The Twenty-third Survivor
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Lost. Except for Charlie. I do own him. He's mine, you hear?
Chapter 1: Dreams
The girl crashed through the jungle, her long hair covering her face. She looked back, wild, terrified eyes barely visible through the dense black curtain of hair, as if searching for something. Still running through the thick, lush foliage, her ankle struck a fallen tree branch with a sickening crack. The girl collapsed to the ground, landing in a pool of blood.
Kate sat up, sweating. "Strange dream," she muttered, yanking a black tank top over her head. "Maybe I should go talk to Locke about it." Kate looked to her left, where Sawyer was snoring softly. She smiled, leaning down to peck him on the cheek. "I'll come straight back, ok?" she murmured into his ear.
"Mmm hmm," he replied, eyes still shut. The sun had barely peeped over the horizon, and almost everyone was still asleep. Kate snatched up one of the energy bars that she had hoarded away, stalking across the camp to where Locke slept. He was already awake, gently stirring the fire in front of him with a long piece of driftwood. "Hello Kate," he said amiably. "Up so early, huh?"
"Yeah,' Kate replied. "I had a weird dream, and I thought, you know, maybe you could make some sense of it."
"I'm no fortune-teller, Kate, but I'll try," he answered, still fiddling with the stick.
"Well," Kate started, "There was this girl. Running." She hesitated for a moment.
"Go on," Locke prompted, peering into the bright orange flames.
"She was in the jungle, and she looked sort of scared of something. Tripped over a big log, sprained her ankle or something."
Locke looked vaguely interested. "Locke. Are you even listening to me?" Kate demanded.
"Yes, Kate, I am. What did the girl look like?"
"Mm…I didn't see her face, but she had black hair. Looked sort of like Sun from the back."
"When you said jungle, did you mean like this one? On the island?" Locke said.
"Well, yeah. You think that maybe she's here?"
"It's possible. You want to go look for her?"
Kate nodded. "Call me crazy, but the place where she fell, it looked familiar. About a half-mile that way—" she pointed, "there's a big tree trunk on the ground that looks exactly like the one that girl tripped over. You think there's actually a chance that there's really a person there?" Kate asked incredulously.
"Oh, yes, Kate. There's always a chance," he replied, finally standing up. "Let's go." He turned back to grab a bottle of water, the stick still in his hand. Kate shrugged.
"I still can't believe that you would actually do this," Kate said as the two trudged through the foliage. "I mean, if I'd asked Jack or Sawyer, they probably would have just laughed or said that I was under too much stress, or something."
"Jack's a man of science, Kate, and I'm a—"
'Man of faith. I know," Kate said, smiling. "We're almost there. The log's just over that way." She pointed.
"Well, let's go see if there's anybody there." Locke replied, walking faster.
Kate followed him as he tramped through the thick vegetation. She opened her mouth to speak, just as Locke stopped dead in his tracks. "What the hell!" Kate said, nearly tripping over him. "What was that for?"
"There's your girl," Locke said, pointing.
"What the—my God!" Kate gasped. Next to a mossy log was what looked like a pile of dirty rags half-concealed in the thick foliage. Locke walked towards the figure. He turned it over, revealing the face of an Asian girl who looked about thirteen. Her eyes were shut, and there was a bloody gash on her forehead. "You said she hurt her ankle?" Locke asked, gesturing at the girl's swollen foot, which was twisted at an odd angle. "Broken. It's pretty amazing how much a simple dream can tell you."
"Yeah," Kate agreed. "You think that she's one of, you know, them?"
"Could be," Locke replied, grabbing the girl's limp wrists. "We'll take her back to the beach."
"You sure you can carry the kid that far?"
"Yes," Locke grunted, hoisting the girl over his shoulders. "No problem. You run ahead and get Jack."
"Jack?"
"Jack."
Kate looked dubious for a moment, and then ran off into the jungle.
"Jack!" Kate yelled, her bare feet raising slight clouds of white sand. "You have to come, quick!"
"What?" Jack said, looking up from his book.
"First I had a weird dream, and we—me and Locke—found a girl in the jungle. She's got a broken ankle or something. It's a long story. Just—come on!" She grabbed his hand, yanking him up from the ground.
"Kate, wait! You said she's hurt? Then I've got to grab some supplies, something!" Jack cried. Kate ignored him.
(A/N: Yay for Lost! We loves it, and what would we do Wednesday night if we couldn't watch Lost anyways? Oh yes…and review por favor!)
