Fire and Ice
Chapter 4
A night to remember part 1
The jungle is quiet, there is life, some birds hoot high in the canopy. Long grass rustles in the moonlight, as a figure slowly steps. Locke is back to where he knows where he is comfortable, out in the island, not in the bunker inputting numbers onto a computer screen.
Locke stops, and listens. The slight breeze rustles throughout the jungle, down from the hills, and through the valley. Something is not right, he thinks. He is an hour away from the bunker, two hours from the beachside camp.
They are coming!
He turns and runs in the direction of the beachside camp.
Eve is curled up underneath a blanket beside a dying fire, sleeping peacefully. Connor watches her, walks a few metres to his shelter. He contemplates some reading; however the ever darkening night prevents this from happening. He yawns, lies down and closes his eyes.
"Uncle Connor." A voice crys out. Connor wakes up to a tugging on his arm. It is his four year old niece Emily. Connor wakes up concerned, concerned that she is not sleeping in the tent beside her older sister Amy.
"What's up cupcake?" He gently smiles. This camping trip is proving to be a nightmare.
"I need a wee wee."
A laugh is heard coming from the sleeping bag across from him. "Why's Aunt Lesley laughing?"
Connor grins, as his yawning younger sister opposite the campfire across from him, looks at him. "Because your Uncle Connor made a bet with Lesley, and your Uncle now owes your Aunt."
Lesley gets up and walks over to Amy, via Connor who slaps a crisp ten dollar bill into her palm.
"Come on cup-cake." She gently whispers.
Emily and Amy are asleep in the tent. "I give Emily another two hours." Lesley smiles and checks her watch. "That'll be one am." Connor glances at a mischievously smiling Lesley.
"Emily asked me if there were any grizzly bears in the forest!" Lesley smiles.
"There are no bears in this forest." Connor sighs.
"I told her that!"
"Then what's keeping her awake?"
Something stirring in the forest both answers them.
Lana wakes up. There is a commotion going on at the other end of the camp. Vincent runs into the jungle, followed by Shannon, and then Sayid.
Connor sees them too, he contemplates following but decides against it.
"That's not a grizzly bear!" Connor mutters, slowly getting up.
There is a low audible growl.
"That's definetly not a grizzly bear." Lesley gets up along side him. The hunting rifle that they packed, is now firmly in Connor's hands.
From a forest clearing, rustling is heard, and in the light of the camp fire it is seen. A fully grown adult mountain lion emerges. It stops, and growls, five feet from the tent.
Connor cocks the rifle. One more foot, and I get to mount you above the fire place.
Suddenly Emily pokes her head out of the tent. She looks at Connor, then looks in the opposite direction. She screams. The mountain lion growls, and moves forward.
Connor fires.
Gun shots ring out. Eve wakes up startled. So does the rest of the camp. Aaron is heard whimpering. People start to stir. The voices are nervous and panicky. Connor listens in, all the while, prepping the assault rifle. A hand is placed on his shoulder. Connor turns round. It's Jack. A look is shared.
Emily, and now Amy are screaming. Lesley runs into the tent to grab them. The mountain lion lies at the other edge of the tent. Connor walks over to it. Other campers in the site are running over in their direction. There is still life in its eyes as Connor aims again. He fires.
Connor is handed a pistol, fully loaded. From the suitcase, Jack hands another reluctantly to Charlie. He takes one. There is one spare.
"Kate's at the bunker."
A figure appears, it is instantly recognisable. Locke. Nervous tension is released. Jack tosses him, the final sig-sauer. Locke catches it, and Connor hands him a full clip.
Lana nervously watches the jungle from the direction of where the shots came from. The rest of the camp is firmly behind her, frightened, their imaginations are running wild. Eve is safely with Claire and Aaron. It was very unusual for Charlie to leave her. This is the same woman, who kills without mercy. Lana mocks herself. Give me a gun!
There is a tap on her shoulder, she spins round. Connor has returned with Jack, Charlie, and Locke. Lana's heart skips a beat. "Here!" Connor hands her a glock. "Take this, stick with Claire, Aaron, and Eve!"
Lana nods. Connor glances in the jungle's direction. Lana looks with him. "They're coming!" Lana breaths deeply. "The shots?"
"I think they have guns."
"Sayid and Shannon?"
"We're not going out there in the dead of the night!" Connor replies. "They're on their own."
There is a line of crude booby traps and warning devices, a hundred meters in front of them. To the left, Locke is the closet to the jungle, behind a fallen palm tree. Jack and Charlie are in the centre, crouching behind a vacated shelter. Connor to the right, behind rocks closest to the beach, assault rifle providing the widest arc of fire. One of the camp survivors, Ed, has volunteered to run to the bunker.
As if Kate and a couple of extra shotguns and rifles will make a difference. Connor sneers, as he crouches down.
There is movement!
Connor raises his head. A figure appears, carrying something, between two of the booby traps. Connor takes aim. He sees Locke do the same, Charlie follows suit. Jack hesitates.
"Help me!" A familiar voice screams. Everybody recognises it. Sayid. Jack gets up. Who's that he is carrying?
"That's Shannon." Charlie says.
"If that's Sayid and he's carrying Shannon." Connor whispers. "Who the hell are those?" He points to the groups of figures emerging from the jungle. He slowly counts them, five, with two carrying a stretcher.
One of the group runs towards the encampment. Connor arms the rifle. Takes aim, with his finger on the trigger. They killed Shannon, and followed Sayid to the encampment. This is not good.
"Jack it's me Michael."
Relieved, there is audible sighs of tension being released.
To be continued…
