The Impossible
Chapter Eight
"Shannon!" Boone shouted in the early morning light, crisscrossing limbs and tree barks.
Sayid followed behind him, but let Boone stick to the shouting, trying to listen to any signs of movement other than them, or a cry for help or-
"Did you hear that?" Sayid said, stopping suddenly.
Boone skidded to a stop in his tracks, and listened for the faint cry Sayid was hearing. It took a moment, until he finally picked it up- a silent sob, no more than a few yards away. Carefully, Sayid picked out his path, and followed it to where they found Shannon, cuddled down by the mouth of the hill, below them.
"Shannon!" Boone shouted down to her before Sayid could stop him, knowing that it wouldn't be a good idea to startle her.
Shannon's head turned towards them, and the first thing they noticed was that her face was streaked with tears, and pale white. The second was that she had a cut running down the side of her forehead.
"Help me!" She cried as the two just remained standing there.
"How are we going to get down there?" Boone asked, examining the path cluttered in twist and turns with loose branches sticking out every which way.
"We're going to have to climb," Sayid said, and looked at Boone because they both knew the question wasn't how they were going to down there, but how they were going to get Shannon back up.
(Space)
Jack sighed as he bent down to fill up the water bottle he was holding, and wiped the sweat off his forehead. The past few days had been light for him, which Jack was thankful for, but that only sparked more rumors, and some of them were even about Jack himself. He had forgotten that not everyone knew who had attacked him, and he had been asked by more than enough of the survivors, when all he really wanted was for the memory to fade away, like the pain had.
Crack.
Spinning around, Jack's head buzzed in protest as he listened for the noise again.
Crack.
He turned around again, and saw nothing, except a fist that came to fast for him to block.
(Space)
Kate giggled at something Sawyer was saying as the two made their way into the caves. When Sawyer had finally connivence Kate that he'd be okay, he agreed to go to the caves with her to stock up on water, and, if possible, medicine.
"So was talking to me better than talking to Jack?" Kate said in a tone that stated: 'You better say yes'.
"What do you think?" Sawyer said as they entered the caves. "Anything's better than being around that-"
"Jack!" Kate gasped, and Sawyer was about to say something smart as Kate ran over to something on the ground, until he saw it was Jack- out cold.
Dropping beside Jack, Sawyer watched as she slapped his face lightly, trying to get him to wake up. He suddenly felt out of place, especially in the aspect of what had happened in the past week.
"Jack, come on," Kate pleaded, and felt Jack's forehead, only to pull her hand back away- it was boiling hot, "he's burning up."
She had said it more to herself, not to inform Sawyer, but he still heard, and as he glanced over, he noticed some plastic hidden behind some overgrown cave brush. Bending down, Sawyer picked it up, and saw that it was an empty water bottle, that had recently been full, due to the water dripping from the sides and leaking into the cracks of the ground beneath him.
"Kate," Sawyer said, clearing his voice after realizing it sounded hoarse.
Kate looked over, and was about to ask what Sawyer could possibly need now, when she saw him holding up the water bottle. When it was obvious that she wasn't going to go to Sawyer, he went to Kate, sitting beside her.
"What do you think happened?" Kate asked, sitting back helplessly when Jack never responded to her.
"He was knocked out," Sawyer replied.
Kate looked at him.
"How do you know that?" She demanded.
"Look at his eyes," Sawyer said simply, and Kate did.
Jack's right eye was rimmed red and swollen.
"Maybe you should go get some-" Kate began, and Sawyer was readying himself to do whatever task Kate needed for him to do, when they were both interrupted by a haggard cough as Jack awoke.
Both Sawyer and Kate fell back in surprise, and Jack looked around, confused, and winced as he tried to sit up.
"Take it slow," Kate ordered as she grabbed the bottle from Sawyer and began to refill it. "Here-"
"What the bloody hell happened?" Charlie's voice said from the cave entrance.
Before Kate could yell at him and tell him to get out, he approach Jack, and stopped when he saw his swollen eye.
"Again?" Charlie expressed. "This is the second time in a week!"
"I know," Kate said, holding back from glancing at Sawyer as she helped Jack drank some water, and then after letting him rest for a moment, sit up. "Do you remember what happened?"
"Someone attacked me," was all Jack said.
"Did you see who?" Kate asked, and Jack shook his head.
"Maybe it was Sawyer," Charlie suggested a little too quickly.
"I'm right here, Sherlock," Sawyer snapped.
"Right.." Charlie muttered, then said, "well, what do you think they wanted? Is anything missing?"
Kate looked down at Jack, who was about to shake his head, before he reached up to his neck to make sure the key was still there. He frantically felt around his skin, searching for it, until he finally had to make himself face the truth as he looked up at Kate- the key was gone.
(Space)
The wind left Boone's breath as he felt himself slide down a few more rocks, but this time, he managed to catch his balance, and grabbed onto a tree where he was then allowed to safely make his way to where Shannon was- but not without tripping and falling on his knees first. Taking a few short seconds to once again catch his breath, Boone held his hands to the ground and looked up at Shannon, where she was lying beside him, clutching her ankle. Even in the mist of what was going on, Shannon couldn't help but to laugh at the way her stepbrother appeared to her rescue, and it took Boone a moment to figure out why she was doing so, and then he too, started laughing lightly under his breath.
"Boone, are you all right?" Sayid called down in concern.
"Is that Sayid?" Shannon asked quietly, her head pounding to hard to hear straight.
"Yeah," Boone nodded, "he's up there waiting for us."
Shannon looked up, and her face fell at the obstacle that lay before them.
"Is anything broken?" Boone asked as he watched her looking up.
Looking down at her leg, which was in a dry puddle of blood, Shannon came out of her days.
"My leg I think," she said, just as softly, "and I feel all dizzy-"
"The blood loss," Boone said to himself, and cursed himself for not finding her sooner.
"I'm going to be okay, right?" Shannon asked, worried at the tone of Boone's voice.
"Yeah," Boone said, looking into her eyes, "you're going to be fine."
They held the gaze for a moment, until Boone broke it, remembering the seriousness of the situation.
"Do you think you can walk on it?" Boone asked, and Shannon immediately began to panic. "No- no- he reached out and grabbed her arms to stop her- "I need you to trust me, just this once. I'm getting you back to camp- I promise- but you'll have to help me."
Shannon sniffed a little and then cleared her throat.
"All right," she agreed, at last, and Boone smiled.
"Sayid!" He yelled up towards the sky. "We're coming up now."
After a half an hour of strenuous climbing, Shannon and Boone were finally at the top, and Sayid reached out to help pull both of them up. Once on solid ground, Shannon surprised Boone by throwing her arms around his neck, making both of them stumble a bit before Boone caught their balance as he accepted the hug, and found himself facing Sayid, who stood there, watching them, emotionless.
"Thank you," he mouthed to Sayid, who nodded and smiled slightly in response.
(Space)
Boone and Sayid finally got Shannon back to camp a few hours later, where they dropped her off in the caves. Sayid had stayed and helped- apparently Jack had been attacked again. When the first time was, he had no idea, but found himself having other concerns at the moment. Like where Locke was. Deciding he had no other choice but to head out to the hatch, Boone took that path, and was rubbing his neck as he stepped into a clearing, when he heard a rustle of trees.
"Who's there?" Boone asked to the open atmosphere.
The trees rustled again, and Boone repeated his question:
"Who's there?" He asked, a little louder this time..
(Space)
Boone was laying on his bed, staring up at his colorless ceiling when someone knocked on his door.
"Boone?" His stepfather called before inviting himself in.
Jumping up in surprise, Boone winced at the pain that shot up his back and through his entire body.
"Something wrong?" Boone asked, and in response, got a newspaper trust into his chest, which didn't help the pain.
His heart stopped when he saw the front page: "Car wreck Takes Two and Leaves One". Pictures of the previous night's wreck miraged the page along with an article from a local reporter.
"I don't understand-" Boone lied and looked up, to see Gordon leaning against the walls of Boone's room, holding his head.
"I was right about you," Gordon said finally in a harsh voice, "you can't make a damn decision on your own."
"What?" Boone asked innocently, immedialty wishing he hadn't.
"David called last night saying that you stole his car!" Gordon yelled, making Boone coward back. "Not only did I not have any idea where you were last night, but apparently, you decided to have a little 'fun' as well."
"Since when do I have to tell you everything?" Boone said under his breath, and was caught.
"What?"
"I'm fine," Boone said, and leaned back against his pillows, which were dotted in blood, dying to ease his headache, "can't you just leave it at that?"
"Did you see what you did?" Gordon shouted, picking up the article and shaking it in Boone's face. "You killed a little girl and her mother!"
Boone's eyes widened in horror as he was forced to read the captions and pictures, one which included- car to the drunk driver who was never found. The newspaper was soon replaced by Gordon's furious face.
"I want you to sit in here and read this article over and over again," Gordon said through gritted teeth, "while I leave."
By the tone of his voice, Boone knew he meant for good.
"What?" Boone asked, jumping up to block Gordon from going out the door. "Why?"
"My own son's a murderer," Gordon said, his voice dropping, "I don't know if I can live with that, and I don't want this family to be here to face the consequences."
Boone recoiled. It wasn't even the last part that struck him, not even being called a murderer(something that would afterwards lead to years of sleepless night). It was the first part- being called 'son'. It was something that Boone had never been called since his real dad had died when he was six, and he knew that Gordon had just said it to get into him, but still..
"Goodbye-" was the next thing he heard.
And the door slammed.
Author's Note: Okay, so I wanted to make that chapter a little longer, and I loved that cliffhanger. Who feels bad for Boone now? (raises hand) Don't worry, next chapter will start right back up with that flashback. And I promise- not as much being knocked unconscious in future stories- I can only write people waking up in so many different ways. Thanks for all the reviews!
Next time, on "The Impossible":
A murder, a departure, a kiss, tears, and heartbreak, and tears. Depressing enough for ya?
Thanks again and until next time..
October Sky
