Hell or High Water | JJ Maybank [2]

nineteen

BEING STICKY AND covered with sweat wasn't exactly new to the Pogues. Many of them didn't have central air and even if they did, it was broken half of the time due to hurricanes and power outages. However, the level of heat that Jo felt in that moment was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She was drenched in sweat and her hair stuck to her face and neck, despite being tied up in a messy bun. The shipping container the group of friends found themselves in seemed to be getting smaller by the second and Jo was starting to get anxious.

"Nice work, John B," JJ said, lifting his eyes to look at the boy. "You know these things lock from the outside, right?"

"I was just trying to get us on the boat, JJ," John B groaned. He leaned his head against one of the ropes dangling nearby, pushing his sweaty hair out of his face. "I wasn't thinking that far ahead."

"Okay, well now we're stuck in here like rats," JJ retorted. Jo closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair. "You know you agreed to come, right?" She asked in annoyance. "You didn't have to."

"I wasn't just gonna let you three idiots do this yourselves!" JJ retorted. "Oh, like any of your ideas have ever been thought through," Jo huffed.

"It's hot," Kie groaned. She brushed her hair out of her face and shrugged her jacket off.

"JJ, you're not helping," Pope sighed. He leaned against one of the boxes and closed his eyes. Everyone was exhausted due to the sticky heat, and they were trying their best not to think about it.

"You don't have a whole lot of room to talk right now," JJ muttered. "You said you had a plan, but what happened to thinking ahead?"

"I find your lack of self-knowledge disturbing," Pope fired back, opening his eyes to glare at the blonde.

JJ scoffed out a laugh and rolled his eyes. "Last I checked, you literally shot an oil container with the gat," he retorted. "Remember that?"

"Oh my god, shut up!" Jo cried. She began to pace nervously as her hands wound into her hair. "It is too hot and this container is too small to listen to your shit!"

Kie stuck her foot between the two bickering boys, glaring at them in irritation as they stared at each other. "Jo's right," she stated. "Pull it together."

"Okay," Pope finally said. "Let's try to find a way out of here."

Jo sighed as Kie lowered her foot. JJ glanced over at her, but she turned her back on him and moved to the far corner of the container. She was starting to panic as the realization that there was no way out of this set in, and she didn't want to spiral in front of all her friends.

John B moved over to the small vent in the wall and peered out of it, trying to scope out the situation on the boat. Jo planted herself in the corner, pressing her back against the wall as she rested her elbows on her knees.