Disclaimer: I don't own POTC. Or LJS.
Chapter 56: Sweetest Goodbyes
Jack was sitting in the tent, trying to untie himself. His hangover was gone by now, and his thought process was much more clairvoyant. It just wasn't right; any of this. Killing and raping innocent women, doing whatever it took just to get treasure. What good was it if there was no one to share it with? Now, he wanted that treasure on the other side of Diablo's Gate just as bad as Long John did. But more than that, he wanted Camille safe. And if she remained in this village she would not be. The ambush would be here any minute now.
John sat there, as content as ever. He made no attempt to escape, and shortly he could hear the cries of the women began as he tilted his head back and laughed. Jack cringed as he heard throats being cut and whatnot. There were terrified screams everywhere.
Camille looked on, horrified at the scene. She found Gretchen and had to slap the girl to stop her from going hysterical. "Gretchen! I want you to run. I'll catch up with you, just get out of here!" she ordered. The girl didn't waste any time.
Camille sprung into action, killing as many pirates as she could and fending them off the surviving women. But there were too many of them. Despite the fact that she had barely seen more than Long John and Jack on that ship, men now poured out from the trees around the village. And there was blood everywhere. It made her sick to her stomach.
She continued fighting, determined to save some of these women. But she was finally overpowered. Her sword was taken from her, and her pistol and bullets. Even the knives she hid inside her boots were fished out before she was forced kicking and screaming into the tent where Long John sat ever so calmly, acting like a king on his throne with Jack beside him.
She began sobbing. "You monster!" she cried, falling to her knees. "You bloody monster! How could kill those women? You're sick!" she screamed.
Jack bit his lip watching her. His heart was breaking seeing her in this much anguish. But Long John was a stone when it came to any emotions. He simply held out his hand. "I'll be takin' the treasure either way, Quartermaine," he said quite apathetically as Jack dropped her key into his hand.
She stood there, perplexed by John's lack of emotions. He truly was a heartless pirate. The kind she had read about, but not yet encountered until now. She tried to back away, but was held in place by a few other pirates. She gulped as he slowly began polishing off his pistol.
"You need me alive to do this," she said, trying to get it through his head. "You can't kill me if you want to open Diablo's Gate," she stuttered, realizing that this was it. She wasn't even going to get to see what she was protecting. She closed her eyes and thought of Will, Ana Maria, Annie and the children. "Oh God," she whispered, realizing that he was going to shoot her. She stiffened, and all the blood was drained from her face as Silver aimed for her.
Jack was watching, observing everything around her. If he had ever learned anything useful in his short life, it was that there was always another way out of a situation. And this time, he could see that with a bit of distraction all that Camille would have to do would be to simply take a pistol or sword and start running.
Long John was ruthless, though. It was going to be hard saving Camille's life without betraying him outwardly. But he had known long before this moment that he and Long John were one day going to kill each other over this. As long as Long John hadn't reached that same conclusion, then he had somewhat of a chance.
John cocked his pistol, and it was either now or never. At the exact moment when he pulled the trigger, Jack pushed his arm slightly to the right. This took out one of the pirates holding Camille. She didn't need anymore distraction than that. She took a nearby sword and began slicing away at any trying to kill her.
Jack had easily ducked Long John's swing, and was below his mate and immersed in the second battle of the evening. He was quick to cut the ropes to the tent, causing it to collapse and trap everyone inside for several moments. He could see Camille slip out, and followed her as she made her way swiftly into the nearby underbrush.
"Camille!" he called out in the loudest voice he had used the past several days. She stopped, turning around and sheathing her sword as he quickly approached her. "I want you to run," he said simply. "Take the Thatcher children, get to the lifeboats, get to the ship, and sail away. I'm going to kill Long John, and you will never be hunted again, I promise you," he said in one breath.
She looked at him. The pirates were making their way out from underneath the collapsed tent, and it would be seconds before they were seen. She looked into his eyes for the first time since their falling out. And he knew that her words weren't sarcastic this time. "And the promise of Jack Sparrow means everything to me." She kissed him, giving his hand a squeeze. "Goodbye, Jack," she said before taking off.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she ran, telling herself not to look back. This was how it had to be. But she stopped and turned around when she heard a single loud gunshot ring out. She gasped, clutching her heart. But then she continued on, not stopping until she found the hysterical Gretchen.
By now it was raining, and between the two of them they had absolutely no idea where they were. They managed to find a tiny spot of dryness under a large tree where they were able to fall asleep until the rain stopped early that morning.