Thanks vinzgirl for reviewing!
Seriously, I missed these characters so much I'm so glad I'm doing a LOST rewatch/story editing thing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Lost or any characters in it.
Chapter 4, Day 4-6
Callie
Late in the night, I (and pretty much every other person on the island) woke to the sound of that dog barking and the loud clanging noises of metal. With frustration, I realized I had probably only been asleep for about an hour; my lack of medication was starting to get to me. I rolled my eyes exasperatedly, rubbed them and sat up, squinting my eyes at the light of the fire. I joined the large group of survivors currently forming.
I crossed my arms and tiredly watched as Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Charlie headed into the fuselage. There was a moment of silence where everyone waited curiously for the three of them to emerge; and then came the screams. I bolted to the safety of my tent, not bothering to see what it was that was making weird grunting sounds. It sounded like a pig to me.
I peeked out from my tent a few seconds later to see whatever it was run into the jungle. I hopped out, feeling safe once again.
"They're gone," Sayid announced and Dani said something in her national language. Italian, I'm pretty sure.
I distinctly heard Locke say, "Boars."
"Oh great, another animal we have to deal with. As if a freaking polar bear wasn't enough," I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes again. I sighed; well I wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight.
I stayed with Jack, Kate and Sayid while Jack fixed up a deep scratch Charlie had gotten from the boars. I was starting to realize that the adults didn't really mind having me there. They had gotten used to the fact that if I wanted to do something, I was going to do it. No questions asked. I appreciated the fact that they weren't treating me like a little kid, or a fragile person that needed to be protected. I had my fair share of that elsewhere, especially in school.
"The boars were looking to feed," Jack spoke slowly. "We have to get rid of the bodies."
"Bury them? There's a whole bunch of them," questioned Charlie. Sayid nodded.
Sayid confirmed this as well, stating how hard digging would be without shovels. Jack shook his head though. "No, not bury. We need to burn them," he replied plainly. The rest of us stared at him for a second, shocked. I shook my head as well.
"We can't burn them!" I refused.
"They're people," Kate stated incredulously.
"I know they're people, Kate," Jack responded impatiently.
"Burning the remains? They deserve better than that," said Sayid.
"Better than what? Being eaten by wild animals? Because that's what's going to happen. Any bodies we bury are not going to stay buried for very long. Look, I know this seems harsh, but that fuselage in the sun—it's not about what they deserve," intervened Jack. "They're gone, and we're not."
I admit he had a point, but it just seemed so… insensitive to the people that died. They didn't deserved to just be burned, with not even a simple funeral to remember them by. And if we ever got rescued, how were we to explain to families that we just burned their loved ones bodies? I know didn't want that for my mom.
"What you say may be true, but for us to decide how these people are laid to rest—it's not right. No regard for their wishes? Their religions?"
"We don't have time to sort out everybody's god," argued Jack.
"Really, last I heard we were positively made of time," commented Charlie ruefully.
"Look, I'm not happy about it either," Jack started, "but we crashed a thousand miles off course. They're looking for us in the wrong place. It's been four days, no one's come. Tomorrow morning we need everyone to start gathering up wood, dried brush, and turn that fuselage into a furnace. We'll wait until the sun goes down tomorrow night before we start the fire."
Jack was about to leave, but I stopped him. "Wait, Jack," I said. He turned back to me. "If you must, burn the other bodies, but… I'm burying my mom. It's what she would have wanted, no matter the condition." Jack stared at my pleading face for a moment. "Please." I glanced back at Charlie for support, and he nodded at Jack as well.
"Alright. But just her. The rest need to be burned," Jack agreed finally. I smiled slightly and nodded in thanks. I sat back down next to Charlie when Jack left.
"If he's so eager to burn the bodies why are we waiting until sundown?" Charlie asked Kate.
"He's hoping someone will see it," Kate answered.
Flashback
Anna bit her lip as she waited in line at her new school's office. She was sixteen years old and on her own, having run away from her home in Manchester, England to Los Angeles, California. She could have been terrified of having to live on her own, or guilty for leaving her little brothers that she adored in favor of this new life. But rather, she was excited. Excited to start a new life, excited to be away from the parents she despised. She approached the front counter when it was her turn and smiled uncomfortably at the office woman.
"Um, Faith Thompson?" Anna told her. She searched through the files on the computer in front of her and hastily printed out a schedule. She handed it to Anna.
"Have a nice first day, Miss Thompson," she said dully. Anna nodded again and exited the office quickly. She examined her schedule closely as she walked, making sure she knew where her first class was. She was knocked backwards as she collided with somebody.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention," she apologized to whoever it was she knocked into.
"No problem. Here, let me help you," a male voice said. She saw the guy bend down and pick up a couple of books for her. Anna collected the rest and stood as he did. She put the books back in her pack and smiled at the guy who helped her off the ground. She was shocked at how handsome he was.
"New I'm guessing?" the guy said, his blue eyes twinkling slightly under his dirty blonde hair. Anna nodded nervously. "And British?" Anna chuckled timidly.
"Yeah, I just moved here," she replied. "I'm An—Faith. F-Faith Thompson." He smiled at her calmly.
"I'm Sam Georgeston. Welcome to the big ol' USA, LA, and the not so big school that happens to be in it," he greeted nonchalantly. Anna smiled back and nodded.
"Thanks."
"See you around," Sam said and walked away, smirking back at her.
"Yeah, see you around," Anna agreed, knowing full well that he was out of hearing range.
Dani
I helped the best I could to gather firewood for the memorial service tonight. It originally wasn't supposed to be anything special, but Claire had the wonderful idea to read off names she collected from IDs and passports in the wreckage. I was against the idea of burning the bodies, but there was nothing I could to about it.
Not too far away, I heard Sawyer typically get into a fight with someone, Hurley to be specific. I rolled my eyes and blocked out the fight. "Non puoi andare d'accordo con nessuno***?" I said to myself in Italian.
I entered in on the group where Sawyer and Hurley had just been fighting. John Locke was making a speech about hunting. He wanted to hunt for the boar. He had knives; a huge selection of them. That scared me a little. I didn't exactly want to be a part of this hunt for food, so I left the group, heading back to my own tent.
I don't think I've ever felt like this much of a loner. While I'm not exactly an extrovert, I still loved being around people and enjoying the company of others. Here, I had absolutely no one to talk to, since everyone was off exploring, or contributing, or talking to somebody else. I almost reconsidered not going on that boar hunt just to actually be around other people. I shook my head silently and went back outside. Three blondes emerging from the fuselage caught my eye. Charlie and Callie carried a dead blonde woman out of the wrecked plane and off to a small sand clearing. They were going to bury her.
Impulsively, I got up and headed towards them. "Do you need any help?" I asked them. "You know, with digging or anything?" They both looked at me skeptically.
"Uh, yeah sure," Charlie replied. Callie was a little hesitant but nodded. They were using scraps of metal and broken tree branches to dig a hole. I picked up one of the scraps and helped them.
"So, who was she?" I asked politely, not wanting to offend either. Callie remained silent, her expression hard as stone.
"Her name was Anna. She was my sister, her mother," Charlie responded wearily. I ruefully nodded, wishing I hadn't said anything.
"I'm sorry," I added sympathetically. Charlie smiled back at me sadly. Callie never looked up as she dug. The hole was nearly finished when we started speaking again.
"Your name is Dani right?" Charlie asked me. I looked up, surprised at the sound of a voice again.
"Yes, that's me," I answered, looking back down so I didn't fall in the hole.
"Thought so. How old are you? You look pretty young," he asked.
"I'm twenty-one," I replied.
"Really? You look younger than that," he said, back to concentrating on digging the rest of the hole. I smiled slightly and nodded. "You're from Italy, right?" I nodded again and finished digging the rest of the hole. I put my scrap of metal aside and examined the scratches on my hand.
Callie took one last look at her mother and sighed, lifting her up along with Charlie and placing her gently into the grave. They said a few words about her sadly and nostalgically, and stuck a grave marker with her name on it. I looked up at Callie when she spoke. She looked upset, but her expression was still hard and cold. We all walked away when Anna Pace was completely buried.
Callie hadn't acknowledged me the whole time I had been there, but at last she walked up to me. "Hey, thanks," she said, with a hint of a forced smile on her face. I returned the smile and nodded.
We turned out to get food after all. Locke came back, carrying a large boar well over two hundred pounds. Come sundown, I headed down to the fuselage with Claire, helping her carry some of the passports and licenses. One of the survivors placed a piece of burning wood under the fuselage, and the plane went up in flames, creating sort of a giant bonfire. Luckily, we couldn't smell any of the bodies burning.
Boone stood to one side of Claire, holding a torch, and Hurley stood on the other side of her. She read the names off of the identifications, and I took the chance to look around at the group. It's amazing how a group of total strangers could come together like this, bowing their heads respectfully as Claire recited the names. I found Sun and I smiled at her, to which she smiled back. Callie stood next to me, but I could not find Charlie. He didn't appear until later, standing next to Kate.
After the service was over and the fuselage was almost gone, I watched people leave. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and I turned around to meet Boone's blue eyes.
"I'll walk you back to your tent if you want," he offered kindly. I was surprised, but I grinned slowly. It was only when we started walking when I began to wonder why he was doing this. I glanced back only to see his sister near the place where they stayed glaring as us. Well, particularly me.
Looking forward again, I noticed we were pretty close to my tent. I sighed and looked up at Boone once again. "Why are you walking me to my tent?"
He glimpsed at me once and shrugged, "I never see you with anybody, so I just thought that you'd want company or something."
"Thank you. That was nice of you," I praised, but quickly looked back at Shannon again. She had looked away by now, but she did not appear pleased. "But, uh, what about your sister?"
Boone shrugged again and after a moment's pause, replied, "Step-sister. And as surprising as it is, she can handle herself." He smiled slightly for a second time, but he flinched as he heard Shannon call his name. He rolled his eyes. "Well, at least for five minutes she can. I better go." Before leaving, he took my hand and kissed the back of it before retreating to his sister's side like usual.
I stubbornly willed the heat to leave my cheeks and I stepped into my tent. But now I was extremely confused. Shannon was his step-sister, as in not his real sister, and I finally understood the big deal about that. But why was he acting this way around me if he was in love with Shannon?
Flashback
15 year old Dani
I stared out the window in admiration as the plane came to a stop. I was home. "Welcome to the Lamezia Terme Airport in Calabria, Italy. We hope you enjoyed your flight and that you come back and see us again!" said the flight attendant over the intercom. I stood and grabbed my travel bag. My legs were stiff from the long flight and rather cold since I was wearing black shorts.
Eagerly, I stepped near the front of the line and eventually got off the plane. My face broke into a smile and I ran towards my father. He looked completely different from my mother; they had the whole biracial couple thing going on. My father was pale, dark haired and blue eyed. I ran into his arms and he spun me around a couple times. My gosh, I missed him.
"It's about time you got here. I missed you," he said, speaking Italian. I could now speak English, and I usually had to being in America, so it felt good to speak my first language again.
"I missed you too, dad," I replied, holding back my tears. I seemed I had been crying a lot since my mom's death. She had brain cancer and had died two weeks ago. That meant I got to live with my only remaining family member, my dad.
"How was the flight?" he asked, walking out of the airport with my luggage.
"Long," I answered.
"Only 12 hours," my dad commented. I laughed.
"Only."
"Well can you put up with another hour in the car?"
I smiled and nodded. "Anything to get home." And off we went to my hometown of Cosenza, Italy.
Callie
I kicked a mango tree angrily, hoping for the fifteenth time that fruit would fall to the ground. It never did. I cried out in frustration and gave up. I was starting to overreact to little things, and my moods were becoming unbalanced and unpredictable at times, indicating that the last dosages of my medication were wearing off. It was scaring me, because I knew how bad I could get. Turning around, I headed back to the beach and almost tripped over something on the ground… a mango. I glared at it, but picked it up and started eating.
The days dragged on, slowly, dully, and quite boringly. It was now day 6 on the island. I suddenly heard yelling that came from down on the beach. By the time I arrived, several people had already gathered at the shoreline and were pointing towards the water. There was what looked like two people out there. Someone thrashing around and another swimming towards her. No wait; there was another… who was starting to drown!
"What happened?" I asked, approaching Charlie.
"There's someone drowning out there. Jack went to help her," Charlie explained frantically. We all watched as Jack frantically, hoping that no one would die today. How's that for positivity. Finally, we saw Jack swimming back, pulling someone along with him. But there was still another person out there.
Kate and Charlie rushed to Jack when he and the man he was pulling with him reached the beach. Jack rushed right back in, leaving the person he had saved on the shore. It was Boone. Jack swam back out, back into the cold ocean, but it was for nothing. Whoever was out there before, well… not anymore.
I didn't have much to do, so I just did what everyone else seemed to do. Sit around and stare at a something. God, I was so bored. I saw Claire, my new friend, and Kate sitting together and sorting through clothes it looked like. I shrugged and got up again.
"Hey, Claire, Kate," I greeted sitting down near them. The women smiled at me.
"Hi, Callie," Claire responded.
"What're you doing?" I asked curiously.
"We're sorting through the clothes. You can help if you want to," Kate offered. "This pile is the clothes we can use, and the other is clothes that are not." I nodded and took a green t-shirt from the unsorted pile.
"Let me guess, you're a Libra?" Claire asked, seemingly randomly. I looked up surprised.
"Uh, actually, yeah. How'd you know?" I answered thoughtfully. Kate smiled.
"I guess you really do understand astrology," she mused. I smirked and continued sorting. I looked out at the ocean where that one woman had died. Boone was still sitting there, staring out at the ocean. I narrowed my eyes, thinking about how fragile our lives were, and how easy it was to die out here. Suddenly feeling weary, looked back down at the shirt in my hands and dropped it into the useable pile.
Flashback
2 year old Callie
Anna couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all they had gone through, he was just leaving her. After three years together and having a child, he was just packing and moving to Australia, right out of the blue.
"You're just leaving?! Just like that!" she shouted at her boyfriend, Sam. Sam sighed irritably.
"Look, I'm sorry, Anna, but I just… I need to go," he replied weakly. Anna shook her head.
"What happened to we're in this together? What happened to we'll always be together? I thought I knew you!" Anna yelled. Sam looked pure frustrated now.
"I've changed! You've changed! Everyone changes! And you thought you knew me? I didn't even know your actual name until last year!" Sam retorted.
"You know what, just leave. Go do whatever the fuck you want to. Go get your drugs and go to your parties, just get the fuck out of my life," Anna stated angrily. Sam stared at her testily for a minute. "Now!" He grabbed his bag and headed right past her and out the door. Anna stared at the wall, in a state of shock of what had just happened to her. She heard crying from the other room.
Picking up her two year old daughter, Anna felt warm tears drip down her cheeks. Her daughter calmed down instantly, but she kept crying silently. "We'll be alright, Callie, we'll be alright."
Dani
"Are you alright?" I asked, sitting down next to Boone. He hadn't stopped staring out into the ocean since this morning, and even though I didn't know him that well, it worried me. I thought that maybe he could use a little company. When he didn't answer or really even acknowledged that I was there, I went on. "Look, it wasn't your fault what happened to that girl—"
"I could have made it back," he interrupted, still staring at the same place. I stared back at him for a couple seconds. I shook my head slowly.
"You were drowning, Boone," I countered. I didn't want to upset him, but he needed to snap out of it. "If Jack hadn't—"
He cut me off once again. "Jack was just trying to be a hero. If he was truly a hero, he would have left me and saved her. I was fine." His tone was harsh and bitter, but I knew it was directed toward Jack and not me. "Who made Jack our leader anyway?"
I scoffed humorlessly before answering. "No one really. It was more by default." He didn't answer, but I could have sworn I saw at least a glint of regret flash in his eyes when I said that. We sat in silence for a while staring out at the waves.
I sighed after a while of just sitting there and started to get up. "Well, bye," I said awkwardly and started to leave. To my surprise, I saw Boone walk pass me, taking his eyes away from the ocean for the first time that day.
"Where are you going?" I spoke. He didn't stop, but he did answer me.
"To find Jack." I stopped in my tracks and watch with furrowed eyebrows as he headed down the beach. I watched him leave, heaving a sigh. The only thing I wanted now was my own home. Not this stupid beach filled with over forty strangers.
Home, that's all I wanted.
Callie
I was worried sick about Claire. She had passed out randomly when I was talking to her. She had woken up, but there was no water to give to her. Someone had stolen the rest of the water. No one knew for sure who had taken them, but several people suspected Sawyer. Apparently, Sayid had already 'spoken' to him and he didn't have it. Who else would take the camp's only water supply? And where the hell was Jack?
I sat next to Claire at later in the afternoon (who really new what time it was?), patiently waiting for her to wake up. I heard her groan silently and her head turned towards me. Her eyes opened slowly and I smiled genially at her. She smiled back, somewhat weakly.
"How do you feel, Claire?" I asked her. I took her a minute to think, but she eventually answered me.
"I'm all right, I think. I feel a little dizzy though… and thirsty," she replied groggily.
"Charlie's getting water. Any that we can find… besides from the ocean. I can't imagine that'd taste too good," I reassured her. She chuckled quietly. "The rest are hunting down the 'criminal' that took the water. So, really it's ordinary day here on the mysterious island." She laughed again, but didn't say anything.
She ultimately fell asleep again and, being bored, I wandered around some more. God, I hate this place. Absolutely nothing to do.
That night, we sat in our normal groups (or cliques, I guess, if you wanted to look at it that way) around separate fires. I was next to a resting Claire, and trying to fight off the drowsiness that was over coming me. I used to stay up so much later than this. I don't understand why I couldn't on this island. I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings until I saw someone fall to the ground. Once again, it was Boone.
"Here's your thief," I heard Charlie declare angrily. I stood up, interested, as Charlie and Michael stared down at Boone, who had his face pressed into the sand. I glanced over at Claire, who looked a little concerned and shocked.
"Where did he hide it?" asked Michael. I stormed over to where my uncle and Michael were standing, anger washing over me. Sure, Boone was a lot older than me; doesn't mean that I wouldn't kick his ass if I get the chance.
"You took the water?" I questioned incredulously.
"This wanker had three bottles on him. Why'd you do it, pretty boy, eh?" Charlie demanded, pushing Boone backwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dani step forward; looking worried to where the fight was going.
"It was just sitting in—it was just sitting in the tent, and Jack just took off," Boone explained, almost sounding frantic. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"So you thought you'd, what? Guard it? Without letting anyone know? Gee, great plan, dude," I mocked, my voice rising by the word.
"Claire could have died!" Charlie cried.
"I tried to give her some sooner, but it just got out of hand. No one would have understood," Boone retorted, his voice rising slightly. I rolled my eyes and gritted my teeth. I already felt way passed due to lash out; but I tried to calm myself down, knowing that if I let myself get too angry, it would not turn out good. Without my medications, it had been increasingly difficult to control my moods, and it was just getting worse.
"Someone had to take responsibility for it. It would have never lasted." I have to admit, I was glad when Charlie pushed Boone once more, although I heard Dani, Claire and several others gasp. The scuffle began again. Sayid stepped in as did a few other men, trying to pull the two apart.
"Leave him alone," Jack said, stepping forward in the crowd. My eyes only narrowed more when he all of a sudden appeared. He had been gone the whole day, and quite frankly, I was not happy with him at all. We'd already claimed him as our unofficial leader, and with him gone… it was almost like we were goners. He reached out a hand and pulled Boone to his feet.
"Well, how nice of you to show up!" I spat sarcastically. My voice had a sharp edge to it. Calm down, calm down, calm down. Before you say something you regret. Jack gave me a weary glance and continued to what he was saying.
"It's been 6 days and we're all still waiting; waiting for someone to come. But what if they don't? We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out. A woman died this morning just going for a swim and he tried to save her, and now you're about to crucify him? We can't do this. Every man for himself is not going to work. It's time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we're going to survive here.
"Now, I found water. Fresh water, up in the valley. I'll take a group in at first light. If you don't want to go, come then find another way to contribute. Last week most of us were strangers, but we're all here now. And God knows how long we're going to be here. But if we can't live together, we're going to die alone."
I didn't look at Jack as I listened to his speech, but I remained silent along with everyone else. No one knew what to say. Well, what do you know? Jack pulled through as a leader after all. It doesn't mean I was going to all of a sudden start liking him, because to be honest, I never really did; but he had gained my respect. He was right.
I helped the best I could with the water situation, and after I was done, I just hung out like I always did. I had to sometimes remind even myself that I was only fourteen (almost fifteen, thank you). Come to think of it, I was the youngest person here besides Walt. People didn't seem to think about my age anymore and seemed to treat me more like an adult than anything, which I was thankful for.
I saw Boone sitting by himself, and I briefly felt bad for what I said to him; briefly. "So, how does it feel?" I heard Sawyer say smugly.
"How does what feel?" Boone replied impartially.
"Taking my place at the top of everyone's most hated list. Sucks, don't it?" Sawyer mocked, grinning impishly. I rolled my eyes and looked over at him.
"Sawyer," I started. He looked up at me, a snide grin still on his face. "Shut up." His grin merely widened.
"You're the one to talk, Lioness," he remarked. I raised my eyebrow at him.
"Is that my new nickname?"
"What can I say?" he answered cheekily, still grinning. "You've got quite a temper there."
I smirked, looking slightly wistful. "Yeah… I know," I said slowly. I stared into the fire, the traces of humor in my face fading. So, everyone had noticed my temper issues. But they didn't know how bad it could get.
They didn't know the half of it.
~o~
***Italian translation: "Can you not get along with anybody?"
(I don't speak Italian so sorry if its off, blame google translate)
