I got so many good comments asking me to please update, here and on other sites, so I decided to head your wishes. Merry Easter. lol
Chapter Nine
She had been sneaking out here everyday since the day he died. Just sitting on the log, staring at the cross, but today was different, she actually cried for him. It must have been because of the empty plot that Boone was to be filled with later that day, but she actually cried for him. It might have been the shock that people will die here, no matter how hard Jack tried. But Karen actually cried for her father.
She read the cross over and over, "Richard Jonathon Fortier". She had grown up with her mother's name because her mother went back to it after Richard left. Karen thought about her life, only 24 and no more family left. Her mother had died a few days before the crash, her father died a few days after the crash, and her sister…. Her sister had committed suicide when Karen was 17 because her father had beaten her for years then left.
Karen heard rustling in the bushes behind her and turned around to see Jack coming out of the bush. He sat down next to her and looked at the cross too.
"If it helps," he said. "I did everything I could for him." Then her wrapped his arm around her and for the second time in two days, she put her head on his shoulder and began to cry. He brought her into a hug as she cried, and kissed the top of her head.
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It was midday. Jack and Hurley were carrying Boone's body back to the beach on a stretcher. Boone was wrapped in a blue tarp, his head was exposed and the other survivors followed in the wake of the procession. Sayid rubbed his wrist against his nose and looked down as he joined the group of survivors who were paying their respects to Boone.
They came to a small clearing, next to the marshal's grave, where an open grave was waiting for Boone. Hurley and Boone put the body down next to the grave. Sayid was staring ahead of him, then turned look at Shannon, whose eyes did not leave Boone's body.
Walt put his hand in Michael's and Michael looked down at Walt. Claire was holding her newborn son and Sun turned to look at Kate, and the two looked at each other, sharing their grief.
Then Jack reached down and folded the edges of the tarp around Boone's face, covering it. He stood upright again and stepped back, finished. Charlie then came and stood next to Claire and her baby.
Then Jack turned to look at Shannon. Breathing heavily, he asked, "Shannon ... do you want to ... you want to say something?"
Shannon's head inclined but her eyes did not leave Boone. Then she shook her head. "No."
Everyone turned to look at Jack, everyone expecting him to say something. Karen stepped out of the crowd and took her place by Jack, who put his arm around her waist. Jack looked at Karen, then down at Boone's body. The survivors fell into a heavy silence. But it was broken by Sayid.
"I didn't know Boone very well, and for that I'm sorry. On our sixth day here, a woman named Joanna died. She drowned. And Boone was the first one into the water. I" Sayid paused. "I didn't know him, but I'll remember his courage, and I know he will be missed."
"I didn't know him well either. But what I did know, it was all positive." Karen said. "He was a good man. With Joanna. And with all of us. He had patience for the one thing that mattered to him on this island. Shannon." Karen looked at Shannon. "He was always willing to -"
"It was my fault."
Before Karen turned around, she knew who it was. "John…" she whispered. Jack looked up and the crowd turned out to see that John Locke had returned. He was standing outside the group, near an old tree, still covered in blood.
"We found a plane - a Beech craft - in the jungle. It was lodged in the canopy, so ... I-I would have gone up, but I" Everyone was staring at Locke, some in shock, some in anger. "My leg was hurt, so he ..." Shannon glared at Locke, hatred in her eyes. "There was a radio inside, and he thought he could ..." He stumbled. Jack was getting angrier and angrier. Karen could tell because he was starting to squeeze her quite hard. His glare was seething. Locke rubbed his eyes and continued. "Look ... his weight must have made the plane shift, and then it fell, and ... happened because he was trying to help us." Then he said simply, "He was a hero."
Jack was angry. His arm left Karen and she could breathe again. "Where were you?" he asked. When he got no answer from Locke, he began to head toward him. "Where were you?" He broke into a run. "Where the hell were you, you son of a bitch!" he yelled.
"Jack!" Karen shouted, heading after him, because everyone had turned to look at her like it was her responsibility to control him.
Jack reached Locke and pushed him backwards, all the while shouting at him. "What did you do to him!" Various cries came from the crowd, cries of shock, and cries of fear. The crowd followed Jin, Kate, Michael and the others to Jack. Jack tackled Locke and began to beat him. "What did you do to him!"
"Jack!" Sawyer shouted and began to sprint to Jack. Kate did the exact same.
Jack was still screaming. "Where were you? You just left him to die! You lied to me!" Then Sawyer, Kate, and Charlie pulled Jack off Locke and began holding him back. Karen went over to Locke to make sure he was ok and began apologizing up and down for Jack.
"Where were you!" Jack screamed again.
"Jack! It's ok! It's ok!" Charlie was saying in a desperate attempt to calm him down. Kate and Sawyer were also helping in that area.
"Come on! Come on!" was Sawyer's plea for sanity.
"Where were you? Where were you?"
"Get off!"
"Hey! Hey!"
"Jack!"
Suddenly Jack stopped yelling and thrashing. Karen turned around to see him wobbling on his feet. Then he just collapsed.
"Jack!" Karen yelled and left Locke lying in the sand.
"Get some water!" Sawyer ordered anyone behind him who was listening. Then Charlie and Kate dropped down to their knees to tend to him. Karen found herself kneeling next to Jack as well.
"Breathe, Jack. Breathe." Charlie said. Then he turned around. "He's okay!" he announced to the crowd then turned back to Jack. Locke just lay there on the ground, looking at Jack, eyes wide. Jack could barely move.
Then with most of his strength, he managed two words: "He's lying."