Lost Hope
Chapter 11
After I explained to Desmond that Captain Gault was my uncle, Jack leads me, Desmond, Charlie, Kate, Sawyer, Claire, Sayid, Juliet, Sun, Jin and Hurley. throught the jungle into a clearing.
"Anyone want to venture a guess as to what Jack's going to be showing us out here in the middle of nowhere?" Charlie asked
"I dunno. Stuff. Probably secret stuff." Hurley told him.
"Why does everything have to be such a secret? How about some openness for a change?" Charlie says and Desmond pauses.
"We kept the parachute lady secret." Hurley told him
"Ah, that's different." Charlie said
"Different how?" Claire asked him
"Well, because we weren't out there playing football with them—" Charlie said but stopped when he saw Desmond was standing still, "What?"
"Nothing." Desmond said starting to walk again grabbing my hand.
"Wait. You had one of your flashes again, didn't you?" Charlie asked him
"No, Charlie. I didn't." He said and we walked forward.
"We're here." Jack said
We catch up with the rest of the group and we all gather around Jack and Juliet.
"A couple of nights ago, Juliet came to me and she told me everything: that Ben had sent her here to find out which of our women were pregnant..." He said and I squeezed Desmond's hand and he looked at me moving his hand from mine and wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
"So, what, you guys were doing tests on us?" Kate asked.
"No, but that's what he wanted me to do. I've been leaving tapes at the medical station. You all heard what he said; they're coming tomorrow. Sun, I'm sorry that I lied to you." Juliet said.
"While I appreciate your honesty, Jack, it doesn't explain why you brought us out here." Sayid said to him.
"DANIELLE!" Jack yelled and Rousseau suddenly emerges from the trees, "Show 'em."
Rousseau grabs two wires, links them, causing an explosion which brings down a tree, Desmond turns me away protecting me then we look back towards the tree that she blew up
"When Juliet told me they were coming, the first thing I thought was, "Where the hell are we gonna hide this time?" But hiding's pointless. They're just gonna keep coming back. So I went out and I found some help. And for the past few days she's been bringing dynamite back from the Black Rock. For the very first time we know exactly what they want, when they're coming to get it, and they have no idea that we're gonna be waiting for 'em. So Juliet's gonna mark the tents with the white rocks just like she was told to, but there's not going to be any pregnant women inside; there's gonna be plenty of what we just used on that tree. So tomorrow night, we stop hiding, we stop running, we stop living in fear of them, because when they show up, we're gonna blow 'em all to hell." Jack told us and Iooked at Desmond who just pulled me closer to him.
We walked back to camp and Jack and Juliet were carefully setting up the dynomite, Desmond grabbed my hand and we walked over to Claire's tent where Charlie was.
"Er, sorry. Er, Charlie. Can you give me a hand with something?" Desmond asked him.
"Yeah, Desmond. Course." He said and got up walking away. I stayed at the tent with Claire and Aaron looking out to see Desmond and Charlie talking. I was nervous as hell because Desmond was telling Charlie the truth, he was telling Charlie that this time he had to die, it was the only way Claire and Aaron were going to be rescued.
After a little bit I left Claire's tent and walked over to Desmond and Charlie sitting down next to Desmond.
"What are you writing?" Desmond asked him
"Nothing. All right, tell me." Charlie said putting the piece of paper and marker away.
"You sure you wanna know? I mean it might be easier if you jus—" Desmond said but Charlie cut him off.
"Yeah. I want to know." Charlie said looking at him.
"You're inside a hatch. It's, er... a room full of equipment. There's a blinking yellow light above a switch. You flick the switch... light goes off... and then you drown."
"When?" Charlie asked.
"I don't know." Desmond said shaking his head.
"You sure you saw Claire and Aaron get on that helicopter?"
"Aye."
"So, before I drown, I just have to flip a switch." Charlie said to him.
"That's right."
"Where is it, then?"
We walked over to where Jack and Sayid were at, they were looking at blue prints of another Dharma station called the looking glass.
"No. No, I'm not letting you go on some suicide mission just to flip a switch." Jack told Sayid.
"But someone has to do it or we'll never leave this Island." Sayid said to him.
"I'll do it. Swim down, turn off that bloody switch, swim back up. Piece of cake." Charlie said to them.
"Charlie, you don't even know what we're talking about." Jack said looking at him
"I was junior swim champion in Northern England. I can hold my breath for four minutes. I know exactly what you're talking about, Jack." Charlie said to him.
"No. And there's no reason to do this now. We're going to focus on the Others, and then we'll deal with this." Jack argued back at him
"Wait a minute. We have the chance to signal for a rescue." Sayid told them
"Look, for 90 days I've been asked to make decisions for this entire camp. There you go. I just made one." Jack said and walked away.
Later on a kid named Karl showed up telling us that Ben and his group were coming much sooner then we expected and Jack told us we were going to head to the radio tower to turn off Danielle's transmission
"Now if this doesn't work, we can't risk losing the chance of getting in contact with Naomi's boat, so everything has to happen at the same time. Charlie? You still up for a swim?"
"Yeah, I believe I am." Charlie said to Jack
"I'll go with him." Desmond said and I shot him a look and he avoided my eyes
"OK. We better get to it." Jack said and walked away.
Me and Hurley walk over to where Desmond and Charlie are, "Dudes, wait! I heard. I heard what you're doing. I wanna come with. Everyone — they're all going to the radio tower ... and I'm sick of trekking and, you know, explosions. I think I can help you guys out. I'm a really good paddler." He tells them
"You can't go, Hurley." Charlie says to him
"Why not?" Hurley asked him and I looked at Desmond walking over to him.
"Because... you're too big! You won't fit in the boat." Charlie said and Hurley looked hurt.
"That's uncool, man." Hurley says and begins to walk away
"Wait, wait, wait!" Charlie said to him and hugs him
"Dude, it's fine. I don't even wanna go on your stupid boat." Hurley said lying to him.
"Catch up with you later. Just remember I love you, man." Charlie told him
"Yeah, whatever, love you too." Hurley walks away and Charlie watches him go. I turn and look at Desmond and turn his face to look at me.
"You better come back to me, dont make me have to go after you because I will." I told him and he pulled me against him kissing me deeply, I returned the kiss but I felt tears burning in my eyes. He pulls away and wipes the tears away.
"I'll be back, I still plan on marrying you when we get off this bloody island." He said, I gave him one more kiss then he walks away kicking the sand looking for the wire. Charlie pushes the boat out, and Desmond finds the cable.
"This is it. Ready?" He asked Charlie who nods his head, he looks back at me, "I love you Freya."
"I love you too. Please be safe." I tell him and he nods then him and Charlie get in th boat and push off using the cable as a guide along the water. I watched as they moved away then reluctantly went back to the others as we made our way to the radio tour.
Desmond POV..
"We're here." I told Charlie as I see him fold up a pice of paper and holds it out to me.
"I want you to give this to Claire for me." He says and I take it.
"What is it?" I asked
"It's the five best moments of my... sorry excuse for a life. My greatest hits. You know, memories. They're all I've got." He said
"You don't have to do this Charlie." I told him.
"What?" He asked
I looked at him, "I'll go."
"No, you-your flashes." He tells me
"Maybe I keep seeing you die because I'm supposed to take your place." I tell him
What about Freya? What about your baby?" He asks me, Freya, I knew I couldnt leave her but I had to do something, I couldnt let Charlie die.
What about your girl? Besides, I might be luckier than you. Keep your memories to yourself. I'll take it from here." I tell him and start taking off my shoes ready to go instead.
"I don't know what to say." He tells me
"Well, you could tell me where the, er, weigh belt is." I said to him
"Right there behind you." Charlie told me and as I went to grab it I felt something hit the back of my head and everything went dark.
Freya's POV...
We were walking through the jungle when we heard only two gunshots and two explosions, there was suppose to be three one from Jin, Bernard and Sayid. We continue to watch with the rest of the group the smoke rising from the beach.
"Why were there only two explosions?" Sun asked.
"Maybe they didn't have to blow the third tent." Jack said to her.
"But those gunshots, what was that all..." Rose said but Jack cut her off
"He's OK, Rose." He said
"Do you believe that?" Sun asked him
"Listen, they had no idea that we were waiting for them. And Sayid's with your husbands, they're gonna be fine and they're gonna be a couple of hours behind us." Jack reassured them.
"Then we should wait for them here. You go on..." She started to say
"No. No-one gets left behind." Jack told her
"If you say live together die alone Jack, I'm gonna punch you in your face." I told him pointing my finger at him.
Jack laughed, "Fair enough, Freya. Fair enough." He said then looked at the group, "But we have a plan. And for all we know, it worked. It's gonna be OK, everything's gonna be all right. Let's just keep moving, OK?" We all nodded and continued to move forward. We make it to the tower and Naomi tells Claire that Charlie did it, he got us rescued and all I could think about was Desmond, hoping he was okay.
I see Naomi press on the phone and then she suddenly shakes, and spurts blood from her mouth. She falls down with a knife in her back and drops the phone. Behind her, Locke moves forward.
"JOHN!" Jack yelled and Locke pulls out the gun he found, and points it at Jack.
"Step back, Jack." He says
"What did you do?"
"What I had to. Now step back."
Jack stays still as the phone tone signals that Naomi has made the call, and there just needs someone to answer it.
"Stay away from the phone." Locke tells Jack again but Jack dives for it. Locke tries to destroy it, but his shot misses and Jack takes it.
"What are you doing, John?" Jack asked him
"I don't wanna shoot you."
"Do it, John! Shoot him! Do what you need to do—" I hear ben yell but was cut off whenRousseau knocks him unconscious with an elbow strike to the face. The phone continues to beep waiting for someone to pick up.
"Please. Put the phone down."
"No. You're done keeping me on this Island." Jack said still holding the phone.
Locke cocks the barrel, "I will kill you if I have to."
"Then do it, John." Jack says.
"Jack." Kate says
Locke pauses, and then lowers the gun, "Jack. You're not supposed to do this." He tells Jack. Just then the phone is answered and we hear a voice.
"Minkowski. Hello?" Jack puts it to his ear.
"Who is this?" He asks
"Who is this?"
"My name is Jack Shephard. Are you, are you on the boat, the freighter?"
"How'd you get this channel?" The voice said and I look to see Locke leaving the area.
"Naomi, Naomi told us about your search team. About the boat." Jack said to the person.
"Naomi. You found her? Where is she? Who are you?"
"I'm one of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. Can you get a fix on our location?" Jack asked him
"Hell yeah we can. Sit tight. We'll be right there." The voice said and I felt my heart leap to my chest and I put my hand on my belly where mine and Desmond's baby was at. Everyone shares grins and shrieks with happiness as Jack and Kate look at each other.
Hurley radioed Jack letting him know that Jin, Bernard and Sayid were alive and that he saved them. Jack walks away from where he was and passes me, Claire, sun and Rose while Claire changes Aaron.
"I can't believe I'm actually going to have my baby in a hospital." Sun says with a smile on her face.
"Oh I know me too." I said looking at her
"Oh rub it in why don't you two!" Claire says pushing Sun's arm laughing.
"You ladies need a hand?" Rose asked us.
"No, we're just wrapping things up, thanks. You know you must be very proud with Bernard, I hear he's quite the hero." Claire told her
"But everyone up here knows that the real hero is your man, Claire. If Charlie didn't turn off that gizmo, we'd still be getting a busy signal on that fancy phone. So you'd better make sure you treat him real good when we get back." She told Claire
"Rose!" Claire said we all laughed.
Later on we were making our way back to camp when he see torches in the distance. It was Jin, Sayid, Bernard with Locke, Hurley, Sawyer and Desmond. Sun runs over and hugs Jin. Claire looks for Charlie. Rose sees Bernard and hugs him. I run up to Desmond who wraps his arms tightly around me and I cry into his shoulder. They all laugh and hug, Juliet hugs Alex. Just then I feel Desmond pull away and was about to move over to Claire but Hurley stops him.
"I'll tell her." He tells Desmond and I look at Desmond with question and he has a sad look in his eyes and I look over at Hurley.
"He's dead." He tells her "Charlie's dead."
"No." Claire says and starts to cry, I look at Desmond who nods and I felt tears falls and he hugs me again and I sob silently into his chest. I couldnt believe Charlie is gone.
Everyone stands silently, as Rousseau and Ben arrive. Locke turns, and Jack punches him in the face without giving any warning. Locke tries to grab his gun, but Jack gets it from his hands. He cocks the weapon.
"Jack." Juliet says
"You're not gonna shoot me, Jack. Any more than I was gonna shoot—"
Just then Jack pulls the trigger, but no bullet fires.
"It's not loaded." Locke tells him and Jack attacks him, Sawyer and Sayid pull him away.
"Come on." Sawyer tells Jack
"Let go of me! Do you know what he did?" Jack asked Sawyer
"Yes, I know what he did!" Sawyer yells at him and Locke gets up
"All I did, all I have ever done, has been in the best interest of all of us." Locke said
"Are you insane?" Jack asked him
"I know I, I have a lot of explaining to do. But, I never did anything to hurt any of you. I even risked my life to tell you there was a traitor in your midst." He says pointing to Juliet.
"She helped us, John. All you ever did was blow up every chance we had of getting off of this island. You killed Naomi." Jack said to him
"Well, technically, he didn't kill her, yet." Ben said to Jack
"Yes, he did." Kate says arriving out of the jungle, "She just died. She didn't give you up, John. She covered for us, and she fixed this." Kate says handing the satellite phone to Jack.
"They're on their way." She says
"She didn't cover for anyone. She wants her people to come here. And trust me, when they do we had better be far away from here. I'm going to the Barracks. The Others abandoned them. Its the only place on the Island with any form of security right now, it'll have to do until I can think of something else. Until then, if you wanna live, you need to come with me." Loce said to everyone
"No one's going anywhere with you, John. Because they're not crazy." Jack said
He's not crazy. What about Charlie? Charlie went down to that place so we could all be rescued. And whatever he did down there, it worked. But then something must have happened. He must have heard something before he..." He paused and I felt my heart break as I looked at Claire who was crying, "I don't know why, but he changed his mind. Because the last thing he did was to warn us that the people on that boat are not who they said they were. So I'm not listening to you. I'm listening to my friend. I'm listening to Charlie." Hurley finishes and goes and stands with Locke.
"Anyone else. There isn't much time." Locke said and I saw Claire join them, as do a number of others.
"Jack, with your permission, I'd like to go with John." Ben says to Jack
"He's all yours." Jack says to Locke
Ben and Rousseau join Locke, as does Alex and Karl.
"You said you'd never leave the Island, if you wanna go with Locke, I'll be right behind you." I hear Bernard tell Rose
"I'm not going anywhere with that man." She says to him. I look at Desmond who shakes his head and pulls me in tighter, I wanted to get rescued, I wanted out of here so that I could have this baby in a safe place and Marry the man I love. I see Sawyer move to join them.
"What are you doing?" Kate asks him
"Same thing I've always done, Kate. Surviving." He tells her just then it starts to rain. Everyone looks somber.
"You know where to find us when you change your mind." Locke said and leads his group away. I look at Claire and Hurley as they lok back at me, I wanted nothing more then to convince them to stay but it was their choice and I had to respect that.
After what felt like hours of trying to get everything figured out me, Juliet and Desmond find Jack, a guy named Daniel, and a pilot named Frank. Desmond and I are amazed to see the helicopter
"Well... look at that." He says smiling at me and Juliet nods.
Daniel fusses with his equipment on the tripod as Frank crosses the field and I follow him intently
"Hey. I'm gonna ask you one last time. Why did Naomi know my name?" I asked him
"Look, you gotta understand something. She was senior management. It's not like we hung around the cafeteria together. She stayed on her own." He tells me and we stop walking.
"Look, Naomi told me you people were hired by my uncle. So you look me right in the eye and tell me you've never seen or heard of Captain Gault
I see Frank glance at Daniel, who looks away. I glances at Daniel and back at Frank. Frank shakes his head.
"Fine. You don't want to tell me the truth; I'll find someone who will. See when that takes off," I tell him and point to helicopter, "I'm on it."
"He's back." I hear Juliet say as Sayid appears over a ridge.
Later o the helicopter is ready and after arguing with Desmond I was finally able to convince him that I was going with him and Sayid. Jack picks up a rifle and hands it to Sayid.
"Be careful." Jack tells him
"I don't have to talk you out of coming." Sayid says
"As much as I like helicopter rides, I think you got this one under control." Jack says smiling.
"Wish me luck." Sayid says
"Good luck. Send me a postcard." Jack tells him
"You said we have room for one more?" Sayid says looking at Frank
"Yeah, why?" Frank asks him
"Sayid glances towards Naomi, "We should bring Naomi home."
Frank nods. Sayid lays Naomi in the back of the helicopter. Desmond and Frank are in the front of the helicopter, and Frank readies the controls. Sayid covers Naomi's face back up and sits down in the back with me next to him. The rotor begins to turn and Frank closes the door. The helicopter lifts off. I see Sayid watch the island recede out the door wistfully. The helicopter flies out over the ocean.