017.

"𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭." Emerson said. Her and John B were currently far from land, but still able to see everything that was going on.

There was a tropical storm coming in, so it was currently thundering and raining. Emerson had her and John B wear lifejackets, just in case something happened.

Everytime it thundered, Emerson would jump and put her hand over her mouth so that she wouldn't scream, and blow their cover. John B would always be there to cover her ears, and hold her tight.

"We'll go dark, and let the tide pull us out." John B explained, as the two continued to watch what was happening on land. Emerson couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose, as she was getting extremely anxious. She was worried they would get caught, and John B would be sent to jail for something he didn't even do.

"We just gotta go north through the swamp, then we just follow the North Star. What everything spins around." John B told Emerson, as she kept pinching the bridge of her nose. John B took her hand away from her nose, and held her hand tight.

Emerson looked behind her, and her heart dropped. All the lights in the houses were slowly starting to light up, which meant the lighthouse would gain power too, which would shine the light right at them. "No, no, no. John B, the lights."

The two teenagers started panicking, as the lighthouse's light lit up. "That's them! There they are!" they heard someone shout on land.

"Shit! What's happening? Why isn't it turning over?" Emerson panicked, as John B couldn't get the boat to start up. They had turned it off earlier to not waste gas, and so that the engine sound wouldn't reveal them.

"It's not turning over. Fuck!" John B also started to panic. "Check the engine! Check the choke and squeeze it!" John B shouted at Emerson. Emerson started to squeeze the choke, and eventually the boat started.

"Come here. Sit down." John B instructed Emerson, as he started the boat and drove off as fast as they could. In the distance, they heard police sirens behind them.

"Shit, this is the bitter end, isn't it?" Emerson shouted over the rain and police sirens, as they saw the cops cornering them. They were basically doomed at that point, unless they chose to take a very dangerous route, that could potentially risk death.

"We've gotta go south!" John B yelled. Emerson looked at John B with wide eyes, but knew it would be the only way to escape. "Into the storm, right?" she asked. "Yeah!" John B shouted, and Emerson just nodded.

Emerson prayed that going south wouldn't lead to death. She knew it was dangerous, but hoped that they could still possibly escape. With the huge waves crashing onto them, she wasn't so sure if they would make it out alive.

As the two clung onto each other tightly, they heard someone's voice coming from the radio. "John B? Em?" Emerson grew furious, knowing exactly who's voice that was. 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘥.

"Guys, I know you're there. I know you two can hear me. Please, guys, do not go into that storm. You are going into a storm that you cannot survive. Guys, please, I will make it right. I promise you. Come back. You guys, I am begging you." Ward begged them. Emerson was so mad, that she picked up the radio and decided to tell him everything on her mind.

"Em, what are you doing?" John B asked through the harsh weather.

"Ward Cameron, can you hear me?" Emerson asked into the radio. "Yes, sweetie, I'm right here. I'm right here. Please, come back, okay? We'll work it all out when you get home." Ward continued to beg them.

"You killed my parents and Big John! Now your son killed Peterkin, and you framed John B for it! How could you? They were all my parents, my family, and you took that away from me! You tried to kill John B on that boat ride! You almost killed him and took him away from me! Don't you think you've already taken enough from me? Well, you know what, Ward? John B and I are still here, and I swear, Ward, we'll come back one day and take what's ours. This isn't the end for you, Ward. Also, tell your bitch of a son that it isn't over for him either. You Cameron's took the most important people away from me, and you'll face consequences sooner or later." Emerson sobbed into the radio, as she put the radio back into its place.

John B held her tight, knowing she was crying. Just by the way her voice broke, John B knew how hard it was to say everything on her mind, especially to the murderer of her parents.

"What would you do if I wasn't here right now?" Emerson curiously asked John B. "Look, I'd rather die than go to jail, Em." John B responded. "I'd rather die than be without you." Emerson said, and looked into John B's eyes, for what might be the last time. They gave each other a quick kiss, before pulling away to focus on escaping. That was their main priority. 𝘌𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨.

"I love you!"

"I love you too!"

The two 16-year olds said to each other, before the boat tipped over because of the strong waves, and everything went black.

···

Emerson opened her eyes to find her laying on the boat, which was upside down, and they were in the middle of nowhere. The only thing she could see was water, and she couldn't see any land nearby.

"John B?" she immediately cough after she called for him. After a couple minutes of coughing, she continued to yell his name. When she didn't hear a reply, she started to grow anxious.

John B, however, was on the other end of the boat from Emerson. He was still knocked out, but eventually opened his eyes when he heard his name being called. "Em?" he coughed.

"John B!" Emerson shouted, trying to let him know where she was by the sound of her voice. "Emerson! I'm coming!" John B said, swimming to the sound of her voice.

When the two saw each other, they sighed in relief. They thought that it was over for them. They for sure thought they weren't gonna make it through the storm.

"Hey, I got you." John B said, as they hugged each other tightly. When they looked around to see their surroundings, they noticed a big boat passing by. "There's a boat!"

"Hey! Over here! Help!"

"Help! Help! Hey!"

The two continued to splash the water and get their attention, but nothing seemed to work. Emerson then saw something floating in the water, and realized it was John B's backpack. She quickly grabbed it, and grabbed the chunk of gold. She tried to reflect the gold with the sun, but it seemed that the people on the boat still didn't notice them.

As they continued calling for help, they saw the boat getting farther and farther away. "Please, help." Emerson whimpered softly.

John B immediately hugged Emerson when he noticed her state. "I'm sorry, Bubba. I'm so sorry." he said, quietly. He didn't want to show that he was giving up, because he didn't want Emerson to lose hope.

"Wait, John B. They see us!" Emerson said when she noticed the boat reflecting something off the sun, telling them they were coming. "They see us!"

"Yes, we're over here!"

"Over here!"

They started to laugh and cry tears of joy. The other boat even honked the boat's horn, indicating that they were coming to pick them up.

···

When the boat arrived, John B boosted Emerson up onto the boat. They were both incredibly weak, that even getting on the boat was hard. The people on the boat helped them both up.

"Come on. I got you." the men on the boat said. "Oh, man, y'all lucky that we came through here." one of the men said, wrapping a soft, warm blanket around John B. Another man was wrapping Emerson in another soft blanket they had.

"Hey, Larry! Get some coffee on!" a man shouted, as he led the two shivering teens up the stairs, to get them to a room to stay warm. "Boy, if we wouldn't have saw y'all, y'all'd have been a gone pecan."

"Anybody I can call, let them know that you're okay?" the man asked. "We don't really have anybody to call." John B shivered, looking behind him to make sure Emerson was still behind him.

"Come in, and get warm. Yo, Larry, put some soup on, too!" the man shouted at Larry. Emerson was so thankful for the guy who was helping them. She truthfully thought she was a 'gone pecan' as the man liked to say it.

"Watch your step. Come on. Get in here." he said, leading them into the captain's room. "Have a seat, baby." he told Emerson, pointing to the captain's chair. He saw how weak the two looked, so he knew if they didn't sit that they could potentially collapse.

Right when Emerson sat down, Larry came and gave the teens some coffee to drink. Although Emerson wasn't a big coffee drinker, she took whatever she could to keep herself warm. She knew that if she didn't drink the hot coffee, that she could potentially risk getting hypothermia.

"You just made my day a whole lot more interesting. So, where the heck was y'all trying to go?" the man asked John B and Emerson. They gave each other looks, before Emerson spoke up. "Could you just drop us off at the next port? It doesn't matter where."

John B walked up to Emerson, and wrapped his arms around her to stay warm. He hoped that their body heat could keep each other warm, along with the blankets they were given.

"I was young and in love once. Turned into a disaster. It was fun while it lasted, though." the man chuckled, which made Emerson think. She knew that John B was the one for her since day one. He was the first thing she would think of when she woke up, and was the last thing she thought of before she went to sleep.

"Where'd you say we were going again?" John B asked the man, pulling Emerson out of her thoughts. "Nassau." the man replied, and both John B and Emerson's eyes widened.

"The Bahamas." Emerson chuckled softly. "The gold." John B simply said. They both softly chukled, as they both thought.

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

···

author's note [word count: 1792]

episode 10 is down!!!! holy shit, the story is done. i know this story like absolutely sucked, but i got bored, so oh well :)