turn to look at him. "cause honestly, i don't think i'd be able to handle third wheeling for that long."

"oh, you'll live." coby told him as he pulled away from the dock.

john b drove the boat out of the marsh and around the edge of the island, making sure not gain any attention from passing boats or people that were on the docks. sarah had given john b big john's bandana before she gave coby taylor's shirt. the sky above them was slowly being filled with gray clouds, thunder rumbling in the distance. worry started to creep up coby's spine, thinking if they'd be able to make it to their destination with the storm that was quickly approaching. by the time that they had gotten out of the marsh fully, the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, making the whole cut fall into darkness. coby saw all of the police and other government officials at the point.

"it's like the entire sheriff department. holy shit." sarah pointed out, looking at the scene with slightly furrowed eyebrows.

"that has to be more than the sheriff department." coby mumbled.

"we'll go dark and let the tide pull us out." john b told the girls before he turned everyone on the boat off, including the engine.

coby swallowed the rock that had formed in her throat as she pulled sarah closer to her, feeling the wind start to pick up because of the storm. she felt sarah flinch under her hold when a clap of thunder appeared, lightning flashing in the sky before it went dark again. the trio stood as still as possible while the tide slowly pulled the boat out. they then heard that the sheriff department and whoever else was there was gonna go check the other side of the point, which meant that they were in the clear.

"we're good." coby breathed out, feeling sarah release under her hold.

"hey. hey, we're gonna make it." sarah said to the two pogues.

"yeah, we just gotta go north through the swamp, then we just follow the -" john b started.

"follow the north star. what everything spins around." sarah interrupted while john b started to turn the boat back on.

coby had the sudden urge to turn around, looking at the darkness that was the cut. but her heart dropped when she saw that the lights were starting to come back on. "shit. the - the lights are turning back on. the lights are turning back on."

sarah and john b quickly turned around, watching the lights flick back on in the homes and buildings that were on the cut. their eyes followed the line of sight, the three of them quickly realizing that if the lights were coming back on, so will the lighthouse. and soon enough, it did, the little lamp immediately turning towards the trio on the boat.

"wait. no, no. no, shit!" sarah mumbled as the light got closer and closer to them.

"get down, get down." john b ordered in a hushed voice, making the two girls crouch down. soon enough, the light landed on them, coby squinting from how bright it was.

"there they are!" they heard someone from the point scream. john b was turning the key in the ignition, but the engine kept sputtering.

"is it not turning over?" sarah questioned.

"no, no. it's not turning over." john b confirmed.

"what do we do? what do we do?" coby quizzed.

"check the engine! check the engine!" john b yelled. coby did as told, going to the other end of the boat before she looked over the edge.

she reached for the choke before she started to squeeze it. the sound of sirens made her look up, seeing that there were now police boats approaching them. "john b! try it now, dude!" she shouted, still squeezing the choke. she quickly pulled back then the engine roared life.

"coby! it's working. sit down!" john b informed her, the curly haired girl doing as told. she was still facing the back of the boat, sitting on the floor as she held onto whatever was near her for dear life.

"dude! we gotta book it, now!" she yelled, seeing the police boats gaining up on them.

"i'm trying!" john b spat, making the boat gain more speed. suddenly, it started to rain, cold and heavy droplets of water falling down on them.

"shit!" sarah cursed, seeing that there were more boats in front of them.

"hold on, hold on, hold on." john b told the girls before he turned the wheel, heading out into the ocean instead of where they were originally told to go. the rain suddenly got heavier since the trio was going right into the storm.

"they're coming from around the cut!"sarah informed.

"we've gotta go south, guys." john b said.

"into the storm?" coby asked, pushing her now wet hair out of her face. she forced her self up from the floor of the boat, sarah immediately grabbing ahold of her arm to keep her steady.

"yes, into the storm." john b confirmed.

coby looked up at the clouds, lighting flashing through it. she subconsciously wrapped her arm around sarah's waist, wanting to have her close just in case anything happened. the waves were starting to get more aggressive, the boat pushing against them to the best of it's ability. coby had wrapped both of her arms around sarah, the cameron girl holding onto coby just as tight as the heavy rain blocked their vision. the sound of sirens no longer filled the air, but neither one of them were focused on that.

"john b? coby?" ward's voice suddenly appeared, making the trio look down at the radio. "guys, i know that you are there. i know you can hear me, and coby, if you love my daughter like i think you love my daughter, then you will turn that boat around and come back. you are going into a storm that you cannot survive. guys, please, i will make it right. i promise you. come back."

"no, don't listen to him. he's a liar." sarah quickly told the two pogues.

"guys, i am begging you. think of her and turn around." ward pleaded, but they all knew that it was just a way to get what he wanted. coby felt her jaw clench as she reached for the walkie, bringing it up to her mouth.

"jake, what are you doing?" sarah asked.

"just wanna speak to him." coby mumbled before she pressed on the button. "ward cameron, do you hear me?"

"yes. yes, coby, i'm right here. i'm right here." ward's voice immediately appeared. "please bring her back, okay? we'll work it all out when you get home."

coby chuckled bitterly, shaking her head at the words. "you killed my brother, you killed john b's father, and you framed us for murders that we didn't commit. you took everything from us! you took everything from us! but we're still here, man. and i fucking swear. . . on everything that i love, ward, we will come back one day and take everything that's ours. everything that you took. so you listen to me, okay? listen to us. we're coming for you. we are coming for you." she said before she placed the walkie back onto the radio.

"what would you do if i wasn't here?" sarah questioned, making coby turn to look at her.

the taller girl turned to look over at john b, who was concentrated on keeping the boat study. she then turned back around to face her girlfriend, tightening her hold on her. "we'd rather die than go to jail, sarah."

"i'd rather die than be without you." sarah remarked, making a small smile appear on coby's lips. the two then leaned in, their lips meeting each other's for a few seconds.

"i don't think now is really the time to be the world's cutest fucking couple!" john b yelled over the storm just as a wave crashed onto the boat. "hold on!"

coby held onto sarah tightly, not wanting her to be taken away by the waves or anything. one arm was wrapped around sarah's waist like a seatbelt while the other was holding onto the railing that was running along the boat. her eyes widened when she had seen the huge wave that was coming towards them, her heart dropping into her stomach the closer they got. the boat went up with the wave for a few seconds before the boat flipped over, everything going black.

☠︎ ✶ ♡ ✶ ☠︎

𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐉𝐎𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄, 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 shooting out her mouth as she coughed. once she was done coughing, she sucked in a breath, her shoulders rising and falling quickly as she sat up from the floor. she looked around, not recognizing none of her surroundings. but before she could even process what was going, she felt someone wrap their arms around her, pushing her back slightly. she blinked a few times, not knowing who it was since her mind was all scrambled. but once she heard the person sob, she immediately knew that it was sarah.

"i thought i lost you." sarah cried into coby's neck, holding her close as the sawyer girl wrapped her arms around sarah's waist.

"i'm okay." coby mumbled, her voice raspy. she looked around, seeing john b crouched on the other side of her with a relieved smile on his face. "where are we?"

"we got picked up by this boat. we're okay." john b answered, wrapping the blanket that was around his shoulders tighter. "you're a lot heavier than you seem, cobe."

coby laughed, feeling sarah pull away slightly. the cameron girl wrapped the blanket that was on her shoulders around coby, the taller girl immediately feeling warmth go into her body. sarah then handed her a thermos filled with soup, coby sipping on it. her body started to relax the more she heated up. the events of the previous night had started to flash through her mind as she ate the soup, her mood dimming. she could only imagine how the other pogues were reacting in that moment. they probably thought that the three of them were dead, bodies lost at sea, never to be found again.

"guess where we're heading." john b's voice appeared, making the curly haired girl look at him with raised eyebrows. she still had soup in her mouth so she just shrugged. "nassau."

coby's eyebrows furrowed at that, not exactly know why that was a good thing. but as she looked between john b and her girlfriend, the puzzle pieces started to connect in her head. she quickly swallowed the soup, a look of realization appearing on her face. "the bahamas. the - the gold."

"exactly." john b smiled, nodding his head.

"holy shit." coby mumbled, bringing the thermos up to her mouth. she then started to look around again, realizing that they were in the cockpit of the boat. she'd never actually been inside of a cockpit like this. they must've been on an actual ship.

"oh, uh, i managed to get your bag." sarah announced, pointing over to the drenched bag that was lying on the floor next to john b's. "i know you would've been so angry since taylor's stuff is in there."

"yeah." coby mumbled, setting the thermos down on the floor. her attention then went over to the cast on her left hand. "so much for not getting it wet." she muttered, making john b and sarah look down at the cast as well. coby slipped her bottom lip between the teeth as she started to pull on the orange cast. she continued to pull at it, a sigh of relief leaving her mouth when it was finally off. "that feels so good."

john b laughed, "i bet it does."

daij speaks!
I FINALLY FINISHED THIS DAM SEASON. goodness. it was difficult writing all that action and everything. also, i apologize for how i ended this chapter. i just wanted it to be over with 💀.

but i hope u guys enjoyed this chapter. stay tuned for act two🫶🏼