"You managed to get out of here?" Sayid asked, looking back at Charlie. Charlie stared at the small gap between the Hatch doors and nodded.
"Yeah squeezed through there, the sky was all bloody bright and that bleedin' noise... and yeah, I just kept on walking."
Sayid stared at him for a moment then shook his head. "There is no way we can get back in from here. Somehow the doors became lodged just the way they are and will not budge."
Sayid still wasn't sure if he could believe anything that came from Charlie's mouth. Charlie's behavior was strange, as if he were living in some sort of fancy free melodic world at times and constantly needed to be brought back down to earth. His hearing came and went and he was often hostile when he wasn't in some euphoric state. Sayid wondered if he was up to his old "tricks" but needed more time to study his behavior before jumping to any conclusions.
"Should we come back in the morning then?" Charlie asked, scratching the top of his head and yawning.
"We have already waited too long." Sayid stated. "We must descend from the other entrance and at least locate John, Eko and Desmond. I must assess their injuries if they are still of the living."
Richard and Ted nodded then looked at each other, as if urging one another to step up and be the first down into the Hatch.
Charlie sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not climbing down that dark tunnel to bleedin' hell."
"I'll do it."
Charlie jumped as the voice called out from the shadows. Stepping forward, Kate smiled at both of the men standing in front of the Hatch doors.
Sayid heard a rustle in the bushes to his left and aimed his gun, startling Sawyer who emerged with his hands up.
"That a gun Aladdin or are you just happy to see me?" Sawyer smirked.
Sayid lowered his gun and gave a small smile as Jack emerged with Alex beside him.
The young girl nervously looked over the faces of the four men in front of her as Kate introduced her.
"This is Alex, she helped us escape."
"Alex?" Sayid questioned. Was this the very same Alex that Danielle Rousseau longed to be reunited with? He wondered, Kate picked up on his tone and gave a reassuring nod.
"Yes, Alex." She nodded, putting extra emphasis on her name.
"What the bloody hell happened!" Charlie asked, stepping forward.
"Uh, I was 'bout to ask you the same, Has-been!" Sawyer exclaimed, eyeing the warped doors of the Hatch.
Charlie rubbed his ears about to ask Sawyer to repeat himself, but Sayid stepped forward and spoke instead.
"I'm sure there is much we all need to say, but at this moment, there are three men who may have serious injuries, or worse, be dead, inside."
Jack didn't even know what to say, but in typical Jack fashion he took off towards the other entrance of the Hatch leaving Kate and Sawyer standing at the doors trying to ponder exactly what went down.
Alex quickly took off after Jack and finally, the other's followed as well.
"Is it secure?" Kate asked as Jack fumbled with the wiring that they used as a rope into the Hatch.
"Seems like its as good as its ever been." Jack nodded, he slipped his legs into the loop at the end and Richard and Ted grabbed it to hold his weight and guide him down. Kate grabbed his upper arm before he started the descent and pleaded he left her go down first.
"No." Jack said, motioning for Richard and Ted to slip him down.
Kate sighed and folded her arms as she watched Jack slowly slip into the darkness, a flashlight tucked into the back of his pants.
Charlie, realizing Sayid had plenty of help, decided he was no longer needed and slowly back away from the group and took off towards the beach. He wasn't ready to face what he had escaped, not yet at least.
------------------------------------------------
Kellie slipped back into Sawyer's shelter and looked at her sister with a sigh. Aly hadn't move an inch and stared at the other wide of the shelter, arms wrapped around her knees.
"Look Aly..." Kellie started, Aly just glared up at her sister, who shook her had an sat beside her. "Before you go off on me, and hate me, start cussing...anything, just listen. You aren't the only one dealing with all of this. I am too! I understand why this is hard, and frustrating and strange, but we HAVE to stick together. These people have obviously done okay for themslves here, and maybe we should get to know them a little better so we can do the best we can for now why we think up a solid plan to get off this rock. Hell, I think this will be a good experience for us. You know...like...uh...the Simple Life meets Survivor on Acid or something!"
Aly sighed and gave her sister a gentle smile. "I'd kill for a Chai Latte."
Kellie laughed a bit then hugged her sister. "These people obviously have serious trust issues so, let's step down the bitch a little bit, alright?"
Aly rolled her eyes, "Fine. But I'm not being nice at all to Charlie. He bugs, seriously. I'm tempted to flick his ears. He's an ass."
Kellie laughed. "At least with Sayid, because he seems to be the leader and we've pissed him off enough."
"No promises." Aly stated.
"I'll be pleased if you simply try."
"Hey, I said Fine. So, I'll try." She rubbed her stomach a bit as it began to growl. "I'm starving."
"Same here. That macaroni and cheese we got what? Two bites out of before the wind blew all that sand into it..."
"Yeah." Aly sighed.
"I have some gum." Kellie shrugged, digging through her bags and smiling over a pack of Juicy Fruit. She handed a piece to Aly who shook her head and chuckled a bit.
"Survivor meets Simple Life, Eh?" She laughed to herself as she shoved the gum into her mouth and rested her head on her sister's shoulder. "I just hope we're not long enough to make a season two."
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The air was heavy and Jack found it a little hard to breathe. He took deep breaths and shined his flashlight around the hatch. It looked like an old condemned house, fallen beams, dust circling around the beam from his light, pipes shooting out water and...silverwear sticking out of the wall? He listened for any movement, the slightest moan, any clue that lead him to believe that they were still alive. He coughed as he slid past a beam and more dust filled the air, clinging to his eyelashes and causing his eyes to water.
He heard footsteps behind him, and turned quickly, spying Kate. He sighed as she smiled at him, but he knew she'd never take no for an answer.
"Sayid's coming down too."
Kate coughed a little and waved her hand in the air before her, squinting her eyes. Both pairs of eyes scanned the debris and destrcution before them for a few moments. "What happened in here?" kate finally asked. "Looks like someone set off a bomb or...dynamite."
"I think that is what happened." Jack nodded.
"The others?" Kate shrugged.
"No." Jack said shaking his head. "We need Charlie."
"Charlie won't be coming down." Sayid said as he walked up behind them. "He ran off. Apparently, Eko attempted to blow open the blast doors with the dynamite."
"Why?" Kate asked.
"Because John no longer wished to push the button. Charlie did not tell me this himself. Claire came to me and told me what information she was able to obtain from Charlie. John did not wish to push the button any longer and Eko felt it needed to be done."
"How did Charlie get out?" Jack asked.
"I have been wondering the same thing."
The trio quieted as they heard moaning coming from one of the corridors. Kate ran forward and Jack nervously watched her, fearful that something might fall and crush her.
"Jack!" She cried out.
He struggled to step around the washer and dryer that Kate easily slipped between and spotted Kate leaning over Eko.
"He's alive!" She cried out.
Sayid slipped back to the vertical opening of the Hatch and called out to Richard to go to the other set of doors so they could attempted to open them. It would be the easiest way to get Eko free from the Hatch.
"Can we move him?" Sayid asked as he climbed over to them.
"I'm not sure." Jack stated. He gently tapped the side of Eko's cheek.
Eko struggled to open his eyes as Kate reassured him in a gentle tone that it would all be alright.
Sayid touched Kate's shoulder gently before finding his way to the doors as the lights of the Hatch began to flicker on and off.
Finally he reached the doors and surveyed the two which lead to the outside as the sun peeked through the opening. He still didn't understand how Charlie could have slipped through but he didn't let the thought fill his mind, at the moment three lives were far more important then Charlie's faulty story.
"I will push, you pull." Sayid called out. The door was warped so badly he wasn't sure if he could move it at all, but he hoped applying pressure from the inside would help a little. Using all his might he leaned against the door as Richard struggled to pull the door with both hands grabbing the inner edge of the door. Sayid fell to the ground with a thud, knocking the air out of his lungs as the door swung open, Richard was thrown back, his glasses flying off of his nose.
Sayid caught his breath and jumped to his feet, offering a hand to Richard, who was struggling to locate his glasses. Sayid stopped the man from stepping down, his foot looming a few inches over the black frames.
Richard gave a simple Thank You and the two men walked back to the Hatch.
"What do you wish for us to do?" Sayid asked Jack.
Jack shook his head. "It isn't secure enough in here. Carry him back to camp."
Sawyer had slipped down into the Hatch walking up behind the other small group, Sawyer grinning wide. "Ain't a party 'til I come 'round."
"You were supposed to stay at the opening." Jack said, trying to keep from raising his voice.
"That's what the kid's for." Sawyer shrugged.
"No, it's not." Alex said as she walked up behind Sawyer, pushing her way past him and finding her way to stand next to Kate.
Eko's dry, cracked lips began to move as a whisper escaped.
"Eko, Eko, if you can understand me, please...please let me know!" Kate cried out, holding his hand.
Eko's lips continued to move, his voice rising as he slowly said, "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free"
"We have to get him out, Fast." Jack ordered. Ted had slipped back around to the other entrance, walking up to join the group. He offered to help, as did Richard, and they began trying to even distribute his weight between them as jack and Sayid helped lift Eko's arms around their shoulders, Riichard and Ted getting a strong grip on his waist.
"John?" Jack called out, surveying the darkness with his flashlight, as the lights flickered once more, as they heard a click and them entire area illuminated as the lights began to work properly again.
"John!" Kate yelled.
Alex's eyes were wide as she took in the Hatch, her eyes swallowing every detail.
"Takin' notes for your sugar-daddy there, smallfry?"
"Sawyer, cut it out." Kate growled.
"Hey there, Sassafras, gettin' a little maternal there aren't you, your biological clock tickin'?
"There are men, trapped in this very Hatch, these men could possibly be dead. We don't have time for flirting." Jack growled.
"Whoa, take a deep breath there, Jacko."
Jack didn't bother to say anything else but Kate had caught the look in his eyes, it was more then just the fragile hope that Locke and Desmond that was bothering Jack, the constant flirting that had been going on between her and Sawyer was finally affecting him, weighing heavy on his heart. She wished they would both be honest, she wished he would tell her how he felt instead of bottling it up and getting angry at aimless flirting. Kate sighed as watched Jack's hands slide over the blast doors that kept the group from entering the computer room.
Jack drove his fist into the door several times, crying out "John!"
John Locke eyes fluttered open as he heard his name. "JOHN!" He heard again, recognizing Jack's voice. Never would John ever imagine he would be so incredibly over joyed to hear Jack's voice.
He pushed his torso up a little leaning on his elbows.
He stared down at his tows as a terrifying realization comsumed him, body and soul. He ordered himself to move his toes. Ordered himself to swing his legs around so he could stand, but they laid heavy...laid heavy and dead.
He knew they'd never give up on him, swallowing his pride he gasped and then cried out, "Jack, I'm here!"
"John...are you injured?"
They didn't have to know he had been like this, they didn't have to know. Strong John Locke, skilled hunter, expert tracker, all a myth, built on a foundation of lies? No, he would tell them he was knocked unconcious...no, it didn't work. He would tell them that he was thrown into the computer's desk and he could hear the crack of his spine before he passed out. Yes, that would have to do.
"I can't feel my legs, Jack!" He finally answered.
"Is there any way you can open this up?"
"Yeah." John cried out. "I think so."
The power had buzzed back on moments ago and Locke still struggled to understand what exactly had happened.
He'd have to hotwire the system again and hope that everything in the room still worked. He searched his mind for the memory of Desmond, rubbing the stripped ends of the wires together. He rolled himself to his stomach and pushed up, applying all his weight to his hands, pulling himself to the electrical box before him. The two wires were right before him and he reached and struck them together, over and over under he heard a click, the doors lifting, John's eyes catching a warm, relieved smile from Kate.
John struggled to lift his head as Jack loomed over, looking down at him. John felt weak, an easy prey to the thoughts running rampant in Jack's mind.
"There is no feeling in your legs?" Jack asked. John shook his head.
"We'll take him back." Sayid suggested, motiong to himself and Sawyer.
"And Desmond?" Jack asked. John pointed to the small opening a few feet away. Before Jack could stop her, Kate had slipped into the small space, Alex watching for a moment before ultimately joining her.
Jack shook his head and Sawyer smirked. "What's the matter He-Man, She-ra's not playin' by the rules?"
"Just take him back to camp." Jack stated. Sawyer's smirk just grew larger and they turned and left.
"Kate?" Jack peered down into the small room and moved his flashlight back and forth, finally stopping on a figure crouching before another. His eyes focused and he saw the beams from his flashlight catching in Kate's hair.
"Found Him!" She yelled.
"Is he concious?"
"Aye Brotha." Desmond groaned, his palm wiping the sweat from his brow. "But I'm longin' for just the opposite." He had been in some otherwordly state since his decision to turn the key, in and out of onciousness before Kate's soft eyt cold hands jolted him back into reality. He looked upon the face of Kate and knew there was much he needed to say. His eyes met Alex's and he gave her a small smile, the type of smile you wouldn't give a mere stranger.