Sorry I made you wait so long for the second part of this chappie, but I got my internet rights revoked by the folks. Yup, I'm 21 and yet I still get punished...well, I was sort of naughty. XP

Anywho, less about my family life. I hope you enjoy the second part. Some more Sawyer and the group and some Ana too. Things are starting to heat up on the beach again. I'm really looking forwards to penning chapter 16 and 17 even though I haven't decided if it's going to be Sawyer centric or Ana centric first.

Well, I let you read on. Thankies you all for reading and reviewing the last chapter. Sorry 'bout that cliffhanger. I won't do it again...promise

Chapter 15 (part 2)

The thick thud upon the ground from her landing startled them all from their now silence and private contemplations.

She smiled brightly at them, brushing herself down, free from leaves and twigs before she stepped towards Sayid and held her wrists out, beckoning for him to retie her bonds.

She was far too willing and it triggered warning bells in Sawyer's mind.

"If it is not objectionable to you, Sayid Jarrah, I would please like for you to bind my hands before me instead of behind my back." she said dreamily, eyes absently trailing a pale-winged insect as it fluttered between them like a leaf caught in the wind. "I need to be able to use my hands a little to get down and inside, but I know that it is preferable to you that I remain restrained in some fashion."

-oOo-
Raised voices were the thing that drew Ana from her contemplations as she sat, sleep eluding her, on the sand and reread over Sawyer's letter to her again. She couldn't hear exactly what was being said no matter how hard she strained over the crashing waves but she knew the note of fear in the chorus of voices only too well. She could hear the hint of panic as it began to take over them, fluting through the breeze and she glanced over her shoulder, in the direction of the noise, already on the alert for whatever had caused the sudden gathering of people.

Then, as she pushed herself to her feet, feeling the coldness of concern settle in the pit of her stomach, she watched as the large assembly, the congregation of people huddled together, eyes wide and shoulders hunched against any and all outside of their mish-mashed circle, clutching other's arms or hands or shoulders for comfort and protection…and pointing to the sky above the jungle canopy inland.

Ana felt her mouth run dry as her steps quickened. She felt her heartbeat kick up several notches until she could almost feel the same panic that consumed the other survivors clawing it's way up her own throat, bitter and metallic. Almost the same taste as fear and yet not quite. The panic was wilder. Sharper, filling every part of her body and limbs until all she wanted was to turn and run. Run away from it all.

But she couldn't. She wouldn't and she breathed deeply, letting the concoction of panic and fear wash over her entirely until she released it with that lungful of salty sea air that she had just taken, imagining that if she had been able to see it, if such feelings had been visible, she would have seen it at that moment curling and twisting like a green mist through the hot evening air.

But she couldn't see it and that was when the adrenalin kicked in. A new feeling and taste entirely, consuming her as she continued forwards from where she had ground to a halt, across the last remaining stretch of sand towards the group.

Determination. The pure tang of conviction as she swallowed and clenched her tongue between her back teeth, allowing herself another great inhalation to cement those new feelings into their proper places. It was a ritual she'd had back when she'd been a police officer and it was proving invaluable to her now as she strolled through the bowels and innards of hell itself.

And the black smoke, thick and solid-seeming, continued it's ascent into prominence through the evening sky. Billowing and swirling with menace, highlighted blood red against the pitch. Glowering. Betraying what exactly was coming their way. Warning them. Penning them into a corner like animals. Like lambs to the slaughter.

Ana-Lucia's previous self, back in reality, had never been one to get cornered. She had never liked it and so had never allowed it and she cursed herself now for allowing Jack to talk her out of her mission to move people down into the safety of the hatch immediately. She should have gone ahead and done it anyway without him because, to put it bluntly, when it came to the safety of the group, to defending them from the Others that were now proven to be coming, Ana out ranked the doctor. She knew first hand what they were capable of and she knew what needed to be done in order to stop them.

"Shannon!" she called, jaw set as she breached the ring of bodies, shouldering her way through to the blonde who stood arms wrapped about herself at the very heart of the gathering. "It's-"

"Them." Shannon finished almost sadly, nodding her head as Ana stopped before her. "We should have started moving everyone like you said. And now They're coming and who knows what they'll do to us!"

The beginnings of tears shone in the young woman's eyes but not tears for herself, Ana noted. Tears for them all. Tears for the people that Shannon believed that she had failed and sentenced to a fate at the hands of the…creatures stalking them.

But Ana was not so resigned yet. Back in the real world, a lifetime ago, another trait that had kept her alive was her tenacity. She had thrived under pressure. That was when she was at her very best. When the world was breathing down her neck hard, she turned around and socked it one in return.

Ana-Lucia was not down and she most definitely was not out.

"I need you to start moving people in groups." Ana stated, reaching behind her to retrieve her gun and checking that the chamber was loaded, drawing nervous stares from the group surrounding them. She ignored them, however, locking her dark eyes with Shannon's of gold. "We need to get them moving now and at regular intervals. As fast as we can. Leave everything where it is. Don't even stop to take your clothes. Just yourselves." her voice had risen half way through her speech until she was addressing them all, turning in a slow circle to peer out at their worried faces. She didn't even care that at that moment the fear was aimed mostly at her as she stood, gun in hand. They'd be thanking her later…if they all survived. "We'll do five groups of ten. Anything you can use for a weapon to defend yourselves, get it. And keep it close. Keep a check on everyone in your group, keep checking that no one has been taken-"

"What if they are taken!" someone, a man she vaguely knew as Scott…or was that Steve, called out starting a panicked murmur around the ensemble like the hum of angry bees. "What if we all get taken…or worse! Killed!"

Ana took another of her statutory deep breaths and re-holstered her weapon at her belt, then raised her hands in a placating gesture. A calming and comforting motion that was used universally by all police forces to diffuse a potentially hazardous situation.

"I'm not gonna let that happen." she called louder over their thrumming noise but someone else, a woman this time, shouted louder still.

"What about last time?" she demanded, hands fisted at her hips. "It was all a hoax by that crazy French jungle woman. What if it's like that again?"

Then the arguing began. Was it for real? Was it another elaborate ploy to get Claire's baby? And the louder they got the more time they wasted standing on the beach as night drew closer.

Ana gritted her teeth and glanced to the sky again, noting that there was now a second column of smoke towering over them oppressively, the blackness writhing and pluming and choking away their sky and chances of survival.

She didn't have time for their petty bullsht bickering! None of them did if they wanted to live.

The gun was back in her palm before anyone had even glanced her way and she aimed it to the sky, above their heads into the depths of the darkness their and she squeezed the trigger hard.

The sound, loud and abrasive, ricocheted across the beach for long moments, serving it's purpose by silencing them all in one and recapturing their waning attention. All that could be heard for several breathless heartbeats was the roar of the sea and the whistle of the wind as they considered her finally.

"You feel confident enough to stake your lives on this all being a trick, by all means be my guest and stick around and find out." Ana chuckled bitterly and the woman who had turned the debate into a sour battle of wills glanced away to the ground. "I'd rather be holed up in the hatch for no reason than holed up with bullets and knife wounds."

Terror rippled around her now, shining from the whites of their eyes and Ana sighed. Okay, maybe shock tactics were a little too much for them to cope with at that instant.

"All I'm saying is," she began softer than before, reversing her strategy and placating them again with her hand movements. "I want to make sure. You all want to be safe, right?"

They murmured their agreement and Ana almost heaved a sigh of relief. She would have but they weren't out of the woods just yet. Nothing about their current situation warranted relief in the slightest.

"Okay. I need someone to go to the hatch and warn Jack." she glanced around at them all again, eyebrows raised hopefully. "Anyone?"

Shannon looked about to step forwards and volunteer for the run but before she could speak and before Ana had to turn her down because of her asthma, Charlie of all people raised his hand and pushed his way to stand in front of her.

"You fast?" Ana raised her jet eyebrows at him in inquiry and the Brit shrugged, pulling his hood down so that she could see his face clearly, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets.

"I won the regional cross-country three years in a row back home in Manchester when I was in secondary school…" he shrugged again as if it was no big deal and Ana nodded her approval.

"That'll do." she nodded again, offering her handgun to him butt first, waiting for him to remove his hands from his hoody pockets and take it in his graps. "I know you can shoot." she spoke at his hesitance to take the weapon and answering his unvoiced protestation. "I know you killed one of Them so take it."

But Charlie shook his head. Apparently that had not been the topic of his objection.

"What about you, Ana?"

And it was her turn to shrug, nonchalantly.

"I'll live." she responded and all who gathered about her knew that her words were full of conviction. So much conviction that they felt hope finally that things were going to be alright. She was going to be the one to save them. "Now move it! And tell Jack he needs to hurry! We'll meet him with the first group half way."

-oOo-
They stared down at it, not quite believing what it was that she was showing to them. Puzzlement. Confusion and just plain astonishment played across the collection of faces peering down into it's depths.

All except Locke's.

"I've seen this before…" he mused, arms half folded while one hand rested against his lips as he considered it. "The security system almost pulled me down into one exactly like this," he paused again, a brief flash of bitterness lancing across his face. "But Jack prevented it."

Nora, hands rebound before her, drummed her fingertips together and grinned about at their confused faces, smugly. Ecstatic that she had perplexed them so badly. Her teeth flashed white from her filthy face.

"Yes, that it quite a plausible outcome." she confirmed of Locke's announcement, pacing around them all like a shark circling it's quarry. "See, the security system runs the length and breadth of this island." she continued, excited again, elbows flapping in illustration. "In every single sector it is fine. In perfect operational order. But the…incident," she paused again, eyes dulling ever so briefly before she looked around at their expectant stares once again. "It left the security system in the Swan sector…with a fault."

"What fault?" Sayid demanded with a rough bark from where he knelt inspecting the pitch black hole, fingers skirting the rim and finding it seamless.

And Nora tossed dirty blonde locks from her face with a swift jerk of her head before deigning to reply to him.

"Every one hundred and eight minutes it resets itself, switching from the usual defensive mode, to attack mode." she responded as if the subject was entirely obvious and bored her. "That is unless someone inputs the code and executes command four eight one five one six two three four two before the timer runs it's course." she snorted then, beaming once more and turning on her heel and circling the group counter-clockwise. "You can't very well have a security system going around and eliminating every potential test subject, now can we?" and something dark flickered in the depths of her eyes, narrowed and watching them predatorily, something that served to remind them all that she was one of Them. The Others who had taken and killed people, not some sunny and cheerful tour guide.

"What about the pilot?" Sawyer questioned suddenly from where he was leaning against the nearest tree. "Boy got his ass sliced up like he went ten round with Freddy Krueger from what Kid-Rock told it like."

Nora shot him a look that made him feel like a simpleton. She tutted, clicking her tongue against her back teeth in a way that was so familiar, so much like Ana that Sawyer felt his chest constrict almost painfully and she laughed at him, at his shocked features.

"A defence system is there to defend, James." she lectured, shaking her head. Condescension dripped from her tone. "It obviously perceived your pilot friend as a threat then, didn't it?"

"He was bleeding to death, for Christ's sakes, Man!" Michael shouted in frustration, several steps apart from the group with his back to them all, glaring out into the darkening gloom of jungle night. "How is a dieing man a threat?"

And Nora laughed again, louder until it echoed around the area, encasing them all, cutting them off from what little of reality still remained.

"Perhaps you should ask the security system that question, Michael." she giggled and it was all Sawyer could do to move from his place and hold Michael back, prevent him from lunging for Nora's throat and ripping it clean out with his bare hands.

"Easy, Mikey." Sawyer hissed through teeth clench with exertion. "Reign it in, Brother. She's takin' you to your boy, remember? She's just tryin' to wind you up."

"Yeah? She's doin' a damn good job of it!" Michael snarled back but he eventually calmed himself, shirking Sawyer's restriction away and turning his back to them all again. Cutting himself off from them. Alone in his grief and rage and conflict.

"Right!" Nora stopped dead in her tracks suddenly, sounding as if she were about to offer them all refreshments. "Shall I take you in then?" her eyebrows quirked in query. "Or if you would prefer to take the fresh evening air as we travel then I suggest the scenic route. It will only add a mere two days to our little excursion…"

"We go down." Sayid countered firmly and Nora shrugged, as if to say that it was his loss, before walking forwards and taking a faithful leap down into the blinding dark, disappearing in a matter of seconds.

-oOo-