Author's note: Huge thanks to everyone for their reviews! Unfortunately I haven't been able to answer all of them personally, since there was a problem with my connection to this site. Your reviews gave me an inspiration to write a little quicker, so here comes the chapter four…
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Chapter 4: Towards Unknown
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Jackson's mind was working furiously, thinking and rejecting and rethinking the situation; what had happened, what probably would happen; what they knew and didn't know; and most importantly, what they could do. The instant he had seen the armed men, he had known that they meant serious trouble. It had not been too hard to figure out what had happened.
Drugs plus guns equals criminals.
Criminals, who probably wouldn't be that interested in the plight of some plane crash survivors; criminals, who most likely wouldn't be all that thrilled to have suddenly witnesses to their criminal activities. Criminals, who were at that exact moment walking towards their camp.
"We have to warn the others - Jackson, they don't know - they'll be-" Melissa sounded agitated; she was standing against a group of thick bushes, looking towards the beach that wasn't visible through the green jungle. They had retreated back to the sheltering forest, afraid that they could be seen.
"I know but - they are too far ahead of us. They'll get there before we can do anything."
"But we have to do something!"
"I know - I…let's just think this through." Frustration was starting to take hold of him; Jackson felt helpless and useless and hated it. He had to do something. He tried hard to act calm and controlled, for Melissa was clearly panicking, and it wouldn't help a bit if he were to join her.
"Who are they? What are they going to do? Do you think-" But Melissa couldn't finish her sentence, clearly thinking about all the awful things the men might be planning to do to their friends.
Jackson quickly tried to reassure her. "They just probably came to get the drugs from the bunker, and Eric bumped into them, and with this storm - they are just going to take shelter in the camp."
"They'll leave when the storm is over, and when they get the drugs. Right?" She sounded heartbreakingly doubtful and hopeful at the same time.
"Right." But Jackson didn't tell her that not always everything went according to plan (although the plane crash had kind of proven that already), and that sometimes people did things that didn't make any sense (he had demonstrated that repeatedly), and criminals were notorious for not being reliable to do the sensible thing.
"So…what should we do now?" Melissa was looking at him like he had all the answers. For a brief moment, he detested the way everything remotely criminal was always linked to him; as if he had an extensive experience in those matters. Despite what the others thought, he hadn't had much to do with Los Angeles' criminal life. He had always been a loner and frankly, too intelligent to get involved with the gangs that dominated his old neighbourhood. Sure, some of the things he had done had been against the law, and he wasn't particularly proud of it, but he had never had any doings with drugs or real, gun toting criminals.
But then he recognised the look in her eyes; the look that told of all the faith she had in him. Jackson felt ashamed of himself; he had misjudged her again. For some reason unfathomable, she believed in him.
And that scares the hell out of me.
He couldn't let her down; he had to think of something they could do to help the others and to keep themselves safe.
"Jackson?"
"We hide." It was a bitter pill to swallow, but in the end, hiding would be the only sensible thing to do. Rushing into the camp would not accomplish anything, but get them to the same mess with the others; doing something to the drugs, maybe hiding them or trying to bargain with them, would not only be stupid but also dangerous. Maybe if he had been by himself, he could have thought of something…but Jackson was loathe to lead Melissa into any kind of danger.
When he looked at her frightened face, took in her trembling form, he decided that he had to make sure that nothing bad happened to her; that they would somehow get through this unscathed.
"Hide - but…what about Daley and Lex and Nathan? And Taylor and Eric? They are there with those - those men, and what if something - if something happens to them and we-" Melissa's voice was alarmed; her eyes pleading.
"Hey, it's going to be alright." He moved right beside her, not breaking the eye contact. Almost hesitantly he put his hands to her arms, holding her fidgety body gently in place.
"We're going to take shelter from the storm, hiding so that they cannot find us; and we'll think of something to help the others."
He could feel her body relax a bit as her breathing became more even.
"And Nathan and Daley - they are all resourceful, hell, Lex is practically a genius, and Eric can get out of any mess. They'll be fine." Although Jackson sounded confident, he felt nowhere near as certain as his words suggested. The small watery smile on Melissa's lips told him that he hadn't fooled her either.
"Thanks." The fear was still in her eyes, but there was also a new calm acceptance.
"For what?" He hadn't actually done anything; all he had been able to do was to go into hiding.
"Just for being here, trying to make this better."
"Well, we're on this together, and we'll get through this - together." Only when he spoke the words, did Jackson realise the truth in it. The rustling jungle hid the two of them, sheltering them from whatever was happening back in the camp. There was no one they could call for help; no one they could depend upon but themselves. The first priority once again was surviving; waiting and hiding, making sure that they wouldn't be caught by the criminals.
For now, the others were on their own.
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When Nathan had woken up that morning he had felt pretty good about life in general; they had food and water, their new shelter was just as good as Lex had designed it to be, and Daley still liked him. The only hitch had been the fact that they were on a deserted island, but otherwise, the day had set out to be a fairly good day. That is, until three armed men had walked into their camp, holding Eric hostage.
This is not happening.
It felt so unfair; hadn't there been enough trials and obstacles for them already? Nathan still had trouble grasping the whole situation; the sudden violent change to their everyday life at the island seemed surreal. Just a moment ago, he had been stressing over the coming storm, now the weather was the last thing on his mind.
"You have it real cosy here, I'm impressed." The man was standing in the middle of the camp, looking appraisingly over everything. Although he seemed to be the youngest of the three, Nathan was sure he was the leader; the man moved ahead of the others, talked a lot and generally behaved like he owned the entire island.
No one said a word. They were all huddled against the side of the plane; Daley had grabbed Lex to her the moment she had realised what was happening, and Nathan had quickly moved to cover them. Taylor stood beside him, unnaturally quiet and withdrawn, and an anxious Eric had joined them silently, an apologetic look in his eyes.
I have to keep them safe.
He felt the responsibility descend heavily upon him; felt the awful pressure to keep everyone safe press on his mind, to the point where he was ready to start panicking.
He didn't question why he felt that the task of protecting them all fell on him; it was just the way it was. Jackson was not in the camp, a fact that made Nathan relieved and disappointed at the same time; he didn't trust Eric to protect anyone else but himself, after all he had led these men straight to their camp; Lex was just a kid, and Daley and Taylor were - well, girls. All too briefly Nathan felt a warm amusement, when he thought the few chosen words Daley would dish out to him, if she heard that particular thought. He knew from experience that Daley was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but still, there just was no way he would let anything happen to her…
I have to keep her safe.
"You are a quiet bunch. One would think that after three weeks by yourself, you would be just dying to make some new friends." The leader's grin was smug.
Bastard.
The two other crooks didn't look that amused either. The oldest, a small Asian man with a wrinkled skin, had not said a word. He stood a few paces behind the leader, his face impassive.
The third man was the largest; his broad shoulders and small, piercing eyes made Nathan uneasy. The man had first looked at the camp with interest, examining the structure of their shelter, but had soon settled himself against the nearest palm tree, clearly bored.
"Larry, why don't you search the camp?" It was clear from the leader's voice that it wasn't a request.
"Search for what?" The broad shouldered man, who evidently was Larry, didn't sound too pleased.
"Anything that might be of use." The leader had a long suffering look on his face; like he had to explain a perfectly self-evident matter to a child.
Slowly Larry straightened himself and stretched out his arms, like he had just woken from a nap. Nathan was sure that he could see a vein starting to throb in the leader's forehead. As Larry finally moved to the shelter and started going through their things - Nathan winced when the man's dirty hands went to their first-aid kit -, the leader once again turned his attention to the miserable group by the plane.
"Alright, this is how things are going to be: You'll do what I say you to do, and everything will go smoothly, without any trouble."
Behind the leader, Nathan could see that Larry had sunk his hands into their food container; the man grasped a banana and started to peel it. Nathan hastily glanced at Daley, hoping she wouldn't start to protest. She seemed irked, but was holding her tongue.
"They have food - well, bananas and coconuts anyway." Larry munched the fruit as he moved towards the tent.
"Good, as we forgot our own snack, I'm sure you don't mind if we share." The leader's face told them that he knew very well that they did mind.
"What do you want?" Taylor's dispirited question took them all by surprise. She looked desolate and small; horribly out of place, and Nathan felt a surge of protective feelings towards her.
"Well darling, for start, I want you to answer some very simple questions." The leader's eyes narrowed. "Are there any more people here on this island?"
Before Nathan had even time to think about an answer, Daley had already said "No". Her voice held a small tremble, otherwise it was strong and clear.
"No?" The leader looked at them sceptically, lips in a thin line.
Nathan's heart started to pound. He had hoped -as clearly Daley had too- that they could keep Jackson's and Melissa's existence a secret, but if they already knew-
"The others left to the other side of the island weeks ago, as I said. We do not know what has happened to them, if- if they even are alive anymore." Eric's voice was rushed, but otherwise completely believable. The leader looked at them for a long moment, but didn't question them further on the matter. Nathan had never been so grateful for Eric's ability to lie convincingly.
He could see Larry's shape moving inside their tent, and his heart started to beat again faster. Please, do not let him count the backpags! But luck was for once on their side, and Larry emerged from the tent without a comment.
"Boss." Nathan had been too focused on following Larry's every move to notice that the Asian man had quietly moved behind the shelter; the man was now coming back towards the leader, holding a canister in his hands. The fuel oil canister they had took from the bunker. F-ck.
"Well, well. I believe this belongs to me." The leader looked at the canister, a satisfied grin in his lips that disappeared the instance he turned his piercing eyes back towards them. "Which brings me to my next question: what else do you have that belongs to me?"
"Nothing." Nathan forced himself to speak, trying to hold his voice steady. "We didn't touch…anything else, I swear."
For a moment, something unpleasant, something all too disturbing flickered on the man's clean-shaven face; just a moment and then it was gone, leaving Nathan to wonder had he really seen it at all.
"You know - drugs are dangerous stuff. You don't want to get involved in them."
"We left the drugs in the bunker - just as they were. You can go and check." Daley's voice sounded almost challenging.
"I did that honey. Without the storm we would be already moving the load of this island. Weather can be such a bitch, don't you agree?" As on cue, something wet landed on Nathan's forehead; it had started to rain.
Only seconds later there was a deafening clap of thunder, and he couldn't help flinching.
"Move inside the plane." When no one moved immediately, the leader pointed the gun almost carelessly towards the plane. "Or do you want to get wet?"
He nudged Taylor, who stepped inside the plane looking dazed and overwhelmed, Eric fast on her heels. Nathan beckoned Daley to follow the two, and she did so, giving him a look that was at the same time worried and encouraging. She was still holding Lex's hand; the boy was pressed to his sister's side, taking in everything with his intelligent eyes. Nathan knew Lex understood fully the seriousness of the situation, and he could tell the boy was afraid. He wanted to reassure Lex and the others; hell, he wanted to reassure himself that everything would be alright.
But everything is not alright - and I don't know if it ever will be.
They crammed inside the plane, trying to get as far to the rear as possible, as it became clear that the thugs were joining them.
A lightning flashed, and a thunder rumbled, but the weather didn't present any pressing danger to Nathan anymore. No, that was reserved for the men, who seated themselves to the floor of the plane, near to the only exit. He felt a sudden rush of anger; just when they had started to feel safe in their self-made camp, their home really, these criminals had took that away by marching here with their guns and holding them prisoners. Forcing them inside this plane; forcing them to sit here, silent and so very afraid.
He reached for Daley's free hand and squeezed it, letting her know that he was there for her. She squeezed his hand back and didn't let go of it.
I have to keep her - everyone - safe.
The trouble was, he didn't have any idea how in the world he would manage that.
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Poor boys, things aren't going to be any easier for them any time soon…
Please review - what you thought of the dialogue? I always struggle with it, feeling it doesn't sound right.
Next week, Cole is definitely NOT a happy man, and finally the storm hits hard - especially on those two, who have no nice plane to shelter them (although somehow I feel they wouldn't trade places with the people in it!).
