Chapter 7- Fear

Well guys, I got to say I'm very proud of this chapter. There's no flashback, I'm sorry. And it's a cliffy! I know you guys love them. LOL! I'm so mean… Ok, so I hope you enjoy this chapter, because I sure did. AND I'm not going to change my pen name, because I haven't been in the mood lately, so I'll still be CCLover4ever. Have fun reading and review! Enjoy…

A/N: Thanks Werekid for bringing this to my attention. I had Kate make a comment about Sawyer, that hinted he was on the island. He's not, I wrote that part at midnight, exhausted. I wasn't thinking clearly, so I changed it. Sawyer is still not on the island, yet...

Charlie and Claire froze where they stood. Both looked back, eyes wide with fear. Claire turned to Charlie, almost breathless, and he turned to look back at her.

"Did you hear that?" Claire asked staring into his eyes.

"Yeah." He said looking back again. "We need to find camp soon." He said grabbing her hand and leading her forward.

"Is it the monster?" She whispered.

"That would be my first guess." He said looking at her and then at the trees ahead. The sound came again, only this time it was continuous. Charlie pulled Claire's hand, so she was standing in front of him. She began to run and Charlie followed close behind. The sound was close, and the trees were moving all around them. Charlie was gaining on Claire; he had to make a decision. Keep running or hide.

He grabbed Claire's arm and she screamed. He pinned her back against a nearby tree, he was face to face with her. He stretched his neck to the side, looking around the tree. The sound suddenly ceased. He looked around the tree, nothing in sight. He looked into Claire's eyes; she blinked suddenly when a rain drop hit her cheek.

"Perfect." He said rolling his eyes. The rain began to pour down. They stood there for a moment, both continued to look around.

The sound came from their side and a tree could be heard cracking. Charlie's head snapped to the side, he saw the tree falling. He quickly secured an arm around Claire's waist and pulled her out of harm's way. The tree fell inches from where they lay. Charlie was on top of her, but quickly picked himself up and leaned down to her side.

"Claire, are you okay?" He asked brushing his thumb over her cheek. She winced and forced her teeth together. He looked at her, puzzled. "Claire, what is it? What's wrong?" He asked frantically.

"My leg." She said closing her eyes tightly shut, forcing out a tear. Charlie moved to her leg. He looked up at her again.

"Which one?" He asked, seeing the pain in her eyes.

"Right." She answered as another tear slid down her cheek. Charlie looked at her right pant leg. It was torn and stained with blood. He tore the rest of it up to her knee, and pulled it up to reveal a large gash on the outside of her shin. It was bleeding and went pretty deep, and Charlie could see there was dirt and muddy water in the cut. Charlie didn't know what to do, he took off his shirt. He tied it tightly around her leg. He wanted the bleeding to stop and as many germs to stay out as possible. He looked at her leg and then her face.

"I need you to climb on my back." He said giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"No Charlie, I can walk." She said bravely.

"Claire, it's bleeding and you're in pain. You're going to let me carry you." He said with determination in his eyes.

He turned his back toward her as she pushed herself onto her knees. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he stood. She kicked her legs up to his side and Charlie put his hands under her thighs. Claire was soaked from the rain that still poured down. Charlie shivered as the rain beat down on his bare chest. He trudged on through the muddy water, his checkered shoes full of water.

After awhile of walking, Claire could see the fight in Charlie, to keep himself going. She knew he needed a break.

"Charlie, take a break." She said, trying to talk sense into him.

"Claire, we need to get back to camp. It's not safe out here with that thing showing up and stalking us. Aaron is going to need fed, and your cut needs checked out before it gets infected." He said still walking on.

"Charlie please rest." She pleaded. He stopped and let her down gently, trying his best to keep the pressure off of her leg. Charlie kicked himself for not bringing along water, but he hadn't expected to be out this long.

He sat on the ground slowly, wiping his wet bangs away from his eyes. Claire was leant against a tree, her head back, allowing the water to drop on her face freely. She looked at Charlie, he had to be so cold, not that she wasn't. Charlie saw her looking at him, so he scooted over to where she sat. She leaned forward as he put his back against the tree. She laid back onto his bare skin and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Jack." Sun said walking up to the kind doctor quickly in the rain, with Aaron screaming in her arms. He and Kate looked as if they had been arguing, both soaked from the rain. Jack took his attention away from Kate and whipped around quickly to the sound of his name.

"Jack." She repeated coming to a halt right in front of him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, eyes full of concern.

"I'm worried. Claire and Charlie went into the jungle to talk and they haven't been back." She said trying to pronounce everything clearly.

"They probably just lost track of time." Kate said making her presence known.

"Claire would never leave Aaron for that long purposely." Jack said shaking his head. "How long have they been gone?" Jack asked Sun.

"He's going to need fed soon." Kate said crossing her arms.

"We need to find them." Jack said grabbing his back pack. Kate pulled hers off the ground also and slid the straps over her shoulders. Sun tried to calm Aaron.

"Who should we bring with us?" Kate asked putting her hair up.

"No one." Jack said pulling the necklace with the key off his neck. "We have to find them quick, we can't waist time." He said walking away. Kate followed Jack after giving Sun a sympathetic glance.

Sun hurried over to Claire's tent to escape the rain.

Charlie saw Claire's eyes drift close, the rain dropping down her face. He carefully picked her up, putting an arm around her back and the other under her knees. He stood and walked on.

"Charlie." A lone voice said killing the silence. Charlie's eyes went wide, his heart pounding with fear. He couldn't bring himself to turn around; he feared what he would see.

SO… who could it be? Hmm… as always guess in your reviews! REVIEW please! I love you all for reading! Hope you guys have a great time, and an update may not come until the weekend. Thanks for reading. P.S. Where is everybody? The hits and reviews for the last two chapters are lower than usual. Chapter 6 hits were only in the 50s, when they're usually in the 100s. I miss you guys. Any ways, you're probably just on vacation… I hope. LOL! CYA!

Thanks to these people for reviewing chapter 6:

WereKid

Thanks a bunch! And for the correction on this chapter.

RenaissanceGrrl

Umm… that's what I meant too… (giggles)

Lara Chubb of Deephollow

LOL! I made you frantic! (rolls around on ground laughing)

jesi0546

CC fluff (sighs) It just brings a smile to my face…

SKateforever

Glad you LOVE it!

Ponyboysgirl1

Thanks a lot that's very good.

CharliesHoodie

(tries best to revive you) Thanks! But don't die… COME BACK!

(turns into Gollum) Don't follow the lights…