Chapter One Charlie slowly opened his eyes, grimacing as tried moving his legs and arms. For a moment he couldn't recollect where he was or how he had gotten there. Then the smell of smoke reached his nostrils, the screams of a near by woman echoed in his mind, and suddenly he remembered exactly what happened. The plane crash. He sat up slowly, and looked around. The screams he was hearing were coming from a young, very pregnant woman standing next to the airplane's large turbine. He got up as quickly as he could and ran over to her. "Are you alright?!" She stopped screaming for a moment, and fear filled her eyes.
"My baby! I don't want to lose my baby!" Charlie looked around frantically, searching for anyone who could help. "There had to have been a doctor on this bloody plane." He thought to himself. The turbine next to them start emitting an odd noise and was becoming louder by the minute. He realized it was going to explode. ""MOVE!!" He screamed, and grabbing the young girl by the arm, pulled her down with him, and not a moment too soon. The turbine exploded, sending pieces of metal and debris flying through the air. Shrapnel missed Charlie and the girl by mere inches, and he could feel her sobbing underneath him. More screams had erupted in such a short amount of time, and he knew right away that the survivor list, however long it was, was cut short once again. He stood up on shaky legs and the girl tried to follow. "No, you stay there. You're in no condition to be movin' around much." He looked around and finally saw the man that had been running around just a few minutes earlier. "Stay right here." He runs over to the man he thinks may be the doctor and grabs his arm. "Hey, man, that girl over there…there's something wrong." He glances over at the girl sitting on the beach and sobbing, then looks back at the man he's tending to. He looks at Charlie with raised eyebrows.
"Are you with her?" Charlie's face contorted into a look of agitation. "No, I'm not, but you bloody well should get over there anyway." The doctor said something to the man he had been tending to and jogged over to the girl.
"What's wrong?" The girl was still sobbing uncontrollably, her beautiful face twisted into one of fear and pain.
"I don't want to lose my baby!" The doctor places his hands on her stomach, moving them around every few seconds, then finally smiles.
"No need to worry, the baby will be fine. The stress caused you to go into a false labor, and nothing more. You just need to relax and everything should be okay." He stood up and brushed the sand from his pants. "By the way, my name is Jack. If you need me, and you don't see me, just ask around." He smiled once more, then walked away. Charlie stood still, his hands jammed into his pockets. Now that the emergency was over, and there was a chance to talk, he had nothing to say. The girl, finally calmed down, looked up at Charlie. There were still tear tracks running down her face, and even then she was still beautiful. He grinned a lopsided grin and rocked back and forth. "My name's Charlie." She smiled slightly then held out her hand.
"Claire." They shook hands then Charlie shoved his hand back in his pocket. "Thank you for helping me." "Ah, no big deal." An awkward silence fell and the sound of people rushing around in the background echoed in Charlie's ears. "Umm…it kinda sounds like they needs some help over there, so I'll umm…I'll see you around. You'll be alright?" She nodded.
"Yea, I'll be fine. Thanks again." He grinned again.
"No problem." He turned and sauntered off, leaving Claire to smile at his shrinking figure.
The beach was in utter chaos. There were several fires going and the threat of another explosion still lingered in the back of everyone's mind. Charlie made his way toward Jack, who was digging through suitcases.
"Need any help?" Jack looked up then continued digging through the suitcase in front of him. "I need to gather all the medicines that were on the plane. You can look through all the carry-ons, suitcases, duffle bags, and what you find bring back to me." Charlie nodded.
"So, you're tellin' me to go through everyone's stuff, and take what drugs they have, eh?" "Yes, prescriptions, over the counter, anything." Charlie looked around at all the bags strewn upon the beach. "I'm on it." He wandered off along the beach, casually sifting through the suitcases and duffle bags he came across. Soon he became frantic with his search, picking up bags and throwing them to the side in disgust if he'd already gone through it. He had suddenly realized what it was he was looking for and now his only thoughts were on finding it. He had begun tossing everything he found in a small duffel bag at his side, feverishly searching every bag he could reach without having to get up and move every few minutes. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he jerked around to see who it was. Jack was standing there looking down at him with a look of concern.
"Are you okay?" Charlie blinked for a moment as sweat dripped into his eyes. He reached up with a shaky hand and wiped it away.
"Yea, I'm-I'm fine…just finding medicine for you, like you asked." He gestured at the now almost full duffel bag. Jack bent down and picked it up. "Thanks…what's your name? I don't think I caught it awhile ago." Charlie cleared his throat.
"It's Charlie. Charlie Pace." "Well, thanks Charlie, for getting all this stuff. Go on and take a break for awhile. It's pretty hot." He turned and walked away, leaving Charlie sitting alone in the sand.
Claire sat alone on the edge of the water, her hands on her stomach and wishing things had turned out a bit differently than they had. The water was a beautiful blue, and the sound of the waves hitting the shore was comforting. She let the water run in around her toes and thought about the events that had brought her to this godforsaken island. She saw a girl, she couldn't have been much younger than her, rummaging around in suitcases. A young boy was yelling for his dog. An older man, maybe in his early to mid fifties, walking slowly and deliberately as if he hadn't walked in a long time. A heavy set man with thick curly hair was carrying what looked like bags of food over to a makeshift tent. Charlie was sitting by himself looking off into the distance and she wondered what he could be thinking about. She turned and saw a handsome man, maybe around her age too, walk over to the girl and say something to her. It soon turned into an argument, and she figured they were brother and sister. She could tell by the way they were both standing. She looked back toward the water then decided she'd get up and go to Charlie. He looked lonely over there.
"Shannon, you really need to help us get things set up. You can't just sit around and read magazines all the time." She looked up at her brother and rolled her eyes.
"Whatever." He sighed in exasperation and ripped the magazine from her hands.
"You really don't have a choice Shannon. If you haven't noticed we were in a plane crash. Everyone who isn't dead are injured, those not badly injured are in shock, and everyone else is trying their hardest to get things in order. You've got to help." Shannon took off her sunglasses angrily.
"I've just been through a trauma here"
"We all have! Have you not noticed the bodies lying on the beach?! People wandering around and hoping to find some remnant of their lives?! If you stopped thinking about yourself and getting a tan on a beach where NO ONE CARES, maybe you'd get up and help." She rolled here eyes.
"Whatever, Boone." He opened his mouth to protest then shut it and walked away. There was no point in arguing. Shannon watched her brother walk away and glared at his back.
"He thinks I'm stupid. Well, I'm not. And just because I don't want to help complete strangers does not mean I am a bad person. Let him think what he wants." She picked up her magazine and started reading again.
A/N: Not exactly the best way to end it, but that's all I've got so far. Hope you enjoy.
A/N: I'm not entirely sure if these will be chapters or just a long story with no chapters. I guess I'll just go with it. Reviews would be great, so I know what I should or shouldn't be doing, but once again no flames, please. Thanks!
Charlie wiped his sweaty palms on the knees of his jeans and wished he hadn't let himself get out of control. The thought of getting high, getting that feeling of utter bliss back had completely turned his rational thinking off. He looked up and saw Claire walking towards him, the large bulk of her stomach casting a shadow across the ground. She stopped in front of him and slowly lowered herself down upon the sand. She sighed and leaned back, then looked over at him and smiled.
"What are you doin' all alone over here?" He shrugged.
"I dunno. Jack had me helpin' him, but he told me to take a break. I guess it's too hot or somethin'." "Oh." They sat in silence for a moment and finally she struggled to her feet and stretched. "I think I'll go see what's goin' on over there. I'm sure I'll see you around." She turned and walked off. Charlie could have smacked himself for letting her go.
"She wouldn't want someone like me. . .and anyway she's pregnant. She's probably with someone anyway," he thought to himself. He looked over and saw a group forming by the makeshift tent and decided to see what was going on.
"We're going into the jungle." Everyone looked at Jack like he was crazy. Hurly, the heavy set man Claire had seen carrying food earlier, spoke up.
"Dude, we don't know what's out there. It's a freakin' jungle, man." Jack shook his head.
"We need to find the cockpit. There may be a radio we can use to call for help or maybe even survivors. They could be thinking we're all dead too. Kate and I will go. We'll be back before dark." Charlie pushed his way through the crowd. "I'm going too." Kate raised her eyebrows and looked at Jack.
"I'm sorry Charlie, we don't need anyone else. Kate and I have it covered." "But I really want to go. I can do it." Jack looked at Kate and she shrugged her response.
"Fine, let's go." They left and Claire watched as Charlie disappeared into the jungle.