Thanks for reviewing! You guys are awesome and I really appreciate you reading my story. =] Here's the next chapter. It's a little shorter than the previous ones but whatever.

Chapter 8

Nobody will Care

After another couple of hours walking, Cooper finally told everyone to rest. They all either leaned against the trees or sat on fallen logs as they dug out their water bottles to refresh their dry throats.

"How are you feeling?" Kate asked Jack as they sat down. Sayid had called Juliet over to him about something, so Kate knew she could finally talk to him alone.

"I'm all right."

"What happened?"

Jack glanced around and then spoke in a hushed voice, "Something is going to happen..."

"Something like what?"

"I'm not exactly sure... I saw blood and I heard guns firing... You were calling my name... And I saw Ben."

"Is that it?"

"It was all so blurry. All I really remember is Ben staring at me and he said something... But I can't remember what it was that he said."

"Do you think that maybe he was right?"

"About what?"

"What if making that call had been a horrible mistake? Ben said that..."

"Forget what Ben said!" Jack snapped. "Ben's a liar! We're going to get off this island, Kate. We're going to survive this. You said you trusted me, so trust me."

Kate looked at him and didn't say anything. She wished she could believe him, she wished she could feel the optimism he was feeling... But something inside her gut was telling her that they had made a mistake... A huge mistake.

"Let's go, people. We should be there in a few hours." Cooper said as he stood up.

Kate stood with Jack. He looked at her and he knew what she was thinking,

"Don't worry. Those flashes are nothing. We will be fine." He said as they all began walking again.

I trust you, Jack, so let's hope you're right.

"Do you even know where the French chick is?" Hurley asked as Locke kept walking through the jungle in front of him.

"Yes."

"How?"

"Before I ran into you, I had been tracking them."

"Her and Ben?"

"Rousseau, Ben, Alex, and a fourth person."

"Probably Carl."

"Who is Carl?"

"I think he's the French chick's daughter's boyfriend."

"Ok, Carl." He kept walking.

"So what did you mean back there when you said that you saw Walt?" Hurley had to ask.

"I saw Walt."

"Yeah... but how... and why?"

"Ben shot me and I was in a pit full of dead Dharma members and..."

"Whoa! Hold up! Ben shot you? Where?"

Locke turned around and Hurley noticed the blood splattered on his shirt for the first time.

"Through the missing kidney."

"And that's when you saw Walt?"

"Around that time, yes," he kept walking. "He told me that I needed to stop those people from coming here before it was too late."

"Are you sure it was Walt?"

He nodded.

"And that's why you killed Naomi?"

"But I couldn't kill Jack." He suddenly turned to face Hurley again with a serious look, "Those people cannot be trusted. They are here for one thing, Hugo, and that's to murder us all."

"And Walt told you this?"

Locke turned back around and kept walking.

"So how is finding Ben going to solve any of this?"

"You need to have faith, Hugo. You will see."

"There is no faith on this island." Hurley frowned and kept walking.

"So when exactly are we going to find this so-called leader of the Hostiles?" Cooper asked Jack as they all filled their water bottles at a stream they were crossing.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Jack said as he knelt down to dip his bottle in the flowing water. "I know where to find him but I won't be able to catch him with all these people."

"Why not?"

"Because he was taken by a woman who has lived on this island for sixteen years. It won't be very easy for seventeen people to sneak up on her."

"So what do you suggest then?"

"I'll go alone and return with him by nightfall."

"Do you think I'm an idiot, Jack? Why would I just let you leave? How do I know that this isn't some trick and you're just trying to escape?"

"Why would I leave my people?"

"I will go with you then."

"Who will lead your people?"

Cooper hesitated at that thought and sighed, "Fine, you will take two of my men with you."

"I will not try to escape..."

"No you won't because my men will be watching you."

"I will go alone." Jack stood up.

Cooper stood up also and grabbed Jack by the collar, "You will do as I say, hostile!" He let go and shoved Jack backwards.

Jack was about to attack the man when Kate came up behind him, "Jack, don't!"

He lowered his fist and glared at Cooper, "Give me two men and I'm on my way."

"Stenson! Yusad!" Cooper called with smirk.

Two men came forward ready for their orders. One was tall with jet black hair and small brown eyes and the other was a black man with dreadlocks and a hard stare.

"Go with Jack. If anything happens, radio me right away." He handed the taller man a walkie talkie and both men nodded.

Jack started to walk but Kate grabbed his arm, "Jack, wait," He turned around. "I'm coming with you." She said.

"No. Its better that you stay here. Go with Sayid and the others and make sure that everyone is all right."

"What if something happens to you?"

"I will be fine. Please, just stay with them."

"I can't let you go alone."

"Kate, you need to trust me."

"I do trust you, Jack. It's them that I don't trust." She gestured to the two men waiting for him.

"Tell Sayid to just keep going and not to say anything to Lukas when you get there. I will do all the talking."

"Do you really think this is going to work?"

"No... But it's worth a try."

"Be careful." Kate said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight.

"You too." Jack said as he hugged her back. The warmth of her body pressed against his made him never want to let go.

"Will you hurry it up?" Cooper snapped.

"I'll try not to damage his face too much while you're gone." Kate joked as she let go.

Jack smiled, "Don't follow me, Kate." Then he turned from her and started walking with the two men following behind.

"Where is he going?" Sawyer came up from behind Kate and asked.

"He's going to find Ben."

"And you're not going with him? You two seem inseparable since you got back."

Kate looked at him, "What do you want?"

"You and the doc together now?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well that hug you just shared sure wasn't a 'Just Friends' hug."

"Let's keep moving people!" Cooper shouted.

Kate didn't say anything as she turned from Sawyer and began to move again.

"Hey, Kate, do you have a second?" Paiten walked up beside her.

"What's up?"

"Is Jack going to find that leader of the Hostiles?"

"Yes."

"So this guy really is real?"

"Yeah, I thought you believed us?"

"I do... about the plane crash anyway... How do I know that you guys didn't just join up with the Hostiles after your crash?"

"Trust me, we would never do that. You have no idea what those people have put us through all these months."

"Well I'm still not too sure that Lukas will change his mind..."

"I thought Lukas wasn't even the one in charge?"

"Not entirely. He is in charge of this mission though. Look, I'll tell you now... We came here to finish off the last of the hostiles... Even if you do find this leader and prove to them that you are who you say you are, I don't think Lukas will just let your people go and take you home in an instant."

"He'll have to."

"You've met Lukas right?"

She nodded.

"Then you've seen how he is. This guy won't just do anything you tell him to. He has a lot of hate inside and that hate has been building up for many years. He has waited for this day and he won't leave until every living Hostile on this island is dead."

Kate glanced at Juliet and realized that they hadn't told them who she really was. If they found out whom Juliet really was... Jack would hate me. He trusts her and I can't say anything. I still don't trust her though...

"Let's hope your boyfriend seriously knows what he is doing." Kate hardly heard what Paiten said as he walked away.

She darted her gaze from Juliet when Juliet had caught her staring, and she looked down at the ground. Jack better know what he is doing!

Jack stopped and put his weight against a tree as the images in his head kept flashing. Some were burry and he couldn't make out what they were but others were extremely clear and that made him wish they were blurry too. He suddenly saw one of Locke and Hurley walking through the jungle and Locke saying something about the French chick and Ben. They're going after Ben too! He then saw Rousseau leading Ben across a cliff, his hands were still tied and his face bloody. She was saying something about the other people but he couldn't make out the whole sentence. Then he saw the way he needed to go in order to get to them...

"Hey, are you okay?"

Jack looked up once the flashes had stopped and saw the tall man named Stenson standing there with a concerned look.

"Yeah... I... uh... just needed a little rest. I'm fine now."

"Well let's keep moving then."

"You sure you know where you're going?" The other man, Yusad, asked.

"I am now." Jack said and began leading the way again.

"So what happened at your beach? Whose bodies were those in the tents?" Stenson asked as he and Yusad came up on either side of him.

"Your Hostiles thought they could do whatever they wanted with our people so we showed them that they were wrong."

"So that was their bodies in the tents and their blood on that Dharma van?"

"Yeah."

"What did you do?" Yusad asked.

"We blew them up, well at least most of them. The rest were either shot or ran over."

"What did they do to you?" Stenson asked.

"They have made our lives hell since crashing on this island. That's what they have done."

Both men said nothing as the three of them kept walking on.

Bleep! Cooper stopped when he heard something. Bleep! His radio was beeping as he pulled it from his pocket and turned to the people behind him, "I have to take this call. Have another break." He turned back around and pressed the on the button, "Hello?"

"Cooper?" It was Lukas.

"Yeah, it's me." He glanced back at everyone and decided to walk a few feet ahead of them just in case if one of the maybe-hostiles were listening.

"I'm at the cliffs now. Where are you?"

"We're about three hours away."

"Where is Jack? I'd like to speak to him."

"He's not here, Sir. He went to find the so-called leader of the Hostiles."

"And you let him go!" Lukas shouted.

"Stenson and Yusad are with him. I doubt they will really come back with anyone."

"Did he say where they were headed?"

"No. Should I go back and..."

"Keep moving forward."

"And what about Jack? What if there really is a hostile leader and he does bring him back?"

"The only hostile leader he'll be bringing back is his self."

"But, sir, what if, and I mean what if... maybe... they really are telling the truth and these people really are plane crash survivors? Would you really do as Jack requested? Would we really rescue these people and take them off the island?"

"If they really do happen to be who they say they are... We still kill them all, along with the hostiles. No one will miss them anyway. These people are already dead to the real world. Nobody will care"

"So we're just going to kill innocent people?"

"No one is innocent, Coop. If Jack returns with the leader of the hostiles and proves his story, I will still kill him and every last one of his people along with him. If word got out about this island, we'd all be dead. It has to be done."

"Should I tell the other men?"

"No! Don't say a word of this to anyone. They will find out soon enough. Just get them all here and fast. I'm losing patience. I just want to get this over with and finally get on with what our families started years ago in the Dharma Initiative!"

"Yes, Sir."

"Not a word, Cooper, or you will be killed alongside them." Lukas threatened and then the line went dead.

Cooper turned off the radio and placed it back in his pocket. He glanced around the area one last time, and satisfied that no one had heard their conversation, he walked back over towards the rest of the people with a huge grin spread across his face.

What Cooper didn't know was that someone had heard the conversation between him and Lukas and was already on his way to inform somebody else about it...

Oooo suspense... Wonder who heard? I guess you'll find out once you review and I get a chance to update. ;] Thanks again for reading!