Fire and Ice
Chapter 15
One Shot
A shot echoes across the island.
As if time has stood still, survivors stop, and turn in its direction. For moments that feel like an eternity, nothing happens. Within the shelters and the bunkers, all look into the jungle.
Lana thinly smiles, he did he, he actually did it. She could almost punch the air in delight, Libby in the shelter with her, sighs. It's over now. Lana looks again into the jungle. There is a figure there, a small. She blinks. It was there a moment ago. She shakes her head. I thought I saw something.
"It's over now!" Lana whispers.
Jack stares at a table on the bunker. He plays with a toy DC-3 plane. Scattered around him on the ground, are Kate's few personal artefacts. A crayon drawn picture, of Kate by Eve, her rap-sheet, and finally a tattered weather beaten Polaroid photograph. He looks at it, then he contemplates the bottle of Dharma Initiative Scotch in the pantry.
Connor stares in horror at what has happened. Kate looks up at him from the ground, her eyes lifeless, she then blinks rapidly, as if awakening from a nightmare. His finger is still on the trigger.
Connor feels a sharp stinging pain in his left arm. Blood trickles from a gnash.
"Aren't you lucky, I selected single shot instead of automatic!" A familiar southern drawl speaks. Connor blinks through rain soaked eyes.
Sawyer stands five metres in front of him. An assault rifle aimed squarely at him, Connor recognises it as one of the arsenal weapons, stolen by Sawyer. Sawyer moves slowly forward.
"Don't move Abdullah." Sayid only moves a few paces, before caution stops him. "I have 29 bullets, he has one."
"I only need one." Connor raises his pistol, in line with Sawyer's head. Kate starts crawling away through the mud.
"Aiding a murderer, I thought you had some sort of honour, Sawyer!" Connor whispers.
Sawyer grins, glancing slightly to make sure Kate is beside him. "I don't think she murdered Eve, Connor, I don't think you do either!"
Connor laughs. "This is great. She's fucking with your mind Sawyer!" A bewildered Kate, stands next to Sawyer.
"The two of you flee, I will hunt you both down!" There is a trade-mark lop-sided grin from Sawyer. "I'd be insulted if you didn't!" Sawyer pauses. "Anyway you won't follow us right away, not if you have somebody wounded!"
Sawyer turns round, and fires a second shot, this time in Sayid's direction!
Kate screams, Connor turns round in horror.
Everybody hears the second shot. What has just happened?
Sayid winces in pain as Connor staunches the blood from a shoulder wound, Connor mutters curses, and swears to himself, as he looks into the jungle. A simple plan is forming.
Get Sayid patched up, get a gun, and hunt them down. He hoists Sayid arm around his shoulder, and slowly they make their way back to the bunker.
"Why did you do that!" Kate shouts at Sawyer. Sawyer stops a few feet in front of her, mutters something, then turns round.
"Thank you would be nice freckles!" He turns round, and carries on walking. "Considering I just saved your life!"
"Why?"
Sawyer turns round, this time more slowly. "Cause believe it or not, I don't think you murdered Eve!"
"I didn't" Kate hisses.
Sawyer smirks. "Well for that, I guess we're now on the run." Sawyer walks on deeper into the jungle.
"Why thank you Sawyer, for declaring war on the rest of the survivors". Sawyer mutters, as he walks past. Kate watches before following him.
"A little help here please!" Connor shouts. There are gasps, as a bloodied Sayid and a sweat—soaked Connor enter beach encampment. Survivors run in their direction to help.
Lana gets up from her shelter. Libby watches her curiously then turns round. Both run towards Connor.
"I need a rifle or a shotgun." Connor wipes the rain from his face. Charlie has gone to get Jack. Locke looks up from attending to Sayid.
"May be you should get seen to first!" Locke sternly says, pointing to the gnash across Connor's arm. "Maybe we should give them a head start!" Connor retorts, as Lana starts to bandage up his arm. He winces as she draws it tight.
"A child murderer escapes aided by a known criminal." The venom in Lana's voice is stinging. "We sit here debating on the matter."
Locke sighs deeply. "Ok – we go, but we wait until we can get more help. Eko, Anna, even Jack. The five of us"
"Six"
All eyes turn on Lana. She stands defiantly. "I can shoot pistol, a rifle, I lived on farm!" She gets back to attending to Connor's arm. "I suggest we get supplies too!"
"You had this planned!"
Kate looks under the canopy of bushes, there are two ruck-sacks, and another rifle. "Hell yeah, Freckles I decided an hour ago to help you out." Sawyer barges past her. "Again a thanks wouldn't go amiss!"
Kate pauses for a moment.
"What do we do now?" Kate, lifts up a rucksack.
"There's a bunker, that Ana's crew hid out in, I figure it's a two day hike." Sawyer grabs his ruck-sack, and slings it across his back. "It's in the area of the line that we're not supposed to cross kinda!"
Both look out into the jungle. Wind rustles through the foliage.
"I should go alone!" Kate whispers.
"Don't get all modest Freckles." Sawyer starts to walk on ahead. "We're both outlaws now."
"It's me they want!"
Sawyer sighs. "In that chase we better start moving!"
"Arrogant son of a bitch!" Connor mutters. "He had them here all along!" Connor and Jack look at the covered up hole in Sawyer's shelter. Medicine, and more importantly the guns are still there. Connor crouches down amazed at the what appears to be statues of the Virgin Mary, a host of them. He picks one up. "Never figured him for a religious sort!"
Footsteps are heard from behind them. Connor throws the statue back into the hole, and turns round with Jack.
"It'll be dark in an hour, I suggest we go now or first thing in the morning!" Ana-Lucia says, a day-sack over one shoulder. Locke joins them.
"Just the four of us?"
Connor nods. "Take three days rations, ammo, and medicine." He motions towards the hole. "There's two pistols, a rifle, and shotgun. Oh and" He throws to Ana-Lucia, some rope. "That should do the two of them."
A smile appears across Ana-Lucia's face. "So we're going to bring them back alive?"
Connor's gaze matches her's, and nods.
"I sent Lana, and Libby to get some supplies from the bunker shouldn't we wait?" Jack says concerned.
Connor shakes his head. "No, I think if Lana sees Kate and has a gun in her hand…" Do I need to elaborate? The silence confers agreement.
Connor holsters the pump-action shotgun, and starts walking.
"We're wasting our time here people."
To be continued…
