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𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨...
♪ 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙟𝙚𝙖𝙣 - 𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩 ♪
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SURVIVIAL.
The most basic yet crucial human instinct. Just as instinctual as breathing, or flinching when startled, or blinking. Just as necessary as oil in an engine or gunpowder in a cartridge. Survival is an innate part of all humans, woven through each individual with distinct precision, but it was especially ingrained upon the Pogues more so than any others.
Growing up on the Cut meant a person's instinct for survival had to be higher than your average Kook's. On the South side of Kildare, you had to be prepared for anything. House getting evicted, parent vanishing into the night, losing your job, etcetera. Not only did you need to be prepared, but you also had to anticipate it. Otherwise, you were just another throw-away fish left to die - alone and penniless.
It was how John B and Blue were still afloat after their father went missing. It was how JJ had yet to wind up in a jail cell despite committing crimes daily. It was how Pope was the highest ranked student in Kildare despite not having the same resources that the rich kids did. It was how Kiara was able to balance a foot in both worlds, Pogue and Kook at the same time, despite her parents' constantly trying to pull her away. All of it was for survival, whether it was survival of the present, survival of the past, or survival of the future. Physical, emotional, or mental, the Pogues knew how to survive better than anyone else.
And that instinct was what propelled them into action once they heard truck tires pull up outside the Chateau.
"Somebody's here."
Once those words left John B's mouth, everyone gathered at the window, watching timidly as a black truck parked in the overgrown lawn. The air was so thick with tension, it could be cut with a butter knife. Blue could practically feel the nerves radiating off her friends in waves. Just as she went to stand closer to JJ, two men exited the vehicle, and she immediately became frozen in place.
