Chapter 4: Underground

The first rays from the golden sun leaked into the caves from in between the trees. Kate, in response, squinted her forest green eyes and lifted a hand to shield the light. The sun was dancing with the white clouds; hiding behind them, then coming in to view yet again. She then became aware of the sounds of her fellow inhabitants and the smells of the island.

She recognized the sound of the waterfall as it trickled onto the rocks below, the smell of the fires that were scattered all over camp, and the sound of the ocean waves lapping against the beach at a steady pulse. There was one sound, however, that she couldn't distinguish; the sound of someone's breathing. She turned her body at a 180 degree angle, and came face to face with the still-sleeping Jack. She had fallen asleep by the fire with Jack. Something happened last night, but it wasn't what it looked like…neither of them were like that.

"Mom?" Kate was snapped out of her daydream by her innocent daughter's question.

"How are you feeling?" she responded afraid of what was going through Penny's mind.

"Yeah, um I'm fine. Mom what…happened?"

"Penny, it's not what it looked like…."
"So what exactly did I miss last night?"

"Penny!"

"Sorry I had to ask…evidently something good." Kate punched her playfully.

"You better watch yourself kid."

"Uh oh, I'm in trouble now," Penny laughed which startled Jack. "Well I guess I'll go," she added in a whisper before walking onto the beach.

"Penny! Come back!"

"Hey," Jack was now fully awake and aware of what was going on.

"Hi," Kate didn't know what to say. How are you supposed to respond in awkward situations like this?

"How's Penny doing?" Jack asked concerned for his new patient.

"What…oh she's fine. She was just here a minute ago. I think she's on the beach now."

"You mean she's already up and moving? I guess there's no stoppin' that kid."

"Tell me about it," Kate joked. This was going a lot better than she had planned. She still felt extremely nervous about the situation on hand. "I wanted to thank you again."

"It's no problem, really," Jack replied locking onto her two beautiful eyes. Was this more than it seemed? Kate smiled in return, unsure of what to do next.

"How's the baby?" Charlie asked approaching Claire on the beach sitting by the water. He sat down beside her and handed her a water bottle. "Here ya go."

"Thanks," she said. "Baby's fine. He's due any day now."

"That's great," Charlie smiled. He was almost as excited about the situation as she was. "Doesn't it make you nervous though…you know being on this island…"

"Actually, I think I'm alright, I know Jack's going to take good care of me." She replied returning his gaze. On this island, an innocent gaze could say a thousand words, especially between two people like Charlie and Claire.

"Boone….Boone…" Locke whispered to the teenage boy, trying to wake him up.

Boone slowly sat up wiping the sleep from his eyes. "What…"

"Are you ready to go?" Boone looked back at Shannon who was still asleep on the sand.

"Yeah…let's go."

The two of them zigzagged around the others trying not to arouse them from their dreams. Their shadows quickly disappeared into the jungle, shaking the bushes. Boone hoped that no one heard them leave.

They moved quickly and silently towards the metal hatch they found a few days earlier. Boone and Locke had been studying it for days, but they were still unable to open it. The hatch didn't have any handles, and the glass was not breaking. So two questions remained unanswered; how do they open it and what is inside of it?

The two of them had been studying the metal object without coming up with a possible solution for either question.

"I'll be right back," Locke stated to Boone.

"Where are you going?" he questioned.

"I'm going to get the axe, you never know if we're going to use it." Locke replied and then turned and walked through the bushes towards the camp.

Back on the beach, Jack finally located Penny who was standing in the midst of the waves. She didn't look like a girl on death row; however, she was dying and helpless. Jack would save her though, he had to.

"Well look who's feeling better," Jack said, surprised that she was even able to move," looks like you're having fun."

"Yeah, I'm just trying to keep my mind off things."

"What do you mean?" Jack was confused by the young girl's remark.

"It's just that, I'm running out of medicine. I'm going to be in a lot of pain if I don't get my bag back."

Jack felt like it was his job to protect everyone on the island, especially from Sawyer. Something was disturbing about him, and Jack certainly didn't trust him. He had a job to do, and he wouldn't stop until his task was completed.

Jack found Kate in the garden sitting having a one-way conversation with Sun.

"Hey," both women looked up at him, though he directed the greeting towards Kate.

"So what's up?" she rose from the ground brushing the dirt off unto her jeans.

"Why don't I just get straight to the point…?" Jack looked at her as his voice faded into a whisper.

"OK…" Kate was already aware of what Jack was going to tell her.

"Penny's almost out of medicine, we need to get the rest of it back from Sawyer."

Kate turned to focus on Sun planting guava seeds into the ground. The Korean woman was a diligent worker; each seed was placed in the soil with great care. Kate enjoyed her company, but now she wanted to be alone with Jack. Kate knew Sun spoke English and Kate was afraid Jack would say something Sun wasn't supposed to hear.

"So what's the plan?"

"I...uh…don't have one at the moment…"

"Wow, this is a first." The two of them laughed and began walking back to the beach. Kate turned around and waved to Sun, who was still planting guava seeds. As they disappeared through the shadows of the trees, Sun looked up and noticed that Jack was holding Kate's hand. She smiled…finally….

Sawyer was on the beach talking to one of the younger female passengers wearing a black halter top and a hot pink miniskirt. She, obviously, was uninterested in him. Sawyer was a jerk to most of the women on the island, this one was no different.

"You PIG!" the woman shouted and stomped off in disgust passed Jack and Kate.

"Well if it isn't the lovebirds," said Sawyer mockingly.

Kate responded with cold stare. She was tired of him messing around. He knew why she was here; he knew what she was looking for, and he wasn't going to give it up, not until she gave him what he wanted.

"Where is it?" she asked aggressively. She wasn't going to take any of his foolishness.

"Listen Freckles, I told you what I wanted. Offer stands."

"You've got a lot of nerve. A thirteen year old is dying because you're being an ass; now give it to me. Give it to me now."

"'Fraid I can't do that…"

Kate was beyond annoyed. She sneered at him before turning and stomping off into the caves to check on Penny.

"What's the matter with you?" Jack questioned rhetorically.

"This is who I am; why don't you go be who you are supposed to be? You're the doctor, you help the girl."

"Sawyer you know I can't do anything for her without that medicine. Are you really going to let this girl die?"

"Well by the looks of it, I guess I am."

Jack would fight for Kate; he would fight for her daughter. He wouldn't let her die. He couldn't bear to witness such a tragedy.

Boone spun his head around towards the direction of the rustling leaves. He was in the jungle again, watching the metal hatch, trying to find a way to open it. The dilated pupils of his blue eyes slowly decreased in size when the face of John Locke appeared before him. He sighed deeply and Locke gave him a hearty laugh.

"Didn't mean to scare ya Boone!" Locke laughed mockingly.

Boone shook his head and rolled his eyes, "can we just get started already?"

They had been studying the metal hatch without finding a way to open it. Their task was tedious, but they knew the metal object held a purpose. The contents underneath the hatch could be of value to them, but there was no way of knowing. This was one of the island's many answered questions.

The hatch was made of a strong metal, Locke guessed that it was titanium; however, that wasn't the last of their problems. The people there before them obviously wanted the secret to be theirs, and only theirs. Boone didn't know what do make of the hatch; it had no handle, and a small window that they had been unsuccessful at breaking. He was on the edge of throwing in the towel, giving up... but then it came to him...

"How could we have been so stupid?" he asked bluntly. "So stupid..."

"Are you telling me that you have a solution before me?" Locke was surprised that the young boy had actually used his mind to come up with something... evidentially this was going to be something good.

She was still asleep in the shade of the caves. Her breathing had become more shallow and the rate in which she breathed become slower and slower. Jack watched her fragile body as his emotions swirled through his head. He would not let the woman he loves lose her only daughter. She was withering away before his eyes. He couldn't let her die...he wouldn't allow it. He checked her pulse and registered 50 Beats per Minute. Her pulse, although somewhat slow, was close to normal, but he knew everything was going wrong. Sawyer was an idiot. He knew that he was morally low, but he just couldn't believe he was seriously going to let an innocent teenager die. Jack knew what Sawyer saw in Kate, and he wouldn't let it continue. He was going to get that bag back if it was the last thing he did.

"It's not good is it...?" Kate said wearily.

Jack rose to his feet and cautiously walked over to Kate who was leaning against the cave's dark wall. He could see a single silver tear form in the corner of her eye. She struggled to keep the tears from falling, but Jack knew better. She wasn't going to last more than a few seconds before bursting. Jack put a hand on her shoulder and firmly grasped her soft skin. He wanted to comfort her, but instead his simple gesture made her break into a sob. Her feet gave out beneath her and as a result her body slid to the ground and landed in a heap. Jack followed her to the floor and pulled her close to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder blade. He softly laid his head on hers, in response. "Kate, I'm not going to let anything happen to her. We both know that," he pulled away from her slightly to look her in the eyes. "Nothing he does can harm you...I just want you to know that I'm here for you," he said as he brushed a strand of her long curly hair from her face.

"Jack," she said almost in tears again. She placed her hands on his chest and forced herself back into his arms. He put his hands around her waist and pulled her towards him. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you..." he said placing a short innocent kiss on her forehead."Kate..."

"Yes?" she stated; her eyes were red and she was tired.

He looked directly into her beautiful eyes and said the three words Kate had been waiting and praying for, "I love you."

Kate suspected Sun was in the garden, and she was indeed correct. She liked the Korean woman and had begun to build a friendship with her after learning her secret. Michael and she were the only ones who knew Sun spoke English...even her husband didn't know. She joined her in the soft dirt of the garden and took a handful of guava seeds from the bag in which they had been collected them. Kate carefully made a small hole for each seed, and put each in its place with care. Then she covered the seeds with a layer of dirt and began a conversation with Sun.

"How are you doing today?" Kate asked hoping someone was having a better day than she was. Kate left the caves because she couldn't stand watching Penny struggle for breath.

"I'm OK...how are you?" Sun knew of Penny's condition and was sympathetic towards Kate.

Kate stared at the dirt in silence before responding. "Sawyer took my daughter's medication...she's going to die if she doesn't get it back..."

Sun looked at Kate and the smile that usually was on her face faded..."I'm sorry for you..."

"Yeah..." Kate ran her long spider-like fingers through the warm black dirt. She didn't know what to say, so she remained silent. "Sun I have a question..."

"OK..."

"You helped Shannon breathe when she had that asthma attack. I know Penny's condition is much worse, but if you could do anything...just to make it easier for her to breathe..."

"I could help you..."

"Really?" Kate was happy that Sun could do something for Penny until Kate got her medication back from Sawyer.

"Sure," Sun replied a smile tickling across her lips, "I would love to help you."

Locke and Boone rose to their feet when they heard the sound of rustling leaves. The sound became louder and louder until Michael and Walt appeared through the trees.

"What the heck is that?" Michael asked pointing to the hatch lying in front of him. This must be what was occupying their time. But what was it? Why was it so important to them?

Locke sighed and bent down to the ground, "It's a hatch Michael…"

"How do you open it?" Walt questioned.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Boone added.

"Well, how do you open a metal, handless door with a window of unbreakable glass?" Locke inquired.

"Are you sure that glass is unbreakable?" Michael asked in return.

"Don't you think we would have broken it by now?" Boone stated in a cocky manner.

Michael glared at him, but his simple statement wasn't enough. He grabbed the axe and tried to hit the glass, but he was of no avail. He exhaled deeply and gave the axe back to Locke. "Maybe it's not even glass…." Michael said disappointingly.

They sat in silence for several moments. All of their eyes were fixated on that metal hatch. What if they were just wasting their time? There was a chance that if they open it whatever was inside would serve no usual purpose to them. They needed to try though. They couldn't give up….not now.

"Boone," Locke whispered facing the teen, "didn't you say you had an idea…….?"

Jin approached Hurley on the beach. The fact that Jin couldn't understand him (Hurley couldn't understand him either) made it hard for the two to communicate, however, they tried to spend time with one another.

"Hey dude, what's up?"

Jin gave him a stare as if to apologize for being rude to him earlier. He was temperamental and couldn't really control his anger…….so he took it out on the wrong person.

"Dude are you serious?" Hurley was surprised that Jin would do anything nice to him. He never thought he would admit his mistakes either.

Jin held up a fishing rod and a net, hoping Hurley would get the gist. "You want me to fish with you?"

Jin stared at him before nodding. He waved his hand as if to say "Come with me." He pointed through the trees and walked off in that direction. Hurley pulled himself off the ground and wandered off behind him.

They hiked through the jungle in silence, for neither of them knew the other's language. Sometime Hurley would say something here and there, but the conversation usually was dead, like the boar hanging over their heads. It wasn't something Locke caught. He usually used a net. This person used rope to tie its legs together and hung it upside down. They looked up at the strange animal above them. Jin noticed something on the side of the boar. It seemed like teeth marks, but what or who was it from?

Hurley couldn't stay there with that mangled animal. He took off in the direction they had been heading in.

Jin quickly caught up to him and joined him at his side. They were in silence yet again. Jin knew they were close to the beach. They were running low on food, and it would be good if they came back with a lot of fish today.

They found the beach after walking through the jungle for what seemed like an hour, but they had no way of knowing. They set up their net and walked out into the water.

"Hey guys!" Charlie yelled running towards them from further down the beach. "Whatcha doin'?" he asked out of breath.

"Uh….catching fish dude…." Hurley replied.

"Oh right….can I help?" Charlie questioned smiling. He was always looking for ways to make himself useful.

"Sure dude," Hurley said.

Jin handed Charlie his side of the net and instructed them how to use it with arm motions. It seemed easy enough, but Hurley knew from experience that it wasn't as easy as looked. Jin grabbed the fishing spear and they got to work.

An hour and a half later, they decided to give a rest. Charlie and Hurley caught about seven fish total, however, Jin had killed almost twenty of them.

Charlie compared their two piles and laughed. Jin smiled at the two of them as if to say, "Ha, I've won!"

They carefully wrapped the fish in the net and moved as quickly as they could through the jungle. They returned back to camp laughing. Charlie and Hurley were so proud of themselves. At least Hurley caught something this time….

Jack greeted them, "Looks like somebody was fishing," he said gratified that someone had actually hunted and brought something back. Jin gave him the fish and Jack tried to find somewhere to put it.

"Did you guys have fun?" He asked the group.

"You should have seen it," Charlie stated happily, "Hurley kept getting caught in the netting and when the fish swam by, and we would move the net and he would topple over. It was hilarious." Charlie laughed recalling the memory from the past hour.

"Yeah really funny Charlie……….real funny….." Hurley replied jokingly.

Locke returned to their secret spot with his case of knives. Boone was smart enough to notice that the window on the hatch was screwed in place. They were going to use the knives as screwdrivers, but none of them thought it would work.

Some of the knives were too thick for the bolts, so they used the ones they could. In the end, only three of them were big enough, so Michael, Boone, and Locke would each get one. There were twelve screws total, and they were big metal ones. Needless to say, their task was going to take awhile.

Walt sat down on the ground not far from them, disappointed that they wouldn't let him do something to help.

They had been working on the window for almost an hour and six of the screws were unscrewed, however, Locke was tired. Walt quickly jumped to his feet, "I'll help you Mr. Locke!" He said eager to pitch in.

"Walt I'm not sure if you can handle something like this," Michael stated stubbornly.

"Actually I think I could use a break Michael," Locke replied smiling, "you want to take over for me Walt?"

Walt smiled and took the knife from Locke. He sat on the ground and started to turn the screw. They were tightly in place; this job was going to be harder than they thought.

Another half hour passed when Boone's muscles grew tired. They now had only two screws left. Locke had been drinking water and resting, but was now ready to start up again. He helped Walt with one screw, while the very determined Michael finished the last one.

After two long hours of working, they had their task complete. Locke grabbed the glass and opened up the window. He felt down the hole until he at last grabbed an inside handle. He opened the hatch and the four of them stared at its contents with their jaws hanging open.

Looking them in the face was millions of dollars worth of bills.

She quietly snuck past him trying not to disturb him. Penny had finally located her medication and stole it back from Sawyer. She hoped that he would not wake as she left the jungle. He had hidden it in the middle of several bushes, so he would hear someone if they were trying to steal it. Unfortunately, Penny was careful and she made no such noise.

She tiptoed away as quietly as she possibly could, but tripped on a log and fell face first in the dirt. Sawyer woke from his sleep and jumped to his feet.

Penny pulled herself off the ground and ran for the beach. She never looked back, but she knew Sawyer was getting close to catching her. She sprinted through the sand and into the caves. She was joined by Sawyer, only moments later.

"Give it to me!" Sawyer demanded.

"NO!" Penny shouted back at him, "It's mine." She was nervous when Sawyer began to get closer to where she was standing.

"Give it to me……..now….." Sawyer was ticked off and Penny knew it. He came to her side and said one last time, "Give it to me."

Penny hugged her baggage to her chest and shook her head. Sawyer raised his arm, as if to strike the young girl, but Jack was there. He grabbed his hand before he could do anything to her.

They had found millions of dollars, but what were they going to do? Should they tell someone else, or should they keep it a secret?