Note: this chapter has some gory moments in it. So turn away if you havea queasy stomach: also, thanks to all the supportive reviews I've gotten!
Charlie sat still for a moment, his eyes whipping around, searching for that thing. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest, and he wondered if that thing could hear him, smell him. It might've not been that thing making that sound…it sounded like a person. A…girl, in fact. A woman. Kate?
Then, he heard it again. Louder, and more panicky. And with a "HELP!" at the end, too. Charlie was up then, abandoning his beloved, painstakingly counted apples. He felt the branches whipping across his face, stinging his eyes, stinging his neck, stinging everything. He didn't know where he was going, or what he was doing, only that he was trying to get closer to that sound…that sound that was almost constant now, a battalion against his ears, a torture to his mind. Charlie tripped and fell, cutting his face on something. He felt a warm liquid trickle seep down his face and onto his shirt. Without looking, he knew it was blood. He had seen it before. He stood up and kept running.
He had run for a long, long time before he realized the screaming had stopped. He stooped down and tried to catch his breath, he realized he was in pain. Only after the pain set in did the fear.
He had no idea where he was. He looked around him and all he saw were tall, tall trees. Blue skies teased him from overhead, birds flew, birds sang…he touched his face and pulled away his hand sharply, wincing. The cut below his eye was bleeding badly now; if he didn't get it cleaned soon, it might get infected.
He walked on.
It felt like a voice inside of him was telling him where to step, like a guardian angel. Charlie was no forest ranger, he was a Rock Star, and Rock Stars don't venture much outside. Yet a little voice in Charlie's head told him to move forward…to move…closer…
"Ughhhhhh…."
The sound came from beyond the trees in front of Charlie. He stopped and stared at them. The noise continued, it was soft, and barely heard by Charlie and his pounding head. But he heard it, and he wondered if he should go.
Curiosity got the best of him, and passed through the trees quietly, bracing himself for the sight before him.
It was Kate: horribly disfigured, bloody Kate, but it was still her. She lay on the ground, her left arm disappearing into a mangled mass at the elbow, and her right arm nonexistent…the same with Kate's shoulder…her legs were twisted together like a pretzel, obviously broken. Her eyes were swollen shut and bleeding, her nose was bent in five places, making a zigzag line down to her mouth, which was, miraculously, unharmed. Blood, however, dribbled Charlie stood, looking at the creature that had once been Kate in front of him.
Kate looked up and sensed his presence. She opened her mouth…and Charlie saw where all the blood from her mouth was coming from. Her tongue was cut off. He winced. "Kate?" he asked. Kate spit out some blood and smiled. She flopped her arm around…thinking her hand was still there. Charlie knelt down and touched her face. She smiled more at his touch, but winced from the pain. "I'll go get Jack…" Charlie whispered. Kate shook her head.
Instead, he sat by Kate, keeping his hand on her head, like Jesus, until she finally stopped moving. When he couldn't feel her breath against his hand, he sighed and turned around.
Claire was standing there with a skinny stomach. "Cl-…Claire?" Charlie sputtered.
It was then he noticed the long, shiny, bloodstained knife she was holding. Claire looked at Charlie, confused and blinking back tears, and ran away.
Charlie ran after her…followed her, followed the guardian angel inside of him that led him to be with Kate in her last moments. He could barely see her long blonde hair…the hair he had grown to love, in front of him. "CLAIRE!" he yelled. "CLAIRE…WHERE'S THE BABY?"
She didn't stop; he kept chasing her. It was a sick cat and mouse game. Charlie continued to run until the swelling in his eye and the sweat pouring down his face made it impossible to see. He buckled over and breathed heavily for a few moments before he felt the hand on his shoulder. He swung around and gave whoever it was trying to attack him a punch in the face.
Sawyer fell down backwards. "OUCH!" he yelled, clutching his eye. "I just wanted to see if you were okay. Shows what happens every time some poor old boy tries to help a foreigner." He scurried off in a rattish way.
Charlie looked around for the first time. Claire had led him to the beach…although she was nowhere in sight. He saw Hurley and ran up to him. "Hurley!" he gasped. "I saw Claire!"
Hurley looked sympathetically at Charlie. "Charlie, no you didn't. The jungle makes you see weird things. I thought I saw Jessica Rabbit in that jungle." Charlie shook his head and continued babbling. "No! I swear!" Hurley shook his head, then noticed Charlie's cut. "Hey, man, what happened there?" Charlie touched his eye and took his hand from his face, staring at it. It was bloody…but not just with his own blood. With Kate's, too. "Oh my God," Charlie whispered. "Kate."