Lost Hope
Chapter 3
Freya struggles in the storage room to cut the ropes off her wrists. The room is filled with food supplies. she sees a vent, has an Apollo candy bar, and climbs up through it. As she is crawling to the vent she stops and listens to Locke and the hatch guy talk.
"The pilot said we had lost radio contact, but by then we were already a thousand miles off course. Any search teams would have given up weeks ago." Locke told him.
"So you were traveling from Sydney to Los Angeles?" The man asked
"Yes."
"So the world is still out there?" What on earth did he mean by that? Freya thought to herself. This guy really was crazy.
"As far as I know. Could you tell me your name?" Locke asked him.
"My name? My name is Desmond." He said.
"Desmond, I'm John. You should know the gun is really unnecessary." Locke said.
"Yeah, so I should just hand it over to you then, should I? How many of you are there?" Desmond asked.
"43, but 4 sailed out this morning on a raft." Locke told him.
"A raft?" Desmond almost sounded amused by that.
"That simulated sunlight - is that because you never leave? Is there another way out?" Locke asked changing the subject.
"How many of your group have gotten sick?" Desmond asked him, Freya listened confused. Sick? what did he mean sick?
"Sick?" Locke asked confused.
"Sick, as in ill, as in dead!" Desmond sounded worried in his statement.
"Is that why it says quarantine on the inside of the hatch..." Locke started to ask but was cut off.
"Answer the question." Desmond said raising the gun a little.
"No one has. No one. No one is sick." Locke said just a beeping signal is heard. Locke saw Freya moving through the ventilation ducts.
"Get up." Desmond said moving Locke to the computer room, "Stand right there. Do you know how to use this, box man?"
"I haven't seen one of those in 20 years." Locke said looking fascinated by the computer.
"Do you know how to use it?!" Desmond asked Locke again.
"Yes."
"Sit!" Desmond pulled out a chair and sat Locke down. Locke looked up to see a number countdown move from 2:38 to 2:37 to 2:36.
"Listen carefully, type in exactly what I tell you understand - exactly, nothing else. 4, 8, 15... Did you hear that?" Desmond asked him.
"What?" Locke asked confused.
"What did you just put in? What number did you just put in?!" Desmond screamed.
"15"
"Right, 16, 23, 42. Now press execute." Desmond said and Locke looked at the button.
"What's going to happen?" Locke asked hesitating his actions.
"Just push it!" Desmond said nudging Locke with the gun.
Locke pushes the execute button, and the counter resets to 108:00. Just then they hear a voice calling for Locke and Freya.
"Freya! Locke!" The voice yelled.
"Who the hell is that?" Desmond asked
"That would be Jack." Locke told him.
Desmond pushed Locke through the hatch. He looks through the scope and sees Jack.
"Who is he?" Desmond asked looking back at Locke.
"His, uh, his name is Jack. He's our doctor."
"What is he doing here?" Desmond asked
"To be honest with you I'm a little surprised to see him." Jack didnt want to come down the hatch, he refused, but I guess they were gone to long so he got worried.
"Your doctor has a gun, brother." Desmond says and shoves Locke. "Move." [He turns on some music. "Make one sound and I'll shoot. Move."
Freya can see Jack in the computer room and calls out to him, but he can't hear her.
"I wouldn't do that, Jack." Locke said, Desmond was hiding behind the wall.
"Where's Freya? What the hell did you..." Jack started to ask but was cut off when a gun was pointed at Locke.
"Move and I kill him. Put the gun down." Desmond said
"Where's Freya?" Jack asked again not lowering his gun.
"Jack, it's okay." Locke reassured Jack.
"I said drop it." Desmond said again.
"Where's Freya?!" Jack asked with anger and frustration
"She's fine. Just put down the..." Locke said
"I'm not putting down anything!" Jack yelled just then Desmond fired his gun which hits near where Freya is, in the vent. She was quick enough to move out of the way.
"Do you want him to die? Put it down." Desmond told Jack.
"Is this what you were talking about Locke? Is this your destiny? All roads lead here?" Jack asked Locke.
"Jack, calm down." Locke urged Jack
Desmond moved behind Locke , "Lower your gun or I'll blow his damned head off, brother!"
"You." jack looked at Desmond shocked, like he knew him. How could he know him?
Freya lowers herself from the vent into the gun vault. She grabs a shotgun, moves up behind Desmond, and hits Desmond in the back with it. He falls, discharging his weapon.
Jack moves to hold Desmond down, "Do not move."
"Now, don't..." Locke said to Jack
"Don't what?" Jack asked
"He's unarmed."
"He just had a gun pointed at your head!" Jack yelled looking at Locke
They look over and see the computer has been shot and is smoking.
"What did you do? What did you do? We're all going to die. We're all going to die" Desmond said trying to get up. "I have to fix it.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Jack asked looking at Locke
"Listen, if you do not let me up, we are going to die..." Desmond pleaded.
"Stop moving or I swear to God..."
"Look at the wall! You see that?! That's a timer! It's counting down! I've got to enter the code! I've got to push the button!"
"Or what?" Jack asked him
"Jack, you should let him up."
Jack turned back to Locke, "Don't tell me what to do!" He looked back at Desmond, "Or what? What's going to happen?"
Desmond looked up at Jack, "Do I know you?"
Jack looked to Freya, "You got him?" Freya nodded her head holding the shot gun at Desmond.
Jack lets Desmond up and Desmond runs to the computer to try and fix it.
"Bastard"
Locke stares at Jack
"What?" Jack asks Locke
"Nothing, Jack." he says.
Desmond is looking through his bookshelf for something.
"I don't think you need that, Freya," Locke said and looked at Desmond, "Whatever you're looking for, maybe I can help."
"Can you fix a computer? Desmond asks but Locke shrugs. "Then you can't help me, can you?"
Thats when Freya spoke up, "Sayid can fix a computer."
"Get him. Go and get Sayid." Locke urged her.
"Can you get back up that rope?" Jack asked her
"I won't have to, there's got to be a front door in this place." She said looking over at Desmond.
"Down the corridor to the left. Be persistent, the wheel sticks." He tells her and she heads out to go get Sayid. Desmond finds a jar of components. "Gotcha."
Desmond and Locke run back over to the computer. Freya opens the front door. Jack grabs the jar off the table where Desmond set it down and holds it hostage.
"Now, you're going to tell me what's going on." He said.
"Jack, we don't have time for..." Locke said
"We're taking a time out."
"Please, just let me..." Desmond tried to plead with jack but he didnt give up.
"Look, you want to get to work - you're going to tell me how you got here."
"It was 3 years ago. I was on a solo race around the world, and my boat crashed into the reef, and then Kelvin came."
"Kelvin?" Locke asked him.
"Kelvin - he comes running out of the jungle - hurry, hurry, come with me. He brings me down here. The first thing he does - because there's beeping already - he types in the code, he pushes the button, and it stops. What was all that about, I say. Just saving the world, he says."
"Saving the world?" Locke looked confused.
"His words, not mine. So I started pushing the button, too. And we saved the world together for awhile, and that was lovely. Then Kelvin died, and now here I am all alone. The end."
Jack hands over the jar and Desmond tries to fix the computer. Jack turns to Locke "Don't tell me you believe this. This is crazy. You think that makes sense - pushing a button? You're going to take his word for it?!"
"His word is all we have, Jack."
"You don't have to take my word for it. Watch the film." Desmond said not taking his eyes off fixing the computer.
"What?" Jack asked confused.
"The bookcase - top shelf, behind "Turn of the Screw" - projector's in the pantry." Desmond told him. Locke and Jack get the film. It says "Orientation" on the side of the film canister.
Back at the beach Hurly was talking to Sayid when Freya comes running out of the jungle.
"Sayid!" She yelled.
"Uh, crap." Hurly said
"Sayid, we need your help." She told him, the look on both of their faces were mixed with worry and confusion.
Moments passed and Freya made her way back to the hatch with Sayid. Locke hears Freya's voice.]
"Jack! Jack!" She yelled entering the area where Locke was, "John?"
"Dude." Hurly says
"What is this place?" Sayid asked looking around.
Freya looked at Locke, "John, where's Jack?
He looked at her, "Jack's gone." He turned to Sayid "I need your help."
The timer shows 24:00. Freya is in the corridors looking for something.
"What does it look like?" She yelled asking Sayid
"It's a breaker box. There has to be one. Follow the conduit lines." He resonded
"Cool, okay, great. What's a conduit line?" Hurly asked.
Freya pointed and the ceiling, "Those tubes - follow those."
Hurley ends up finding a pantry, "Whoa!"
"Did you find it?" Freya asked him
"Uh, uh, depends on what you mean by it?" Hurley said looking nervous.
The timer is at 5:00. Locke looks at Sayid, "Can you fix it?"
"This man, whoever he was, replaced the motherboard. The power transformer is blown."
"Don't you need to know why?" Locke asked him
"All I need to know is that the timer is counting down to something, and that this computer needs to be repaired. I'm sure you'll tell me why once I've done so."
Freya finds the breaker and flips the switch. The lights come back on. "Found it!"
They hear the alarm sound and see the timer counting down past 4:00.
"Oh, what's that?" Hurley asked.
"Sayid!" Locke yelled.
"Working on it." He answered
"You have to..."
"I know what I have to do. Reconnected the processor, replaced the transformer." Sayid said and hits the computer's on switch and it turns on.
"It's on." Locke said moving to the computer.
"Okay, so what now?" Freya asked.
"There was a code. He made me enter it." Locke told her but he could seem to remember what it was.
"What code?" Hurley asked looked scared.
"Do you remember what it is?" Sayid asked him.
Locke started entering the code. "4, 8..."
"Wait a minute..." Hurly said but Locke kept going
"15, 16..."
"Dude, I'm serious, stop."
"Hugo, this is not the time or the place." Locke told him.
"Yeah, well, I think it is." Hurley said to Locke
"23..."
"What is this thing? You don't even know what it does! I mean we need..." Hurley tried again. Freya walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hurley what is it?" She asked and he looked at her.
"It's those numbers, their bad." He told her and she gave him a confused look.
"32..."
"You know what? Forget it, go ahead, do your thing." He said and just stood there.
"It's not 32. It's 42." Jack came said from the doorway "He just told me - Desmond. The last number's 42."
"You're sure?" Locke asked him
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Locke enters 42, and is about to press the execute button. Freya just stood there thinking about why this button was so important.
"You do it, Jack." Locke said taking his finger away from the Execute button
"What?"
"You have to do it." Locke persisted
"You do it yourself, John."
"No, you saw the film, Jack. This is a two person job, at least."
"This argument is irrelevant." Sayid said to both of them
Freya nodded her head, "He's right, it doesnt take one person to type the numbers and another to push the button."
"It's not real. Look, you want to push the button, you do it yourself." Jack told Locke
"If it's not real, then what are you doing here, Jack? Why did you come back? Why do you find it so hard to believe?!"
"Why do you find it so easy?!" Jack yelled at Locke
"It's never been easy!" Locke said
Another, more insistent alarm starts to sound and the timer shows 1:04. .
"Maybe you should just do it." Freya told Jack
"No. It's a button."
"I can't do this alone, Jack. I don't want to. It's a leap of faith, Jack." Locke said trying to convince him.
The timer shows 0:27. Jack goes to the computer and pushes the button. The timer shows 0:01 and then resets to 108:00. Locke sits down at the computer.
"I'll take the first shift." Locke said looking at the timer it had now switched to 107:00.