The brush ahead continued to shake, the leaves quivering. Boone hadn't been mistaken. There was something behind it. "Vincent?" Boone whispered again, but with no conviction behind his voice. It was not a dog that was behind the bush. It was bigger. He thought fleetingly of the monster in his hallucination. Was it a hallucination? He wasn't so sure now. He chanced a quick look at Locke, who was brandishing his knife with a fearsome look on his face. Boone looked ahead of him again. The branch shook again, and this time, a figure stepped out from behind it.
It was so dark that he could not tell at all who this figure was. Slowly he held up the flashlight so that it shined straight ahead. He gasped, eyes open wide.
Locke stood straighter and the two stayed silent for a moment. Finally, Locke said,
"Claire?"
Claire spun around to face them and screamed, a beyond frightened cry. It seemed to reverberate off of every tree in the jungle and bounce back into Boone's ears. He flinched, fearing whatever else could be lurking nearby, though at the same time, so relieved to see Claire, unharmed… and not a polar bear.
Claire stumbled backward into the bush behind her and nearly fell over. "Who's that? Stay back!" she cried hoarsely, squinting into the light. She righted herself, and put out her arms, motioning Boone not to come any closer.
"Hey, it's okay!" Boone said gently. "It's just us." He lowered the flashlight so it wasn't blinding her. He grinned at her. "Glad to see you're okay!" he said jovially.
But Claire craned her neck slightly to look at them, untrusting and still very afraid. She kept her arms out in front of her, her palms out. She took a tentative step forward.
Boone walked towards her, aiming to help her up, but she immediately screamed again. He halted in his tracks, confused. "What?"
Locke spoke up this time, putting his knife back into his belt loop and attempting a coaxing manner. "It's all right. We're close to the edge of the forest. The camp's just about a quarter of a mile away. Come on, Claire, and we'll get you out of here."
Slowly she lowered her arms to dangle by her sides. Her eyes were wide now, her face an expression of mingled fear and curiosity. Boone began to feel uneasy. Why was she acting so strange? What had Ethan done?
"How do you know my name?" Claire asked, now crossing her arms across her chest protectively.
Boone nearly dropped the flashlight. She didn't recognize them at all! He looked to Locke for guidance, but Locke had his gaze fixed on Claire. He didn't look fazed in the least; in fact, he looked as if he'd expected this.
"Claire, we need to get out of the forest. We're just near the beach. If you let us lead you to it, I can help you, but you need to trust us."
There was no sound but the crickets chirping high in the trees. Claire looked like she was at a loss for what to do. Boone was dumbfounded. She didn't know them. She'd lost her memory. How? Would she retrieve it? They had thought her to be dead. She'd been gone for almost a week since the abduction. Now here she was, alive and physically unharmed, but without any recollection of… what? How far back did her memory go? Not knowing what to think, Boone simply stayed standing with a flashlight in his hand, waiting to see what Claire would do.
She finally, cautiously, stepped towards Locke, who had his hand outstretched, waiting for her to take it, but not forcing her. She reached out with a shaking hand, and took his. Locke gave her a small reassuring smile.
"Lead us on, Boone." He said softly.
It was almost an hour before they reached the beach, with a dazed and stumbling, still very pregnant Claire needing to be maneuvered around roots and trees in the dark. Claire immediately slumped down on the warm sand, exhausted, but clearly glad to be out of the forest. Boone sat down too, and looked up at the sky.
It was a clear night, and the stars shone brightly. The moon gave very little light; it was only a sliver. Its small amount of radiance glittered off the waves of the ocean. They made a soft hissing sound as they came back and forth across the shore.
Suddenly, light shone across their faces, and Boone turned to see that Locke had made a fire that was already brightly burning. Boone stood up, and helped the tired Claire to get closer to the flames. She sat numbly with her hands around her stomach. Her eyes were unseeing as they watched the fire.
Locke motioned Boone to come farther from the fire, out of Claire's earshot. Boone obliged. Once he was sure she couldn't hear him, Boone began questioning Locke.
"We're just around the corner from the camp. Why stop here?"
"She would be far too overwhelmed by all the people happy to see that she's alive. She needs to gather her strength and courage. Look at her." Locke said, gesturing in the direction of Claire. Boone turned and looked. She sat motionless, a perfect description of exhaustion. Her arm had a large purple welt just above the elbow. She had small scratches all over her face, and one deep one across her forehead. There were dark circles around her eyes, and her mouth was turned slightly downward. She looked as if she no longer cared what happened to her, she didn't care if these two men who she didn't recognize left or stayed to help her. She didn't care who they were or what they wanted. Boone realized all of this and anger welled up inside him.
"How did this happen?" he said angrily. "Why doesn't she remember us?"
"I don't know, Boone. But it's too convenient for her to just have suddenly lost her memory. There was something she's seen or done that somebody doesn't want her to tell anyone."
Boone started. "You mean Ethan? How…" he trailed off, staring again at Claire.
"Best wait to ask questions in the morning. We can watch over our camp in shifts. You can sleep now, and I'll wake you in a few hours." Locke amended, and sat down in the sand with his back facing the fire, staring avidly into the forest.
Boone appreciated the decision, as he suddenly felt as exhausted as Claire looked. He sat next to Claire, putting a hand lightly on her shoulder. She gasped and jumped, like she'd been thinking of a place far from here and just remembered where she was.
"You can go to sleep." Boone told her gently. "You're safe with us."
She looked at him dazedly for a moment, then nodded and lay down. She seemed to immediately fall asleep.
Boone turned over and wished that he could say the same. Tired as he was, he remained awake, watching the fire and thinking about the strange reappearance of Claire until it was time for his shift.
