Chapter 20

Lauren had 42 minutes left before she had to push the button and she was still sorting through the pantry. Aaron had fallen asleep shortly after Kate had left, and he hadn't made a sound in a while. Lauren noted that there were a dozen cans of green beans on her sheet of paper. Despite the limited supplies, Lauren was grateful for both the busy work and the food. She had found a tin of Apollo bars and devoured two of them before she regained control over herself. The candy made her think of Zane, who had a notorious sweet tooth for chocolate. When they would trick or treat on Halloween together, it was impossible to trade for chocolate, but Lauren would always steal the best stuff out of his bag in the middle of the night. He only noticed once, and Lauren successfully convinced him it had been their father taking his tax. She moved on to the peas. Halloween had been Lauren's favorite holiday growing up. Zane and her would make their own costumes, and every year they were something unique. Once, when they were 6 and 8, Zane wanted to be R2D2, so Lauren dutifully painted herself gold and was C3P0. As Lauren got older, she didn't want to coordinate with him, or even go on the same route as him, but now her fondest memories of Halloween were when they dressed up together. Lauren noted the many pounds of rice they had in the pantry.

"Lauren…" a man's voice drifted into the pantry from the living room. Her head snapped up and she stopped writing. The voice sounded like Zane's… but that's impossible. Lauren froze.

"Lauren," the voice whispered again. That's definitely Zane's voice. She stood up and walked out of the pantry. Scanning the kitchen, the living room, the geodome, nothing was out of the ordinary. She went back into the living room, and there in the middle of the room stood Ethan.

"Ethan, you scared the shit out of me! Were you calling for me?" Lauren exclaimed when she saw him.

He stood there staring at her, a ghost of a smile on his lips. He looks rather menacing, Lauren thought. He didn't respond to her question, so Lauren waited for a moment in awkward silence.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

Ethan looked down at Aaron, who laid on his pallet sleeping peacefully, undisturbed by Lauren's outburst. For some reason Lauren felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, and goosebumps pop up on her skin. Nausea rolled through her stomach, and she knew something wasn't right here.

"Ethan… what are you doing here?"

Ethan looked back up at Lauren, his eyes dark. After a second, his line of sight shifted to behind Lauren and as soon as she turned to see what he was looking at, she was knocked out cold.

****Passage of Time****

"Lauren, sweetie, wake up," Kate soothed.

Lauren's eyes peeked open, thankful for the dim light of the hatch, though it was still too much for her sensitive eyes. Her head was pounding as she tried to sit up, but Kate pushed her back down.

"What happened?" Lauren managed to croak.

"Lauren, the baby is gone."

"Gone?" Lauren pushed herself up against both Kate and Jack's protests. "Where…?"

Nobody responded to her question, and she finally stood on two feet.

"Lauren, did you see anything?"

Lauren rubbed in her head trying to remember what had happened. She noticed Kate's red eyes which were hard and determined. She didn't look like a mother who lost a child, she looked like a villain, ready to exact revenge.

"I was in the pantry, organizing, and Aaron was asleep. I thought I heard someone calling me, but… anyway I came out of the pantry and Ethan was in the living room. ETHAN! Ethan took the baby!"

Kate and Jack looked at each other before springing into action.

"I'm going to go get Locke, maybe he can find the trail," Jack said as he started to leave.

"Jack, wait. I have to show you something," Lauren said as she jogged over to a door with a combination lock on it. She turned the dial, opened the door, and revealed their advantage.

"Lauren… why didn't you say anything about these before?" Jack said, stepping into the small room.

"I figured I'd say something when we needed them, now we do."

Jack checked the .9 millimeter he was holding for ammo and Kate grabbed a rifle. They packed the ammo they needed for their respective weapons and as Jack left to go get Locke, Lauren remembered the button. Someone would need to stay behind to push it.

"Jack!" Lauren called after him. "Get Hurley to come with you so he can push the button. I have to go with Kate."

"Lauren you're concussed. You should stay behind and push the button," Jack tried to reason with her.

"No! I got Aaron back once before, you're not going to stop me from getting him back again!"

Jack sighed and turned towards the exit. Lauren went to check the button… only 15 minutes left. Kate went into the armory and surveyed the options before her. She ended up sticking with the rifle she had initially chosen.

"Kate… I'm so sorry," Lauren eventually said.

"Don't be, he's okay. He's going to be okay because we're going to get him back." Her voice was distant, and a little cold.

"You're right, he's a fighter of course," Lauren said softly.

The two waited for Jack to return, pushing the button in the meantime, and when he did, he walked in with only Hurley.

"Where's Locke?" Lauren asked immediately.

"He's outside looking for the trail, you should go out there, Kate," Jack stated.

"Hurley, I'll show you what to do," Lauren said as she walked towards the geodome.

"It's cool, dude, Jack told me everything. I know the numbers, I can push your button, just go get that little dude back."

With that Jack, Kate, and Lauren left the hatch to find Locke outside ready to move.

"They're headed North."

****Passage of Time****

The four of them followed nothing for a long time, just blindly heading North. There had been a few footprints in the mud outside the hatch pointing North, but the jungle around them held no answers as to which way the kidnapper definitively went. Jack and Locke were bickering, but Kate would often put her foot down, as it was her child, so she called the shots. Lauren's head continued to pound, but it matched the rhythm of her heart. The jungle doesn't like me… Lauren thought worriedly. She knew it was silly, but venturing further and further into the heart of the island gave her an ominous feeling.

"What are you even following, John?" Jack quipped about twenty minutes after nightfall.

"The trail began going North and we are on an island, Jack so we will either hit the coast or find something. Now, I think it would be best to go back and figure out how to create a search grid. We need something better than strips of cloth tied to the trees. But I have a feeling that nobody here is willing to quit searching?"
Nobody responded.

"That's what I thought, so unless you have a bearing you would like to follow, North is the best we've got."

A train whistle sounded within a mile of them and the four of them froze in place. It was nighttime and their flashlights were dim, the four of them would have to stick together unless they were to get hopelessly lost. Yet, Jack and Kate took off running to the East, Lauren ran Southeast and Locke stayed rooted to the spot where he stood. Lauren heard the TICKA TICKA sound rattling through the trees and she looked over her shoulder. She saw Locke standing still and she pivoted around to grab him.

"LOCKE, COME ON!" She screamed, grabbing his arm. But dragging him away was useless, he was a grown man determined not to move.

Suddenly, a tree was yanked from the ground, roots and all. The dirt rained down upon Lauren and Locke, getting in their wide eyes. Before them, the monster that ripped the tree out of the ground was simply a column of thick black smoke. The clouds billowed and swirled with a vengeful purpose, and the rattling, electrical sound within it grew louder and louder as it approached the two survivors. Lauren took off running towards the banyan tree nearby, her hands still trying to drag Locke behind her. Her nails scratched his forearms as she desperately tried to protect him, but he remained frozen. But when the billowing smoke flew down to face Locke, only a few meters between them, it flashed a bright light several times. The strobing light made Locke cover his eyes, and the monster roared angrily. Then Locke realized it was time to go, and he sprinted towards the banyan tree that Lauren had sheltered in. The smoke monster followed him, but hung in the air outside the tree. Something was stopping it. It flashed the two of them a couple more times, and though the light was blinding, Lauren thought she saw a face in the smoke. Zane's face.

As abruptly as the monster appeared, it was gone. With a whistle the smoke rose and disappeared into the night. Locke and Lauren were both trying to catch their breath, as the bizarre events replayed through their minds.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Smoke…" Locke said distantly.

"No, I saw that! Why didn't you move? That thing could have killed you!"

"I would have been fine."

"Fine? You saw it rip the tree out of the ground right?" Lauren was incredulous. This man must have a death wish.

Locke just smiled as he continued to breathe heavily. After a few moments, the two survivors emerged from the banyan tree and moved East to find Jack and Kate. Lauren allowed silence to rule the journey, preferring not to argue with a crazy person. I might be crazy, too… Lauren considered seeing Zane's face in the smoke, hearing his voice in the hatch, and chasing his ghost through the jungle. This island isn't right… or maybe I am in shock from the crash… but what does the crash have to do with Zane? On and on she contemplated her sanity. Nothing that happened since the crash made sense, the French woman, the hatch. It feels like one long ridiculous dream. Lauren looked at Locke who was forging ahead on Jack and Kate's trail, and she subtly pinched herself. I had to check.

When Locke pushed through a wall of vines and tree branches, and Lauren stepped through, the two were awestruck for the second time that evening. There in the middle of the jungle, was a pirate ship. Or at least, Lauren thought it looked like a pirate ship.

"What the fuck?" Lauren whispered.

Along the bow, Black Rock was written in ancient fading paint. The jungle had fully embraced the ship as its own, with vines covering the masts. Lauren stepped towards it, fully entranced by its presence. Definitely a dream.

Jack and Kate exited the ship and saw Locke and Lauren near the treeline.

"What's inside?" Locke asked.

"Dynamite and dead bodies," Kate responded.

"Sign of anyone being in there?" Lauren asked, trying to stay on track.

"No."

The night was especially dark, as there was no moon. Jack looked like he was about to suggest they go back, but Lauren left the group and grabbed four fallen branches off the ground. She wrapped some of the cloth they were using as trail markers around the branches with some moss, then lit the edges with a lighter.

"Shall we?" Lauren said as she handed each of them a torch. Kate tried to hide a smile, but Lauren saw it anyway and squeezed her hand. "Which way is North?"

Locke pointed the right way, and Lauren began walking through the jungle. They didn't find anything that night, and they didn't stop to make camp until after midnight. Lauren laid awake most of the night, wondering how much more she could sleep if this were truly a dream.