High Tide // JJ Maybank

Chapter 19

We all run inland, trying to conceal ourselves from the police. We run behind trees, hoping to hide at least a little bit.

"Sarah, you good?" Kie calls out to the other girl. She had to be struggling right now with her gunshot wound.

"Yeah. You okay?" John B asks her.

"Yeah." Sarah cries out.

We run toward the marshy, shallow water. Kiara goes in first, followed by Pope, then JJ. JJ reaches up to help me in. Sarah was right behind me.

"Grab her hand, JJ." John B tells the blond boy.

Both JJ and I reach up to help the girl ease into the water. John B climbs in next. The six of us start swimming across the water, to the other side.

"Stay where you are!" A policeman shouts.

"Go, go, go!" Several people yell amongst our small group.

We duck behind a large tree, hiding ourselves from the men with guns.

"We're trapped. They've surrounded us." Pope tells us.

"Thanks for the insight, P." I retort.

"What do we do?"

"There's no getting out of this, we gotta make a stand." JJ says. I look over at the boy, he was wiping down the gun frantically. A nervous expression was written all over his face.

"JJ..." I say nervously. Panic was building on my chest. I knew his own anxiety had to be extremely high. I reach out to grab his shoulder.

The boy finishes loading the gun, looking up at me. He cocks the gun. JJ turns to move around the tree.

"No, no, no. JJ. You're gonna get yourself killed." I panic.

John B reaches around me, grabbing onto the boy. He grabs JJ's wrist, preventing him from walking around the tree as well as preventing him from raising the gun. JJ looks around the tree at the men approaching us.

I suddenly realize what John B was doing. Though he was saving JJ's life, he was giving up his own. John B takes the gun from JJ and drops it into the ground.

"It's gonna be alright." John B tells the boy. He lifts his arm to place a hand on JJ's cheek. He then drops his hand, turning away. "Here we go." He then looks over at me. "You're gonna be okay, alright?" I nod at him. "I love you, Kat."

"I love you too, big brother."

JJ kicks dirt over the gun, concealing it in. He breathes heavy as he stares down at it. I grab the boys hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Several police officers pull out their guns, pointing it directly at my brother. My heart pounds in my chest as I watch. JJ let's go if my hand, pulling me into his chest. I cling onto JJ's shirt.

"I love you, big brother." I call out to him. "We'll get you out of this."

"John B!" Shoupe calls out from behind his open car door, gun pointed at the brunet. "Step out into the clearing!" John B raises his hands in surrender, walking out into the open space. "Get down! Do not move!"

"I'm surrendering." John B announces.

"Hands up!"

"Don't move!"

Shouts come from all around us. Tears fill my eyes as I look around at how many guns were pointed at my twin. I had just gotten him back and I was going to lose him all over again.

"All right! The rest of y'all stay right where you are. Keep your hands where we can see them. Don't move!"

I let go of JJ and raise my shaking hands into the air.

"Shoupe, I wanna testify!" John B calls out.

"It's about time! Get down. Do not move a muscle. Everybody else, do not move."

John B drops to his knees, putting his hands on his head. Shoupe approaches him with his gun still pointed directly at his head. Several Police officers place themselves between him and the rest of us, pointing their own guns at us.

A police officer grabs John B from behind, wrapping an arm around his neck, pulling him into a standing position before slamming his back onto the ground.

I instantly felt like I was going to vomit. The sound of his back connecting with the ground was the worst thing I ever heard.

"Stop! You're hurting him!" I yell, tears finally spilling over.

"Let him go!" Sarah cries.

The policeman then begins kicking at John B, sending him sprawling against the ground. His foot connects with my brother repeatedly.

"Sheriff, what is this? You're gonna let that happen?" JJ calls out angrily. He begins to step forward, away from the tree.

Plumb shoves her gun in JJ's face. "Don't move!" She screams at him.

The cop sends a punch into John B's face just before Shoupe pulls him off the boy. "Stand down, Thomas!"

"Get off!" Thomas shouts, shoving Shoupe away from him. He grabs John B, pulling him to his feet, looking him dead in the eye. "This is for Peterkin." He pulls his arm back, sending a punch flying into John B's face again, knocking him to the ground.

I double over, any contents that were previously in my stomach were now on the ground in front of me. I cough on the bile still burning my throat.

"Woah, are you okay?" JJ asks immediately. He grabs my hair, pulling it out of my face. More bile comes up, as I hunch back over. "Look what you're doing to her!" JJ shouts. "Look what you're doing to him!

Sarah bends down next to me, rubbing my back. When I'm done, she takes the bandana she had tied around her wrist and wipes my mouth with it before shoving it in her back pocket.

"Kat, you okay?" Pope asks me. I look up as I straighten back into a standing position, I see the police putting my brother into the back of a car. The rest disperse, heading back to their own vehicles, leaving just the five of us.

"Kat?" Kie repeats my name.

I look over at her. "Yeah, sorry." I say shaking my head.

"It's okay, you scared us for a second there."

"I'm alright, I just wanna go home."

"We'll take you home, baby." JJ speaks up. He grabs my hand, rubbing him thumb across my knuckles as we head back to the boat.