Always and Forever (sequel to The Heart of a Pouge)

Chapter 10: The Coastal Venture

'Nice work, John B. You know these things lock from the outside, right?'
We've been in the container for a couple of hours now and at this point JJ was getting increasingly annoyed.
'Okay, I was just trying to get us on the boat, JJ. I wasn't thinking that far ahead'
'We're stuck in here like rats. It's hot in this death cage!'
'Okay, JJ, you're not helping' Pope says
'You don't have a lot of room to talk right now. You said you had a plan, but what happened to thinking ahead?' JJ calls him out.
'I find your lack of self-knowledge disturbing' Pope snaps but JJ laughs
'Last I checked, you literally shot an oil container with the gat. Remember that?'
'Oh my God! Shut up. Shut up!' I interrupt the boys, they both go silent and turn to look at me
'Pull it together, geez' I lecture
'Okay. Let's try to find a way out of here' Kie adds and we all start looking.

'Hey, Pope, how do you kill a snake?' JJ asks after 5 minutes of us coming up empty handed
'You go for the head' Pope mumbles
'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'
'"Pirate attacks."' I raise my eyebrow at him
'If we take that--I'm not just talking pistol'
'You lost me' Pope groans
'I'm talking knives'
'killing everybody here is not a plan JJ' Kie says before turning around and walking to a different part of the container.
'Ah, we lost her. I'm serious. If we get to the armory, I'm talking AKs, pistol, knives, double-barrels--'
'JJ!' John b yells
'What?'
'We gotta get out of here. We can't do anything if we're still stuck in here' Johnny states facts but JJ doesn't seem to listen
'If I get enough pressure, I can Spartan kick that thing open'
'You're not kicking shit down' I tell JJ
'Well then what's your plan Cameron' John b replies and we soon all get into a yelling match over it
'Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!' Pope yells trying to get JJ, John b and I to stop screaming
'Then what do you got, Einstein?' JJ yells
'Guys!' Kie's voice interjects and we all turn around to see her standing front of some light
'Just relax' she says
'Hey. She's got something. Quiet' JJ says as we all move over the boxes to meet her.
'Can we fit though that?' I ask
'Hell yeah. Nice one, Kie' John b cheers
'What was that about a Swiss Army knife not coming in handy?' JJ asks grabbing out his knife
'Just stop it' John b replies before going up to the window and starting to open it up.

'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 says as he unscrews the final blot of the window
'Hold up. I don't think we should all go out there. It's too risky' pope suddenly says
'Why?' JJ and I ask at the same time.
'I think you should stay here, both of you' John b says
'What?' JJ and I repeat
'I have Sarah that I'm gonna go after. And Pope has...The cross, Kie is moral support, our backup'
'Why do you have to be the Sarah retriever, she's literally my sister'
'well if Rose or Rafe finds you, their just going to try and kidnap you again' John b reminds me and I grumble
'Also, someone needs to watch JJ'
'What? Why do I need to have someone watching me?' JJ interjects
'If you go out there, there's 100% probability that you're gonna do something stupid' John b tells JJ and I chuckle
'Okay, first of all, I think the correct terminology is "ballsy." That is it' JJ says before starting to climb up the crate
'Okay, get down here' Pope grabs the back of JJ's shirt and drags him down
'No. Get off! I'm a field player' he protests
'If we go out there, and we get in a bind, we need somebody to look out for us. That's what we need'
'Okay. I get it. I get it. I get it. I'll be on the B team' JJ mumbled
'I never said "B team."' Johnny says and I roll my eyes
'Sorry. Are you calling me "B team"? I am definitely A team, remember how I got the gun and your fathers recorded message-'
'Didn't mean to offend you' JJ says
'Hang back. Hold down the fort' Pope instructs us
'Great. Looking forward to it. Mm-hmm' JJ mumbles
'I'll babysit I guess' I mumble walking over to stand next to JJ as they all start to climb the crates
'You guys have fun. It's your funeral, your game. We'll be in here, on the bench.....chilling' JJ calls out to them
'Don't get shot. That's all I got' I say
'Um, "Don't get shot." Well, that's disheartening and scary. Positive affirmations, Sky' John b says
'Yep. No problem' I say as Kie jumps out the window, JJ and I are officially the only ones left in the container. For the first few moments JJ and I sit in silence in the corner of the container until JJ sighs and starts talking