𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝗃𝗃 𝗆𝖺𝗒𝖻𝖺𝗇𝗄

7: "𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛'𝚜."

Y/n helped her brother take off the scuba gear as they both still caught their breaths from the situation they were in just a few minutes ago.

"Hey, guys? Guys, bogey, two o'clock." Kie calls.

The four follow their friend's gaze, revealing a boat inching closer and closer to them and the HMS Pogue. Inside, stood two men, their hardened gazes straight ahead of them, in the direction of the five teenagers.

"Do you recognize that boat?" Y/n questions.

"I've never seen it." Pope replies.

"What are they doing back here?" Kie asks. "The marsh is closed."

"I don't know. But let's not stick around and find out." JJ says in reply.

"JJ, get the bowline." John B instructs, stepping towards the wheel.

"Yeah." JJ responds as he does as told.

"Should we wait on them?" Pope questions.

"No, we're not gonna wait on them." Y/n replies, denying his question.

"Are you joking?" Kie asks as she stares blankly at Pope.

Y/n anxiously waits as Pope goes to the stern, turning on the boat instantly. JJ continues to bring up the anchor until it was in the boat and out of the water as John B started to drive the HMS Pogue.

"I don't like the look of this." John B mumbles.

"Are they coming for us?" JJ asks.

"Maybe they're fishing." Pope suggests.

While her friends and brother rant many things, Y/n manages to let out an instruct to her brother to go into the marsh, which he does as told, turning to their right and into the marsh. However, the adult men from behind them continued to follow the five teenagers, revving up their engine, which was heard from the five.

"Hey, guys, they're following us." Y/n informs, calling to them.

"This can't be good." Pope murmurs.

"Dude, you gotta go faster! Gun it!" JJ instructs.

"I'm going!" John B exclaims in response.

Frantically, John B started driving faster as they drove through the marsh. Suddenly, a gunshot was heard through the tense air, causing all the teenagers to duck, except for one. As John B stayed standing up, occasionally ducking down to avoid the shots, JJ pulled the Routledge girl into his arms, holding her close to him.

As the men continue to shoot at them, bullets weaving through the air, Y/n glances around inside the HMS Pogue, looking for anything to help in their current situation. Eventually, her e/c eyes land on a net just a little in front of them. JJ feels her shift in his arms, making him tense up, not liking her movements at the moment. The next thing he knew, she pushed out of his arms, making him sit up to grab her again, but went back down when a bullet went through the air.

Y/n frantically grabbed the net, avoiding the shots as she stumbled towards the back, passing her best friends and brother, who all glanced at her with wide eyes.

"Get down, Y/n!" John B practically screams, glancing to his sister.

"Y/n, get down! Now!" JJ adds, screaming as well.

The Routledge girl, however, ignores her brother and best friend, throwing the net into the water, watching as the men's boat soon comes to an abrupt stop when they started to drive over the net, their engine now not working. When they were out of their sight, JJ, Kie, and Pope all rose to their feet while John B continued to drive. Cheering loudly, JJ pulls the Routledge girl into his arms, lifting her up off the floor, spinning around as Y/n lets out a small giggle, wrapping her arms around his neck to not fall off.

"That was insane!" Kie exclaims as she laughs.

After many minutes, the sun was starting to set, the sky getting more darker out as the teenagers found their way to the docks, all of them following the Routledge siblings. John B kneels down, opening the duffel bag, Y/n crouching beside her brother.

"What do you guys think it is?" Kie questions.

"Gotta be money or something, right?" John B responds.

"That or a couple of keys with street value to the low- to mid-mils!" JJ adds in excitement.

"Can we please just open the bag?" Pope blurts out.

"Wow, Pope." John B murmurs.

"That's a rare outburst of emotion from you." Y/n adds.

"Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation." Pope rants. "Just open the bag. We almost died over this."

Ignoring his ranting, John B pulls out a small black bag from the duffel bag, soon pulling out a canister like object. The four friends watch as the Routledge boy unscrews the cap, turning it upside-down, a compass soon falling out of the canister and into his hand.

JJ, Pope, and Kie's excitement all washed away once they realized it was just a compass they got after everything they did. First, they ran into cops, John B and Y/n almost drowned, and they were all shot at just for a compass.

"Oh, wow. Yeah. That's about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass." Pope sarcastically says.

Sighing under his breath, JJ ruffles his blonde hair after pulling off his baseball cap. He glances down at the siblings, noticing how they both stared at the compass in John B's hand with faint smiles on their features.

"Guys, what? It's not worth anything." JJ states sadly.

"This was our father's." Y/n responds in a whisper, both siblings not taking their eyes off their father's compass.

The Routledge siblings smile widens as they glance at one another, hope coursing through them at the possibility of finding their dad. That he may still be out there. The three friends with them hold frowns on their face as they glance at one another, not saying a word as they didn't want to ruin the moment.