"The Core"
by Erin Mo.

Disclaimer: Character names and locations are from the ABC show "Lost" and are copyrighted by them. All events are fictional and were created by me (Erin Mo.) who is of no affiliation to ABC or the writers of "Lost".

Preface: Immediately following the end of the season I finale "Exodus, Part III"...

Chapter 1 - A Discovery

A woman ran through the jungle. Her heart pounding and her mind racing. The two already clumsy braids in her very dark hair were whipped wildly behind her as she raced away from whatever it was she was running from. The jungle was well lit by the sunlight, but suddenly it began to darken. Just as it seemed to thicken even more so, the woman burst through a bush and found herself on a previously unknown stretch beach. She kept running to where the wreckage of the tail part of a plane protruded through the trees. She slowed down as she saw a make-shift tent where two indistinguishable figures sat around a fire. As she jogged towards them, they stood and raced toward her. The first to reach the woman was an African-American man in his mid to late fifties. He had a bald head and a slowly graying beard. As he came closer to her, he reached down to rub his leg, which was badly injured in the crash. The second man was in his early to mid forties and had the air of an adventurer. His dress was very similar to that of a jungle cruise guide; he had a vest with numerous pockets that were packed with what appeared to be an assortment of survival necessities. His hair was cut very short but was noticeably light brown in color. There was also, a very distinct scar that ran from the top of his ear down to the edge of his lip on the right side of his face that he obviously obtained from the plane crash, but was otherwise unharmed. As he ran toward the distressed woman, the binoculars that were hanging around his neck swung from side to side and the sun glasses that sat on his head were pushed back. He caught them before they could fall off. The African American man reaches her first.

"Ana! What is it? What's going on?" He asks hurriedly. "Was it that thing again? Did you see it?" Ana stared at him, held up her hand in wait, and continued trying to catch her breath. Ana appeared to be in her late twenties to early or mid-thirties. She was Hispanic. Her outfit had large tears, some of which revealed cuts and bruises on her forearm and stomach. There were branches and leaves caught in her two, now destroyed braids. She finally caught her breath and hoarsely began to speak.

"No. No monster this time Bernie. I was over on the other side of the peninsula" she began, "and I saw them. They were floating on pieces of wood…" She is interrupted by the adventurer.

"Who?" he had a rough, yet soothing voice. "Who did you see?"

"I don't know who they are. It looks like they were in some kind of boating accident."

"What did they look like?"

"They were still pretty far off shore when one of them, an African American man, yelled that some one was shot and that I should go get someone named 'Jack'. Who could he possibly mean?" For a brief moment, Ana remembered a conversation she had held with a nice looking man named Jack in the airport bar back in Sydney before flight had taken off. What seat was he supposed to be sitting in again? Oh yes, 23c. She quickly pushed the memory away. The adventurer was the first to speak again.

"They must be confused and delusional from being in the water for so long. How many of them were there?"

"I saw the one African American, floating on a piece of wood, and then there was an Asian man supporting another man on a second piece of wood. The one guy must have been the one who was shot. He didn't look too hot."

"Great God Almighty!" exclaimed Bernie. "We need to help them Brian!" The adventurer named Brian turned toward Ana and motioned for her to follow him. Bernie followed suit. Brian spoke as they walked.

"Bernard my good man, you'll be unable to make the hike to the peninsula with that leg of yours. I need you to stay here and get things ready for when we bring these people here." And briefly Brian demonstrated and explained exactly what Bernard needed to do. When he had finished, Ana helped Brian to place some basic supplies in a knapsack which he then slung over his shoulder. Turning to Ana he said "lead the way!"