Chapter 2

The day of the call.

"Can you get a fix on our location?"

"Well hell yeah we can, sit tight. We'll be right there." Jack looked at Kate for confirmation, that she had heard the same thing that he had. That right at that very moment rescue was on its way. Jack closed his eyes as a sense of relief overcame him. He heard the cries of joy and disbelief of the rest of the survivors surrounding him. Was it really over? Would they finally leave this island? Jack thought as he opened his eyes and looked over at Ben. Yes there was a chance that these people could be as bad as Ben said, but there was also a chance that they weren't. And it was that chance to get off this island that he was willing to risk everything for.

"Mr. Shephard, You there?" The voice broke on the satellite phone. Jack lifted up the phone to speak into it.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"We should reach the north shore by tomorrow morning. I'll send a team out to meet you."

"O.k. we'll be there." Jack confirmed.

"Great, now I need to speak to Naomi."

Jack looked over at Kate while thinking about how to tell the man who would be their rescue that one of his crew was dead. Kate was standing over Naomi's body. She looked down at the body and shook her head no.

The man sensed Jack's delay. "What happened, where is she?" The man asked with concern.

"On the way to the radio tower, she was injured, an'… and I couldn't save her. I did everything I could, but with limited supplies…I'm sorry." Jack was cut off by the man thankfully; he couldn't tell the man that she was deliberately murdered by one of their own people.

"It's o.k., I understand. You can explain it to the team once they get there." The man said in a disheartened tone.

"Okay, I will." Jack promised and turned off the phone.

Jack looked up and saw the group of people. The weariness and uncertainty was unmistakably clear on their faces, and he knew they were all wondering what to do next.

"We'll take a rest for about an hour, then we'll start heading back to the beach." Jack announced. Everyone seemed to be in agreement with this decision.

Jack pulled out the black walkie-talkie he took from Ben and tried to contact someone from the beach.

"Hurly? Hurly? Are you there?"

"Yeah dude," he said out of breath, "are they, you know, like coming to rescue us?"

Jack smiled, "I hope so Hurly, hey, can you put Juliet on, I need to ask her a question?"

"Yeah sure." There was a pause, then Jack could hear Hurly shouting Juliet's name.

"Jack, you there?" Juliet's voice came through the walkie.

"Yeah I'm here, how is everything over there, you o.k.?"

"Yeah Jack, everything's fine, we've been digging graves."

"Oh."

"Jack what happened? Were you able to get through?"

Jack filled Juliet in on everything that had happened, and wanted to know if she knew anything about the people that Ben had warned them about. Juliet said she didn't know anything about them. Jack informed her that a team would be there by tomorrow morning, or mid afternoon. He also told her that they needed to take precautions because though he didn't believe Ben's story, these people were still strangers, and they may or may not be who they say they are. Juliet agreed. He overheard Sayid say something in the background.

"We shouldn't be discussing this any further over the radio, who knows who could be listening."

Jack knew Sayid was right and after telling them to be careful, he said goodbye and turned off the radio. Jack felt someone gently grab his arm. Jack turned and saw Kate standing next to him. She smiled at him half apologetically for anything she may have interrupted.

"Hey."

He smiled back at her "Hey, everything o.k.?" he asked.

"Um yeah, can I get you to help me with something?" Kate nodded towards Naomi's body, Jack nodded and followed her.

Kate kneeled down beside Naomi's body. She had fallen onto her stomach, with her eyes staring vacantly and her mouth still open with blood. Kate looked up at Jack who stood silently next to her.

"I just thought we should…" Kate tried explaining to him, but Jack knew what she wanted to do. They would take her with them back to the beach, back to her own people. Whoever they were, they probably would want to burry her properly.

"No, you're right, Kate." Jack said kneeling down beside her. He gently closed Naomi's eyes and helped Kate roll her onto her back. Jack noticed Kate had already removed the knife from the woman's back, and proceeded to use it to rip apart some clothing. Kate noticed his gaze.

"This should be enough to cover her with." She said while passing him a few pieces.

"Yeah" Jack said distantly. He was about to put a piece of cloth over Naomi's face but he stopped as the thought of Locke's action today went through his mind.

"You okay?" Kate asked concerned. "I can finish this. You should go rest."

"No, I'm fine."

"You did the right thing Jack." Kate said with reassurance. She could always sense when there was something wrong with him.

"I know. It's just; first it was the sub and now this; I just don't understand why Locke would do this."

Kate looked at him for a moment. "What sub?"

"The sub Juliet and I were going to use to get off the island, Locke blew it up right before we were about to get on."

Kate looked down and shook her head in disbelief. "Locke had this all planned out. He used you as an excuse to come with me, when really he was just looking for their camp. Locke's got his own agenda now, and rescue doesn't seem to be part of it."

They were interrupted by the sudden sound of someone yelling. Jack stood up and saw that Alex was yelling for someone to stop. Jack looked at the tree that Ben was tied to, and saw that he was gone. Locke was carrying Ben's unconscious body over his shoulder with his hands still bound together.

"I'm taking Ben." Locke warned pointing his gun towards Alex. Danielle ran in front of Alex and tried to keep her at a safe distance. Locke continued to walk away.

"Why?" Alex cried out after him. But she got no reply.

Danielle faced Alex, "Its better this way. His fate is none of our concern now. We should start heading back to the beach."

"Let's go." Jack said sharply. His face full of anger and still staring in the direction that Locke had walked off in. "We've been here long enough."