Note: Thanks for the reviews This chapter was so much fun to write. The title is my favorite too! I must have spent five minutes on it, lol! Oh and shippers…prepare for a little love scene dun dun dun. Anyway, there's no flashback today, because this is my longest chapter yet, and I don't want to kill you guys. Hopefully, next chapter I can get to a Danielle flashback, but I am kind of inching for a Kelly flashback because….(is cut off suddenly)
Chapter 5: Sick people Make Bad Pets
Sam led the whole camp of survivors through the forest. And it did not help the flight 815 survivors to be among the survivors of a "boat crash". Sayid trusted them, was still not sure what to think of the mysterious man named Rico. If that were of course his real name.
But where else would the survivors go? Sure, half of them wanted to stay on the beach, but they didn't want to be left alone. They still had a delusion that perhaps their were no "Others". Some of them laughed jokingly, "maybe their Native Americans," while others said, "maybe still in Austria " They had to laugh it off. They couldn't think realistically. And no matter how well they hid it from each other, they all k new one thing—they were all going to die.
Ten hours passed slowly, and drawly. The castaways walked and complained, but kept matching. But, by the end of their 10th hour, they could hardly keep their eyes open. Hurley must have fallen behind six times.
"We need to take a break," complained Bernard, who was nearly carrying his wife along the trail.
"We just had one," Sayid would snap back.
"Yeah, like two hours ago! I am trying to think about what is best for my wife."
Suddenly, Sam entered the conversation. "Hey, if any of ya'll can't keep up, you get left. We ain't got any time for stragglers."
:"And since when is this your operation?" snapped Rico. "We don't leave people behind. We don't leave people to die out here. They could starve to death. They could be taken by them. We stay together. We're not savages."
"Shut up, Rico. We got to keep moving. The quicker I get to kill someone, the better I will feel."
But the conversation ended when Joan, who was walking in the very back of the castaways, shouted, "GUYS! COME HERE!"
Rico turned around, and sprinted the back of the line, shoving people in his wake. Heads turned and they all her.. Kelly was shacking, and vomiting blood by a tree. She started whispering….
"Rico! Rico! Did you see them? Did you see the man I jus killed?" she sobbed, following to her knees. "He popped out of nowhere. I threw him in the ocean…..he….he made me say it."
The castaways all huddled around her. She was paler then paper. She buried her head between her knees, rocking back and forth. Rico grabbed her hands, and Joan helped her up, but she struggled from her grip.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kelly cried. "I won't do it. Just don't make me go back. Please, don't make me go back. There's a dead man I killed….tell them to stop, TELL THEM TO STOP!" She pointed to a Patch of grass. "I threw him in the water! MAKE THEM STOP! MAKE THEM GO AWAY!"
"Honey, Honey," Kelly arms around her. "What are you talking about? Kelly! Kelly! There is no water, here. There's no body. You never killed anyone.
"I'm a good person, she whimpered. "I'm a good person." She fell forward, Rico breaking her fall.
"Here, here, I got her….I got her…." sighed Rico. He took her and laid her down, gently. "She's just unconscious." He felt her forehead. "She's worm. She's got a heavy fever." He ruled up her sleeve to reveal a red rash. "I don't know what is wrong with her. Sam! Sayid! We have to stop here! We have to rest! I ain't a doctor—"
"No," Desmond gave a wide smile, "just a babynapper right?" He put his hand on his gun.
Sam turned on his heal and slugged Desmond in the nose. Desmond jumped at him, but Eko held them back.
"Look, we should make camp here tonight," Rico said, addressing the group. "We should get six hours, alright? And we can take shifts, you know? We should start a fire. I'll watch over Kelly. Look, it's probably best of us to move in the day, right? We can see things better…"
"And those things can see us better too," Hurley interrupted.
Sawyer sat next to Kate, who was cowering in the corner. He put his arm around her neck, and she leaned on his lap, his hands covering a face filled with tears. He held her tight, to keep her from shacking. He had nothing left to say. For the first time in his life, Sawyer had absolutely nothing to say.
"What's taking them so long?" Kate whispered. If she spoke much louder, she would be screaming. She vainly fought the tears that were streaming down her face. She had to be strong, but like always, she was never strong enough. "What's taking them so long, Sawyer? I want to go home! I want to go home! I mean…no….can't go home again, right?"
Sawyer laughed, and gave a long sigh. "No, Freckles. We can't go home. Even if we're resumed…."
"Maybe it's better like this, Sawyer. It's not like we had anything off this island, or on it."
"Wait, wait, wait, babe. You mean to tell me…that nothing on this island is worth anything to you, now that the Doctor is dead?"
Kate looked up at him. "Oh please, Sawyer. Is there anything left for you here?"
Sawyer looked away.
"I'm sorry, Sawyer. Actually….there's something else that keeps me from just….stabbing myself to death." Kate put her palm on the side of his face, and made him look at her. "You know…this could we our last night alive. The last words we get to say to each other."
Sawyer nodded. "You know, Kate. I always liked your eyes."
"What?"
"You always had….nice…eyes…." Sawyer smiled, his lips moving closer to hers. "I was….this is pathetic." He laughed. His lips got closer, untill he touched Kate's.
Kate drew back in shock, but immediately broke out into a smile. "Yeah, well I should have seen that one coming a second faster, James Ford."
They were about to kiss again, but the door opened, suddenly. Sawyer grabbed Kate and helped her stand up as a woman came through the doorway.
It was Alex with a needle in her hands. She shut the door, seemingly paying no attention to Jack's corpse. "Their going to kill you. They want me to kill you. To prove my locality."
"Well, then,' Sawyer stepped froward, daringly. "It takes you a awful long time to kill a guy, little girl."
"I'm taking you back to the room. I'm putting you asleep. You will wake up on those beds. I'll meet you there. You do what I say….or you get shot. Is that clear?"
"I don't trust her," whispered Sawyer to Kate.
"Yeah, I suppose you have a better idea. I mean, we could always just follow the bugs up from the tunnels underground…" Kate smirked.
"Close, there are tunnels. A lot of tunnels." She pulled out the needle. She walked up to Kate. "Time to go to sleep."
Eko volunteered to take the first shift. He paced up and down their camp, half expecting to be blown up by an Other. He was armed with his stick, though, not with a gun. He must have prayed the rosary five times. He recited the 23rd psalm. And no Other ever came. No black Monster. No polar bear.
After a long while, Eko sat own and tided to the fire.
"May I share your fire?" asked a voice.
Eko jumped. He looked up to see Rico, smiling down at him. "Oh, yes, please
Rico sat down. He wiped the sweat of his forehead. "Look, I-I,…" A tear ran down his face. "I tried to save the girl's baby. You know what it is, man? Maybe I did see them. I don't know. Maybe I could have stopped them. But I was afraid. I was a coward. Here, look, I'm talking to you and I don't even know your name."
"Mr. Eko," Eko held out his hand, and Rico shook it, hesitantly.
"Oh, I'm Rico You ever meant one of those Others?"
"We held one in our Hatch for a long while…but….he escaped. One of us betrayed us, to get his son back. He murdered two of us."
"Sure you should be telling him about all that, Eko?" said a voice from behind. It was Charlie. But he found himself unable to speak, because a instant later, he crashed to the ground. "I'm so tired. I can barley sleep. That make's no since. I'm tired, but I can't sleep." Charlie turned his head to see Bernard, who similarly to Kelly, was throwing up blood.
"Why's everybody on this island suddenly getting sick?" Rico stood up.
But Charlie and Bernard gave no reply to this. They were staring intently into the trees. They exchanged looks, and ran off.
"What the—"
Rico and Eko sprinted forward to catch them. But the weirdest part about it was not that they were suddenly running off, but that Bernard—a man with a heavy build, and in his 60s, who had been walking for a whole day—seemed to be running faster then Charlie.;
Suddenly, Rico froze and turned around. Kelly had climbed to her feet. She looked at Rico for a second, and a second later tackled him to the ground. She stomped on his stomach and ran off.
And in all this time, Eko paid no attention. After almost 100 yards he had caught up to Bernard, who suddenly collapsed where he stood. Charlie was already laying on the ground, several yards away.
"Where did you learn to run like that, Bernard?" whispered Eko.
"Their coming…." he whimpered. "Their here….the birds see us! They all see us!"
"BERNARD!" exclaimed Eko. "You are talking madness. Please, calm down."
Charlie sat up. His eyes turned bloodshot. "EKO!"
Eko turned around to see Kelly slam him in the nose. Somehow, the girl, who had barley reached the age of 21, and who was hardly as tall as Claire, overpowered him! He fell to the ground!
She stole his knife. And thrust it forward to stab him in the stomach!
Charlie got to his feet and threw himself in the way of the knife! Instead of stabbing Eko, Charlie had been stabbed right in the rib!
Suddenly, a figure came down from the trees, and hit Kelly over the head with a rock. The girl fell to the ground. It was Danielle!
She removed a gun from her pocket and aimed it at Kelly. Eko pushed her back.
"You will not kill her!"
"She's sick1" Danielle spat. "You're all sick, and your all going to die."
Everyone woke up from their sleep. People were screaming. Rico got to his feet and ran to Charlie. "He's not breathing!" he roared, starting to apply CPR.
"What happened?" Sayid and John said in union, running over to them..
"See," roared Desmond, "That's what you get for trusting these people. I told you!'
Claire stood nearby, everything, with her hand on her mouth. "Is he going to die? What happened?"
Rico took off his shirt and applied pressure to the wound. "Kelly…she was going to stab Eko. But Charlie got in the way of it. How did she do that? How did she just knock us out that fast? And no offence, Benny boy, but how did ou run that fast? You guys all went crazy….and almost like you were super human, or something."
"It's the sickness!" growled Danielle. "It's the sickness1 It's happening again! It's an experiment gone wrong. Their given powers…but at that a price."
"Which is what, exactly?" Desmond ruled his eyes.
"Their sanity. First a fever…then a rash….then they start seeing things…and then they grow aggressive…it makes them into savages."
"Yeah, I see!" Bernard hissed. "Let's trust the girl who killed her whole team!"
"And you best kill her before she does it again! And you two," she looked over t Charlie and Bernard. "They must be killed Before she kills you! Or Rose…..or Claire."
"Hey1 Hey!' Sam suddenly entered the conversation. "We've been on this island for two years. Ain't one of my folks has ever gotten sick. And if you lay a hand on her, you crazy chick, I will kill you None of my team is getting left."
"Oh, and yet, you would abandon us?" Sayid shouted.
Claire is in tears. "Is Charlie going to be okay?"
"We got to get him to the Hatch…." Rico bit his lip. "I think we can close the wound. But, he was walking with Bernard. What if he's infected? What if—"
Sam threw his hands in the air. "No one is infected. There is no sickness."
Kelly's eyes opened. Joan looked down on her and put her foot on Kelly's chest, keeping her to the ground. Kelly screamed, "What have I done? What have I become? I hear them whispering. Their everywhere! Their calling my name!"
Danielle swallowed hard. "Their everywhere, right outside those trees. You may stay here and die, hide and die, or run and die."
John cleared his throat. "Okay, okay. We have to go now! No one is getting shot or anything like that. Eko, you take Charlie. Sayid, Joan, tie up Kelly. We're not leaving her here to die, but we're not letting this happen again."
Sayid took out a piece of rope from his pocket. Joan took it from him and whispered to Kelly, "I'm sorry." She tied her up.
"no…no…you can't…I'm a good person…" whispered the girl.
"If do you do not do anything, Mr. Locke," whispered Danielle. "You will all die."
And suddenly, whispers came from the trees….
Sawyer woke up from his sleep. He was tied to the table. On his left was Kate, and on his right was a blood sainted empty that Jack once laid in.
Alex walked through the doorway, and closed it quietly behind her. "They took you guys to the cell and left Jack here. They cut him open and then killed him. Then they threw him in with you because one of us couldn't stand to look at him. They took you here so they could do the same thing to you….after I kill you…This is where their going to do the operation…or were going to do it, right?"
Alex took out her gun. "Now listen to me, carefully. This is our ground level, but we have a basement. There are two ways down there. The first way is if you turn right outside this room. You go down three corridors, and down three flights of stairs.. The second way is left. If you go left, you go down five flights of stairs. But there's a locked door there, so you have to run up three levels, and go across he catwalk that stands over our dining room You will turn right and go down a steep railway, until you get to the basement. There you will find a vent. Crawl through it until you get to…."
Alex removed a folded up yellow piece of paper and handed it to sawyer.
"You will run and keep running through craves and tunnels. You see, this island is full of manmade ones, ones made by Hanso, by the Others. I mentioned that there are two ways to the basement. You should split up. Make the Others confused. When you get down to the basement, ii the other person isn't there, you must keep running. Better tat one of you gets out of this, then none."
"Why are you doing all this?" sawyer cocked an eyebrow.
Alex removed her gun and pointed it at Sawyer. She leaned over him. "I need you to hit me and steal my gun. Try not to use it though. You don't want to attract attention. So, only shoot if you're shot at. So it doesn't look like I just let you go, you're going to hit me, James. Give me a concussion, break every bone in my body, I don't care. I won't take it personal." She laughed.
"Why don't you come with us?" Kate sat up.
"No, I can't do that. They might come after you harder. Besides, isn't good to have friends in the mist of the enemy? They won't find out. Oh by the way, at the end of your journey through the underground tunnels…..There is a door…there are three keys you need to open it."
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about,"
Alex was annoyed. "Well, whatever. You just have to hit me. Okay? Before the doctors come."
Sawyer grabbed her gun and hit her over the head with it. He punched her in the face, and she went to the ground. "You know," said Sawyer, holding the gun in his hand, "that didn't feel as good as I had hoped."
Kate and Sawyer ran to the doorway. Kate took a deep breath. She peered through a small vent in the wall. There were four guards. "Four of them…we can take them. If we do it quickly enough."
Sawyer bent down and picked up some of Alex's grenades. "Oh yeah….Okay, you go right, I'll go left, it's more dangerous—I mean, that way I get to go run across a catwalk and have people shot at me, and get to have all the fun!"
"Funny….alright sawyer…on three….1….2….3!'
Neither one of them moved.
"Ugh…" Kate laughed. "Wanna try that again?"
"No, let's just go!"
Sawyer kicked down the door. The two ran out! Sawyer nailed a man with the butt of his gun, while Kate punched out another one and stole his gun. She suddenly felt Pickett grab her from behind! But Sawyer was too quick. He kicked Pickett hard in the head, and turned around to punch the fourth guy in the face. He stomped the man's skull into the tile floor!
"It's all about stealth, Kate," Sawyer smiled, turning left down the hall.
He quickly followed every direction Alex gave him. He seemed to be unstoppable! He shot a man in the leg, and knocked him out with his boot! And suddenly, he found himself at the door to the catwalk. He slammed the door open, and sprinted to the opposite door, that seemed nearly 500 yards away
Sawyer ducked, crawling his way now, as bullets rang whistled all around him.
"HEY BABY! YOU WANT ME?" Sawyer roared, throwing three grenades down as bullets whistled right by his ear. The grenades when off one by one.
"COME ON1 IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?" he shouted! "BRING TI, BABY1 BRING IT! I'LL THESE ARE GOING TO FALL LIKE SNAKES ON A DINNING ROOM!"
He got up, and threw six more grenades, drawling the Others back. Sawyer made a mad dash to the door, and ran down the long railway.
After almost five minutes he finally reached the end! He saw a figure approach him!
"SAWYER!" she cried, running into his arms. "You're alive! Is that what they call stealth these days?"
Sawyer laughed. "Yeah..Wow…I live for this, don't you Freckles?"
"Yeah, but we ain't out of it yet, brother." Kate led him o a vent on the ceiling. "We have to climb that and hope it doesn't lead us into somewhere else we don't want to be. Hey, don't you think that it as all kind of easy?"
"Only because we're so good, Freckles!" Sawyer gave a hard laugh. He climbed up the vent and held out his hand to help Kate. Kate took it and Sawyer pulled her up.
"Thanks," Kate smiled. Sawyer was already crawling, but stopped so Kate could catch up. "Hey, why don't you think they took us the first time we meant them? Why did they killed Jack? I she really…."
Sawyer turned to her. There was hardly enough room to sit upright inside the vent, but you could do it. So he sat there, and grabbed her shoulder. He started talking to her as if he were a Captain in some war, and she was is Private. "He's dead, Kate. I'm sorry But we have to do this, okay? You just stick close to me. He showed her his gun. "I'm going to keep you safe. I'm going to take care you. Alright? Just stay with me. I and the doctor were never that different. Just don't go mental on me now, okay?"
"Yeah…" Kate said, her face turning red, wiping a tear form her eye.
"Don't break down on me, now. It ain't' time for grieving. It's time for running. Then we can grieve. Just relax. I know what I am doing. Alright?"
"Yeah….sure…."
Sawyer crawling again, all along humming silently, "Redemption Songs."
"We're never going to get this done, Jack. I need you to wake up,"
Jack's eyes opened. He was again, chained up to the chair. The same chains, chair, and the same glass wall
He felt as if his every bone in his body had been chopped into pieces, and burned into a fire. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a cough. He looked down at a blood stained, and torn up shirt. He tried to speak again, but he only let out a gasp.
"Yeah, your going to feel a bit weak, Jack, I'm sorry we had to do all this, pretend to kill you and all. You're not going to talk for a bit. I was a prisoner once. So trust me, I know the feeling. My life was in your hands…now your all in mine. Oh, by the way, your friends left you here. Well, not really."
Henry put on a white glove and examined Jack's neck. "Relax I'm just looking for…things. I put you all under drugs. James and Kate had a little dream. They saw you dead, Jack, which is what you might be in a few minutes. And oh.. they kissed. Cute couple by the way. I was always rooting for you to get her though. It's a Matrix sort of thing. You hook up people a computer, and control every image. Alex was hooked up to that thing, and pretended to just let them go…in exchange for us not cutting them open and all of that. We took out of the computer, laid them on the bed, had Alex let them go….and….we put on a fine how. I hope they didn't think it was too easy. What they don't know is they are going to do exactly what I want them to do. Just like your pal John…and Mr. Eko."
Jack opened his mouth.
"yeah I know," Henry laughed. "Henry's been a bad boy. I'm a meany. " Henry started laughing, but his face turned very cold a instant later. "So, here's what you're going to do. I'm taking you where their going, and you're going to do whatever I say."
"There's nothing you can say that would ever make me….one….of…you…"
Henry's manner went form coldness, to anger. But he did not seem in a killing mood. His manner was more a manner of urgency, then anything else. "Yes I do Jack. I have Aaron who will never see his mother again that says you will do what I say. I have your girlfriend and the cowboy that I can blow up in a snap, that says you will go where I tell you to. I have your whole team bent on the brink of death and insanity, that I can destroy with one word, that says you will shoot wherever I tell you to shoot. This is my island, my game, and my rules."
""When will you kill me?"
"One thing at a time, Jack"
NOTE So, I had some writer's block on this chapter. But once I started writing, it came to me. I'm sorry for those who hate me for not killing jack, but I'll make it up to you. The next person who gets the bucket will truly kick the bucket, so to speak. And it won't just be just one of those new characters.
Speaking of new characters, next chapter, hopefully, will be a Kelly flashback. We will see the boat crash and everything after it, according to her eyes. I really want people to start to get connected to these folks, especially Kelly…because, if you didn't notice, she went crazy lol! And although, some other people will obviously go crazy, I want people to feel something for her in the coming story.
Anyway, I'm really not sure how people will take this chapter. But it was a lot of fun. And, even though this story takes place in 2004, I couldn't help taking a jab at Snakes on a Plane. Sawyer must have written it or something lol!
Again, thank you so much for your reviews, and constant advice! You have no idea how appreciative I am. Anyway, if you get the time, you're welcome to reviews. I don't mind critics…I'll take It like Alex loll!