Hey all, sorry about my lack of…. anything lately…. I've kinda had some writers block…. Sorry again to anybody who's reading my other fanific; I'm gonna put them on hold for a while…. I'll finish them at some point, I promise. I just have to start watching the shows again, I've got a TON on tape. Just haven't had time lately, sorry. Right now I'm into LOST, so I'll be working on some short- and possibly some longer- stories for the show. I haven't seen 'Tabula Rasa', but I have a pretty good idea what happened, sorry if anything's wrong. This is just a little plot bunny that won't go away… hope that you like it!

If We Can't Live Together, We're Gonna Die Alone

Jack rocked back onto his heels, glancing around him, wiping a dirty hand across a sweaty brow.

"Last week most of us were strangers…"

He cast a look around at the impersonal rocks, the stones that marked the graves of forty-five people. They had been strangers, a collection of people who had met by necessity, not choice. They learned about themselves and others in a way that few people can; they saw the best and the worst in each other and understood the need to accept and be accepted.

"… but we're all here now, and…"

Yes, Jack thought, we're all here now, but I'm the only one left to admire the view. He stared at the fuselage for a moment, the lingering smell of burning flesh entered his nostrils… it had never really left. He was pretty sure that the woman who had drowned was buried over there; he didn't know what Boone had done with her body.

Jack closed his eyes and turned around, opening them to stare at the ocean, letting his eyes watch the relentless waves, his ears hear the repetitive sound of crashing water.

But today, the ocean was anything but it's usual disappointment.

Jack felt his jaw drop at the irony.

There was a boat.

There was a boat so close, that if Jack were to stand up and shout, the captain could step onto the deck and shout back at him.

"… and God knows how long we're gonna be here!"

And if God did know, he certainly has an ironic sense of humour. Jack turned his head to look behind him, almost as if he was unsure of what to do. His eyes wandered over the gravestones, the words scribbled onto them in chalk, the bodies lying beneath.

There were those he hadn't known that well, but he had attended all the services…. there was Rose, who died still faithful that her Bernard was alive…. Scott and Steve, the twins, had died within a day of each other…. the man who had the hives…. countless others that Jack couldn't name…

Claire was rescued and died while giving birth… Charlie, broken over Claire's death, had refused to eat or drink, and slowly wasted away…Hurley caught some kind of virus and he eventually succumbed to the symptoms…. Boone and Shannon also caught the virus and they died together about a couple of weeks after Hurley… Jin and Sun died soon after, Jack wasn't sure of the exact cause… a boar killed Michael and Locke took responsibility for Walt… Sawyer and Sayid were killed by a polar bear while working with the transceivers; Kate and Locke brought their bodies back to camp…. Locke had a heart attack and Jack couldn't save him…Walt got an infection from a wound and it spread, eventually killing him…. Vincent died trying to protect Walt from a boar and was buried beside his master….

In the period of a few months, the lives of people on a flight from Australia were over. Jack sighed before looking at the tombstone he had just finished with. He looked at his dirty hands, at the freshly turned earth beneath his feet, at the empty face of the rock, waiting for a name to be scratched on it, the smaller rock, ready to write the name of a dead person.

Kate

Why Kate? Just one more day… we could have made it off the island together…. Jack reached out to gently touch the expressionless stone, but his heart was with the person buried beneath it. We almost made it.

Kate had fallen ill once everyone else had died, but Jack realized that she had been sick for long before that. She had caught the disease that had started with Hurley, and had refused to show weakness in front of the others; once they were gone she seemed to crumble, allowing Jack to take of her. She had lasted a couple of days and had died peacefully that morning, asleep in Jack's arms. He found himself crying as he buried her, mad at her for leaving him, angry at himself for not taking better care of her.

And now, not a day later, there was a boat.

"But if we can't, live together, we're gonna die alone."

Yes, Jack thought, I am going to die alone. And with that final thought he stood up and began to raise his arm, to wave at the boat. And then he paused, lowered his half-raised arm, turned, and slowly walked back into the jungle.

The End

So, what did you guys think? Let me know…. I didn't leave out any of the people did I? That would be awful… I don't think that I did… oh well, I'm sure that I'll get a nice flame if I did. Please review and let me know what you thought of it! It's always and pleasure to write these things and it's even better to get feedback! Happy Holidays, whatever you're doing! Bye! Shadowcat Pryde