okay, i hope this chapter makes up for my lack of updating! and many thanks to Richard Starkey, Sharpsnout, and pacejunkie for reviews: )
disclaiming: i own no Lost stuff or things. Jake and Ari are mine.
They catch up with the Alex girl later on. It seems like some sort of camp. A hostage camp, Jake guesses it could be called. There are only about a half dozen kids there, but they have yet to see them all. Escape attempts are considered meaningless and impossible.
But Ari thinks one up anyway.
"There's a little hole over near the very back," he whispers to Jake one night. "It's small, but big enough for us to fit through it."
"What about me?"
The two slowly turn around, and see Alex's face in the hollow, artificial-looking moonlight coming from a skylight in the ceiling.
Ari looks her up and down. "You could come, too, if you want," he affirms.
"I'm going," she declares. "When do you leave?"
"As soon as we can figure out the rest of the plan," Ari answers, turning back to Jake. He stares at him straight in the eyes and adds, "We leave tonight."
Alex's eyes widen. "Tonight?" she asks, her voice rather high and shaky.
"That a problem?"
"No, course not. I just thought…maybe you didn't have the whole plan figured out yet, the way you were talking…"
Ari flashes her a smile, moonlight gleaming off his braces.
"We don't."
"There was a camp," Jake begins. "I don't know if it's still there, but it was. There was a girl, too. A girl named Alex."
"Alex…" Locke repeats. "What did she look like?"
Jake pauses, trying to remember the mysterious girl he had met seemingly ages ago. "She was sorta tan," he says. "Long, black hair. Straight hair. Big brown eyes. Kinda tall, and skinny. She was skinny."
Locke begins to piece things together. "Did you happen to catch her last name?"
"I dunno. It was something French. That began with an R."
Locke nods. "All right. Continue."
The guards sleep at night. They're supposed to stay guard all night, because they sleep all day, according to the leader, according to the guy who brought Jake and Ari there in the first place. But the guards don't sleep in the daytime. They go off and get drunk. Where they get drunk is unknown to the threesome, but a lot of things tend to be unknown these days, so who's to say there isn't a bar down there, too?
"Let's go," Ari whispers, signaling with his hand for them to continue forward. They slink along the slick linoleum floor, their sneakers in hand. That had been Jake's idea; sneakers would squeak. Socks stay silent.
They're serenaded by the soft snoring and sleep-talking of the guards, who are sprawled in different corners of the room.
Suddenly, to their horror, a light switch flickers on.
"Get down!" Jake whispers urgently, pulling Alex and Ari to the floor. They lay there, their faces pressed against the cold, unwelcoming floor, hearts beating out of their chests.
The soft click of expensive shoes echoes on the linoleum. He sneezes. No one wishes that God bless him. It would be to their advantage if God didn't bless him.
After a few minutes of surveying the area, the guy grunts in approval, switches the light back off, and walks out.
They jump up, breathing heavy and fast.
"Holy crap," Alex breathes.
"He'll come back, I'll bet. C'mon, we've gotta go," Ari insists, shoving Jake forward.
They continue their trek through the industrialized jungle, searching desperately for the hole Ari promised was nearby. Finally, Ari locates it.
"Right there!" he whispers excitedly, pointing. "You see it?"
Sure enough, there was a hole in the wall. It wasn't there for a reason; it was just some random hole nobody had bothered to fill up with cement. There was a chair blocking it, but Ari had stumbled over it one day while carrying something. He couldn't see two inches in front of him, he hit the chair, and there was the hole. Just like that.
Ari ushers Alex and Jake through it, then goes in himself. They crawl through the darkness, occasionally hitting one another, but otherwise getting through smoothly.
After what seems like eternities, they make it out into the jungle. Alex's eyes widen. "Oh my God," she mutters.
"What?" Jake asks.
"It's beautiful," she answers, waving her hand around at the vast foliage surrounding them.
"Isn't it?"
Jake freezes. "Ari," he says slowly, "that wasn't you, was it?"
Ari shakes his head slowly.
The guy steps forward, eyes gleaming with intense pleasure. "You haven't been the only ones to find that damn hole," he tells them. "Don't feel proud or accomplished about it."
It's a unanimous decision. After three seconds, they run in different directions. It's elementary, but it's the only thing their panicked minds can think of.
Jake looks over his shoulder nervously. He can see Ari running awkwardly, trying to dodge the numerous roots and plants trying constantly to trip him up. Their pursuer pulls out a gun and aims it at Ari.
"Ari! Behind the tree!" Jake yells, turning around fully now, motioning frantically for Ari to run behind the trees so that the guy wouldn't have a clear shot.
He shoots anyway.
Jake freezes, his eyes wide and terrified. Was the guy's aim really that good? Is anybody's aim that good?
After a few extremely tense moments, Jake can hear Ari's voice, and to his relief, it's far away. He turns himself around and runs.
He skids to a stop when he sees Alex in front of him.
"Jake," she whispers. "Where's Ari? Is he okay?"
"I think so. Yeah, he's fine. He is."
Out of nowhere, his hands start to tremble, and he feels sweat dripping down his face. The trembling moves up his arms, and down to his legs. He collapses.
"Jake!" Alex cries, trying to pull him back up. "What are you doing?"
He doesn't scream. He just lies there, shaking and sweating. He feels lightheaded, and feels himself losing consciousness rapidly. The last thing he sees is the guy approaching Alex from behind.