Chapter 18

Tutto il da solo

"There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we were happy."

Kate woke up to the sun shining in her eyes. She shifted slightly on the damp sand and rubbed her eyes. At first she forgot where she was and what had happened, but then it all came crashing back to her. Was Jack alright? Had they gotten back? Was he dead? She slowly sat up, then looked around, horror and tears quickly filling her eyes as she noticed her surroundings.

The beach was completely empty of any living creatures. Bloodied bodies lie all around her, all with multiple gunshot wounds. Them had killed all of them. She swallowed hard and crossed her arms tightly, simply looking around at all of her dead friends. She closed her eyes, about to break, but then seemed to change her mind. She wasn't going to cry. No matter how bad she was hurting, she wasn't going to let herself cry. She needed to be brave. She needed to be strong.

Standing up, Kate stared at the once golden sand, now red with blood. She swallowed again, and walked over to their homemade shovel that they had used to bury so many others. She picked it up, then started on the first hole. She miserably dug as deep as she figured the hole needed to be, then dragged the first body over and lied it down in, burying it. She'd make her own little funeral for everyone later. She grabbed some sticks and made a cross with a name on it for the first person, then put it on the grave.

Digging over forty graves took hours of work, even longer when the person digging was sick. When she was almost done, she stopped to take a break, freezing as she heard a noise in the jungle. Fear filled her eyes and she found her feet glued to the ground, unable to move.

The golden retriever walked out of the jungle and onto the beach, staring up at Kate with it's big brown eyes. It walked over to her and barked slightly, then sat down, expecting to be pet.

Kate sighed, a look of relief spreading across her face. She knelt down by the dog, wrapping her arms around it and hugging it tightly. "Vincent." she said, petting him. She buried her face in his golden fur, happy that there was at least another living thing with her, that wasn't going to kill her. She hugged her for several moments before standing up again. She took his leash, not wanting him to leave her. "Come on. Let's go get some water." she said.

She walked over to the container holding their water bottles and grabbed one out of it. It was slightly warm, but she didn't care. She uncapped it then took a long drink, closing her eyes as she did so. Leaving about half in the bottle, she knelt down and poured it in the smaller contained that Vincent normally drank out of. She let him drink it, then led him back to the graves.

"Stay." She said, slowly letting go of the leash. She watched him for a moment, then began digging again.

Vincent sat down, watching her carefully. He tilted his head to the side, then stood up again. He walked over to her and began to help dig.

Kate glanced down at him. She smiled smally, then continued with digging. "Thanks." she said, quietly, not caring that she was talking to a dog.

The two of them continued digging side by side until all the graves were dug and had crosses with names on them. Kate grabbed Vincent's leash again and stepped back, looking at all of the graves. She wasn't sure what to say, or even if she should say anything. "They were great friends, weren't they?" she whispered, looking down at Vincent. She held her breath for a moment, holding her tears back again. "It's just you and me now."

Vincent looked up at her as she talked, though looked like he had no idea what she was saying, which he didn't. He lied down on the sand and rolled over onto his stomach.

Kate slowly sat down beside him. She rubbed his stomach, turning to stared out at the ocean. Everything seemed so calm and peaceful compared to the storm inside of her. She coughed a few times, then looked up at the sky for a moment, watching the clouds.

She began to think of all the wonderful times she'd shared with Jack throughout their stay on the island.

She thought of when she first met him; how she sewed up his side right after the plane crash. About how he told her to count to five when she got scared. About the time he brought her guava seeds to make up for a fight they had had. Their first kiss and how upset she was when it had happened.

Her eyes began to tear up again, through she struggled not to let herself cry. "You promised!" she cried out suddenly, startling Vincent a bit. "You promised me he would be safe!" she screamed up at the sky. "You promised me, Tom!" She choked on a sob and grabbed a handful of sand, throwing it. "You said he would be okay!" She wiped the sand off of her hand, then buried her face in her hands. "You promised." she whispered, shaking her head. "Why did you lie to me?!" She began shouting again. "I know I did horrible things! But I told you I'd stop running! I was going to stop! Why isn't Jack safe?!" She stopped, almost as if expecting an answer. She knew she wasn't going to get an answer though.

There was nothing but an awkward silence after Kate stopped yelling. She tried to stay quiet, but found she couldn't. "Why did you let him get shot?!" she yelled, sure that Tom couldn't even hear her. She couldn't bear the silence though. "I want Jack!" She crossed her arms, beginning to cough again. "Jack!" she choked, squeezing her eyes shut. She wondered if counting worked when it came to missing someone too.

1

Things will be okay.

2

Jack will be back.

3

He has to come back.

4

I need him.

5

She ended up crying again. So it didn't work like it did for fear. "Why?" she asked. Once again, she got no answer. She lied down on the sand again, keeping her face buried in her hands. "Why?" she repeated.

What was she going to do? What was the point? She was stranded alone on an island with only a dog for company. There was no hope in rescue. She had no idea if Jack was coming back. If any of her friends were coming back. She couldn't do anything right away though. It hadn't really been that long, though being so defeated made it seem like it had. She'd give it a day, maybe two. If no one came, then she knew she wasn't going to be able to make it alone. She'd just dig Vincent a hole, kill him first, then dig herself a hole and kill herself.

If she was going to survive for the next day or too though, she couldn't just lie around on the sand. Once again, she finished her crying. Getting up, she glanced around. It'd be best to hit Sawyer's tent first. If no one got into any of his stuff while he was gone, she was sure to find food, weapons, whatever she needed in there. She headed for Sawyer's tent, bringing Vincent with her. "Maybe we should head to the caves after this." she said quietly. "Maybe I can find some medicine." She walked into Sawyer's tent and looked around, trying to figure out where he kept everything.

It took awhile of look, since Sawyer kept his stuff hidden very well. She wandered around, but almost tripped over something hard. "I think we might have found it." she said, glancing down at Vincent. She knelt down and began to brush the sand away from the floor, sure enough finding a large piece of metal. She shifted slightly, putting her hands under one of the ends, then lifted it up, leaning it against the airline seats Sawyer used for a bed. Grabbing the blue tarp that was under it, she moved it slightly so she could see if anything was in the hole. Sure enough, there were guns. She sighed in relief and picked one up, then grabbed a box of bullets. "This should keep us safe for awhile." she told Vincent.

Vincent yawned and glanced up at her as she spoke. He lied down and shut his eyes, not caring all that much.

Kate sighed and looked at him. She loaded the gun, made sure it was on safety, then stuck it in her back pocket. She grabbed a few more boxes of ammo, then looked around some more. "Wonder what else he has in here." she said. She continued to look through everything, grabbing food, weapons…all that she could find. Anything would probably be helpful to her.