Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of its characters the events that take place are not actual and are written and posted here for you entertainment only. Enjoy the story.
There was a knocking at the front door, or at least it might have been who could tell with the weather they were having this week. Ben actually wouldn't be the least bit suprised if the roof was tore from his house and he landed in the merry land of Oz. He craned his neck to see the clock beside the bookshelf. It was four thirty in the morning. the knocking came again, this time louder and more rapid. Apparently he wasn't the only insomniac in the Barracks, it wasn't a realization that pleased him at all. He sighed as he stood and placed the book on the small table beside his chair. Ben figured he might as well let whoever it was in, that or he could pull the corpse out of a tree later he thought snickering. He walked over to the door and pulled it open to see Richard standing before him wearing a long raincoat and holding a spare. He pushed the spare coat into Ben's arms, turned and began walking back the way he presumably came.
Any other person would have thrown the raincoat back out after him, slammed the door, bolted it shut, sat back down and continued to read as though it had never happened. Not Ben however. It was important enough that Richard didn't say a word or even smile which was drastically out of character for him, that and not questioning every choice he made. Besides if this was crucially important he wanted to be the first to know, come hell or high water he wanted to be the first to know. The weather on the other hand wasn't about to let up just for the sake of Ben's curiousity
The more they walked the more Ben realised just how useless the raincoats were, just stepping out the door he was soaked up to his ankles. Then, as they walked farther the wind just blew the rain into his hood where it trickled down his neck. Within ten minutes he was completely soaked mostly from tripping and falling down, not that the coat was keeping him dry anyway. Richard led them into the small cave they had just renovated not more than a month ago. Once inside Ben quickly removed his raincoat, it wasn't worth the discomfort for the little good it did. Richard took a match from the small box sitting on one of the three shelves and set fire to the preplaced firewood. Ben noticed for the first time that the cave was at least five inches above ground level and that alone was keeping the water out.
Ben never thought he would be happy the cave was here until just now, he actually remembered saying it was a lost cause and no one would ever be desperate enough to use it. He was quick to see all it's faults now that he had the fires aid in examining them. The roof was so low that even he had to duck to enter, the walls were crumbling, the ground was covered in ash and rocks and it was only big enough to fit three adults, if they were lucky. As a breeze came in Ben got a cold chill, aside from adding that to the mental list of the caves faults he ran a hand through his hair to stop it from heading down his spine. While accomplishing that Ben realized his hair was plasterd to his head he asked Richard if they had any towls, Richard just shook his head as he made sure the fire was strong enough to burn without assistance. Ironically a mirror and towls were probably the only two things they had overlooked, not that he could see the use of a mirror in a place like this as everyone else had. Ben began running his hands through his hair to at least get it standing straight again. He looked over to Richard who was now sitting on a chair staring over at him. Ben realised this would be the last chance to ask any questions before they reached their destination, They wouldn't be able to hear eachother over the weather outside if they screamed.
"Judging by the route we're taking I assume we are headed towards the Flame station" Ben asked succesfully stifling his worry. If it was the Flame station he could safely assume this wasn't a trip he would enjoy.
"You've been studying the map havn't you Ben?" Richard asked smiling, he was still wearing his raincoat and didn't look nearly as wet as Ben.
"Of coarse i've studied the map" Ben replied more dramatically than he intended "what would I do if I ever got lost out here and couldn't identify any landmarks?"
"Then you would be in a very bad situation I assume" Richard answered simply.
Ben gave Richard a sharp look that was intensified by the fire reflecting in his vibrant, emerald eyes. This meant that the time for conversation had come to an abrupt end and it was time to get down to satisfying his curiosity. Ben took his seat across from Richard and remained politley silent urging his companion to start conversation.
"Your not already going to start interogating me are you Ben?" Richard asked smiling to counter Ben's silence.
"After all, how often do I get your comany when you alway's reading or studying maps? we could sit by the fire and watch the storm, tell ghost stories, or play a game of cards, oh and look I already have the bag of marshmellows." Ben watched as he pulled a bag of them out of the cupboard they had installed. All it held was marshmellows, canned beans, medicine and antibiotics. Now if only he could pull a grain of common sense out of the cupboard he would realise his pathetic attempt at a night in the cave was going nowhere.
In any case, at the moment Richard sounded like a sleazy used car salesman. Making a stupid point using the most desperate, childish measures and improvising out of his ass. He must have realised by Ben's continued silence and darkening gaze that this was a losing battle. Richard leaned back, getting as comfortable as humanly possible in the chair preparing himself to answer Ben's every question as best he could. Ben opened his mouth to ask the first question but Richard cut him off, to save time he assumed.
"Look, Mikhail said that he was positive something had hit the island somewhere in the middle. Bonnie and Greta confirmed that something hit the island after examining the nautical charts from the Looking Glass. That was about forty minutes ago, Mikhail figured you would want to be the first to know so he told me to run and get you. Other than that I know absolutely nothing." Richard must have assumed this would suffice, he had began fishing for marshmellows with one hand and was looking for the metal spits with the other. Ben knew if he stayed Richard would do his best to procrastinate walking to the Flame station as long as he could. There was a very easy soulotion to that problem, he rose from his chair and walked back out into the storm. The rain was coming down so heavy that it felt like he had a hose over his head and had to constantly wipe the water out of his eyes. He could hear Richard calling for him to come back, not a chance. Why would he go back when Richard would come running to find him soon enough.
I rewrote this chapter because it has been aggrevating me since day one with how badly I messed up with. Now it is from only Ben's point of veiw (sorry Richard fans, but that is originally what I intended it to be). As for the rest of the chapters, don't worry none of them should be entirely rewritten but I won't make any promises.