Chapter One / Part One of Three
Locke Centric
John Locke and Jack Shepard stared down into the abyss that they had just cracked open. The dynamite had done the trick and Locke carried a pleased look while Jack grimmaced with a worried one.
"What do you think's down there?" Locke said, turning his gaze to Jack.
The doctor spoke to him firmly, "Doesn't matter, we aren't going down there tonight. For all we know its a closed up water source, theres no way we can fit everyone down here tonight."
Hurley and Kate wandered over to the two men staring down the long baige hatch. Hurley walked with a slow waddle due to his imense weight and Kate carried her 124 pound body with confidence. Hurley opened his mouth as though to say something as they came closer but closed it, he had learned from experience not to question Jack and Locke when they were in their 'talks.'
"Why don't you wanna' go down there Jack? If it is a closed water source," The way Locke said it, Jack knew he was mocking his idea of what could be down there, "We could get value from it, we have nothing to loose just taking a peek."
Jack stood up and slung his black backpack over his plaid collared shirt with cutoff sleeves. He brushed as his jeans as he spoke, clearing lumps of dirt off of them, "Not tonight. We're done here."
John Locke now stood and Kate gained a scared look on her face the two men were going to duke it out verbally, "But why? We went to all this effort getting the dynamite and now you want to leave?"
"Damnit John," Jack said tensely, "We--" He didn't have a definate point not to go down there.
Locke paused for a second and chose his words, "We all need to make decisions in our lives Jack, you for one know that better than most. Your a doctor, you make decisions daily, but this... This is the greatest decision we may ever make in our lives. We crashed here and now we are staring at the mouth of the dragon, who thought it would go this way?"
Jack sure didn't, "Locke, I know that you are a faith driven man. I know that, but honestly 'staring into the mouth of the dragon?' It may be nothing down there!" He retorted.
"But what if it is something Jack!" Locke threw his hands in the air, "What if those-- Others do come. What if this is our salvation. What if this is our gift. What if this is the Island's reward."
"The Islands?" Questioned Jack, "This is a tropical Island, nothing more John." The doctor with the short buzzed black hair turned away from Locke, "I'm leaving."
Kate finally piped up, her curt voice made Jack weak at the knees, "Jack! Stay. Please. We all need to help eachother solve this."
For the first time in a long while Jack turned to Kate beginning to walk, "Nothing is down there."
Hurley turned to Kate and Locke as Jack started to walk away, he made akward signals with his hands. "Well, I best be off too. Its a little late." The fat man inched away with a coy smile and then broke off into a run to catch up with Jack.
"Well Kate. Now it's just the three of us and this hatch." Locke said with a grin, looking to the hatches hole and then to Kate.
"The three of us?" Kate was confused, there were only three of them.
"Me, you and our good friend the Island." John Locke replied. "Now lets go get something to help us repel down."
John Locke sits in his wheelchair, leaning his eyebow against it to prop his head up. As the man in the trashy business suit and sloppy comb over talks Locke tries to keep his man on what the man is saying. His desk is standard brown and he has a bit of wood that says RICKY BILLIAM on it, it's obviously a sign of status to have on of those.
"Well Mr.Locke I've reviewed your resume and it all looks grand. If anything your overquailfied for the job." The man named Ricky says, putting down the white folder holding Locke's personal information.
"You best tell that to the Supermart manager," John Locke starts, placing a hand on his wheelchairs left wheel, "Seems they don't need a man who can't get around too well."
"Well Mr.Locke, you'll be doing mostly clerical work for the company, if all permits you could become regional sales manager." Ricky says, handing the folder back to John.
"'Regional sales manager of a box company', kinda' rolls off your tounge." Locke jokes, using his hands to move the wheelchair away from Ricky Billiam's desk towards to the door.
Ricky stands up, moving to the door to open it for John.
"No. Don't open it Ricky. Don't." Locke puts on a strong face, trying to hide his defenseless demenor.
"Sorry just with your--" Ricky starts.
"Condition?" John interupts.
"Yes I just figured that--"
"You figured wrong." John reached for the door and pulled it open and started out into the hallway towards the elevator.
Kate and Locke headed back to the hatch with hands full of wire and vine from a pile Locke had been collecting since he knew that once the hatch was open they would need a way down. The ladder in the hatch was missing bars on it and though it looked in okay shape, Kate and Locke didn't want to take any risks.
"This should be enough, when I threw the torch down there it looked no more than 30 to 40 feet." Locke said to Kate as he began to untangle the lengths of vine and wire from the plane.
"It'd be easier to get going if Hurley and Jack would have stayed." Kate remarked, walking to trees and pulling on them to see how much force they could hold.
"Yeah well our friend Jack doesn't believe in what's down there. If I know him hes back at camp assuring our people that everythings going to be okay. I'll tell you what, everythings going to be okay once we have a place to hide those people from the Others."
Kate paused, "What if there is nothing down there Locke?"
John let out a little laugh, "Kate, all roads lead here." He held a long line of wire and brought to the tree Kate was standing at. "Is this one strong enough?"
"Yeah," She replied as John began to tie it around it. "But what makes you so sure?"
"Since I was on this Island its been pointing me here, either this will be the next step or the final task." John Locke said with a great deal of faith and belief. "It isn't my place, but Kate what do you see in Jack?" John stopped tieing and turned to face her.
"See in him?" She said shocked.
"Yes, I've seen the way you look at him, or the way you did look at him." Locke said.
"I--I used to think that he was something I needed. Someone I needed. But ever since you found this hatch he's gone to another place, a place he doesn't like to be in. His temper is short and he is short with everyone." Kate remarked with self-conciousness.
"He only believes in what can be explained and the place he doesn't like is one where a man must believe in what everything around gives him not what mankind does."
John Locke sat in his small cubicle with phones ringing and the click of people typing on keyboards filled the quiet air on the 23rd floor of the box companies third owned building. He wore a starch white business shirt with a black tie, it was the best shirt and tie he had. It was really all he could afford.
His phone gave a sutble ring and he picked it up, "John Locke, regional sales manager of Little Mills box company." He hated stating his title, it was just a reminder of his class.
"John... Its your father." The voice was cool and framilar.
Locke froze.
"D-Dad?" He could barely get the words out. His father had been the reason for his downward spiral like his breakup with Helen and the loss of his kidney.
"Son. I can't believe I was able to find you." His father said, John couldn't tell if he was genuine or just putting him on like he did so many times.
John had hour long talks with Helen while they were together about his father and what he had put him through. The things he had done. John closed his eyes.
"I need your help son." His father said.
John thought again, he was so desperate for approval from his father. The things he had done tortured him but he needed his dad too. He needed to make that leap of faith.
He needed to make a choice.
"Don't call here," Locke said, "Just- don't."
He hung the phone up.
He hung up with faith.
The wire was securly tied to a tree and Kate being the lightest of the two was going down first. The rope was tied around her midsection and she walked to the edge of the hatch as Locke held the wire also. It was thick enough to not break and tree looked more sturdy than any other one they would find.
"Good luck Kate. I'll be down quickly after you." He said to Kate and she smiled.
"I know John," She backed up to the edge and stepped onto a crooked ladder rung.
John strengthed his grip on the wire as she went farther down, the clang of her feet hitting each rung reminded him that she was okay. The wire grew heavier as the tree and John helped Kate go down the dark hatch.
Then some movement was heard in the bushes and Jack came moving through the foilage.
Locke turned to him with a smile, "Hello Jack, I'm just lowering Kate down."
Jack turned red and spoke shrilly, "Bring her back up Locke. Now." He was immedately worried for her safety.
"She has our only working flashlight, I gave her a knife too. She'll be okay Ja--" Locke was cut off as Kate let out a yelp then a short scream. Locke pulled on the rope and Jack stepped behind him to help, the wire was suprisingly light and as they pulled it up they noticed that no one was tied to it anymore. They both had instant expressions of fear.
Jack looked at Locke, his face pitch red with anger, "I'm not even going to say it. Just tie me, I left to get this." He held out one of the 9MM pistols. "Good thing too, lets hurry." Jackwas using a suprisinglycalm toneas John Locke felt the guilt of letting Kate go down there sweep over him.
Locke shifted through the 'FOR SALE' section of the newspaper in his small apartment. The place was a mess and he looked at it with a shudder. The newspaper had been hard to get since it was off the curb by his apartment building and his wheelchair always got stuck. He went to 'MISSING' in the newspaper and it was ususal animals and the odd person who had gone astray.
Then he flipped to 'OBITUARIES'.
He saw a picture of his father.
Letting out a small gasp, John Locke read it:
'The wealthy and noble are still at mercy of society. Though his life was taken from us his faith was not. Rest in peace.'
The voice of his father asking for help on the phone rang in Locke's ears as tears began to stream from his eyes. He didn't know why he was crying, the man had robbed him of so much. He cried hard and threw the newspaper and hit the night-table beside him.
He sobbed until his eyes werea darkred and he couldn't form sobs anymore.
Jack was ready to down the hatch and Locke nodded at him. "Jack--"
"We'll discuss this after." Jack stepped onto the first ladder rung and then the other, hurrying to get down to Kate. No one knew what could be happening to her.
"I'm sorry." Locke said even though Jack had distested to talking. Locke stared at the ground and Jack knew he was being sincere.
"It's--" Jack looked away and then looked towards Locke. "It's okay." Jack started to go down the hatch again.
Locke held onto the wire strongly and prayed for his friends safety.