Fire and Ice
Chapter 1
Eve
I should have listened to you Sayid, Sawyer, and even you Kate. Connor leans against the edge of an embankment of a stream. It is pitch black, and the jungle that surrounds him is quiet. That means something is wrong, something is very wrong. Leaving the safety of the beach, even the caves, fifteen days ago, was beginning to look like the biggest mistake in the history of big mistakes. Connor grimaces, and flicks off the safety of the assault rifle. Well Jack you got your wish, I found trouble.
Sayid was right about one thing. There were others on this island. It's the creepiest feeling, Connor thinks, and its not the wind. Nathaniel and his brood was just a bunch of fucked up religious zealots, even though he hadn't seen one, and from the stories about Ethan Rom, the natives or the others of this island were a different proposition.
He hears it. The sloshing of water, like somebody is running in the stream, Connor turns in its direction, and raises the rifle.
The sloshing gets louder, and louder. Three hundred meters and closing. Connor can now hears something else. Breathing, panicked breathing. Short controlled bursts.
Around the bend of the stream, he sees a figure appear, smallish in the fading moon-light. One fifty meters, Connor lowers the rifle. The figure is getting closer, it is sounding more panicked. It's a…
The girl turns around, she is about six or seven, with matted long blonde hair, a torn "Driveshaft" t-shirt, and dirty jeans. She is unwashed, and has been for what seems weeks, her wrists are still bleeding from were they bound them together. She struggles through the water. They are getting closer.
Connor sees them, two human figures, very tall, thinly built, male definitely, carrying clubs or spiked sticks. He raises the rifle, and takes aim. Shoot to wound, they'll use up their resources on the wounded. The girl squeals as she stumbles and falls into the stream. Connor has a clear line of sight.
He fires. The lead male collapses shot through the shoulder. The second one keeps coming. Connor fires again, the second man howls in pain, shot in the leg. The girl gets up, and looks at them stunned, panting for breath. Both men are writhing in agony. She turns, and runs directly into Connor.
She screams.
"Calm down." Connor whispers forcefully for the umpteenth time in as many minutes. He bellows in pain, as she sinks her teeth into his arm. She struggles violently. "I'm not going to hurt you!" He says softly. "You were on the plane to LAX, you sat in the row in front of me." The girl looks up at him, and gasps. "I was the man in the suit." Connor smiles. "I still am though I haven't shaven for a couple of weeks!" She stops struggling. "You argued with your parents about an in-flight movie you wanted to watch." I'm getting through to her, now what was her name, Evangeline, Lilly, Ellie? He pauses.
"Eve!" He crouches down to face her. "That's your name, isn't Eve!" The girl stares at Connor for a few moments. She nods.
"Eve we need to move now, I think the men that were chasing you might have friends – you understand?"
Eve nods. "There's a camp, with other people from the flight, we'll look after you!" Connor reaches out and holds her hand. "Come on we've got to put some distance between them and us."
It is morning. Day forty-three on the island, Connor groans. Eve is asleep in a grove, next to a fresh water stream. The sun is rising above the ocean. Connor camped here before, five days before. He could have sworn that he heard a motor boat during that night, amazing how the mind plays tricks on you. He watches Eve, whilst filling up a couple of water bottles. He yawns, they both ran for a solid five hours, stopping for a few minutes here and there, I'll sleep when I get back to the camp. Nobody followed them, however the trail that they left, a paralytic person could follow. On a strict ration plan, the food that he had, has lasted. However he now has another mouth to feed. Eve hungrily ate his last very ripe banana, before she was sick.
"Here you go Eve." Connor hands her a full water bottle. Eve grabs it, and gulps it down in a few moments. "Thirsty?" She nods. Connor hands her the other full water bottle. Eve drinks this one, exactly the same way. She rifts.
Connor grins.
"You're welcome Eve." She looks up at Connor. "You don't talk much?" Come on Connor, that's not fair. Eve glances away, staring into the jungle. That's probably why. He guesses. "We're about three days from where the camp is. I think if we move fast, we can do it in a day and a half!"
Eve gives Connor a blank look. "I take that as a may be." Connor points to the stream, get yourself cleaned up, we'll be going in ten minutes."
"Did you hear it last night?" Hurley watches out from the cave. "Hear what?" Sayid says stretching. "I think it was gunfire." He nervously grimaces. "About four or five shots from the other side of the island."
Sayid walks alongside him. "Yes I did."
"Too much is happening here!" Hurley glances in the direction of where Jack, Kate and Locke are, at the bunker.
To be continued…
