Chapter 6 (Timeline 2)

He was a pitiful sight; clothed in rags, his stubbled face etched with cuts and bruises. The only clean thing on him was a large off-white bandage covering his right shoulder and even that was beginning to show signs of the festering wound underneath.

"What have they done?" Dawn gasped, as the torch slipped from her hand.

It hit the ground with a clatter plunging them into darkness. The silence weighed heavy and she suddenly began to think this had been a very bad idea. Then there was movement. Her heart began to pound and she was about to hammer on the door to beg Locke to get her the hell out of there, when she felt the cool handle of the torch in her hand.

"Woh!" she jumped back.

"You're welcome," came the deadpan reply.

He was within arms length and yet the casual sarcasm in his voice steadied her. He was capable of humour, that, at least, was something.

"You scared me," she scolded, finally locating the light switch.

"You're easily scared."

Large green eyes suddenly bore into her own, then, fleetingly, something passed across his face causing him to take a sharp intake of breath.

"Seems you are too."

Whatever she had seen in his features before quickly vanished. His eyes darkened.

"You're here to interrogate me," he stated matter-of-factly.

She laughed incredulously.

"I've been a member of Amnesty International since I was in junior school!"

He appeared unmoved.

"So what brought you here then?"

"Curiosity," she replied honestly. "My name is Dawn Janson. Nice to meet you…"

He looked at her wearily, before reciting his usual lines.

"Henry Gale. I'm from Minnesota. My wife Jennifer and I crashed on this island in our hot air balloon. She didn't survive."

"But you did?"

She quickly realised how bad her last remark sounded.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for your loss."

He hung his head. She felt a pang of guilt.

"Here," she gestured for him to sit down. "Let me take a look at your shoulder."

"Are you a medical professional?"

"No, but I was in St. John Ambulance."

He looked at her dubiously before sitting down.