Part 114: Late Night Discussion

The evening had finally come. Most every one was setting in certain spots around the cave. The rain had not stopped outside; in fact, he had gotten worse. Seth leaned against the wall looking at it. It felt strange to be there; they left their home beach for this place and it actually turned out better. A roof over their heads that they didn’t need to build, not to mention a better version of a water supply. The young bookstore worker was just curious how the people would be and how they would accept them.

Marita rested on her side, with Yolanda behind her. Tony sat near her against a wall face, with Eddie sleeping between them. The Latina stewardess gently rubbed the little boy’s forehead as he fell into deep slumber. She then looked up and saw the one called Jack having a discussion with the short guy Charlie. Tony motioned his head toward her, indicating he could hear it barely. “Who is Jack talking to?” asked the blind doctor.

“Charlie,” Marita whispered, “They are talking about Ethan.”

“Sounds like Charlie was the one who killed him.” Tony mentioned.

“We should tell them what Red Faction told us about Ethan.” Yolanda counted in.

Then Jack stood up and walked back toward his alcove section. Marita could see him discussing some things with Kate, Locke and Sayid. They were all shaking their heads in agreement. Jack then got out some bottled water, passing it to Sayid and Locke. Kate then moved past them, walked and kneeled down to Tony. She gently touched his arm to let him know she was near him. “How are you feeling, Tony?” she asked.

“Rested and welcomed,” he said, complimenting her on her manners earlier.

“Well, if you feel up to, Jack and my friends want to hear what you went through on the other side of the island.”

Tony smiled, “And you came to me, cause you assumed I am the leader of my group?”

Kate blinked, “You’re not?”

“I’m flattered but it’s a joint effort,” Tony stood up, “John? McKay? It’s time for our late night discussion.”

The archer and the Australian stood up without hesitation. John came over to take Tony’s arm. Kate led them back to the alcove area where the men were sitting, drinking water. Tony slowly down next to Kate, then John sat down next to him and McKay sat down next to him. Sayid offered up more introductions, with the others happily obliging him. “Well, Tony . . .despite our . .uh . . .explosive reunion, “ Jack said with a smirk, “I have to tell you it’s good to have you and your people here. Safety in numbers is a good thing.”

“Thank you, Jack,” Tony bowed his head, “I hope whatever problems you have with Jenny that you will be able to work them out.”

“Me too.” He agreed.

“Small world, eh?” McKay mentioned.

“Sometimes I wonder just how small it is getting.” Jack muttered under his breath.

“It is also excellent to have another doctor among us,” Sayid said aloud.

Kate and Jack then looked at him abruptly. The man from Iraq looked at him with concerned, as it seemed to be something he had said wrong. “Jack, did I say something wrong?” he asked.

“It’s all right, Sayid,” Tony immediately knew what was happening, “Jack is just concerned that I am not be able to help people because I am blind. It’s a natural assumption. But I do plan to earn my stay here.”

“There we times when, if we weren’t about to make it, Tony pulled us through,” John said, patting him on the arm.

Jack felt ashamed. “I am sorry, Tony.”

“It’s okay, Jack. You just met us. All you have is my word that we will earn our way. I hope it is enough.”

“It is,” he immediately replied.

“Tony, the young child Eddie . . .he mentioned that he knew Ethan. Can you explain that?” asked Sayid.

“Not much tell, really. We had assumed Ethan was one of us. He only appeared on one day. He was talking to Eddie, saying strange things, about him being tainted. He also said that he couldn’t save him, he would have to save himself.”

“Ethan was interested in little Eddie?” asked Kate.

“How did Ethan attack your people?” McKay asked.

“He killed one of our own, damn near killed Charlie,” Jack pointed out, “He’s been interested in Claire for the longest time. I never knew why but if what Tony said is true, he was after her baby.”

“Is Claire all right?” asked John.

“Yes, “Kate smiled, pointing in the distance, “That is her.”

John turned to see the blonde woman they saw earlier with her giant belly resting on a makeshift bed. The archer was thinking back to the stories of the Red Faction and how
Ethan would take the babies that anyone gave birth to. However, that group of noble teenagers didn’t have guns. He smiled, knowing that Ethan would be bothering no one ever again. Tony massaged his blindfold, then looked to the direction of the others. “How far along is Claire?” he asked.

“Nine months,” Jack sighed.

“Nine months?” the blind man exclaimed, “She could go any day now!”

“Oh, trust us, Tony, it’s been on our mind too.” Kate smiled.

“Clair is fine right now but I definitely would like to hear about what you did over on the other side of the island, not to mention how you knew to come here to us.” Jack said.

“Very well,” Tony agreed.

The blind doctor then began to tell their whole story. How he and John met in the water while Tony had a face full of glass. He told them how he gave Eddie CPR by the water. The blind man told them of the conflicts that arose. He mentioned their quest for water, building shelters, Tony’s eye getting infected and Marita finding Augmentin. He told them of the death of Calhoon by way of a polar bear, and how John was able to kill it. He then began to tell them the fantastic story of Black and Red Faction; how the teenagers were speaking French, how Alexander seem to have impossible strength and how it was he who told them about Ethan. He mentioned their battle with Cedric and the loss of Brendon. Then he told them of finding the body of a woman with a bathing suit on, giving them their first clue to the fact that survivors were on the other side of the island. They began their trek and he mentioned the giant river they had to cross, plus McKay killed the crocodile. However, he did leave out some parts, the blind doctor thought were too incredible and they might not believe them anyway. McKay and John let him speak; failing to mention it as well.

Jack rubbed his head, after hearing the story. Kate was amazed that it was Joanna that they found. Sayid rested his elbow on his knees, listening to everything they had said. Locke just sipped on his water. “Teenagers on the other of the island in a Lord of the Flies setting?” Jack chuckled, “Tony, that’s . .uh . .that’s a hard pill to swallow.”

“Had we not experienced it for ourselves, I would agree,” Tony nodded his head, “I can assure you it’s the true.”

“Yes. Yes, it is,” replied Locke with conviction.

The bald man’s companions looked at him, wondering how he could believe such a strange story. He just shook his head and held up his hand. “Why would he bother to lie about such a thing?” he mentioned, “We’ve seen strange stuff. We’ve seen the polar bears and have had to deal with Ethan. Are we still in denial that this island is an extraordinary place?”

John smiled at the older man. The way he talked, he sounded like Mia. The archer couldn’t wait to have her finally talk to the man; sharing ideas and beliefs. Kate then nodded in agreement about what he said. “We all understand that, Locke but give us a moment to absorb this.”

“Well, while they are thinking about it, Tony, do you mind if I ask a question of my own?” he said.

“Fire away, Mr. Locke,” the blind doctor smiled.

“Have you encountered something . .even more fantastic than the polar bears?”

“Like what?”

“Like . . .a giant monster? A giant monster that no one can see?”

“You mean the Polliwog?” asked Tony.

Locke blinked, “The . .the what? Excuse me, the WHAT?”

Tony then chuckled, catching himself on his flub. “I’m sorry,” he giggled, “Of course you wouldn’t call it that. One the night we first saw the creature, howling and moving the trees aside, Eddie named him the Polliwog. That little boy has a Boogeyman type creature in his head named the Polliwog. Once he saw that thing, he immediately assumed it was his fantasy made real.”

“The Polliwog.” Locke smiled his bright smile, “How adorable.”

Then before any of them could say anything else, the big man called Hurley came over. He was looking groggy and very tired. “Hey, guys,” he mentioned, “I am sorry it took me so long, but I misplaced it. I found the manifest.”

“Thank you, Hurley,” Jack said.

“I’ll look through it, please,” McKay said, asking for the manifest.

The large man gave it to the Australian with kindness. Before he left, he spotted Tony sitting next to Kate. He then looked to Locke, pointing at him. “Why is that man wearing a blindfold?”

“He’s blind,” Locke said, as if it was obvious.

“How did that happen?” he said the bald man.

“Uh, excuse me, Hurley was it?” Tony piped in.

“Yeah, dude?” the large man faced him.

“Could you look closely to my face please? You will notice the blindfold is wrapped around my eyes, not both of my ears.”

“Oh, “the large man whispered.

“The next time you have a question about me, feel free to ask ME. I promise I won’t bite you.”

“Sorry, dude,” he said, walking away with his head lowered.

Kate gently touched Tony’s arm again. “He means well, he didn’t mean anything by it.”

Tony just shook his head in agreement; getting slightly sick of people treating him like he was helpless. He once had to prove it to his friends and at that moment, he realized he was going to have to prove it to these people. McKay flipped the page as he continued to scan the names. He squinted when he came to several pauses. “Forgive me for asking this but is Hurley as half-wit?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” asked Jack, smiling.

“He misspelled DEAD. He just wrote D-E-D.” McKay said in disbelief.

“As Kate said, he means well,” Sayid chuckled, “We don’t fault him for his spelling.”

McKay smirked and continued to scan the document. He then flipped the pages again and then found what he looking for. “Here they are, Edward, Barbara and Edward Junior Trascal,” the Australian mentioned, “It says here they were near the front of the middle section, closer to first class but . .”

“But what, McKay?” asked John.

“Most of the people here have either DED or a check mark by their names. But the Trascals all have Question Marks.”

“Hurley told me the question marks meant they could not to be found.” Kate mentioned.

“That would make sense, cause Eddie was with us,” John motioned, “But his parents? Missing too?”

“Great,” Tony sighed, “They are not among the living nor the dead, just missing. I was hoping that boy would receive some closure of some kind.”

“Don’t give up hope, Tony,” John told him.

“I never do, “ He smiled, then turned to Jack, “Well, now that we got that out of the way, the night is still young. We told your story, Jack. Do you mind that you tell us yours?”

Jack smiled, “That is only fair.”

As the friends gathered around the open alcove under the light of the small campfire, Jack began to tell the story of his survivor group and all that they encountered on their arrival.