Chapter 2

Jack made his way towards the rocks near the cliff. They were quite big, but he seriously doubted that he would be able to win a fight with this thing. There was only one chance. He had to tease the creature enough to let it forget about its safety and come near the cliff. If it was so big and heavy as it sounded, chances were that it would slip and fall into the sheer.

Jack knew that he most likely wouldn't be that lucky, but he had a good chance to distract the monster long enough to give Kate time to escape. Jack could only hope that Kate would be in such a hurry that she didn't notice his absence before that thing was gone.

He knew her; as soon as Kate noticed that Jack wasn't behind her, she would come back for him. And stubborn as she was, she would try and fight the monster instead of leaving Jack and saving herself.

Jack could see the trees in front of him being pushed aside. He took a deep breath, let his backpack fall to the ground and caught some of the rocks.

"So, we're there. That's where we split up. How are we supposed to find Jack and Kate? I mean, Godzilla bent all the trees. Even if we were trackers – and Dude, we aren't - how can we find the tracks of our people between that mess?" Hurley asked.

"Not at all. We just follow this "mess" and hope not to find them. That would be a good sign. That would mean they've probably hidden somewhere and will be back at the camp before we are."

"And if we find them?" Hurley asked, already knowing what they would most likely find.

"Let's just hope we won't."

All Jack saw was something jumping in his direction incredibly fast. In a last desperate attempt not to give up without a fight, he threw all the rocks into the direction the creature came from. He didn't know if he hit it, because one moment later he stumbled backwards and fell.

Kate ran without looking back. She lost track of time and ran as fast as she could until her legs gave in and she fell to the ground. She expected Jack standing behind her. He would lift her up each second and tell her they had to move on.

But there was no hand on her arm. Kate turned around and panic overtook her. Jack wasn't behind her. Kate had no idea how long or how far she had run and she didn't know how long Jack had been missing. Although her legs were still shaking she got up and started running again, but this time in the opposite direction.

"Jack!" Kate screamed again and again. With each step she took, the fear that made her throat tight grew. Kate felt tears running down her face. How could she have not noticed that Jack wasn't behind her? She left him to himself. Kate would never be able to forgive herself, if she wouldn't find him alive.

Kate had lost people she cared about a lot before, people she loved. It had hurt terribly to lose her mum and Tom. And she had lost Sam, too, although he didn't die. But in this moment, Kate realized, that losing Jack would hurt so much more. She had thought she loved Tom, but now she realized that she hadn't known what real love was before she met Jack. His believe in her when he told her "You don't run now" when they had first met, had touched something deep inside of Kate.

Jack had given her hope that maybe she had been wrong and she wasn't a bad person after all. He had made her believe that there really was a second chance and a new life. And if she lost him now she would die inside.

Kate had been so deep in her thoughts, that she needed a second to see that she had reached the clearing with the cliff. She didn't know what gave her the strength, but she increased her speed on the last meters. What she found made her worst fears become reality. The monster had left when there was no one left to be chased. But the only trace of Jack was his backpack lying abandoned on the ground.

"The trees are standing less close there, there seems to be a clearing," Hurley noticed.

When he and Sawyer had reached the spot, they found Kate on her knees, sobbing and holding something close to her chest that Sawyer recognized as Jack's backpack when he came nearer. Words weren't necessary. Sawyer just knelt down next to Kate, taking her in his arms.