"And we were right outside like this," JJ explained to the Kiara and Pope when the three got back. "And all we hear is just 'Bam! Bam! Bam!'. Knocking paint off the wall, G! From the inside. Alright? And I'm just looking at him, like -- Wait, first off, look at this shit." JJ shook his hair out.

"That's dandruff, disgusting," Kiara said.

"Look at all that. All right? That's paint. At that point, I was just, like... waiting for death."

"Oh, okay, so you saw that guys that shot at us, right?" Pope asked.

"Yeah."

"Did you get a good description of them? What did they look like? Anything we can bring to a police report?"

"Burly," JJ said.

"Burly?" Pope repeated.

"Yeah. You know, like--"

"That's not very helpful," Kie said.

"Okay, well, no, like the type of guy who works at my dads garage. I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers," JJ explained.

"Yeah. Yes. No, we know."

"I can tell you with full confidence, these boys, these killers... they're square groupers."

"They're square groupers? Like narco square groupers?" Pope asked. "Like Pablo Escobar square groupers?"

"Yeah, man."

"You guys, not everything is a kingpin movie," Kie told them.

"What does this square grouper look like? Specifically."

"You weren't there."

"You don't know what to look for!"

"Dude! I wasn't taking little mental polaroids the entire time. I was under duress, okay?" JJ shouted. "But I can tell you... I can tell you by the way Ms Lana was screaming... that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man. It's a heavy vibe right now, okay?"

"Why do they want the compass?" Kie asked.

"It's piece of shit," Pope added. "You couldn't pawn it off for 5 bucks if you wanted to."

"The office," John B said suddenly.

"What?" Willow finally spoke, her voice rough.

"My dad. My dads office. He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research. We used to laugh at him like he was going to find it. But now that he's gone, I've just kinda... I just left it as he kept it."

"Yeah, for when he gets back," Willow said. John B pulled out a key and took the lock off the door.

"I've slept over here like 600 times, and I've never seen this door opened," Pope said as they entered the room.

"Here, look," John B said, placing a small bulletin board down in front of them. "This is the original owner, right here."

"Okay. Robert Q. Routledge, 1880 to 1920," Kie read. "There's the lucky compass right there."

"Actually, um... he was shot after he bought it. Then the compass was shipped back to Henry. he was killed in a crop dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen. Stephen had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam."

"Let me guess, he died in action, right?" JJ asked.

"Sort of. Uh, a-actually, he was killed by a banana truck. In country. Anyways, after that, Stephen passed the compass down to him, my dad."

"Hm. Sounds like there's a reoccuring theme here."

"Yeah, you have a death compass," Pope said.

"I do not," John B said.

"You have a death compass."

"Get rid of it," JJ said. "It's cursed and made its way back to you."

"Look, my dad used to talk about this compartment in here. Soliders used to hide secret notes." John B unscrewed it to reveal writing scratched into the cap. "This is my dads handwriting."

"How do you know that?" Willow asked.

"Because he does the weird R's with the -- see it?"

"Can I see it?" JJ asked. "Red-- Rout--"

"It says Redfield," Kie told him.

"Right."

"Okay, well, what's Redfield?" Kie asked.

"The most common name in the country," Willow shrugged.

"Oh, maybe-- Maybe it's a clue. Maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding," John B suggested.

"A clue? Come on, that's--" Pope started, but Kie gave him a look. "But if it is a clue, maybe it's an anagram?"

"Yes. Perfect. Anagram. You need paper. Here you go."

"How can you concentrate with that thing crowing at you?" Pope asked, referring to the rooster outside.

"JJ loves the rooster," John B said.

"I love the rooster," Kie said, Willow nodding in agreement.

"Let me think. Dedfiel. Colors-- that's stupid."

"What about Ritalin?" JJ suggested.

"Dreidel? Fiddler?"

"Lets stick with what we're..."

Willow looked over John B's shoulder out the window and watched an unfamiliar black truck pull up. She exchanged fearful looks with John B.

"Guys," Willow spoke up. "Guys! Somebody's here!"

"Guys, guys, is that them?" Kiara asked, seeing the men that shot at them walk up to the house.

"This is suboptimal," Pope said.

"John B, I told you. Why does it always--" JJ said before he was cut off by John B pushing him against the wall.

"JJ, hey, look at me. Where's the gun?"

"Gun? I, uh, I can't--"

"Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need the gun?" Kie asked.

"It was in my backpack, and then I--"

"Backpack."

"On the porch." JJ realized before pushing off the wall and running out the door.

"Oh, my god," Willow whispered, panicking so much she struggled to breathe. Pope rubbed her back as he tried to help her calm down. "This is so not how I wanted to die."

"Wheres the gun?" John B asked when JJ ran back into the room.

"They're on the front porch, guys." They heard the men shouting and tossing things around as they entered the house.

"We gotta leave!" JJ and Pope rushed to the window but couldn't open it cause it was painted shut. Willow grabbed a letter opener with shaky hands and pushed the two boys out of the way and started on trying to cut paint away so they could leave.

"Come on," JJ said, trying to get her to go faster.

"I'm going as fast as I can."

Pope and John B held their backs to the office door as the men tried getting in. Willow finally got the window done as the lock was shot off.

The teens had decided to take refuge in the chicken coop outside. John B watched the men carry crates of stuff from his dads office and load it into their truck.

"Do something, Pope. Shut him up," JJ said as the rooster crowed.

"What do you want me to do?" Pope asked.

"Pet it, or talk to it. I don't know," Kie said, tears streaking down her face. Willow held her hand tight as she tried to hold off a panic attack. Her breathing picked up as John B jolted back, one of the men hearing the roosters crows and suspecting the teens were hiding there.

"You do something," Pope whispered to JJ. Everyone watched in horror as JJ wrestled the rooster down, snapping its neck.

"Ratter! What the hell are you doing? Let's go!" The other man shouted. They heard an engine start and finally, the men left. Willow let out a sob she had been holding back when they were finally alone.

rip to that rooster...