Chapter 15 (part 1).
Evening was drawing close by the time that Nora stopped in her tracks in the very middle of the jungle. So abruptly did her movements cease that even Locke paused in surprise, watching her closely for any early signs of betrayal or trick.
Sawyer peered over their heads at the Other who stood stock still and motionless, rooted to the spot and he raised the muzzle of his rifle, training it upon her back…just in case.
"Why we gone an' stopped, Pocahontas?" he called to her, shooting a wary glance to one side at Michael who also clenched his weapon a little tighter in anticipation.
Nora's head turned slowly, minutely so until they could all witness the unsettling smile hovering upon her vacant features. A smile that suddenly made icy concerns settle deep in Sawyer's belly as she completed her rotation and stood facing them all fully.
"We have stopped, James," she responded glibly, tossing stiff clumps of her short blonde hair from her filthy face with a deft flick of her head. "Because we are here." she beamed wider, the corners of her eyes creasing in delight. "But first," she paced back towards them and Sawyer's grip upon his weapon intensified, making her laugh beneath her breath as she stopped before Sayid in particular. Her eyes left Sawyer's and glimmered instead up at the dark brown watch of the Iraqi as if drawn there magnetically. She wanted something and she knew that the only way that she was going to get that something was if she persuaded Sayid. "Before I take you any further, you need to untie me and I need to climb that tree." she indicated the larger of the trees surrounding them with a languid nod of her head in it's direction, as if she were greeting an old friend and perhaps she was. She knew the area so well that she strode through without taking her eyes of the sky. As if she were daydreaming or stargazing and her feet automatically found the right places to step, avoiding thorns and protruding roots that were intent on tripping up the small troupe following her even though their eyes were glued to the ground.
She giggled suddenly at their stunned silence and questioning stares at their current surrounding and she shrugged as best as she could with her arms secured mercilessly behind her back.
"I need to make sure of something before I take you down."
All five heads snapped in her direction at that blasé revelation.
"Down?" Eko repeated and Nora nodded, eyebrows raised as she feigned nonchalance. As if she were unaware of the ripples of shock that she had caused throughout the ranks.
"Yes." she responded, motionless save for the barely there movement of her lips. "Down. But I need to climb that tree first."
Sayid was already shaking his head, the first to recover from the stunned haze that had overcome them.
"I am not going to untie you." he stated, raising his chin slightly so that he had to glance down his nose to view the Other. "Why do you need to climb that tree so badly?"
Nora sniffed and about-faced flashing them a grin over her shoulder as she paced towards the thick tree trunk and placed her cheek against the rough bark there.
"I need to check something." she repeated stubbornly and the glee shone brightly and unmistakable in her dark eyes as she noted the growing impatience and irritation upon all of their faces. She studied them each in turn for long minutes. Sayid with his hands fisted at his hips, defiant of her request. Eko tightening a fist about his handmade club strung to his belt. Michael and Sawyer with their rifles raised, her in their crosshairs. And finally she stopped upon Locke, moving back and cocking her head to one side as the bald man watched her.
"What do you need to check? Tell me and I will do it for you." Sayid demanded, breaking the silence once more but Nora refused to remove her stare from Locke's face.
"You don't know what to look for." she retorted, another flick of her head serving to spin her about again and turn her back to the tree in question. She tilted her head back and stared up until it's branches met and mingled with the evening sky. "I'm not taking you any further until I have climbed this tree."
Michael nudged Sawyer with his elbow, drawing the blonde man's gaze over to him.
"She's mad!" he murmured, shaking his head. "We're being led on a wild goose chase by a damn mad woman!" he started forwards, hands balling into fists around his firearm, no doubt intent upon knocking some sense into the crazy female Other that they were perhaps foolishly trusting, but Sawyer caught his elbow and shook his head.
"I'd like nothin' more than to do exactly what you want to do, Mike. Hell, I'd pay good money to tan her lyin' hide…but like Captain Falafel said, it ain't gonna get us anywhere." Sawyer told him in a low tone, too low for the other members of their entourage to hear…and yet not too low for Nora to hear, it seemed.
"I promised that you could take my life if I double-crossed you." Nora called over Locke's shoulder, directly to Michael. "You want me to take you to Walt, right? Michael?"
He clenched his jaw so tightly together that Sawyer could see the veins pulsing in his temple and throat. Anger descended across his compatriot's face like a sheer veil, only barely contained behind his dark, flaming irises. His muscles coiled like a spring waiting to be released and Sawyer's hand wavered upon reaching out to grab the man's arm again, for fear that he was about to lunge at the woman and tear her to pieces like his furious features betrayed that he wanted to.
Eventually, however, Mike's shoulders lowered, the tension receding though not completely disappearing altogether. And he turned his back on her, twisting his head away from the group so that he could spit onto the ground a mixture of saliva and blood from where he had apparently been biting his tongue to keep himself restrained.
"Set her loose, Sayid." he growled after a breathless moment that they spent warily watching his taut, red T-shirt clad back. "And tell her to hurry the fck up before I shoot her anyway, Man."
-oOo-
She listened to their stiff, uneasy chatter below her as she pulled
herself higher up into the branches of the tree. She knew where to
place her hands, she knew where the best footholds were, worn smooth by
so much usage from her and the rest of the 'Others' as those men below
her had dubbed them graciously.
She smirked wider, heaving herself up again and closer to the very top, the pinnacle of the botanical giant that had served as their look out for so many years that she could not remember.
Goodwin would have remembered though. And Ethan. And even Thea probably.
All three of them had died bravely. All of their deaths had been in the pursuit of their goals. And now it looked likely that she was getting her chance. It was her turn to step up and succeed where the likes of Goodwin and Ethan and Thea had failed.
Oh, she had no doubt in her mind that she would die when she had served her purpose and led the crash survivors of flight 815 to where they wanted to go. She had no doubt that they would end her life when they knew fully why she was taking them there with no qualms.
And yet, it was her only mission. Her life was expendable and she had known that from the very beginning. From the very moment that she had stepped forwards and stated that she would be the one who released Cindy and shepherded her so that these men, their little 'Hunting Party' would find her. She would be the one who made sure that both Kate and Cindy would go back to the other survivors, the unsuspecting community who believed that they were safe where they had built their homes upon the beach and in the caves. And she would be the one who would lead the men, intent on rescue and heroics, to exactly where they wanted to go…keeping them out of the way. Keeping them from going back, otherwise it wouldn't work.
She released a grunt as she hefted herself finally through the leaves and she stood, clutching to the now remarkably thinner trunk as she shaded her eyes with a hand from the fiery, bloody red glare of the dieing sun.
It shouldn't be long before they started it…
And there, almost triggered by her thoughts, the plumes of thick, black, impenetrable smoke curled and scudded into the warning stained sky to the left of where the survivors lived. And after three, four, five heartbeats another column of darkness rose to the right, telling her that it was time to move. That the plan was finally in motion and that she didn't have to keep leading them in circles anymore.
She could take them straight there now.
It was time.
-oOo-