SLEEPING in was a perk of island life. 

At the Chateau, it wasn't unusual for Eden to be woken up earlier in the morning because John B. was hungry, or because JJ was begging to go fishing—or for any other stupid reason. There was always something she had to do that required her to be conscious when the sun rose.

However, on Poguelandia? There was nothing that was beckoned to be done at a certain time. John B. always waited for her to awake before going out for driftwood, and any other job Eden was required to do for the day could be done whenever. There were no deadlines or time frames set.

Eden Bexley could sleep in as long as she pleased—even if it was on the rough sand instead of the Chateau couch. Everyone could. 

So, when the Bexley feels herself being shaken awake, she's slightly pissed. 

Someone is not so gently shaking her shoulder, stirring the girl from her slumber—surprisingly, she'd been having decent sleep even on sand, the sound of the waves crashing becoming white noise in the span of the month.

"Eden, get up. Right now." She hears JJ's voice, but ignores it. She also ignores his hand on her shoulder. "I know you're awake, get up."

"Tell John B. to fuck off if he's being annoying." Eden mutters, assuming the boy was awaking her to fix a problem with the Routledge.  Eyes still closed she adds, "He's your best friend until noon."

"No, Eden, there's a plane." 

The Bexley's eyes snap open, confusion present on her tired face. He should have started with that. 

She sits up, staring at the blonde. "What do you mean a plane?" 

After a week stranded, the Pogues had all given up on waiting for a plane to save them. No one knew they were on this island, and anyone who saw them flee the ship on the lifeboat more than likely thought they had drowned on the way out, or hadn't survived more than a few days stranded.

They could hope, but they all knew no one was coming to save them. 

So, hearing that a plane was currently overhead meant more than it should to the average person. It meant the Pogues had a real chance of going back home. 

JJ points at the sky, "I mean, there's a fuckin' plane in the sky!"

Eden looks over the boys figure, eyes widening as she spots a small aircraft soaring overhead, piercing the bright blue sky with its appearance. JJ wasn't kidding—there was a fucking plane in the sky. The first real sign of hope the Pogues had seen in a while. 

"Holy shit," Eden doesn't need to be told anything more before she stands up. She glances around, noticing that Pope and Cleo have disappeared and assumes they're already off to try and grab the planes attention—during their first few days, Cleo and Pope had created a fort of sticks atop one of the many mounts that they could light to catch attention of incoming planes; an SOS signal.

Knowing he had the Bexley awake, JJ runs past the Routledge boy. "Johnny, wake up. Get up." He runs out of the cave, eyes locked on sky. 

Eden follows suit, shuffling out towards the sand. Her heart is in her throat as she stares at the plane flying right past them—this was their one chance at going home. If the plane passed by....who knew if they'd see another. 

John B. and Sarah both make their way out of the cave, Kiara following after them. Everyone stayed silent for a few moments, in disbelief that they were truly watching a plane fly overhead—that this wasn't a dream.

"Hey! Hey, we're over here!" John B. starts to yell at the top of his lungs, voice desperate yet determined. Despite how pointless it is—the plane is too high up to see them—his arms start waving maniacally over his head, trying to signal the plane from where they were on the ground. "Over here! 

Eden wants to tell him there's no point in doing anything without fire from the ground, but who is she to stop him? This was their chance to go home and if they fucked it up, she's not sure she'd forgive herself or the rest of the group. 

"Fuck it," the Bexley mutters under her breath before raising her arms into the air too, waving them to make herself more seen. She looks stupid, but if stupid was what got her back in the OBX, she'd do it. "We're here! Right here!" 

"Hey, we're right here!" 

The two best friends continue to yell out to the plane, hearts pounding in their chests as they did everything to show they were here, alive, and stranded. 

The plane continues to fly past, not noticing their signals—or Pope and Cleo's.  John B.'s mind is practically buzzing. "Come on, come on, come on..." 

Kiara runs down to the shore, voice cracking. "Hey! Hey!"  

"Hey! Over here!" John B. continues, "Hey! We're over here!"

Eden feels her heart sink as the plane continues to fly right past them. She turns her head, meeting JJ's gaze across from her. His shoulders are sunken and he looks like he's trying to hide the fact that he's slightly unhappy—that for the past month, there's a part of him that hoped a plane never came because this was the happiest he's been in a while; the most free he's felt. 

Living on an island, eating coconuts and berries, bonfires every night. No bills or restitution. No shitty father. This was the life JJ Maybank had wanted. 

"Fuck." 

The curse takes Eden away from JJ and she looks at the Routledge to see his face fallen. She looks at the sky herself and she feels sick as she watches the plane fly right past them.

"No, no, no...." the Bexley whispers. She knew the Pogues had shit luck but the plane couldn't have missed them.....there was no way it just flew past. They were right fucking here. 

It's dead silent for a few moments, everyone praying that the plane turned back around and saw them. 

Eden felt as if she could cry when she watches the plane turn right back around in the sky, flying back towards them.

"He sees us." Kiara mutters, shifting on her feet, "Guys, guys—he see's us!"

Eden guffaws, "Thank fucking God." 

"Hey, he's gonna go to the Pond." the Routledge informs, ushering the rest of the group to follow him back to the cave. "Come on, come on! Come on!"

Eden, JJ, Sarah, and Kiara run back to their shelter with John B., collecting all of their belongings—more so their discarded shoes. The Bexley takes her Converse in one hand before quickly treading over to the Pond, where the plane was planning on landing according to the Routledge. 

John B. and Sarah ultimately make their way to the front of the group, leading the way. Pope and Cleo end up finding the Pogues, smiles of utter joy plastered on their faces as they exclaimed and giggled their way towards the plane. Kiara slowly walked, shoes dangling in her hands. Eden had a light smile on her face though she strayed towards the back of the group, where JJ was slowly treading with a frown.

Soon enough, they made it to the Pond—which was really just shallow sea water that got stuck during a high tide—where low and behold, a small plane sat landed in the water, engine sputtering.

"Look at that...." Eden murmurs, almost in awe of the plane. Someone had actually come to save them and here they were. The rest of the group is crowding around the aircraft, and the Bexley goes to follow until she notices that JJ had stopped walking.

She looks back, watching as JJ simply stands. The wind blew through his hair as he looked around the island, fighting back his frown, stopping the urge to try and act out that he didn't want to leave.

Eden offers a solemn expression, backing up to stand next to him. "You okay?"

JJ clenches his jaw, brushing off his emotions. In a gruff whisper, he says, "Come on," 

The Bexley doesn't press and starts walking again, the Maybank reluctantly following suit. 

The cockpit door opens and a man steps out. Across the fuselage the words 'FLYING FISH' are painted in bolded letters, and Eden assumes this is the name of the plane that would be saying them—all hail the Flying Fish. 

"Whoo!" Pope exhales, running down towards the plane, "Oh man..."

Cleo smiles, "We did it! Yeah!"

"Hey!" John B. wears a warm smile as the pilot of the plane steps out. "Hello, hello." 

The man has his long hair pulled back into a ponytail,  a pair of janky Aviators  covering his eyes. There's a bucket hat hanging around his neck, and he's wearing worn down flip flops—Eden can't even judge because he was saving them. 

"Hey there," The man greets, watching as seven teens approached his plane.

In a rush of excitement, Pope throws his arms over John B.'s shoulder. Out of everyone, he seemed to be the most excited about this rescue mission. "Woohoo! Hey! We're getting out of here! We're finally getting out of here!" 

"Well, what do we got here?" The pilot asks. Sarah narrows her eyes at him. 

"Uh..." John B. looks between all of his friends, before stating, "You know, just some castaways."

"Well, I'll cross that off the grocery list." The man chuckles, clearly trying to come off as friendly. JJ's eyes narrow the same way Sarah's had. "Uh, hang on....I got just the thing for ya'll. Just one second—" He heads back into his plane to retrieve something.

JJ comes forward. He eyes the man suspiciously as he whispers in the Bexley's ear, "Do you think he works for your Mom or Ward?"

"What?" The question surprises Eden at first. She'd been so excited that someone had come to save them that she hadn't thought about what could be hiding behind this man and his Aviators. 

The only people who'd known they were in this relative area were Rafe and Ward Cameron, and it didn't take much for people to listen to the Cameron family, or Isla. Especially if they offered money with it—by looking at this pilot, he didn't seem like someone to turn down a little extra cash. 

Replaying his previous words, Eden noticed how casual he seemed to randomly find seven teens stranded on an island. 

Maybe JJ wasn't too far off to think that there was something behind the Flying Fish being the plane that found them. 

"I mean, Isla hiring someone who looks like that would be new, but.....you might not be too far off to think that." Eden turns her head to whisper back. 

The man returns from the cockpit holding two items, "Two things you need on a deserted island. First Aid and rum! Incoming!" He throws out the alcohol, which lands in the water below Sarah's feet causing her to jump as she's splashed, and the kit, which is caught by Pope. "Hey, here you go."

Who gave teenagers rum when rescuing them from an island like that? 

Then again....Eden wasn't complaining. 

"Shit. He gave us rum." the Maybank looks down at the bottle sitting in the water, craving the taste of alcohol after a month without it.

Eden tries to hide her laugh. "You know, he might be sketchy but I actually can't say no to free booze right now." 

"So what's the story? You guys sank a boat?" The man asks, leaning his forearm against the wing of the plane.

"Uh....jumped off one." John B. explains, his girlfriend bending down to grab the bottle of rum. He nods towards Sarah, who sends him a pointed expression. "Her dad's."

"In-laws, man. They're tough." The pilot drawls, looking at the couple over his glasses. The Pogues stay silent, and the man perks up again. "Well.....have no fear. Jimmy's here." He smiles, "I got you." 

John B. smiles bright and Cleo raises her arms in the air, "Well, all hail Jimmy, guys! Let's go!"

"Welcome aboard the Flying Fish, ya'll. I'm Jimmy Portis. I'll be your captain today." Jimmy Portis steps back and allows the stranded teenagers aboard his plane. He counts all of the Pogues in his head. "Is this all? Seven of you?" 

John B. confirms, "Uh, yeah. That too heavy?"

"Nah," Jimmy's voice slightly raised before he changes his reply, "Uh, technically maybe. But I think old Fish here'll probably be okay." He pats the side of the plane. 

"Probably is all I need right now." Eden sighs, leaving JJ and Kiara and following after the rest of her friends.

Sure, she's suspicious of Jimmy Portis to an extent but then again....maybe it was just the fact that the Pogues had all been put through too much shit the past month and didn't know how to take a nice action right. Maybe they were just being weirdly paranoid—or maybe it was just because he was overly friendly and looks a little weird that was causing unease. 

Jimmy chuckles, "We could always throw somebody overboard, right?"

John B. mutters a small, "Yeah..."

Sarah and John B. enter the plane, Cleo following after with an exclaim of, "See you, island!"

Pope grinned brightly at Jimmy, "You're the dog, man."

"Pleasure to have you." Jimmy replies, smiling at Eden as she enters the plane next. Looking inside where they'd be sitting, it's a tight space for seven people but she doesn't care too much. Anything to go home. 

She takes a seat in between John B. and Sarah, watching as JJ and Kiara took their time entering the plane, clearly relishing in their final moments on Poguelandia. Once in, Jimmy walked right past them and took a seat, beginning to start the engine up.

It didn't take too long for the propellers to start running again, Jimmy flicking a few rusty switches and buttons. The Flying Fish rumbled as the engine started, Eden feeling the vibrations against her skin. 

"So what were you doing all the way out here?" JJ pipes up, not only curious but suspicious. What had a plane like the Flying Fish been doing so far out?

"I got a little guide outfit in Saint Vincent." Jimmy replies, flicking some more small knobs and switches. "I was spottin' fish."

Eden grabs the bottle of rum by Sarah's feet, unscrewing the cap without hesitation and downing a gulp of the liquid. It burns her throat but it's a burn she's missed. She takes another sip, listening in to Jimmy and JJ's conversation.

JJ's eyes narrow and he hums, "What were you spotting?"

"You know, the usual." Jimmy pauses before stating, "Wahoo."

This answer causes a shared look between Eden, John B. and JJ. The two boys were the fishers of the group and the Bexley had gone on enough fishing trips to learn her share on the different species and their seasons. 

Wahoo weren't in season right now.  That was a fact.

JJ looks at his two best friends, a knowing look hidden within his blue eyes. John B lightly shakes his head, and Eden pulls the bottle away from her lips, slightly narrowing her eyes towards their pilot. 

Why would Jimmy lie to them about the fish he was spotting unless he wasn't spotting fish at all. 

"I'd hang on to something." Jimmy gets his headphones situated, glancing back at the seven teens. "'Get's a little spicy on take off—I'm looking at you, Pipsqueak." He chuckles as he spares a look at Eden, clearly a pun on her stature.

"The fuck?" Eden mutters under her breath, shooting a look at the man. She does, however, drop the rum bottle between her feet and grab a hold of John B.'s arm with one hand, the other wrapping around the seatbelt like ropes that hung from the ceiling. 

The plane jolted as it tried to take off, forcing anyone who hadn't grabbed on to something to do so. Jimmy hadn't been kidding, and the moment they took off, the plane made all kinds of creaks and bumped the teens all over the place. Eden clung to her friend and the seatbelt for dear life.

However, it calmed down once they reached higher altitudes and had left the island long behind, the only inconvenience being the occasional turbulence bump. Eden puts her Converse back on and the Pogues all stay relatively silent, merely passing the bottle of rum around to one another. John B. and JJ kept glancing at one another every few minutes, suspicions on Jimmy Portis growing stronger. 

But what were they supposed to do? They were in the middle of the air over the ocean. No one could try to fight or escape until they at least landed somewhere, but that could be too late. Ward or Isla could be waiting for them wherever Jimmy was flying them because no one had asked where he was taking them. He was just flying.

"One-niner-four-six. This is tower operator on the mainland." Jimmy's headset was the only sound that rang through the plane, updates from the mainland being announced. "Vector 705. Maintain altitude through 1K."

JJ glanced between Jimmy and his friends before leaning forward, ushering his friends closer with his eyes. The headset was loud enough to distract the pilot from their voices, and the Maybank needed to share his suspicions with the group.

Pope, Cleo, and Kiara edge closer. John B., Sarah, and Eden lean forward to listen in to what JJ had to say.

"Wahoo don't run in September. Ever. Alright?" the Maybank states, "So whoever this man is, he's not a fisherman." 

Sarah, Cleo, and Kiara—who hadn't been aware of Jimmy's fish slip-up—furrow their brows together. Pope, however, doesn't want to believe that this is all just another scheme and conflicts, "Maybe the run just starts earlier out here?"

"Are you sure about that?" The blonde presses, "In the Caribbean?"

"I want to believe we're going back home as much as anyone here, but he's given us nothing to feel other than suspicious." Eden voices quietly, frowning. God, why couldn't they just be going back to the OBX? "Why would he lie about fish unless he wasn't out there fishing at all."

Nothing could go right for the Pogues, could it? Not with their ass luck and a bunch of greedy parents after them.

"No, I know what this is." Sarah interjects, a sour expression crossing her face. "He's working for my Dad—was probably hired by Isla. And they've probably been looking for us the entire time."

"Agreed." Eden hums, everything clicking into place. JJ had been right to ask if she thought that before they boarded the plane. "I mean, did he really just so happen to stumble upon us? Somehow flies over our exact island and manages to see the fire?" She continues, "The only people who knew what area we could be in were on that ship. And I doubt anyone other than her family or my Mom would care enough to search."

"Alright, we gotta find out." JJ states, eyes darting around the plane, "Start looking for some sort of...." Before he can finish his sentence, his eyes get caught on the bag hanging behind the pilots seat. "....clues." 

He shares a glance with the Routledge, who immediately gets the clue to start distracting. "Hey, Jimmy."

"Yeah. What's up?" Jimmy calls out, glancing over his shoulder at John B., who'd shifted closer to the pilots seat.

"How long you had this bird?"

JJ presses his back against the wall, trying to act nonchalant as he dove his hand into the satchel, stifling through it. Eden hunches forward and holds the flap up so the boy could easily snatch something. 

"Oh, about ten years now."

"How long you been flying?" John B. continues small talking, eyes darting between Jimmy and his best friends hand.

Jimmy doesn't notice shit. "I've been flying all my life." 

JJ finally grabs a hold of an item, sliding his hand out of the bag. Eden elbows the Routledge in the shin as she drops the flap and sits back up, urging him to continue talking—John B. had a mouth, now was the time to use it.

John B. makes a sound as he feels Eden's elbow hit his shin, and he quickly sputters, "Uh who's, uh...that lovely lady right there." He glances at a photo sitting near Jimmy. 

Jimmy chuckles, "That right there? That's Cynthia." 

"Cynthia?"

"I love that name." Eden hums, trying to get Jimmy to continue talking. She glances down, watching as the others filed through what JJ had collected from Jimmy's satchel. 

In JJ's hands is a book—'The Loss of El Dorado' by V.S Naipaul. Eden furrows her brows at the somewhat random book; she didn't take Jimmy as much of a reader, especially on something like El Dorado of all topics.

"And, uh, what about that beautiful girl right there?" the Routledge leans forward even more, pointing at another photo of Jimmy's.

"Huh? Oh, that? That's Stacey." 

"Oh! Oh....your—your sister."

JJ opens the book and pulls out a photo. His eyes barely have time to narrow before Sarah snatching it, Eden getting a good look herself. She wants to curse when she sees the Coastal Venture—the boat they'd been on. 

"No, no—nah, she's just this girl I met in Saint Lucia. You ever been there?"

"The Coastal Venture." Sarah whispers, "Oh my God..."

"Huge Marlin. You gotta go." As Jimmy continues to speak, John B. leans away to look at the photo Sarah's showcasing to the group. 

Eden nods, "This was the boat we were on."

"With Eberhimi and the cross." Sarah adds.

Cleo confirms, "So he was looking for us?"

"Exactly." JJ huffs.

Sarah's grip tightened around a belt and she grimly states, "He's working for my dad."

"Well, good thing John B. confirmed that to him when we got in here." Eden recalls the way the Routledge had nodded towards Sarah, stating it was her dad's boat in which they'd fled. Now Jimmy knew he had the right set of stranded teens.

Metal suddenly clanks and the plane shakes, the group cringing as they leap to grab a hold of something once more.

Jimmy lets out an unexpected chuckle before warning, "Hey, ya'll better grab ahold of something. We got some unexpected turbulence up here."

"Guys, whatever it is, it's happening fast. Look." Kiara tensely nods towards the window.

All the Pogues peer out to see land. The water looked clear and safe, white sand reflecting the sun. Eden would say it looked like a decent place to take refuge until they could get back to the OBX if they weren't about to be abducted there.

Cleo admits, "That looks like Barbados. I've been there with Terrance."

"Okay, there's seven of us, one of him." JJ breathes, formulating a half baked plan in his head. Either they got abducted, or got abducted with a fight. And for once, their odds were somewhat in their favor.  "You know my vote. We storm the cockpit."

Eden grabs the bottle of rum once more, scoffing, "And here we go." 

John B.'s eyes widen, "No, no—who's gonna fly the plane, dumbass?" 

JJ shrugs, eyes slightly wide as he realizes no one else would have any clue how to safely land let alone fly away other than Jimmy. "I've seen Pope fly simulators."

"I crop dusted for my uncle last summer." Pope stammered, meekly adding, "This is not the same thing." 

The Maybank suddenly approaches with, "You know, I think Eden could fly a plane if she put her mind to it."

Eden almost chokes on the rum, looking at all of her friends—who almost looked expected of her to say 'Of course I'll fly the plane, JJ!'. Bringing the bottle down, the Bexley admits, "I don't even have a car?" 

"We don't have time to pretend either of those are real options." Kiara grits, staring at the blonde with a 'You have to be kidding me' expression. There was no way he was genuinely planning of having Eden or Pope in the pilot seat right now.

JJ challenged, "Do you have an idea?" 

"Something safe?" Kiara retorts.

Pope tries to think of the safest way to get out of being abducted—which, given they were in the sky, happened to be waiting. "Why don't we just wait until the plane lands somewhere safe and then we sneak out." Sarah nods, agreeing with the most logical idea. "And if somebody comes to mess with us, we mad-dog them." 

Kiara and Cleo both agree with an, "Okay."

JJ ends up agreeing with an, "I like the mad-dogging part." 

"Unless we want to crash the plane and get out of this mess that way, yeah, I say we go with Pope's plan." Eden leans back in her seat.

Kiara looks at the book that was still near JJ, "Just put that back. Be cool."

Eden perks up, beginning to distract the pilot as the Maybank works to put everything back. "Real good rum, Jimmy."

"I knew ya'll would like it." Jimmy chuckles, "It's my personal favorite."

"Hey, Jimmy, is that....is that Burning Man. Right there." John B. brings up a new topic, voice hesitant as he begins his small talk.

"Yeah! That's Burning Man, alright. That was my first time."

"How many—how many times you been to Burning Man?"

"I started going when I was eighteen. GT's, baby, GT's!"

"Yeah, I've heard a lot about it." John B. continues to try and distract. "I've never been West."

 JJ is about to slide the El Dorado book back in when Jimmy catches ahold of his hand, quickly whipping back to look. "Hey, man! What the hell are you doing?!" He quickly shoves the Maybank back, losing his grip on the wheel as he does, "That's mine!"

Eden feels every organ in her body drop as the plane starts to lose altitude, Jimmy forgetting and ignoring how he's supposed to be the pilot and instead choosing to come at the Maybank for touching his things.

The Pogues all fell into one another, mental clanking as the Flying Fish started free falling. Jimmy had one hand clasped around JJ's shirt, the other trying to snatch the book back. John B. is trying to get the two off one another.

"Who are you really?!" JJ calls out, trying to claw Jimmy's hands off of him.

"Fly the plane!" Sarah roughly exclaims.

Eden wants to try and score a kick to the man to get him to focus on what was more important than getting his damn book back, but she feels unable to move. Hands fused to whatever they can grasp so she doesn't go flying, she feels her stomach drop in all the wrong ways, body pushing through a rush of fear and adrenaline as the plane continues to plummet.

Her chest tightens up and she tries to focus on her breathing so she doesn't stress herself out even more with a panic attack. One hand has a knuckle white grip and the other tries to search for someone to hold her hand—childish and un-relevant given they were all pretty fucking scared, but she couldn't even help it.

John B. glances up at her, "Fuck, Eden."

"I'm gonna have a panic attack, and then I'm gonna throw up and we're all gonna fucking die!" Eden manages to spit out, knuckles growing white from her grip. She can feel her chest getting even tighter and God if Jimmy doesn't get the plane back in the air she's going to start hyperventilating. 

"We're not gonna die—" John B. turns to her to try and reason, though he's not that convincing with his shaky voice. He manages to bring a hand to hers, tightly clasping it. 

"It's my book! Give it back!" Jimmy still argues.

Different alarms and beeps are heard, the plane even trying to warn Jimmy that they were going to end up crashing if his hands didn't find their way back to the wheel. 

"Please fly the plane!" Pope's eyes are squeezed shut as he cries out, "Please, fly the plane!"

Jimmy finally comes to his sense, the sound of beeping and alarms filling his ears. He flies away from JJ and into his seat, fumbling with the console wheel. Everyone let out yelps and sounds of fear as the plane dives up for a split second, shaking inconsolably as it continued to plummet at a quick pace. "Come on, Fish. Come on, Fish. Come on." 

Everyone braced for impact, eyes wide or squeezed shut in fear. Everything was rattling and shaking, and Jimmy couldn't seem to get any control over the plane, spending the final moments in the air trying to push the Flying Fish up instead of down towards the Barbados coast. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa—" JJ yells out. 

He's met to no avail and the plane hits the water, bouncing as alarms go off even louder. The bump causes Eden to throw a hand over her mouth trying to stop her gag, everyone else exclaiming and groaning.

The plane hits the water again, this time slowing down in it. It tips forward and the entire front half of the plane dips into the water, sending every single teen flying towards the windshield and cockpit before anyone can even scream.

Jimmy's face is quick to hit the steering wheel, John B.'s cheek smashing roughly against the back of pilot seat. Eden goes flying to the side, feeling her head smack against something and JJ goes lurching towards the cockpit. Pope ends up curved and hunched against JJ, Kiara and Sarah both grinding up against the Routledge. The plane tips forward even more and Cleo is thrown forward from the back of the plane, crashing into all the teens, who're all lying atop one another, cramped and aching. 

All the teens end in a jumble of limbs and groans as the plane's centers itself again.

Suddenly, water is filling up the cockpit. Eden quickly opens her eyes, feeling slightly light headed as she—fuck whatever she'd hit her head on. Cold water and pain is all she feels, as well as the urge to spill the little that was in her stomach; there's a pressure in her ears, a throbbing in her head and an ache from just being thrown around.

Groans and coughs are all that is heard through the plane for a moment, everyone trying to recollect. Though, it's rather hard to do so with the water entering the cabin, putting everyone neck deep in salty cold sea water. 

Eden grapples for something to hold on to, her other hand covering her mouth to stop her coughs from becoming anything more. 

"Guys, guys—" Kiara sputters.

Coughs. Sputtering. Hands grabbing anything to stay afloat.

"Is everybody good? JJ—wake up man! We gotta get out!" Pope exclaims, shaking JJ—who'd had his eyes closed and head leaned back—back to the real world. 

Panting. Wet hair and soggy clothes. Aching limbs.

Eden doesn't need to be told twice. She starts swimming towards the cockpit door, nodding for someone to help her—she needs to get outside. John B. see's her signal and comes to her side, pushing the door against the water to open it.

"We gotta get out before it sinks." JJ pants.

The Bexley is quick to try and exit, the Routledge grabbing her forearm to stop her, "Oh no." He watches as multiple men start treading towards the waters, a covering over their chest signaling they were somewhat important. "Oh no—they don't look friendly."

Pope retorts, "No, they look very un-friendly." 

"We gotta go." the Routledge knows they don't have a choice. If they stayed in the plane, they drowned. If they got out, they could run away. "Come on, come on—"

Pope repeats, "We gotta go."

Eden limply falls into the water below, not even cringing as salt water gets into her mouth. Everyone else follows suit, falling into the ocean below. Except for Kiara, who stays in the plane, eyes darting between Jimmy and her friends.

"Kie, get out before it sinks!"

"Come on! Go!"

"They're headed this way!"

"Hurry!"

Kiara calls back, "Hang on!"

The Bexley feels herself start to gag again and she stays back from her friends to finally throw up, the rest of the group swimming away towards whatever they could consider safety for the moment. 

"Eden, what are you doing!"

"Do I have to drag your ass!?"

"No, no, no—Eden, Kie, come on!"

Eden feels the bile rise in her throat—she's not sure how shes's going to throw up while barely supporting her own body weight, but she'll find a way. 

"Eden!" This voice belongs to Kiara, who is still in the plane much to the group's dismay. "Eden, help me! Please!"

The Bexley can hear the desperation in the Carrera's voice and whips around, vision focusing in on the Carrera holding Jimmy's limp body, struggling to support his dead weight and her own.

Eden knows what she's doing. Kiara was saving Jimmy Portis because even if he was a lying piece of shit to the group, that's who the Carrera was. She couldn't let someone die knowing she could have saved them.

Eden? While she wasn't for anyone dying, she didn't give a shit about Jimmy right now. The only thing she wanted to do was throw up and follow her friends to wherever they were planning on going.

But she couldn't leave Kiara. Not when she was struggling to hold Jimmy; not when everyone else was swimming away, leaving her alone with the incoming men.

 So, the Bexley starts humming away her nausea and swims back to the ship, wrapping Jimmy's weak arm around her figure. She'd learned how to swim with an unconscious figure during her lifesaving classes, and having another figure to do it with made the process a hell of a lot easier.

Within a few minutes the two Pogues manage to haul Jimmy's body through the waves, swimming in the opposite direction than the rest of their friends. Plenty of people are lined on the shore, eyes wide as they watch the scene play out. Two of which sprint over as Kie and Eden make it to the sand, dragging Jimmy's body further on to land. 

"Take him," Kie pants, crawling over the sand.

Jimmy suddenly returns, hacking up the water in his lungs. 

Seeing that he was breathing was all that it took for Eden to finally give into her urges, getting on her hands and knees to throw up into the sand. There's barely anything in her stomach other than the rum and the little fish she had last night, but she heaves it all up anyways.

"Thank you." Jimmy's weak voice is heard by the Bexley's ears, eyes squeezed shut as she tries to recollect from throwing up.

Still on all fours, she sticks her middle finger up in the direction of the pilot as she dry heaves.

Kiara keeps talking, sounding betrayed yet firm as she spoke to him. "You lied to us. Who are you." 

"Oh God..." There's the sound of revving engines and Jimmy groans, "You should get out of here."

Eden weakly brings her head up, watching as ATV bikes cruise towards the beach, similar men to whom John B. had seen within the sinking plane riding them. She wishes she'd let Jimmy drown for whatever he'd gotten them into. 

"Shit." Kiara breathes, and suddenly she's at Eden's side, hauling the Bexley away from her throw up and back on to her feet. "Eden, come on! We have to run right fucking now." 

Eden watches as men on bikes tread over the beach towards them. The two girls had milliseconds to find somewhere to hide, and honestly? The Bexley doesn't think it's worth it for her and Kiara to both get taken in this second—they could get split up, and that wouldn't help anyone.

She'd rather have only one of them gone, and obviously, Eden would offer herself up into that position before putting Kiara in it.

So, without hesitation, Eden shoves the girl helping her up towards the water, a splash indicating that she'd fallen in. 

The Carrera comes up, eyes wide, "Eden! What the hell!"

"Swim and find the others!" Eden calls back, eyes darting between her friend and the people running through the beach towards them. She turns a deaf ear to Kie's protests and instead tries to lead the army men away from Kiara and towards her instead. "Hey, fuckers!"

 Without another glance, the Bexley starts sprinting away from the beach.

She doesn't know where she's going. This isn't like the OBX—she didn't know where anything was, or anyone to help her. Eden simply runs, just as she'd learned to do over the past few months; when was someone not chasing her and her friends? When had she ever stopped running?

Eden hears the ATV engines and gasps and knows that the bikes are on her trail. She halts in front of two abandoned boats and manages to get inside of one of them. Her chest is rising and falling rapidly, hair dripping down onto the wood below. 

It's a tense silence. Eden hears footsteps outside and before long, a man's face pops into one of the open crevices left by the barrels in front of the boat. Reflex sends the Bexley's fist flying towards the man's face, and he falls into the sand with a groan at the contact.

"She's over here!"

Eden knows she's stuck, so it isn't a surprise that when she crawls out from under the boat, two men are standing there waiting for her. She doesn't even have time to get off her feet and sprint again before one of them—the one she'd punched—wraps his arms around her waist.

"Get off me!" Eden tries to wriggle and make noises to try and get someone else to help, but who was going to question these army men? For all they knew, these two girls deserved to be taken away like this. "Fuck you! Get off of me!"

She knows she can fight even more, but her body feels weak from their crash, throwing up, and sprinting. Besides, she was just a girl and these were two army men—the odds weren't in her favor.

Jimmy Portis had found them on Poguelandia for a reason and this was it. 

The other man grabs a hold of her bicep and the one she'd punched maneuvers so he can hold her other one. The two start walking, forcing the Bexley with them. Eden's eyes dart around the crowd on the beach, looking for Kiara's curls. She doesn't see them in sight and hopes it means that she ended up getting away—that what she'd done was worth it.

Eden is forced to sit in the bed of a truck, body practically shaking. She curls her knees into her chest and lays her head atop of them, trying her best not to start crying or hyperventilating—the last thing she needed was to look weak.

"Yeah, we lost the others." A voice comes through on one of the men's walkie talkies, thick with an accent similar to Cleo's. "We'll keep searching."

Jimmy suddenly appears, shaking. His long hair is soaked and he looks like a wet dog as he approaches with a guilt ridden expression. 

The Bexley looks up at the man, seething, "You fucking asshole." 

"I know. I know—I'm sorry." Jimmy solemnly says, but who was Eden to trust his words now? "I'm gonna try to help you, okay? I swear, I didn't know it was gonna be like this." He glances between the men and the helpless girl. "Look, if you don't fight, if you just do what they say, these guys probably—probably won't hurt you." 

Eden keeps her eyes locked on Jimmy's, though she loses the sharp tone in her voice. She looks like a scared little girl as she whispers, "What does Isla have on you?"

She hopes Isla is laughing with a glass of wine in her hands wherever Ward and her are hiding, knowing her daughter was shivering of fear in the back of a truck. Eden hopes shes fucking happy now. 

Jimmy falters, "What?" 

"Ward, Isla—what money did they promise you?" Eden repeats her question, trying to search through the man's gaze for an answer. 

Why wouldn't Jimmy just fess up that Ward and Isla were behind this whole rescue mission?

"Who?" Jimmy blanks again, before continuing, "Hey, just take my advice, do what they say. Good luck." He trails away, the truck engine starting.

Eden's brows furrow at Jimmy's seemingly clueless reaction to Ward and Isla's name. The Portis man had bullshitted them today already but he genuinely seemed to have no recollection of either name.

Which led the question....who else would want them? Who would know enough to go after them, to want to go after them? Who else knew about the Cross or the gold, or anything else the Pogues had gotten themselves wrapped up in.

Eden doesn't want to know. At least she knew her Mom and Ward.

She has no clue who else is out there. 

mara's misc!

guess who wrote this shit in a day :D

anywho, as this is being published, i'm currently on my way to hawaii (hawai-i'm sad has begun kensie :D). every year my dad's parents take my family & my uncle's family on a vacation and this year we went big and chose hawaii!! i'm very excited to spend a week w/ my cousins on the beach but it's a 6 hour time difference from where i live here in ohio so....i'll update ya'll on how my week goes

everyone go cheer up kensie bc she's depressed that i'm disappearing for a week (we're LITERALLY long distance best friends this is our job & text every day.) also send a round of applause to us for calling for the first time in like 2 months this week.

anyways, this chapter was actually fun to write. some of these lines made me laugh and obx3 is just a chaotic mess.

also no (LOTS OF)  hate to kiara but she doesn't deserve the kidnapping story line like eden does so :D

anywho i apologize that this was published at fucking like 1am  my time but it was either then or no update and i wanted to get an update in before i left. we have to be out of the house at like 1:30 to drive to the airport and then i'm not able to update for like 10 hours so.

hope you enjoyed <3 see you back with chapter 65!!