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THE POGUES QUICKLY JUMPED BACK in the van to drive down the track, laughing amongst each other as they realised that finally they were the people ahead. It was all fun and joy and light-hearted grins, until Atticus pulled the van to a stop in front of the tide.
"Guys, I can't get any closer. The tide's too close," he mumbled, leaning forward in his seat as he peered through the front-windscreen at the water closing in on them.
"How deep is that?" Kiara asked.
"I wouldn't walk through it, if that means anything," Renna offered from the passenger seat.
"Just drive through it," John B mumbled, rolling his eyes.
Atticus stopped the van, turning in his seat to face the boy with furrowed brows and straightened-lips. "Shut up, Booker. If I drive through that right now, we'll be stuck for the next four hours."
"If you wanna race so badly, then drive through the effing water," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. Atticus clenched his jaw but turned around with a sigh and raised brows.
"Atticus, you don't have to-"
"No, no, Renna, it's fine, right? If he wants me to kill the Twinkie-" he wrapped his fingers back around the steering wheel as his nostrils flared "-then I'll kill the Twinkie."
He pressed on the gas, sending the van speeding through the water as the passengers were thrown around in the back. They almost made it, Atticus helping guide the van straight along the path, until the water got too much. It pulled to a stop, staying stranded in the murky water that JJ continued to push was full of alligators that liked the taste of human flesh. Renna didn't even want to get out of the car. "I told you, John!" Atticus groaned, fist colliding with the leather wheel. "I freaking told you!"
"I thought you would get through it, okay? You always say you're like . . . like- this-"
"I can drive, JB! But no one, and I mean no onecan drive through water like that in this kind of thing."
"Are you calling this baby a thing?" John B spat in disbelief, brows wrinkling at the edges.
"Okay, okay, can you two stop comparing your egos for just a minute," Renna pleaded with closed eyes, forehead creasing. "I mean, what do we do now?"
"I say we get air," Sarah said before pushing the van door open, climbing out of the cramped vehicle. Her friends soon followed after her.
"Just, whatever we do-" John B began to demand.
"No leaving the Twinkie, we know," Atticus sighed as he hauled himself out of the van, cutting his friend off with annoyance lacing his tone.
"So then what are we supposed to do?" Sarah asked again, repeating Renna's question with a glance in her direction.
