"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sawyer yelled as he ran up next to Kris, "What the hell was that all about?"
"Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?" Kris asked as she turned to face him.
"Maybe. A little, okay Yeah. What's it to you?"
"Privacy dude." Kris turned and continued walking to the beach.
"Dude? Did you just call me dude?" Sawyer asked, frozen in place. He shook it off and strode after her. "You're an interesting person, you know that?"
"Thanks," Kris stopped. "How many of there are you?"
"Forty…forty something. The Tailies just arrived, so there's an extra…four?"
"The Tailies?"
"The people from the back of the plane. Look, do I have to explain everything to ya, because I can fetch dear old Abdul and really see if you were on our plane."
"No! I mean, I was on the plane, its just, well its been awhile. We didn't think anyone other than us were alive."
"There's a lot of that going around." Sawyer pushed back branches as they stepped onto the beach. "Welcome to one of our many homes," he said sarcastically.
Kris stared in awe. Makeshift buildings littered the beach. People sat near the water or ran about having fun. Many were getting water from a basin near the campsite. A dog ran across the beach, and a baby cried.
"There's a baby here? And a dog?"
"Small world, hey?"
"Aaron and Vincent. They're a lot alike." Sawyer trudged on. Kris followed. "Food is over there, water, fire, and everyone else. You want a shower, go to the Hatch." Suddenly Sawyer froze as a brown haired woman and a man with blondish hair about the same height, approached them. "Damn."
"Sawyer! Hey have you seen-" The man started, and then he saw Kris. "Who's she?"
The woman stared at Kris too. Kris wasn't sure what to do. Turn and run, or introduce herself. Sawyer did it for her.
"Wait a minute Charlie Boy. She's past the test."
"Test? What the hell does that mean? Is she one of them? Where'd she come from?"
"What's going on Sawyer?" The woman questioned.
"Will ya two just calm down a bit? The Doctor and Genuine Iraqi gave her the all clear." Charlie advanced on her and Sawyer shoved him back, "So back off!"
"A little protective, huh Sawyer?" The woman taunted. Kris didn't care, she had just come out of being tortured, she could handle taunting.
"Not now Freckles." The woman continued, and Sawyer objected, "Kate! I mean it, don't push me."
Kate looked taken aback, and Charlie looked stunned. "Wow Sawyer, never seen the caring side of you before.' Charlie said quietly. Then he smiled, "You should do that more often." He walked away, glancing back at the newcomer from time to time. After a hard stare, Kate did the same, leaving Sawyer in her wake.
"Thanks," Kris said walking next to Sawyer.
"Don't mention it. Seriously."
----4--------8---------------15----------------16-----------------------23------------------------------------------42
Kris sat on a sand hill on the beach. She glanced at her bandage and found that the bleeding had let up. With a wince of pain, she began to peel the bandage away. When it was completely removed, her shoulders sagged at the thought that soon, the cuts on her arms would be permanent scars Cuts like that don't go away, not for a long time.
"What happened to your arm?" A deep voice asked. Kris looked up at the owner of the voice. He was a tall, bald man with a light scar running over his right eye.
"I cut it."
"Ah, I see," He said as he lowered himself beside her, "Except cuts usually don't leave the word LIES trailing down your forearm."
Kris turned away, wrapping a hand around her arm in the process. "Yeah, so okay. Someone cut it."
"You mean Sayid cut it."
"How did you-"
"Kid, the one person on this island who knows about torture is Sayid. Plus, we could all hear you screaming."
"Oh. Gotcha."
"Well, it as nice meeting you…"
"Kris."
"Kris. I have to get back to the Hatch, I have things to get done."
"Nice meeting you too, Mr…"
"Locke, John Locke. Bye now."
"Bye." Kris had just started to rewrap her arm up when Jack walked up to her. "Hey Jack."
"How's the arm?" Jack sat down next to her and help bandage her arm.
"Hurts, throbs a little. It stings too."
"Well, considering, that's all normal." He finished bandaging and sat back, "Was it true?"
"Was what true?"
"What you said, about my dad? Did he really kill your brother?"
"Yeah, he did. Sorry about just dumping the news on you like that. I was taking my brother home on this flight. My friends and I went to claim him and bring him home." Jack let out a little sigh, "What?"
"No, its just that, I was bringing home my dad the exact same way."
"But he survived the crash."
"Yeah, but he didn't survive his heart."
