No Escape
When Shannon awoke the next morning, it was to the often-heard crashes of waves and the rustling of the trees. She hated to admit it, but she was getting used to this life. She had started to forget the old life; pieces of it had just slipped away when she wasn't looking. The only one she could remember perfectly now was Boone, and he was a part of her new life as well; he would always be a part of her life. Shannon didn't know whether that was a good thing or not.
Stretching, she stood and stepped out into the sand. She clenched her toes, relishing the feeling of the soft grains against her bare feet. She was running low on water, so she decided to take a trip to the caves with her water canteen; after all she had nothing else to do.
Upon reaching the pool into which the small, clear waterfall flowed, she screwed off the bottle's cap and held it under the water until it was full. Slowly, she took a long drink from it; she hadn't realized how long it had been since she had last had water, or anything really, to drink.
"Thirsty?" A familiar voice asked from behind her.
Startled, Shannon lowered the canteen from her lips and flipped around to face her stepbrother.
"I guess you could say that," she replied coolly, regaining her composure.
Boone nodded and stepped over to fill his own canteen.
As his back was turned, Shannon decided to run. She couldn't stand being in his presence. It was even worse when he was around - the memories, the feelings – it just became overwhelming. She bolted; ready to get as far away as she could before he noticed that she was gone.
She pressed herself against a large, mossy tree some two hundred feet away and slowed her breathing.
What was wrong with her? He was her brother! Well, stepbrother, but it was practically the same thing. She couldn't live like this, avoiding him forever. But she couldn't live near him either.
After she had caught her breath, Shannon started back to the beach. It would do no good to just stand there against the tree for the next three hours…
Nor would it do any good to go back to the pool and face Boone.
Shannon trudged out onto the beach, hoping she wouldn't meet anybody before she reached her tent; she didn't much feel like talking. Unfortunately for her, things didn't go exactly as planned.
"You okay?" Somebody asked from her right.
Shannon turned to face the speaker. It was Kate.
Shannon sighed and flitted her hand over her eyes.
"I'm fine Kate. Just leave me alone." She told her firmly, but politely, which gave Kate even more of a reason to worry. Shannon was hardly ever polite.
Kate stared after Shannon with a strange look on her face as she disappeared quickly into her tent.
Shannon sunk onto the tarp floor of her tent and lay back until her head touched the ground. She groaned as an image of Boone swam before her eyes. Again. She took a deep breath and tried her hardest to focus on the sounds around her. The waves, the birds, the trees, the voices of other survivors…this time Boone's was not one of them. Shannon truthfully didn't know whether or not she wanted his to be.
That night, as it had been nearly every other night since the incident in Sydney, Shannon was kept awake thinking about what had gone on. She could remember it as though it were yesterday…Boone's lips on hers…brushing her neck… Shannon shivered, trying to erase the images from her mind. It wasn't right, and it never would be.