I wrote this in like 20 minutes, so forgive any grammatical errors or run-on sentences. Monica, Isabella, this is for you guys.
The bees started to migrate, the faint buzzing could still be heard overhead. He decided that waving his shirt around to fend them off was no longer necessary. He did notice a few sting sites on his forearm and hand, but at least that was the worst of it. As far as he could tell.
Then he heard it. Kate shrieked from nearby, the shuffling of her feet as she moved back as fast as she could was the only sound above the shower of the fresh water spring and the buzzing he could hear.
Jack moved immediately, his eyes following hers as they continued to stare in horror. He could see what was causing her reaction from where he stood. The frail, necrotic bones of….was that a hand? He wasn't sure, so he walked over. There was no mistaking it for anything else once he was close. A rotted, human corpse, nothing but bone and the clothes that covered what was left of whoever he or she once was, stared back at him.
With a keen eye, he surveyed for any clues or marks of identity. Even any signs of trauma, how the person might have died. But nothing.
"Who is he? How'd he get here?" Kate asked hurriedly from behind him, still keeping her distance, but playing off of Jack's curiosity.
Jack picked at the clothing that adorned the remains with one hand, feeling the texture of it crumble between his fingers. "I can't exactly perform an autopsy, but there doesn't seem to be any major trauma to the bones." He hovered over it, and that was when he saw the evidence of another body, lain nearby. He went to it.
"There's another one over here."
"Someone laid them to rest here." He said as he moved back to the other body. The way they were positioned, the care that was taken, Jack could see it. He didn't know how, but he could.
"Who?" Kate asked, watching as Jack alternated between the skeletons.
"I don't know."
"Where did they come from?" Kate asked, not quite registering the fact that Jack could not answer a single question with any certainty.
He turned to her, probing, yet trying just as much as she to make any sense of this. "Didn't you guys shoot a polar bear last week?"
"Yeah." Kate offered, not sure how the two were related.
"Where'd that come from?" Jack asked.
Kate turned, her wheels spinning, but, of course, I don't have a single clue, was all she could come up with. She watched as Jack went back to examining one of the bodies. "Any idea how long they've been here?"
"Long…" Jack said, definitively, without turning to address her, his eyes wide with speculation. It was the only thing he was sure of. "It takes 40 or 50 years for clothing to degrade like this." Incredible, he thought. There had been others. This wasn't new terrain. Maybe they lived here before they died, however long ago that may have been. New questions about this place started popping up like weeds in his mind. What else might they find?
Jack peeled the clothing back to find a pocket, a small bag peeked through the top. He pulled the drawstring and peeked inside. Kate moved in closer, the closest she'd ever been.
"What is it?" She asked. Jack dumped the contents into his palm.
Stones. One black. One white.
He stepped down next to her, letting her take a closer look. She shook her head lightly, still confused, then looked up at Jack, greeting the same question mark in his eyes that must have shone in hers.
Her eyes trailed away from his in defeat, finally taking note of the skin that was on display. His skin. Broad shoulders, with lean muscle roping taught underneath slick, glistening skin. His chest stretched for what felt like miles to her stalking eyes. Dark curly hair was everywhere, eventually tapering between palpable, defined abs. More trim, molded muscle folded under flushed skin. Her eyes came to the top of his jeans, where more fuzzy, dark chest hair peaked out from where the upper trim of his boxers hugged his waist. She found herself wondering just how much further the hair traveled. Her playful prodding about his tattoos was her way of ruffling his feathers, making him smile, but this. This she hadn't expected. He was simply gorgeous.
As she was lost in the tall, sinewy physique unclothed, yet unintended for her appreciable viewing, he couldn't help but notice that she had disrobed herself. She was so small, he thought, yet he could tell she didn't allow herself to waste away while on the run from whatever that mugshot was all about. Firm shoulders, with obvious definition, lay under the cascade of strewn dark curls that escaped her ponytail. The cream-colored bra held to her breasts delicately, as her torso, slim and petite, brought his searching eyes to the hem of her jeans, riding low on hips he was sure were just as beautiful as the rest of her. He noticed a sting site next to her belly button, low, intimate. He instinctively thought to touch it, but pressed the urge down. If he touched her, it would lead to more, more than what he was able to give right now, given that they weren't really as alone as he needed them to be in that moment.
They stood, frozen. Their eyes met, slowly, feasting, still not sure what they'd stumbled upon in the caves, but very much appreciating, gravitating to what they had just stumbled upon of each other. This had always felt like where they were headed, and it took a killer bee attack to get them here. Figures.
"Hello!" Locke yelled, before rushing into the cave. "Anybody there?"
The moment was broken. As If caught kissing the girl next door under a tree in the backyard, Jack turned, placing the stones back in the bag, hiding them from Locke's view. Kate hastily picked up her shirt from her feet, shaking it.
"Everyone alright?" Locke asked, approaching them.
"Yeah." Kate said, with a small, impish grin, hoping that Locke didn't notice the blush on her cheeks. She turned her shirt inside out, maneuvering it over her head. "Never better."
Thanks for reading!