50 / 50 - Chapter 4
by Mystic
February 2005
Jack stood over Sawyer, checking his pulse, pressing a wet towel against the blood that still trickled from the back of his head. His hair was soaked in it and his cheeks burned red with fever. His eyes flashed open and he tried to sit up quickly, but Jack pushed him back down, looking into his eyes, one by one.
"What happened, Sawyer?" Jack asked, feeling Locke creep up on him. They were just outside the caves. Walt and another young man stumbled upon him as they'd gone on the trails to the beach. They were going to go fishing.
"They took her, Jack. They took Kate."
"Who?" Jack shouted.
Sawyer shook his head, closing his eyes against the pain.
Kate shouted, bringing a hand up to her head as she rolled onto her side. Her head pounded and her eyes watered. Someone shushed her and she swung an arm out to hit them. Her fingers brushed familiar curls, but she couldn't open her eyes.
"Don't try to move, I need to examine your head. They do not understand things such as pain and injuries." It was a calm voice, a romantic voice, a voice she thought she'd never hear again.
"They can't have the baby," Kate managed. "It's mine."
She felt crazed.
"If you are lucky, they will not kill you. But you must remain quiet."
She cried out in pain. Her head was buzzing. She felt smooth strong hands remove her own from the wound and a wet towel was placed upon it. There was something on the towel, something that smelled of bark and leaves and was slimy. It dripped into her hair as she took several long breaths, feeling the pain subside.
"Sayid?" She questioned.
He shushed her. "Quiet now."
"We have to leave."
"Quiet," he warned, this time his voice dropping an octave and sounding like the Sayid that she'd fought once during a misunderstanding. The one who broke her leg on instinct. He put a hand on her stomach and she heard him give a short laugh. "You're the last I expected to see here."
Kate opened her eyes, saw the man who seemed to have aged eons in the two years he'd been gone. "We thought you were dead."
"Jack must be proud."
"What happened?" She asked, squinting her eyes.
"You're near due?"
"Sayid?" She shouted.
He clapped a hand on her mouth and put a finger to his. "Things are not what they once were for me. I must live in harmony here with these people. I will do what I can for you, but it is fate that will decide what happens."
"Shannon?" She managed to whisper.
Sayid looked to the ground and left her. Kate put a hand to her own stomach and then touched the gooey brown substance he'd rubbed on her head. She figured it must be some kind of pain killer, possibly a coagulant for the wound. Her eyes scanned the parts of the hut she could make it. It was dark. The front flap opened again and a small child entered. A little girl.
"Drink," she told her, handing her a fruit Kate knew all too well.
The little girl waited for a moment, her eyes studying Kate. Kate took a bite and sucked on the liquid that was almost like watery orange juice and she looked the little girl over. She was two, maybe three. She was skinny, with a delicate nose, a charming smile and honest eyes. Sayid's eyes. Her skin was fair, just a hint of a tan. Shannon's skin. Kate's eyes widened as she understood who this child was and she tried to sit up. The little girl turned quickly and ran, her long dark curls bouncing.
Tossing the fruit to the ground, Kate got off the alter-like bed she'd been in and pushed the curtain dividing her from the jungle and she met a man outside whom she'd seen before, in the jungle, a long time ago. He smiled down at her and she punched him, but he didn't flinch, he just laughed and turned to the rest of what looked like a small village. There were men everywhere. They were skinning animals and preserving meat. They made wood piles for fires and patched holes in the roofs of other huts.
"I want to go home," she told him through clenched teeth.
The man didn't respond. He touched her belly gently and she slapped his hand away, so he shrugged and left her alone. She found Sayid quickly, his long curls and dark skin made him stick out like a sore thumb among the group of fair skinned men with proper hair cuts.
"Sayid, I want to go home."
Shaking his head, Sayid led her towards a small hut and opened the flap, letting her inside. She sat on what looked like a polar bear skin rug and waited for him. The little girl came in and went into a side 'room'. Kate could hear her singing to herself as she waited for Sayid.
"Things here are not…" he started.
Kate shook her head. "I know, you told me before. What happened to you and Shannon and Boone?"
He took a place on the ground in front of her. "They took Shannon. When I went into the jungle to find her, Boone tracked me. I'm not like the others, so they were as curious about me as they were of Shannon's condition. They killed Boone quickly. Burned his body and captured me. I was brought here and interrogated about where I was from. I told them I could help them, I agreed not to escape, they agreed not to harm Shannon."
"You said she was dead," Kate pointed out.
Sayid lowered his had. "She died delivering Sayan."
Glancing towards the room where a familiar tune she couldn't place emerged. "That is your daughter."
Nodding, Sayid smiled. "I stay for her."
"We thought you were dead."
"It is better that way. They do not take kindly to explorers who pass into their territory."
Kate touched her stomach, her eyes welling. "I need to get back to Jack. He's going to come looking for me."
He shook his head. "Jack is a smart man."
"Jack loves me," Kate countered. Then she stopped and uttered, "Sawyer."
"I have not seen him here. If he didn't see them, they probably left him behind."
She shook her head and buried her eyes in her hands. "I knew this would happen." Kate forced herself not to cry. "I told Jack this would happen."
Sayid touched her knee and smiled when she looked up. "It isn't so bad, Kate."
"How can you say that?" She asked him, angry.
He glanced around himself. "I have shelter, I have food, and I have my daughter."
Kate stood. "You don't have Shannon. Boone is dead." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Talk to Walt, who doesn't have Michael because he came after Sun with Jin. I could name you a couple people at the caves who have lost friends because of these people. It is that bad."
She went out the door and began making her way to the jungle, to the direction she knew the beach was certain to be in. The men began dropping their items and going towards her, their faces determined, but she continued walking. She reached the edge of the clearing and the large man she'd met at the entrance to the first hut stood in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Kate, but we can't just let you go."
"I have a husband on this island. Do you know what that is?" Her eyes narrowed.
The man nodded. "I will be your husband now." He tried to take her hand, but she ripped it away, disgusted.
"His name is Jack."
"The doctor," the man said with a nod.
Kate bit her lip and thought a moment, watching as the men formed a border around the edge of the clearing. It was then that she saw the women with the infants. They were from the crash and they all looked to her with fear in their eyes. She recognized the three of them by face only. Seven women had been taken over the five years since Claire's return, six children were held between three sets of arms. There was a fear in her heart now, one Jack had tried to convince out of her. He could deliver the baby and she'd be fine. Now she saw that might not be the case.
Of eight children born on the island, four mothers survived; four did not.
She scanned the faces of the women and then looked at their bodies. Two of the three were visibly pregnant – none as far along as herself. Her hand touched her stomach and she glanced down at it. "You just wanted the women."
"We came here a long time ago." He told her.
"The babies are female," Kate said suddenly, looking back at them.
The man nodded.
Kate started back towards Sayid's hut, but the man grabbed her arm forcefully, bruising her, and pulled her back to what she assumed to be his tent and threw her in. He followed her and pushed her to sit on the bed.
"We have to ensure our survival."
She feared what that meant.
"You are a strong female. We could see it before. You have skills that only men should possess."
"You haven't been to the rest of the world lately." She replied sarcastically.
The hand that came across her face was harder than any she had ever felt. Her bottom lip split open easily, spurting blood over her chin as she looked back up at the man who showed no remorse for what he'd done as he turned towards the entrance. "It'd be good if you did not try to leave again."
Kate sat alone in the hut until nightfall came and the man returned. He forced her to lay with him and she waited until he was asleep to creep out of the place and went to a small basin of water near a still-burning fire. Kneeling before it, she washed her chin, picking scabbed blood off her bottom lip. It seemed quiet, like they either trusted her to remain, or they were hiding where she couldn't see.
But Kate looked around in the trees, listened to the wind and couldn't hear anything. Standing, she went to Sayid's hut and pushed open the front flap, finding him lying on the rug on his side. She bent near him and shook him awake. His eyes flashed open with terror and he grabbed her arms, leading her back out.
"Wait, what are you doing?" She asked, confused.
"You must return to his hut and remain with him for the night." Sayid warned, looking towards the place he spoke of.
Kate shook her head. "No, they're all sleeping, we can leave. We can take the others and go back."
"They will not allow the others to leave, they have laid full claim to them."
"By impregnating them?" Kate spat. "Sayid, come on." She cocked her head to the right and waited.
He sighed, shaking his head again. "Now is not the best time to go. They will just take you again."
"No, this time we'll be prepared."
"Listen to me, Kate. You must go along with this for now. I will think on it, come up with a plan."
Kate watched his eyes, the way they remained focused on hers. She always trusted those eyes. So she nodded her head, her lip trembling and she let him lead her to the entrance of the hut where she ducked in and laid back down. The man's greedy hands found her quickly, pulling her to him. Kate wondered what his name was. Sawyer would call him Sumo or Jolly Green Giant or something else just as stupid.
She hoped Jack hadn't gone after her.
End Chapter 4