Thank you for the reviews on my last chapter. I love your guy's support. Now, since there was a long wait on the last chapter here is the next one more on time.
"What do you mean he wasn't on the plane?" I ask, just as Kate asks "Who wasn't on the plane?"
"Ethan! The Canadian guy, he wasn't on the manifest." Hurley tells us, practically yelling. I start cleaning out Sayid's wound.
"Well where the hell is he!" shouts Jack, his usual calm demeanor gone.
"I don't know I saw him yesterday but now-" Hurley says, throwing his arms up in the air.
Everyone is shouting over each other but Jack projects over the chaos "Has anyone seen Ethan!?"
Michael walks towards us "Yeah, Yeah he went to get some wood. Took off on the path to the beach. Is he okay?" Michael asks, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the beach. "What happened."
"Didn't Charlie go after Claire earlier today. She was heading towards the beach too." I say, worried now. At first there was too much going on but now I remember the fear in Claire's eyes last night.
Everyone is silent, exchanging fearful glances.
"I'm going after him." Jack announces authoritatively.
"Jack, Sayid's leg." Kate says urgently, her tone begs him not to go.
"Sam can handle that." he tells her. He then turns to me "Is that okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine. But I am going after them too. Claire's my friend and I am not going to sit around and do nothing if she is in danger."
"That's fine." Jack says, barley responding before dashing off into the jungle.
Cleaning Sayid's leg properly is a slow process, the wound is filled with dirt and it is clear that all Sayid did when the injury occurred was stop the bleeding. He is lucky that it doesn't appear to be infected.
"How did this happen?"
"One of her traps. Danielle, the French women" Sayid explains, his voice horse.
Despite my dislike for Sayid, it is hard to like someone who tortures people, I can't contain my curiosity. "From the transmission that we heard?"
Sayid nods weakly as I apply a clean bandage over his leg and start wrapping it tightly. There is a bustle of activity around us. Shannon is shouting at Boone as he joins the mission to look Charlie and Claire. Kate is standing by Locke and Patrick walks over to the group and I see him talk to Locke. I finish wrapping Sayid's leg when Patrick comes up to me.
"Hey, I'm going with Locke and the others. Locke says we have too many people in the group already, but Michael is forming a search party too. Locke thinks you should go with him in case they find Claire or Charlie and they need medical attention. And Jack will be with us." he explains quickly, glancing nervously at Sayid. "What happened to him?"
"He found the women from the transmission I told you about, remember? Since when do you go on search and rescue missions?"
"Since people I know get kidnapped by mysterious people on a death island." he responds with a sarcastic grin. "Locke knows what he's doing, and I want to be able to help with this stuff" he says in a more serious tone.
I nod "Okay, just be careful."
"I will" he promises. "You be careful too."
I agree and he walks away. I hand Sayid a water bottle. "Try to drink this is slow sips, not to fast unless you want to be sick." I hand him an apple too "If you eat this, eat it slowly. And try to rest." I tell him curtly before walking away.
I find Michael refilling his water bottles. I squat down next to him "Hey, I hear you are looking for Claire and Kate too. I hope you have room for an extra."
"Yeah man. Definitely. It's just me and a few others, we leave in five."
I nod and head off to get my bag ready.
Ten minutes later Michael and I, along with a couple of other men who introduce themselves as Scott and Steve, are walking through the jungle in the opposite direction that Claire and Charlie were taken. It is hot and humid, not unusual for the island. The air is heavy with impending rain, but right now the sky is clear.
"What do you think Ethan wanted with them?" Michael asks from beside me.
"I don't know" I say, pushing a low hanging branch out of the way. "When she said someone was attacking her in the caves she thought it might have something to do with her baby. I just hope we find her before he hurts her."
"What would Ethan want with her baby? That's messed up man."
"I wish I knew. Let's just focus on finding her and Charlie." I say, trying to push away the guilt that I didn't protect my friend better.
"Do you really think we will find them out here? Locke said they went the other direction." Michael asked me, looking miffed.
"We might. Ethan isn't one of us, we don't know where he came from or what he is capable of. And John said that he was pretty capable in the jungle, he could be headed in the direction."
Michael seems perturbed at my assessment of Ethan, but he shakes it off pretty easily and we keep walking.
We keep walking, occasionally one of us will say something but for the most part we are quiet. Behind us the two others are spreading out, creating a wider radius for our search. There is no sign of a trail, but even as we walk deeper into the jungle we are able to follow a path carved through the trees. None of us have ever gone here, at least not to my knowledge, and definitely not enough to create a path. I am about to point this out, when it starts pouring down rain. No warning or transition, just a torrent of rain pouring down on us.
"Shit man! This rain is going to wash away any trace of them!" Michael exclaims.
"Did we have a trail to begin with?" asks Scott, the two catching up to us.
"I guess not" Michael admits. "But the rain can't help!" he tacks on.
"Maybe it won't hurt as much as you think" I say, pushing my wet hair behind my ears. "Look at the ground. We are well away from camp but there is still a path through the jungle. That means someone goes through here, or they did once not too long ago."
"Huh, you're right. I didn't even notice." Steve says.
"Where do you figure it leads?" Michael asks.
"I don't know. And maybe it's nothing. But, there is only one way to find out." I say, pulling my hair into a pony tail.
"It's raining, maybe we should just go back." Steve comments.
"A little rain won't hurt us" I tell him. "But, if you want to you can go back."
Steve shakes his head "I'll be fine."
"Alright, let's go." Michael says. "I want to cover as much ground as we can before it gets to dark." We continue on, following the path though the jungle as the rain beats on our backs. It doesn't last long, and my wet clothes stick to me as I walk. We continue on this way for about an hour, and the trail doesn't end but the light is starting too.
"Yo, we ought to head back. Wherever this leads it's not to Ethan and Claire, and it's getting dark. I need to get back to my boy."
We all agree, but I memorize the landmarks as we walk back. Just in case.
By the time we get back to the camps at the caves it is dark. My clothes are mostly dry, if not clean, and despite our failure to find anyone I am happy to be back to the familiarity of the camp. Jack and Kate are back, along with Charlie who is sitting on a log by a fire with a dead look in his eyes. I don't see any other members of Jack's group, including my brother. But I assume the others, Patrick included, have separated off to be on their own.
When Walt sees Michael he comes running over and gives him a quick hug "Dad! They brought Charlie back, but he hasn't said anything since he came back." Scott and Steve have already walked off, and Hurley is sitting near bye.
"Did they find Claire?" I ask him, dreading the answer.
Hurley doesn't answer, he merely shakes his head. But, that is answer enough.
I walk off to change into something clean, with guilt churning in my chest. I should have believe Claire, maybe we could have done more to protect her. Once I finish changing I sit down on a rock and start to brush the tangles out of my hair. After a few minutes Shannon sits down next to me.
"You went looking for them out there, right?" she asks me.
"Yeah, we didn't really find much though." I tell her.
"Were you with Boone then?" she asks me, cutting to her point.
"Boone? No, he went of with Patrick and Locke and them. Didn't they come back with Jack?" I ask, pausing my task.
"No, they didn't" Shannon says, her voice shrill and annoyed with a clear undertone of worry.
"It's dark, they should be back by now." I worry.
"Yeah, I know that genius." Shannon huffs, and I can tell she wants me to comfort her.
"I'm sure they will be back soon." I tell her. She nods, not convinced, and after a minute she walks off.
It's been an hour and they still aren't back. My hair is brushed, probable more than it needs to be and I am sitting by the edge of the jungle watching the people come up from the beach to fill there water up. They are few and far between, but it provides a welcome distraction to worrying about Patrick. We may both be adults, but I've never been able to shake the need to protect him. After everything we've been through together it is hard to.
I see a new person making their way up the path towards me and I watch their form grow into one I recognize. Sawyer.
"Waiting for me, grey eyes?"
"I have better things to do then wait around for you." I say back, still partly focused on the jungle.
"Like go on recuse missions after crazed kidnappers?" he asks.
"Amongst other things" I say absentmindedly, my focus divided.
Sawyer sits next to me. "What do you think is going to happen if you keep staring into that jungle, grey eyes. A plane is going to appear and take us off this rock?"
I let out a shaky laugh. "My brother went out there with Jack and Locke and them. They split up I guess, and Locke, Boone, and Patrick are still out there." I tell him, surprising myself.
"Ahh, so you are worried that Locke is going to turn on the two of them and leave their bodies in the jungle."
I laugh for real at this. "Or something like that. It's just, my brother. We're the only family we have. I don't want anything to happen to him."
Sawyer looks genuinely sympathetic to my worry "Well, I am sure if anything tries to bother him Locke will be able to handle it."
"I guess you're right." I say, trying to convince myself.
"I'm always right, Darlin'" Sawyer says with a cocky grin.
"I highly doubt that." I say skeptically.
"Doubt me if you must, but I'll convince you one day."
"I doubt that too."
"I can be very convincing, trust me, grey eyes." Sawyer says flirtatiously.
I roll my eyes, but I play along. If only to distract myself.
Patrick's point of view
It is dark and I am walking along side Boone behind John. We lost the trail miles ago, I'm sure of it.
"Are we lost?" I ask him.
"No Patrick, we're not lost." John replies, turning his flashlight towards the two of us.
"I just don't see how you can still be following this trail" Boone says.
"I think we should go back." I say, siding with Boone.
"Don't you feel it?" John asks us.
"Feel what?" Boone asks.
"It." John stresses, and I almost know what he is talking about. Back home, everything is a mess, even if it looks clean on the outside. Sam likes to pretend everything is okay, and in some ways it is. But in a lot of ways we never escaped the things we thought we left behind forever. Here it is peaceful. I don't say anything, but think that John can tell what I am thinking.
"Alright John, I am going follow the strips back." Boones says, pointing behind us.
"Alright Boone, suit yourself. What about you Patrick?"
"I think I'll stick with you for now" I say. John nods and Boones starts to walk off "Wait." John stops him. "You need this more than we do." he says, holding up a small flashlight and throwing it to Boone. It slips out of Boone's grip and hits something hard and metal. We all gather around it, and I crouch down to push away the vines and leaves covering up the object.
"What is that?" Boone asks.
Locke taps it with his knife "Steel" he says.
"What do you think it is, part of the plane? The wreckage."
"It's bigger than that." I say.
Boone, Locke and I start pushing mud away, revealing more of the object. "Then what is it?" Boone asks.
"That's what we are going to find out." Locke says.
End of chapter. So, what did you guys think. I decided to have Sam go with Michael and them because I didn't really feel like she belonged with the others. Kate and Jack have some moments during their scenes in the jungle looking for Charlie that I feel are important to their relationship. Also Locke, Boone, and Patrick have their own dynamic going on. I included a scene from Patrick's pov here because I think it is important to the plot, but overall most will be from Sam's perspective. Maybe some Sawyer later, let me know if you guys would like that. I hope you guys liked it. Please review. And remember, my PM's are always open. -K