Ok, so everyone knows this, I made a mistake last chapter. At this point in the story, Sayid is 37, he's not 40 yet. Sorry for the mistake. This chapter is going to be longer than my other chapters, because I have a lot to write in this chapter. Also, I figured some people might be getting bored with this, so here's something to spice it up.
Ben and Richard got back later that afternoon. Tom, Ethan and I met them at Ben's house.
Ben was busy packing things away into bags when we got there. "Planning on a trip?" I asked, walking in.
Ben looked up. "Good Claramond, you're already here. Take this." Ben said. He tossed me a backpack.
It hit me hard in the stomach, and I almost dropped it. "What am I going to do with this?" I asked.
"Jacob gave us names of people to keep an eye on at the beach. We have to make sure none of them do anything stupid and get themselves killed." Ben instructed. "You, Richard, Beatrice and I are going to the beach, and we're leaving now."
I knew better than to start arguing with Ben when he had a plan, so I put the backpack on.
"What do you want me to do while you guys are gone?" Ethan asked.
"Ethan, you're going to stay here and take care of Claire and Charlie. Make sure nothing happens to them." Ben told him. "Tom, you're in charge while we're gone."
"I hate to interrupt this plan of yours, but how do you plan to keep an eye on them without them seeing us?" I asked.
"That's easy. They are going to see us." Ben answered.
I didn't get a chance to ask if I'd heard him correctly, because Richard walked in behind me.
"Beatrice is ready to go. What about you guys?" Richard asked.
"We're ready, right Claramond?" Ben asked me.
I decided the best thing to do in this confusing situation was to nod, so I nodded.
"Ok then. Let's go." Richard said.
Ben and Richard walked out. I followed them.
Ethan grabbed my arm as I walked out. "Be careful out there." He whispered to me.
I nodded, and walked outside.
Outside, we ran into a problem.
"Where are you guys heading?" Ana Lucia asked. She had been allowed by Tom to be able to go out and about inside of the Barracks, under guard, of course.
"Um, one of the beaches on the island." I said.
"Would you mind if I joined you?" She asked.
"No, you can't." Richard said.
"Well why not?" Ana Lucia asked him.
"Because we don't need anyone else to join our group." Richard stated. "And, I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"I'm Ana Lucia." Ana Lucia answered.
I could sense an argument coming soon, and that was the last thing we needed now. "Ben, can I talk to you in private?" I asked Benjamin. I didn't wait for him to answer, I just grabbed him by the arm and pulled him aside.
"I think we should take her." I said.
"Absolutely not. We have no idea what she'll do to us." Ben said.
"She's not going to try and kill us." I said.
"Are you certain about that?" Ben asked me.
I couldn't answer that question.
"That's what I thought. We can't trust her." Benjamin said.
"Look, which would be better, leaving her here with them, or taking her with us?" I asked him.
Ben thought about it. "I guess if she was with us, we could keep an eye on her." He said finally.
"So, she's coming with us." I said.
We walked back over to Richard and Ana Lucia, who were now arguing in front of Beatrice.
"You can go." I told Ana Lucia.
"What?" Richard asked.
Ana Lucia smiled. "Great. I'll be back in a minute." She ran one direction, probably to get some stuff.
Richard stared at me. "Why did you let her come along?" He asked.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Ben can explain it to you." I said.
Richard handed me a a piece of paper.
"These are the people we need to watch, and keep from doing something stupid." He told me.
I looked at the paper. There was a list of names on it.
James Ford.
Jack Shepard.
Kate Austin.
Hugo Reyes.
Sayid Jarrah.
Walt Lloyd
A few hours later we were walking through the jungle. We had made a lot of progress in a short period of time, which was good. While we walked, I explained to Ana Lucia what we were doing and where we were going, but besides that, nobody was really talking.
I felt an strange sense of deja vu as we walked along a river. I couldn't help but think that if I heard a gun shot and one if us died again, I would never go into this jungle ever again.
"Okay, let's take a break." Richard said.
I sat down on a rock and took my backpack off. I propped it up against some rocks, and grabbed my water bottle out.
Ana Lucia sat down next to me. "So, the other people that were on my plane. Are they nice?" She asked.
I finished taking a drink. "Some of them are, like Jack. If I were you though, I'd stay away from Sawyer and Sayid." I told her.
Ana Lucia thought for a minute. "Jack. I think I know him." She said.
I almost choked on my water. I started coughing. "How?" I managed to get out.
"We met before the plane took off. He was going to come see me in the tail section of the plane, or I was supposed to go see him, one or the other." Ana Lucia said. "He seemed nice."
I nodded.
"Break's over. Let's go." Richard said.
I stood up and put my pack back on.
"So, what's the plan when we get to the beach?" I asked. "I mean, it's not like they're going to welcome us with open arms."
"The plan is to do something that will allow us to watch them." Richard said.
I sighed. "Something." I muttered.
We continued walking for a while in silence.
Ana Lucia broke the silence. "Do you know how long until we're there?" She asked.
Ben shrugged. "Beats me." He said.
We stepped into a clearing.
I looked around the clearing. Something was off here.
"Come on, we have to keep moving." Richard said.
"Wait!" I said sharply. I knelt onto the ground. There was a wire running in between two rocks, almost invisible in the grass.
"It's a tripwire. Probably one of the French chick's traps." I said, standing up. "We need to step over the wire. If we trip it, then we'll spring the trap."
We were about to step over the wire, when people ran out in front of us.
Jack, Sawyer, and Kate. They were holding guns.
"Put your guns down." Jack said.
I looked at Ben and Richard. Ben nodded, and we put our guns down on the ground.
Jack walked towards us to get the guns.
"Jack, wait!" I shouted.
It was too late. Jack stepped on the wire.
A bunch of cranking noises started sounding. I quickly traced the wire to see that there was a pile of rocks.
Right above Jack.
I remembered that Jack's name was on the list. "Jack, move!" I shouted. I pushed him out of the way. He fell onto the ground.
I heard a snap, and something hit me hard on the head. I collapsed and passed out.
"Claramond!" Richard shouted. He ran over to her.
Ben and Ana Lucia chose this moment to grab their guns again and point them at Jack, Sawyer and Kate, who were helping Jack up.
"Put your guns down." Ben said.
Sawyer and Kate dropped their guns. Ana Lucia walked over and picked them up.
Richard looked at Claramond, then looked up at Jack. "You're Jack right? The doctor?"
Jack nodded, and knelt down next to Claramond. "The rocks cracked her skull. She's still alive, but barely." Jack said.
"Well, can you fix it?" Richard asked.
"I could." Jack said standing up. "But I'm not going to."
Richard stood up. "Why not?" He asked.
Jack looked at him. "Because you guys sent her here to spy on us, then you held one of us hostage, and then you took two of our people." Jack said.
"She saved your life!" Richard said, raising his voice. "That has to count for something!"
Jack was going to say something else, but he stopped. He was right; Claramond had saved his life.
"Doc, you can't be seriously thinking about saving her!" Sawyer said behind him.
"She did save his life." Kate stated.
Jack sighed. "If I try to save her, you'll owe us." Jack said.
"What?" Ben asked, not sure if he had heard correctly.
"You heard me. If I save her, you'll owe us a favor. Anything I ask for, you'll have to give us." Jack repeated.
Ben and Richard looked at each other.
"Okay then." Richard said.
"But, if you don't save her..." Ben trailed off, and Jack got the idea of what he meant.
Richard picked up Claramond. It was easy, because she was only 5 feet, 3 inches, probably weighed less than a hundred pounds. "Where are we going?" Richard asked.
"We have a cave where all of my supplies are at. We need to hurry though." Jack said.
They all started running towards the caves.
