Chapter Three:

Kate's heartbeat quickened with each threatening footstep. Her mind was racing over the worst possible scenarios. She was used to thinking that way. Do what you need to do, think of all the ways that things could go bad, choose the best outcome, then act on it. Not always the best judgement, but it worked -- most of the time. Kate shot a quick glance over at Jack, whose face was petrified in sheer terror. He looked over at Kate and she could see the transformation as he hastily pulled himself back together.

"Jack--" Kate whispered. Jack swiftly put his hand over Kate's mouth.

"Shh...we shouldn't talk...it might hear us--"

The ground shook once more, then suddenly stopped. Charlie slowly let his breath out and held his hand over Aaron's mouth, hoping to subdue the whimpering. A low growl broke the silence and the creatures breath could be heard scuttling over the dried leaves. Whatever this thing was, it was really big, Kate thought. The monster suddenly sneezed surprising them with a gust of warm air in their faces. Kate's hair brushed Jack's hand and she could feel him twitch. He pulled her closer to him and placed his free hand on her shoulder. She could feel his warm, ragged, breath against her ear and subtly stepped closer to him.

Nothing was making a sound, it was way too quiet for Kate's taste. All she could hear was Jack's uneven breath on the back of her head. He held his breath and Kate decided that would probably be best at the moment, so she held hers too.

A twig snapped in the distance, and the creature let out a deep growl. Kate heard a man's voice talking, but couldn't make out what it was saying or who it was. The other's must have heard it too, it seemed like they weren't even breathing. A few minutes of suspense passed until they heard two pairs of footsteps walking away from their hiding place; one small, one big.

They all stood there for a few moments, mortified. Jack took his hand away from her mouth and whispered, "I think it's gone...whatever it is. Well, whatever they were." Charlie slowly stood up, cradling Aaron in his arms; she thought he would make a great dad. Kate really hoped and prayed they would find Claire. Charlie's would die if they didn't. Jack suddenly let go of her shoulders and began climbing up through the hole.

"Jack, wait!" Kate grabbed Jack's shoe to stop him.

"What? Their gone Kate." Jack reasoned.

"You dont know that. They could be hiding...and just waiting for us to come out." Kate battled back.

"Kate we'll never know by keeping ourselves cooped up in here." Jack looked at her with his warm, brown eyes and Kate couldn't help but give in.

"Fine. But if they are out there, I'm saying 'I told you so' in advance."

Charlie came up behind Kate and looked at them comically and laughed, "You two fight like a married couple!"

Kate blushed and looked up at Jack rolling her eyes; Jack smiled at her and laughed then continued on his way up.

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