Kali ran her hand over the shotgun on her lap, hoping it would give her some sense of comfort, knowing her weapon was ready to be used at a second's notice. It didn't help. She had been sitting on the wooden chair looking out at the forest that surrounded the barracks for the last few hours and found her nerves were slowly getting to her. Every snap of a twig or call from a bird had her fingers itching for the shotgun trigger. Something was wrong. She could feel it.
She reached for the walkie-talkie by the foot of the chair, thinking of calling her brother, surprising herself by wanting to hear his voice. Only a couple of months ago she would have probably tried to stab Ken if she set eyes on him, and now she was actively seeking him out? She supposed the events of the island had been good for certain things. Hell, if she hadn't crashed onto the island, she would never have met James. The thought of that was enough to put her on edge—
She heard the click of a gun a second too late to duck for cover and felt it as a bullet struck her shoulder, the force enough to send her flying backwards. She was instantly pushing herself to her feet and hiding behind a nearby fence, loading her shotgun as quickly as her shaking hands could. Two more shots rang out through the forest, as the wooden fence behind her just about shielded her from the onslaught.
"Kali!" Sawyer called out, as her eyes sought him out.
She soon found him a few houses away, hiding behind a wall, loading his own gun. He tried to race toward her but was forced back as bullets rained down on him, one whizzing just inches past his face. Kali ushered him to stay where he was, terrified of him getting hurt. He couldn't heal as she could.
"Hugo and the baby are safe. Have you seen Claire?" Sawyer questioned, as Kali's eyes grew wide.
"She's still in her house" Kali replied, looking through one of the holes in the fence, seeing how close the house was to the forest.
"I'll cover you. Get Claire" Kali announced, raising up her shotgun.
"No. We'll figure something out—" Sawyer began, but Kali was quick to stop him.
"James. We don't have time. Claire's gonna' die if we don't get her out of here. Please" Kali insisted, as he clenched his jaw.
They both knew she was planning to do more than just cover him. The only way Sawyer could get to Claire's house without being shot was if there was a closer target. Her.
Not giving him another second to argue, Kali raised her shotgun up over the fence, and pulled the trigger, drawing their fire to her. Instantly, bullets were whizzing toward her, coming from three different directions. She could see how Sawyer was racing past the houses out of the corner of her eye, thankful he had listened to her. But she wasn't the only one who had noticed, as the gunners changed the direction of the fire to him. Gritting her teeth, Kali jumped over the fence and began running in the other direction, attempting to reach the forest line but also to get their attention. She let out a cry when she felt a bullet pierce through her stomach, sending her to her knees. She looked up to see Sawyer was almost at Claire's house and was screaming her name. Suddenly, Kali was thrown onto her back by the force of an explosion, collapsing onto the grass beneath her. A gasp left her lips when she could see Claire's house had exploded, wooden debris flying everywhere. Her gaze then landed on Sawyer, who was also lying on the ground, appearing to have been knocked unconscious.
"Fuck" Kali mumbled, watching as four men in camo gear appeared from behind the treeline, sauntering over to her.
She pushed herself onto her side, facing away from them, feeling how pain ripped through her body. She looked down to see blood pooling out from her bullet wound, realising something vital had been hit. With bloody hands, she grabbed two shells from her pocket and opened up the shotgun, slotting them into place and loading the shotgun with a loud pop. She scrunched her eyes shut and hoped the attackers hadn't heard, before going completely still, playing dead.
"Jesus, how did these guys survive so long on this island?" She heard a voice mutter.
"Thought you said these fuckers would be hard to kill, Keamy" Another voice scoffed, as the footsteps approached.
"Eyes on the prize, men. We find Linus. That's all that matters. Check that she's dead and then put a bullet in the blond" The man, who she assumed was Keamy, ordered, making Kali's blood run cold.
All of a sudden, she was being rolled over by someone's foot, her eyes connecting with the soldier above her. A second later, she pulled the trigger of the shotgun and watched as the man's head was blown apart, blood splattering over her cheeks. Not wasting a second, she aimed her gun at the next man, shooting him in the legs, as he collapsed to the ground with a scream. The gun was then kicked out of her hands by the other soldier, who had a murderous expression on his face.
"You're gonna' regret doing that, bitch" The man, who she recognised as Keamy's voice, warned.
"Somehow, I doubt that" She grinned, as Keamy kicked out her, hitting her wound with the front of his foot.
Her eyes flickered over to where she found Sawyer had woken up and was pushing himself to his feet. He began limping toward her, unbeknownst to the two remaining armed men, when Kali gave a sharp shake of her head. Reluctantly, Sawyer balled his hands into fists but turned around and made his way toward what was left of Claire's house. He had to believe that Kali could handle herself.
"Shit, Keamy. He's losing too much blood" The other soldier exclaimed, as he tried to apply pressure to the man Kali had injured.
"He's got about...thirty seconds before he bleeds out. Tough luck, mate" Kali panted, earning another kick to the ribs.
"You're the nurse, huh? You want to live? Save him" Keamy ordered, taking his gun out and holding it to her head.
"Considering that I'm holding my...freaking guts in right now...I'll have to pass" Kali stuttered, her body starting to shake as shock overwhelmed her system.
"Save him" Keamy ordered, raising his foot up and then pressing it down onto Kali's stomach, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Fuck you. That asshole's dying with me...and you'll be following soon...trust me" Kali spat out.
"Then I guess I have no need for you" Keamy retorted, before aiming his gun at her head and pulling the trigger.
Kali's hand twitched for a few seconds, as blood poured out from the bullet wound in her forehead, her eyes still open wide, before she went completely still. Dead once again.
Sawyer's hands were shaking, seeing nothing but red as Hurley struggled to hold him back from attacking Ben. Sawyer had managed to find Claire in the debris of the explosion and bring her to Ben's house, relatively unharmed, but not before he had seen Kali's lifeless body. The bastards had killed her, and he had let them.
"Sawyer, stop it. This isn't helping" Hurley exclaimed, as Sawyer shoved him away.
"They want this fucker, I say we throw him out before he gets anyone else killed!" Sawyer yelled.
"Your little girlfriend will be back on her feet in a matter of hours. No harm done—" Ben began, as Sawyer charged at him, his hands gripping onto the collar of his shirt.
"Say that again, I dare you" Sawyer muttered, looking as if he was ready to kill Ben himself.
Before he could lose his temper any further, the doorbell rang, causing them all to pull out their guns, ready for an attack. Sawyer peered out from behind the curtain, relieved when he saw it was only Miles, and pulled one of the drawers away they had used to barricade themselves in the room. He dragged the younger man into the house a second later, his gaze landing on the walkie-talkie in his hand.
"Who the hell let you out?" Sawyer barked.
"The people who gave me this. They want to talk" Miles announced, holding the device out toward Ben.
"You help them, huh? This all been part of your plan?" Sawyer accused, glaring at Miles.
"No. Look, I know we came over on the same boat but they told me they were just security. Once they got him, they were to escort him back to the mainland. That's it, I swear" Miles explained.
"Just take it, alright?" Miles insisted, ushering for Ben to take the walkie-talkie again.
"Why would I talk to them?" Ben huffed.
"Because they have a hostage" Miles mumbled.
"Well, then they've badly miscalculated, because cause every single one of my people is prepared to die in service to this island" Ben answered, a little too smugly.
"It's your daughter!" Miles exclaimed, as Ben's eyes snapped up, his demeanour changing in a matter of seconds.
The group watched in horror as the man they now knew as Martin Keamy, dragged a terrified Alex out in front of them, his gun pointed at her head. Ben kept his face as impassive as possible, but even Sawyer could tell the man was rattled. He really did care about Alex.
"Get your ass out here right now...or I'm gonna' kill your daughter" Keamy warned, cocking his gun.
"I'd like to present a counterproposal. You and your friends...you turn around. Walk back to your helicopter. You fly away and forget you ever heard of this island" Ben retorted, speaking into the walkie-talkie.
"I'll tell you again. Give yourself up...or this is going to be your daughter in five minutes" Keamy insisted, before whistling for his men.
Sawyer clenched his jaw so hard he was surprised it didn't break as he watched them pull Kali's body into sight, appearing pale and stiff. Her blue eyes were still wide open, blood had trickled into her eyelashes from the bullet wound to her head. Sawyer looked down to the ground, having to use all his self-control to not charge outside and kill Keamy with his bare hands.
"Oh God...oh God" Alex's soft cries could be heard from outside.
Sawyer forced himself to look back up, as Alex appeared close to hyperventilating when she saw Kali's dead body. She reached out for her friend, but Keamy's hand slammed down on her shoulder, pulling her back.
"I'll kill him. I'll fucking kill him" Sawyer seethed, as Hurley came to stand beside him.
"I know. But if you go out there right now...they'll kill you, dude" Hurley argued, as Sawyer shook his head.
"Alex...I have this under control. Everything's gonna be okay" Ben soothed, speaking into his walkie-talkie.
"Please, daddy! I don't want to die. Please" Alex sobbed, in a pleading tone.
"You have 10 seconds, Ben" Keamy announced, as Sawyer's eyes flickered over to Ben.
"Okay, listen—" Ben started, still trying to talk his way out of the situation.
"He's gonna' kill her, you have to do something!" Sawyer exlciamed, as Hurley nodded quickly.
"Nine..." Keamy trailed off, holding the gun to the back of Alex's head.
"She's not my daughter" Ben called out.
"Eight" Keamy yelled.
"I stole her as a baby from an insane woman. She's a pawn, nothing more. She means nothing to me" Ben pushed, as Alex shut her eyes, devastated by his words.
She slouched forward, reaching out for Kali's hand, as Keamy was solely focused on Ben. Alex felt a slither of comfort as she wrapped her fingers around Kali's cold hand. She knew she was about to join her friend.
"I'm not coming out of this house. So, if you want to kill her, go ahead and do it—" Ben's words were cut off as a gunshot rang out.
A sickening thud could be heard from outside, as Sawyer turned away, not wanting to see Alex's dead body beside his girlfriends. Even Locke seemed disturbed by what had happened, running a hand over his face, mind going a mile a minute. Ben was still staring silently out of the window, a haunted expression on his face. They needed an escape plan or they were all dead.
"It'll be dark soon. That's when they'll make their attack" Locke murmured.
"What do we do?" Hurley gaped, turning to Sawyer.
"...We need Kali" Sawyer replied, making Locke frown.
"Why?" He questioned.
"Because she has...had a damn plan" Sawyer sighed.
Blood was the first thing Kali smelt as she slowly woke up, her eyes fluttering open, the rest of her body feeling stiff and numb. She grimaced as pain ripped through her skull, reaching up to touch her face, looking down to see her fingers now coated with blood. The sun was quickly fading above her, as a chill ran through her body. Memories were quick to flood back, as she suddenly realised she wasn't alone. She could hear the soldiers conversing from a few metres away, Keamy's voice standing out the most. Kali rolled onto her side, debating whether to crawl away when a horrified gasp left her lips. Her hand flew to her mouth to try to muffle her cry, her eyes beginning to feel with tears.
"Alex..." She whispered, staring into the girl's eyes.
Another sob left her lips when she saw the bullet wound on the side of her head, dried blood surrounding her body. She was dead. Keamy and his men had killed her. Kali's eyes snapped up to find she had been moved to outside Ben's house, instantly spotting Sawyer standing at the window. He gave a quick shake of his head, telling her all she needed to know. Sawyer then started mouthing a word to her, almost too far away for her to be able to understand. He then pointed toward the soldiers, who were huddled together by the picket fence...and one of the newly disturbed patches on earth.
She needed a gun.
With a growl, Kali pushed herself to her feet, stumbling toward the unsuspecting soldiers. They were in deep conversation, not sensing her presence until it was too late and her hand was wrestling for one of the soldier's handguns. The man's eyes went wide, dropping the weapon in shock, which Kali easily caught, taking a step back. Even Keamy appeared horrified by what he was seeing, his eyes falling to the blood still dripping down her clothes.
"What...what the fuck are you?" Keamy gaped, as Kali continued backing up, trying to put as much space between her and the men.
"You really shouldn't have killed my friend" Kali spat out, waving her hand over to the inhabitants of the house, ushering for them to duck for cover.
Not wasting another second, Kali shot at the ground by the soldiers' feet, causing them to spring back. She grit her teeth when nothing happened, despite the bullet having hit the earth. Maybe the dynamite was too deep? Lining up her shot with more precision this time, she sent another bullet whizzing through the air, and then a second later she was being thrown onto her back, the dynamite exploded with a deafening bang.
The next thing she knew, Sawyer's hands were on her, pulling her arm over her shoulder and dragging her away from the explosion. Kali cringed as she almost tripped over a severed arm, the blood tinted with the soldier's blood. She looked back to find more corpses, some still with flames burning into their skin. Her eyes landed on Ben who had fallen to his knees beside Alex, a devastated expression on his face. Kali scrunched her eyes shut, wishing the events of the last few hours were nothing but an awful nightmare.
"So, you really can't die, huh?" Miles murmured, looking down at Kali, who was slumped on the floor, leaning back against a tree.
"Trust me. It's more of a curse than a blessing" Kali sighed, holding up her shirt, finding the despite the bleeding lessening, the two wounds on her stomach were still deep.
"Oh, wow. Yeah, can you cover up, dude?" Hurley complained, looking a little green.
"Here" Claire announced, passing Kali one of the blankets she had Aaron wrapped in.
"Thanks" Kali nodded, gratefully.
"You can't walk like this, blue eyes" Sawyer told her, crouching down beside his girlfriend, as she pressed the blanket against her wounds.
"We can't stay here" Kali retorted.
"Looks like I'll have to carry you then" Sawyer smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Well, how could I refuse such an offer?" Kali teased, as they shared a smile.
"You two are really flirting right now while one of you is bleeding out?" Miles gaped, as Kali gave a small shrug.
"This is pretty much every week for us now" Kali mumbled.
"Where are we going to go? Back to the beach?" Hurley inquired, as Ben took a step forward.
"We three are going to meet Jacob" Ben announced, turning to Locke and then back to Hurley.
"Jacob? You...you know where he is?" Kali frowned.
She could still remember her conversation with Richard well. Jacob was the person...or entity who was keeping her alive. She still felt a slither of hope that somehow he could find a way for her to leave the island alive.
"No. But Hugo does" Ben confessed, as all eyes turned toward the sheepish man.
"I really don't" Hurley gulped.
"I've had enough of this bullshit. I never should have followed you wacko's. We're going back to the beach. Hurley too" Sawyer insisted, ushering for Hurley to stand beside him.
The group stilled as they heard the click of a gun, turning to find Locke aiming his weapon at Sawyer. Kali was standing up on her shaky legs in an instant, staggering toward Sawyer, but he held his hand up to stop her, not wanting her to get shot yet again.
"Have you lost your mind?" Sawyer asked, in disbelief.
"Hugo stays with us" Locke exclaimed, as Sawyer pulled his gun on the older man before anyone could stop him.
"Not a chance" Sawyer spat out, protectively.
"We need him to find Jacob's cabin" Locke went on.
"He ain't going anywhere with you, you crazy son of a bitch" Sawyer growled, his eyes flickering to Kali, as the pair communicated without words.
They were both willing to put themselves into the line of fire to protect their friend. God knows what Locke and Ben had planned for Hurley, but Kali doubted it was anything good.
"Stop! Put the guns down. I'll go with Locke" Hurley announced.
"Hugo..." Sawyer trailed off, with a shake of his head.
"It's okay, Sawyer. Please, put your gun down. Both of you" Hurley insisted, as Sawyer and Locke slowly dropped their weapons to their side.
"You don't have to do this. Come with us" Kali all but begged Hurley.
"You guys go back to the beach. I'll catch up sooner or later" Hurley retorted, having already made up his mind.
"You harm so much as one hair on his curly head...I'll kill you" Sawyer warned Locke, a deathly serious tone to his voice.
"Fair enough" Locke answered, with a slight smirk.
"Hey, we're not gonna' leave this island without you, alright? We're all gonna' be together again. I promise" Kali exclaimed, reaching out for Hurley's arm, as he gave a big smile.
"I know, dude" He replied.
The next day, the group were still trekking through the jungle, sweat dripping from their faces, only stopping to take a break when absolutely necessary. Kali's wounds had started to heal up more, and she was now able to walk for herself, albeit much slower than the others. Sawyer passed her a bottle of water when he saw her face scrunched up in pain. Taking a bullet to the head had given her the worst migraine she had ever experienced, but she knew they needed to keep going. They had to get back to the beach.
"Thank you" Claire spoke up, as the pair turned to her.
"I didn't say it yesterday but...thank you. I mean, you saved my life, Sawyer" Claire pointed out, as he gave a slight shrug.
"Was nothing" He mumbled, as Kali nudged him with her elbow.
"He means you're welcome" Kali said, in a teasing tone, as Sawyer raised his arm out to snake around her waist.
"If anyone saved our asses, I'm pretty sure it was you, kid" Miles announced.
"...He's right. You did. I...I'm sorry for what I said before, Kali. I was wrong" Claire admitted, as Kali's lips twitched into a smile.
"It's okay—" She began, but was cut off as she collided with Miles' back, who had come to an abrupt halt.
"Hey, watch where you going" Sawyer muttered, but Miles still didn't move, blinking rapidly.
His brow furrowed as he appeared to be listening to something, his chest rising and falling quickly. Kali raised an eyebrow as Miles started turning from side to side, his odd behaviour putting them all on edge.
"Hey!" Sawyer insisted, as Miles finally seemed to come out of his trance.
"Who's Danielle and Karl?" Miles questioned.
"You mean Rousseau? The French woman?" Claire tried to clarify, holding Aaron a little tighter to her chest, when he started crying.
"Great, now he's losing it" Kali huffed, watching as Miles dropped to the ground and started digging through the dirt.
She opened her mouth to tell him to stop, but the words died on her lips when Miles uncovered something in the soil. An arm. A human arm. A gasp left her lips when he pushed away some bamboo leaves to reveal a face buried in the dirt, one that was far to familiar.
"Oh my God" Claire cried, realising it was Rousseau.
A few moments later, he found another body buried close by, one that caused tears to swell in Kali's eyes. It was Karl. There was blood on the corpse's lips, as flies swarmed over the bodies, which had already begun to decompose.
"He was seventeen" Kali mumbled, running a hand over her face, as Sawyer's arm went around her shoulder, pulling her close.
"This isn't on you. They made their choice to leave" Sawyer insisted, knowing that she would blame herself.
"How'd you know they were down there? Your buddies do this?" Sawyer accused Miles, who held his hands up in defence.
"They're not my buddies, man. I didn't sign up for this" Miles told them, shakily.
"Can we just—can we just get out of here, please? Can we just go?" Claire stuttered, as Sawyer nodded, ushering them all to leave the gravesite.
"You still haven't answered his question. How'd you know the bodies were there?" Kali pushed, not allowing him to pass her.
"I...I thought I saw something in the ground—" Miles started, but Kali quickly cut him off.
"Cut the shit. You never even looked at the ground. It looked like you were...I don't know, hearing something" Kali insisted, as his lips twitched into a smirk.
"Well, that would make me sound pretty crazy, wouldn't it?" Miles laughed, as if what she said was an inside joke.
"You're one weird guy" Kali huffed, but let him pass, nonetheless.
They had bigger problems than Miles acting strange, she figured.
A little past midday, they had stopped at a creek to fill up on the water, allowing themselves a moment to rest. Claire had given Kali Aaron while she stretched her aching arms, having been carrying him non-stop for hours. Kali held the baby close in her arms, rocking him side to side, thankful he was sleeping peacefully for once. Not that Aaron was ever much trouble.
"You think you'll ever have one?" Claire inquired.
"A baby? I don't think it's on the cards for me" Kali shrugged, as Claire quirked an eyebrow.
"Well, I used to think that too. Now, I can't imagine my life without Aaron" Claire smiled.
"I guess never say never, right?" Kali shrugged, in a hopeful tone.
Higher up the creek, Miles was staring down at the pair, watching their every movement. It didn't take Sawyer long to notice, as he pushed himself in front of the other man, angrily. He'd be damned if he let the stranger gawk at Kali.
"Don't even think about it" He muttered.
"What?" Miles frowned, as Sawyer took a step forward, getting into his personal space.
"Don't look at her. Don't talk to her. Don't mess with her. Hell, you got a restraining order. Twenty feet" Sawyer warned, as Miles shook his head, amused.
"What are you, her boyfriend?" Miles scoffed, as Sawyer held up his rifle, slinging it over his shoulder.
"Yeah. I am" Sawyer retorted, as the smile immediately fell from Miles' face.
"Hey, it's not like that, alright? It's just...fuck it. You wouldn't understand" Miles mumbled.
"Try me" Sawyer pushed.
"She's not right" Miles replied, as Sawyer gave him a look of disbelief.
"Come again?" He huffed, growing angry.
"Look, I'm sorry, I know she's your girl and all but she is...all sorts of wrong. Can't you feel it?" Miles insisted, making Sawyer frown.
"Hey!" Kali called out, surprising both men, who wondered if she had heard their conversation.
"Blondie's calling!" Kali announced, waving the walkie-talkie in the air.
The pair were rushing down the creek, finding Kali had already answered the call, having handed Aaron back over to his mother. From the look on Kali's face, Juliet wasn't calling them to tell them of anything good.
"What do you mean Jack's sick?" Kali frowned.
"He has a high temperature, no appetite, he's vomiting and he's guarding his right side" Juliet informed her, as Kali's eyes doubled in size.
"...You've got to be fucking kidding me" Kali groaned.
"What's wrong?" Sawyer questioned, not understanding what that all meant.
"Appendicitis" Kali sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"It's not ruptured yet but...we don't have a lot of time. We need you here, Kali" Juliet insisted.
"We're already halfway back to you guys, if we run the rest of the way, we can be there by nightfall" Kali suggested.
"Wait, you were already coming back? What happened?" Juliet asked, concern laced into her tone.
"We were attacked. Not everyone made it...shit, have you ever performed an appendectomy before?" Kali inquired, as Juliet gave no reply for a few seconds.
"...I've assisted with a few" Juliet confessed.
"Yeah, same here. Was never the one actually doing the cutting though" Kali muttered.
"Kali...I don't think I can do this without you" Juliet pushed, her nerves beginning to show.
"We'll be there, okay? Just get everything ready. Oh, and find something to knock Jack out" Kali advised.
"About that...he wants to be awake for the procedure" Juliet informed her, causing Kali to scoff.
"You knock that man out with a rock if you have to, alright? There is no way in hell you can do surgery on someone who's awake on this island" Kali explained, firmly.
The sun had set by the time the group were nearing the beach, later than they expected after having to hide from Keamy and a handful of soldiers. It appeared Keamy had ordered some of his men to stay in the treeline while the rest of them had stormed the barracks, something that Kali should have realised before. The remaining soldiers had recovered a mostly uninjured Keamy and a soldier who had lost some fingers in the blast. Luckily, they weren't heading toward the beach, but back to the helicopter instead. It seemed as though the group's way off the island was about to fly away.
"You're bleeding" Sawyer murmured, noticing fresh blood on Kali's stained shirt.
"It'll stop in a minute. We need to keep going" Kali retorted.
"How're you gonna' help the Doc if you can barely stand when we get there?" Sawyer pointed out.
"James. You heard what Juliet said, she needs me there. Jesus, Jack could already be..." Kali trailed off, with a shake of her head.
"We can keep up" Claire stated, as Miles nodded quickly.
"Why'd he have to go and get sick now, anyways? Thought the guy was damn near indestructible" Sawyer muttered.
"It's weird, right? Just when we're about to get off the island, Jack, of all people, gets a life-threatening illness? Doesn't sound like a coincidence to me" Kali explained.
"What are we saying? The island—" Sawyer was cut off as they heard footsteps approaching.
He was raising his gun a moment later, eyes narrowing when a figure came out of the shadows, relieved when he found it was a familiar face. A smile spread over Kali's lips as her eyes connected with her brothers, as he gave her a little wave. Ken seemed a little taken aback when Kali staggered toward him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him into a tight embrace.
"Since when are you a hugger?" Ken teased.
"Zip it, asshole" Kali replied, as he hugged her back.
"Uh, Kal...why are you covered in blood?" Ken asked, looking down at the back of her shirt to find it was also stained in red.
"Don't ask" Sawyer huffed, as the siblings pulled apart.
"I hear your girlfriends performing surgery" Kali exclaimed, as they started to walk toward the beach.
"I know. It's kinda' hot" Ken stated, making her scoff.
"Who's the cute guy?" Ken inquired, ushering to Miles who had stayed quiet throughout the conversation.
"One of the people from the chopper. He's a bit of an oddball, I'm sure you guys will get on great" Kali suggested, as Ken's eyes flickered to the older man, a stormy expression on his face.
"I'm sure we will" Ken mumbled, as a shout suddenly echoed through the trees.
"Was that...?" Claire trailed off, recognising the voice.
"Jack" Kali sighed, before the group took off running.
When Kali walked into the makeshift surgical tent, it was absolute chaos. Jack was lying on a piece of plane debris, part of his abdomen sliced open, his blood leaking out onto the floor. He was crying out in pain as Juliet shouted at Bernard to grab her a spreader, trying to get a better look inside Jack's abdominal cavity. Kate was holding a mirror up, likely for Jack to see as the surgery was performed, tears streaming down her face at Jack's anguished cries.
"What the actual fuck is happening right now?" Kali gaped, as all eyes in the room turned to her.
"I...I've made the first incisions, I just need...if I can get some more light..." Juliet trailed off.
"I mean why in God's name is Jack awake right now?!" Kali exclaimed, storming over to them.
"I don't want to...to be unconscious" Jack panted, sweat rolling down his face.
"Well, that's a real shame, Jack. But it's not your decision. Did you get something to knock him out?" Kali questioned, as Juliet nodded to the side of the tent.
"We found some chloroform" Bernard replied, handing a bottle and a rag to her.
"You're lucky he hasn't already gone into shock" Kali scolded, as she placed some of the chloroform onto a rag.
"No...no. Kali, don't. Please" Jack begged, as she approached him.
"Do you trust me?" Kali asked, as Jack's jaw clenched.
"...You know I do" Jack sighed.
"Then trust me now. I've got you, Jack" Kali told him, taking his hand into her own, and giving it a squeeze.
Giving her one quick nod, Kali pressed the rag to his mouth, as his eyes fluttered shut. Kate finally dropped the mirror, sobbing louder before she ran out of the room. With a determined look in her eyes, Kali tied her long hair up into a ponytail, finding Juliet still looking at her expectantly.
"Alright, Juliet. You've got your nurse. Now, put me to use" Kali announced, as the blonde gave her a grateful smile.