Home [Book 2]

11

"Nice thinking, John B. You know these lock from the outside, right?" JJ asked.

"Yeah, I know, JJ. I was just trying to get us on the boat. I wasn't thinking that far ahead." John B replied.

"Yeah, well now we're stuck in here like rats." JJ said.

"It's hot." I said, fanning myself with a small notebook I found lying around.

"Yeah. This is a literal death cage." JJ said.

"JJ, you're not helping." KeKe said from where she sat next to Pope, lying on the floor of the metal container.

"You don't have a whole lot of room to talk right now." JJ said, pacing the container with his arms crossed. "You said you had a plan, but what happened to thinking ahead."

"I find your lack of self-knowledge disturbing." I said, trying to lighten the mood with a somewhat of a Star Wars quote.

"Okay, Riley, I love you, but bows really not the time for a Star Wars quote." John B said.

"At least I'm trying to lighten the mood." I replied.

"And it's not really working, is it?" John B asked.

"Okay, can we all just shut up for a moment? Let's just figure out a way to get out of here." Kiara said.

I sighed and looked at JJ as he sat down next to me. "You okay?"

"Fine. I'm just annoyed. It's fine." He replied, running his hands through his hair, then looked at Pope. "How do you kill a snake?"

"You go for the head." Pope said in a tired voice.

"Exactly. But the head, in this instance, is the bridge. To take the bridge, we need maximum firepower. And I happen to know that there's an armory on this ship in case of pirate attacks. I'm talking pistols, knives, AKs, double-barrels."

"Guys!" Kiara walked over to the side of the container and gestured us over. We all walked over and saw she was staring at a small grate.

"Can we fit through that?" She asked.

"Yeah. Nice one, Kiara." Pope nodded.

"What was that about a Swiss Army knife not coming in handy?" JJ asked, holding a knife in his hand before working on the grate and having it pop open.

"Okay, we raid the armory, get weapons, roll back here, and plot the next move. The armory is on the third deck, aft, near the laundry room. Let's roll."

"JJ, hold up. I don't think we should all go out there. It's too risky." Pope said.

"Why?" JJ asked.

"I agree with Pope. If some of us get captured or in a bind at all, they need to know that we got their backs. Okay?"

KeKe nodded. "Good point. So who's all going out? I, for one, need to get out of this overheating death trap."

"Okay. KeKe, Pope, and John B. You all have something you need to get, so you go out and we will stay behind. Sound good?" I asked the gang.

"Sounds good." They responded.

"Don't get shot." Kiara said.

"Wow. That's . . . kinda dark. And scary." Pope said hesitantly before the three of them all went through the grate and out into the open.

I picked up the grate and pushed it back into place, then turned to Kiara and JJ and hopped down.

"Looks like it's just us three." I said.