Part 193: Search and Capture

(This just in. Famed fan fiction writer Jason has reported to the cops that his first installment of People of the Tail Section Season 2 was stolen by an obessed fan named Ricky Tuttle. Tuttle was last scene boarded up in the local library, screaming that he was going to post Jason's entry for all the other fans to see. "Ricky is crazy," Jason was commented saying, "I hope it was worth it cause I can't wait to see him in jail."

No further word on the whereabouts of Ricky Tuttle but according to police, he was successfully able to post the first episode of the egarley awaited series. More at 11 pm tonight on Internet Radio.)


“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THE NUMBERS ARE BAD???” Mia hit Hurley hard in the arm.

“OW! OW!” the large man ran as the little Lakota girl continued to hit him. John then came over and quickly grabbed by the waist, stopping her assault.

“EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!!” Tony screamed, then took a deep breath, “Hurley, please . . .what do you mean the numbers are bad?”

“The numbers are cursed, dude. We should walk away right now.” He said in panted breath.

“How do you know they are cursed?” Locke asked him.

“Cause I heard the numbers . . .used them to win the . . .lottery.”

John blinked in disbelief, “You . ..YOU . ..won the lottery???”

“Yeah, dude. For the longest time, I thought the money was cursed but then I realized it was the numbers. I am bad luck because I used the numbers for personal gain, guys. If I stay here, bad things will happen.”

Mia then pulled her pad out of her jacket and flipped out the page to the numbers she wrote down. She quickly held them up to Hurley, “THESE? You used these numbers to win the lottery?”

He turned away, “Please, Mia, I don’t want to look at them!”

“You . ..won . .the lottery?” John asked again.

“Why didn’t you tell us about the numbers, Hurley?” the Lakota girl demanded.

“I didn’t think . . . anybody would believe me. Hell, I barely believe it.”

Mia stared disgusted at the large man but then again, with such a fantastic story, would anybody have believed him? She was angry but she could understand his fear in not wanting to reveal what the numbers had done to him. “I would have believe you, Hurley,” she assured him.

“I didn’t know that!” he said in his defence.

“GUUUHH!” she grunted, as she punched him again in the chest.

“Okay, okay, lets all settle down,” Jack ordered, “First order of business is for Mia to stop hitting Hurley.”

The Lakota girl walked away, holding up her hands in frustration. The doctor rubbed his head and then looked to the bald man. “Locke, maybe we should reconsider-“

“YOU WON THE LOTTERY?” John asked yet again.

“John, drop it,” Tony said, “That really isn’t important now.”

“Well, it kinda is,” the archer turned back to the large man, “How much did you win?”

“One hundred and eighty million,” he confessed.

“One . .hundred . . .” John couldn’t even finish the sentence, he was in such shock.

“It really doesn’t matter how much money Hugo has.” Locke interrupted, “We’ve opened the Hatch and now it is time to see what is down there,”

“Locke, as I was trying to say, maybe we should listen to Hurley and leave it alone?” asked Jack.

“I’m sorry, Jack,” the bald man said with reluctance, “I’ve come too far to turn back now.”

The group watched the bald man grab a torch and walk over to the smoldering hatch. Mix quickly joined him and was followed by John. Marita took Tony by the arm and led him away. Jack patted Hurley on the arm and joined the others. Kate was quick to follow. Hurley was left standing by himself. He wanted to grab his bags and run but he didn’t want to head back to the beach alone either. “This is a bad idea,” he mumbled as he joined them at the hatch.

Locke stepped up, looking down. The broken ladder extended down into the depths of the hatch, covered in darkness. The bald man knew they wouldn’t be able to proceed unless it was illuminated down there. He quickly dropped the torch into the hole. The flaming stick lit up the hatch as it plummeted into the darkness. They were able to see it fall until it landed on the bottom. Locke smiled, “Looks like a good thirty to forty feet.”

“How do we get down, the ladder is broken?” Mia pointed.

“Get some rope, I will lower you down.”

“WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!” John protested, “MIA . . .is going in first?”

“John,” Mia said, realizing he was being protective.

“No way in hell are you going down there alone. I will go first.”

“You look like you weight 200 . . .210 pounds, John, “ the older man pointed out, “It’s going to be difficult to lower you. Mia is perfect cause she is the youngest and weighs the lightest.”

“John, I have to do this.”

“I’ll do it,” Kate stepped up.

“Kate, for the last damn time, you don’t have anything to prove to anybody.” Jack grunted.

“I’m the perfect choice. I am the next lighter one than Mia and John is already hell bent on not letting her go down. I has to be me.”

“We could spend all freaking night fighting over who goes down, “ Tony said, “Mia, do you want to go or will you let Kate go?”

Mia sighed. She knew she wouldn’t be able to get through to John. She felt kind of jealous that Kate would be able to discover the mysteries of the Hatch before she could. But in the end, they would all go down eventually. “Yeah, she can go,” the Lakota girl sighed.

“All right, let’s get the rope and lower her down.” Locke said, walking back to their gear.

The other men began to help him. Mia leaned down, staring into the hatch. The flame from the torch still burned at the bottom. Kate came over and kneeled beside her. The young woman moved her hair aside as she looked at the brunette. Kate offered a sympatheic smile. “Sorry.” She whispered.

“I’ve waited a few weeks to get into this Hatch,” Mia winked at her, “What’s a few more minutes?”

“I promise a detailed report of all I see.”

“No need, “ she grinned, patting her on the arm, “I will be right behind you.”

Mia casually took another look down the Hatch as her friends got the rope ready to her right. She was reminded of staring down the Arrow Drive bridge over the Green River back home. She and her friends, especially the male friends, would spit or throw things down to the river just to see it drop. Despite it’s vulgarity, she was tempted to spit again, just to watch it plummet into the wind.

Then something grabbed the torch and pulled it away.

“OH MY GOD!” Kate leaped away from the Hatch, with Mia right behind her.

Locke turned around and looked at them in alarm. “What,” he asked, “What the matter?”

“Locke . .something . . just . ..grabbed the torch and pulled it away.” Mia pointed.

The group then came back to the hatch and looked down. They didn’t see anything but the darkness. Then the shadows began to move. Marita began to squeeze Tony’s arm almost to the point of causing him pain. “Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked, “What do you see?”

“The shadows . . .they are moving as if . . .someone is down there.” She squeaked.

“How the Hell could anybody be down there?” Jack grunted.

Then a humanoid shape appeared in the darkness. They couldn’t see what it was but it was clearly shaped like a human. What made them gasp in awe was the fact it was looking up at them with glowing green eyes. John couldn’t take his eyes off of the thing looking up at them. Jack, a man of science, was going through his head at 100 mph to determine why a person with green eyes would be looking at them and he was not finding any answers. Hurley simply felt like vomiting. Locke then leaned down and got on his hands and knees. “HELLO??” he called.

The green eyes blinked at him. Mia was alarmed. She had no idea who or what was at the bottom of the hatch. But the green eyes . . . .they reminded of her that dream she had when Brendon recited his poem and the green eyes were his. What was her dead friend trying to tell her? “HELLO?” Locke screamed again, “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH??”

“Locke?” a soft voice whispered from down the hatch.

Jack nearly freaked. How could someone they had never met be locked in a hatch and now they knew who their rescuer was? John looked at the bald man; expecting him to be holding some sort of secret, like Ethan did. Locke, however, looked just as shocked as the archer was. Tony was about to say something but then a group of noise caught his attention. He turned around and faced the woods. The noise he heard confused him severely.

It sounded like a battalion flanking them.

“Someone’s coming,” he warned the others.

“Tony, what?” Marita turned around.

“We got to get out of here!” the blind man pulled her, “NOW!”

Hurley didn’t ask; he had been dying to leave for the past ten minutes. He quickly grabbed a torch and began to run. By the time he reached the woods, a man with a rifle pointed it at his face. He backed off quickly. Within seconds, more and more soldiers appeared from the woods. John pulled out an arrow and pointed at the nearest man. Jack grabbed his friend by his backpack. ‘’JOHN, NO!” he screamed.

The archer was surrounded by six men. John wanted to fire on all of them and he probably could but Jack was right. He was outnumbered and even if he could hit a few they would open fire. Not only on him but his friends and loved ones as well. He slowly lowered his bow.

Out of the woods walked another man, slightly skinny. He walked up to them and gently pulled out a side arm. Locke looked at them. Were these Ethan’s people? The skinny man walked up them and smiled. “Bravo.” He smiled, “Bravo.”

“Who are you?” Jack asked.

“Had we know you had the explosives, not mention discovered this damn thing, we would have killed the lot of you.” The man smiled, “If would seem you are more resourceful, than we believed.”

Kate held onto Jack and John as they stood in a group. The way the man was describing what he just said, he was implying that he had been watching them for a while. The man then held up his side arm right to Marita’s face. The Latina buried her head in Tony’s shoulder in fright. “Drop your weapons, and surrender,” the man ordered.

“This is insane,” Jack muttered, “Who are you people?”

“Better do what he says, Jack,” Locke said, dropping his knives into the dirt.

The skinny man walked up to the older man, smiling. “You are obviously the brains of this outfit,” he grinned, “Once you give up the weapons, you will get on your knees. You surrender and come with us.”

“Come with you where?” Locke asked.

“Back to our camp,” he said, in seriousness, “My commander would like a word with all of you.”

“Do what he says, John,” Tony told him.

John didn’t like giving up his weapons to a bunch of strangers pointing guns at them. But Tony suggested it and he knew his friends wouldn’t have told him to do it unless it was necessary. John slowly placed down his bow and began to remove his quiver. Two soldiers quickly came over and collected them. Locke slowly got on his knees. When he did, everybody slowly follow suit. Two more soldiers came over and began to tie their hands together with rope. Then another rope was filtered in between them all, so they would all be connected. “Arc-Welders, move in and secure the Hatch,” the skinny man ordered.

Four men then moved out from their flanks. Two of the soldiers picked up what remained of the dome cover and moved to place it back on top of the hatch. One man then pulled out a welding torch and lit it. Locke looked on in despair as the sparks began to fly from the metal as it was being reconnected together. “NOOOOOO!!!!” someone screamed at the bottom of the hatch.

The soldiers backed off, pointing their guns at the dome. The arc-welder was scared almost to the point where he might have accidentally burned his left leg. He quickly looked back to the man who was in charge. “WHAT?” he shrugged, “What are you looking at me for? FINISH IT!”

The arc-welder continued his work. Locke looked up to the man who seemed to be in charge of these soldiers. “Sir, you have us at your mercy. Would you kindly tell me what is in the hatch?” he asked.

“That would be a NO,” the man said calmly.

“No, as in you don’t know or that you won’t tell me?”

“No, as in I am not authorized to answer your questions,” the man sneered, “Now, for you own sake and the sake of your friends . . .SHUT UP.”

“One last question,” the bald man smiled, “Am I allowed to call you something other than sir?”

“Locke, don’t piss him off,” Hurley said.

The man looked at him with a smile that was both sinister and playful. “If you must, my name is Frakes.” He told them.

“NOOO, PLEASE!!!” echoed the Hatch, “DON’T DO THIS!!!”

“Hurry up, will you?” Frakes barked, “I don’t want to listen to this crap all night.”

“LOCKE, HELP US!!!” a voice screamed from the pit.

The soldiers then paused. Frakes looked confused, then turned to the bald man. He stared ahead, not acknowlding the head soldier. “How does that thing know your name?” he asked.

Locke said nothing. Jack looked at him, curious about that part himself. Frakes stepped closer, examining him. “No, no,” he whispered, “There is no way you got down that Hatch fast enough to introduce yourself.”

“I am as lost as you are.” The older man confessed.

The more the arc-welder sealed the hatch, the screams for freedom became drowned. The soldier then stood up, taking off his goggles. “All set, sir, sealed and closed-“

The soldier was interrupted by an arrow piercing his neck.

The other soldiers then turned and fired toward the trees. The group huddled together under the whispering tat-tat-tat of the rifles. Tony took notice of the facts that their rifles were silenced; only well paid soldiers or some kind of black ops team would have such a thing. Not only where they expense, they were illegal. The soldiers continued to fire into the trees until Frakes started to wave his hand in front of his face. “CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE!” he ordered.

The soldiers stopped firing, continuing to point their guns into the darkness above. John looked back at the dead welder, noticing the arrow in his neck. It wasn’t one of his. Frakes walked and kneeled down to the soldier. He gently reached down and examining the arrow, noticing it’s gleaming silver tip. “Raven.” He cursed under his breath.

“Sir, if we fan out, we can probably pin him down and-“ the soldier tried to suggest.

“AND do what?” the leader grunted, “He can see in the dark, fool. You can’t.”

Frakes turned to the woods and screamed, “RAAAAAVVVEEEENNN!!!”

A weird echo caressed the darkness.

“I don’t know what your game is but I will find you, freak!” he cursed, “There is no one who is going to help you!”

Another strange chirping sound came from the woods. Frakes held out his gun aloft and walked over to the group. He then put the gun on Locke’s head. “NO!” squeaked Kate.

Locke closed his eyes, waiting for the shot. But it never game. Within minutes the chirping sound had stopped. Frakes then pulled the gun away and holstered it. “Yes, Mr. Locke,” he stared down at him, “I am very certain my commander will want to talk with you.”

The skinny leader walked over and motioned for the soldiers to move out. “Form a defensive perimeter in case Raven is out there. Someone grab Copeland’s body,” he walked a little further, “Texas, bring them in.”

Then from out of the shadows emerged a giant man. Marita gasped in horror at the sight of the biggest man she had ever seen. He looked about a good 7 to 8 feet tall and his clothing looks like it was sewn together to fit him. His skin was a pale white as was his hair. His eyes almost glowed a soft red. Tony could hear the giant man’s foot steps. “What is that?” he asked.

“Nothing much, Tony,” John whispered, “However, I thought the Incredible Hulk was supposed to be green?”

The man known as Texas grabbed the end of the rope that held the survivors together. As he pulled them, Locke lurched forward not getting his footing just yet. Kate quickly grabbed his arm and helped him. Then eventually they were all being towed by the giant albino. Tony hoped the others would find them but he had no idea the size of force they were dealing with.

He really wished he wasn’t blind.

Advanced Preview: Season 2

Deep inside the encampment, the group known as the Liberation had called it a day. They had been busy most of the morning, getting prepped to keep the Colonel happy. He’ll be arriving in a few days and he’ll want a progress report on their hold on the island. Belmont was curious who he was bringing. All the Colonel said is that he would help us with the computer.

The second in command looked up at the green screen. Countless nights he had stared at its pulse, wondering what secrets it held. Already they had accomplished so much but yet there was still so much untapped potential. They just needed the right help; the right help to make it work. Belmont gently pulled out a cigarette from his jacket and put it in his mouth. It took him three tries to make his lighter work. He hoped that when his leader returned, he was also bringing supplies with him. Not only where they getting low on rations, he needed a new lighter. The blonde haired man turned around and left the computer room, alone with the skeleton remains of whatever scientist that was. He still had no idea why the Colonel insisted the body stay. It stopped creeping him out 4 years ago.

Belmont walked down a hall, saluting the man on guard. He turned a corner and walked into the control room. The room was still a little dirty. The blonde man bid farewell to Lulu; the fifties Coke-a-Cola pinup that still adorned the wall. His men rested in their stations; monitoring the island. They had been keeping track of the survivors of the crashed for the 40 plus days they were on the Island. It was the anomalies they were interested. Belmont gently sat down on the old chair, hearing it creak. He wanted the chair removed; replaced with something more modern but the Colonel insisted against it. The blond man leaned back and took another tug from his cigarette. “Status, gentlemen?” he asked.

“All is quiet, sir,” the man answered him.

“Any word from Kreegan?”

“Not yet, sir. He took the boat out an hour ago.”

“He really expected the anomaly to be on the water?”

“It’s what our readings confirmed, sir.”

“Very well,” he sighed.

Then the door opened and then another soldier walked in. Belmont looked to Frakes who was just massaging his head. The blonde stood up and offered him a cigarette. “Thank you,” he said, lighting it up.

“You okay?” his superior asked.

“Can’t sleep.” He replied.

“Really?” Belmont chuckled, “You are starting to sound like the Colonel.”

“It’s just tonight, moron. I will probably go back to sleep later,” he looked at his watch, “What time is it, anyway?”

“It’s early. It’s very early.”

“The Crone is outside by the way.”

“What she can’t sleep either?”

“Keep muttering something about a frog or some damn thing.” Frakes smokes his cigarette, “Creeps the hell out of me.”

“The Colonel trusts her and she hasn’t let him down yet.”

“How did they meet by the way? I mean, where did he find this psycho whore?”

“Frakes, don’t you remember? She was already-“

A loud beeping interrupted the second in command. He turned to his men, who were stationed at the old computer equipment. The one on the right hand side was punching buttons and listening to his headset. “What is going on?” Belmont asked.

“I don’t know, sir,” he replied, “The computer is reading a seismic disturbance. But we haven’t had one of those in years.”

“Coordinates?”

“Bearing zero five, mark two, north of the main . . . .” the soldier then went wild eyed, “BREECHED!! THE HATCH IS BREECHED!!!”

“What?” Belmont rushed to the screen.

“It’s true, sir, look!” He pointed, “O2 levels are increasing. The hatch cover is no longer registering!”

“That’s crazy!” Frakes protested, “We buried the damn thing!”

“How . .how the hell could they . . .HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET IT OPEN???” Belmont screamed at the top of his lungs.

“They would have had to blown it open. We welded the door handle off years ago.”

“But they are not supposed to have explosives!” the blonde man screamed again, “How could they have . . . .”

The second in command blinked his eyes in rapid movement. Then his face became contorted with rage, flooding his cheeks and forehead red. “Rousseau.” He hissed.

“No way. The French woman is basket case by now. There is no way she would-“

Frakes was interrupted by Belmont grabbing his collar and pulling him forward. The soldier started into his leader and the man’s eyes almost seemed on fire with hate. “If this gets out of hand, you know their will be hell to pay, directly from the Colonel himself.” He grunted.

“Yes, sir.” Frakes replied, a small bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.

“Get out there to the Hatch. Bring back whoever is out there, alive. Then increases roaming patrols. Standing orders are as follows; if they see Rousseau, they are to shoot on sight. Is that clear?”

“Crystal, sir,”

Belmont shoved him back. “Then move out!” he ordered.

Frakes then ran outside, to awaken the men. Belmont slowly followed him. As he ran into the bunkers, the blonde man looked to his left and saw the blind crone sitting on a tree stump. He slowly walked up to her and crossed his arms. She did not acknowledge him, just kept facing forward. “You knew, didn’t you?” he asked.

“About what?” she asked plainly.

“The Hatch, you blind bitch!” Belmont snapped at her, “If you knew they were going to break open the damn Hatch, then why didn’t you warn us?”

“Had I known they were going to do that, I would have.” She whispered.

“I don’t believe you,” the second in command grew even angrier, “You’ve told us so much. You told us where to find the Spanish Gold. You warned us about the Polar Bears and yet, you couldn’t see this coming?”

“The future is fluid, always in motion. I can’t predict every single aspect with 100% clarity. The Colonel knows this.”

“Only because of him, I bother keeping you around. Never forget that.”

“How could I when you constantly remind me?” she grinned.

“Get out of here.” Belmont ordered, “Go back to sleep.”

“These people who opened the hatch? You are going after them, yes?”

“Of course.”

“You are to bring them back alive?”

“I want to know how they opened it and where they got their explosives.”

“You will need to know more than that, Executive Officer.”

“What do you mean?” he kneeled down looking at her.

“If I could not foresee they would open it, then that could mean only one thing. One of those people . . . .is extraordinary.”
-------------------------------------,

The soldiers were arming up and moving out. They ran as fast as they could through their makeshift village. There was a bunker buried mostly underground, just tall enough for barred windows to look outside. Kellye leaned up and peaked out. She saw the soldiers running as fast as they could north into the jungle. She blinked, raising an eyebrow. What could possibly be out there? The Monster they heard? The young girl then felt a hand touching her arm. “What’s going on?” asked Ana-Lucia.

“Not sure,” the girl answered, “Something has gotten their attention. They are running into the jungle like bats out of Hell.”

“Good album.” Clay whispered.

“Huh?” the Latina looked at him, “What did you say?”

“Bat out of Hell. Ozzy Osborne. Good Album.” The millionaire commented.

“Clay, do you ever . .have anything constructive to say?”

“Only if I happen to get you in bed, sweet cheeks.” He grinned, leaning against the wall, eyes closed.

Libby massaged her forehead. The constant rattling of Clay’s voice felt like nails in her brain. She leaned her leg out and pulled out a five dollar bill. “I know you are a millionaire, Clayton,” she said, holding out the money, “But if give you this five dollar bill, would you shut up?”

Clay scoffed and closed his eyes back. “Getting stuck in this damn bunker with 7 women,” he moaned, “At first, I thought I was in Heaven. Now I know God is punishing me.”

“No, Clay,” Barbara whispered, “I am pretty God is punishing all of us for being stuck here with you.”

“Is that right, Barbara?” he grunted, “God must have been punishing Bobby too.”

“Okay that is enough,” Ana-Lucia almost barked.

“Had you crazy girls not convinced him to go for the radio tower, he’d still be alive.”
”SHUT UP!” Jilly screamed, standing up, “Bobby was a good man!”

“A stupid man, kid. Bravery and Stupidity are close cousins, and he crossed the line. Hell, we didn’t even know if his transmission got out anyway.”

“Yes, we will never know.” The deaf girl cried, “But at least he died like a man and I know you won’t!”

“Stupid retard,” Clay muttered.

“HEY!” Ana-Lucia kicked him hard in the arm.

“OW!” he grunted.

The Latina leaned in, getting directly into his face, as he massaged the impending whelp on his arm. “You insult her disability one more time and I will make sure these bastards hang you just like they did those poor kids.” She hissed.

Clay said nothing. He stared at her, and then looked away. The Latina then turned around and looked back into the distance of the barred window. The jungle was empty now; the soldiers were well on their way to whatever destination they were running hard to. Were their more of those poor kids with the red bandanas? She hoped not; watching them hang eight of them was horrid enough.

What would happen next?

Rock and Roll Friends by Turboshaft

(scene cuts to Seth, Charlie and Shanna on the beach. They are wearing the artful clothes like the ones the main cast wore on the Uk Promo. They are clapping in rhythm and singing accapella. Seth starts out)

Well, I got friends!

Chorus = Indians, Whites, and Africans!

And I got friends!

Chorus = That work in bars and play in bands!

Chorus for the remainder

My rock & roll friends
Will rock your chicks and trash your can
But rock & roll friends
Know what it takes to be a man.

And rock & roll friends
Be Together till the End
And rock & roll friends
Be Together till the End
And rock & roll friends
Watch each other backs and
The rock and roll plan
Is to be as cool as you can

(They continue the chorus as the screen pans away)

14 days till People of The Tail Section : Season 2

The People of the Tail Section: UK Promo

Below is a detailed scene by scene of the commerical for the United Kingdom Promo

(opening scene shows the survivors of the tail section gathering on the beach.)

THROWN TOGETHER BY CIRCUMSTANCE

(Shows John and Tony swimming toward shore. Then John running off to help other people. Tony then bringing Eddie back to life. Then Tony helping Marita with her wound.”

BOUND BY FATE

(Scene shows the core group gathered by a camp fire)

FORCED TO WORK TOGETHER

(McKay helping John dig the grave for Ramon. Marita and Yolanda sorting through clothes. John building the tent. Eddie and the girls gathering food, then McKay chopping coconuts)

THEY HAD NO IDEA WHERE THEY WERE

(Scene shows the group jumping up at the rumbling in the trees and the sound of the Polliwog echoing through woods. Tony screams, “WHAT IS THAT??”)

SECRETS WERE REVEALED

(John shooting the boar on the beach. Then the scene cuts to McKay confessing that he was betrayed just like Taylor. The Brat Pack discussing their secrets gathered with each other by the came fire)

MYSTERIES SURROUNDED THEM

(John and McKay hearing the whispering in the woods. McKay, Taylor and Mandy running from the Polar Bear. Tony covering his head as the Polliwog steps over him and proceeds to eat Poteet. Mia wakes up from one of her dreams. The Red Faction arriving at the beach)

THEY FOUGHT

(Jenny attacking two members of the Black Faction. McKay fighting one member of the Black Faction. Tony on the beach screaming, ‘YOU WANT A WAR? YOU GOT ONE!!)

THEY LOVED.

(Marita kissing Tony passionately. McKay tilting Taylor over to kiss her. John holding onto to Mia as she became weak in the knees.)

THEY LOST.

(Seth, Mia and Shanna huddling over Brendan’s body. Scene then shows all of them at his grave site)

BUT THEIR JOURNEY DID NOT END THERE

(Entire group moving out of their beach area)

IT HAD ONLY JUST BEGUN

(The group crossing the river. McKay killing the crocodile. The group finding the crashed helicopter from the Grand Canyon.)

REUNITED

(Sayid running over to them in the rain, demanding who they were. Then the group walking back to the caves)

CONNECTIONS WERE MADE

(Mia talking with Locke. Mandy being embraced by Boone. Jack and Jenny arguing. Kate and Seth sitting alone at the beach. Tony being comforted by Sayid. Sawyer in the rain with Cecil, holding a gun to his face.)

SURVIVAL HAD ONLY JUST BEGUN.

(The scene shows the raft launching. The group walking toward the Black Rock and then to the hatch. Locke, Mia and Jack looking down the Hatch. Sayid and the kids retrieving Claire’s baby. Mandy holding onto a weeping Shannon.)

AND NOW . . . . . . .

(The scene cuts to an encampment made of wood houses and metal bunkers. It looks old like 70’s old. Someone in the background screams, “BREECHED!! THE HATCH IS BREECHED!!!)

(Next scene shows Locke throwing a torch into the Hatch)

(Next scene shows several men running through the jungle, in green army jackets and they are all carrying rifles)

(The men have arrived at the Hatch. Locke, Mia, Marita, Kate, Tony, Jack, John and Hurley hold up their hands in surrender)

(Next scene shows them being led away, all tied together by some kind of rope. They arrive at the strange camp. Marita stares in horror as she sees four of the kids of the Red Faction swaying from the trees in nooses)

(Next scene shows a blonde haired older man walking out of them with an old woman by his side. This woman has no eyes. The group stand together tied by the rope. Next scene shows the old woman staring into Locke’s face. The blonde man then smiles and says, “Welcome to the Liberation.”)

(Next scene shows Sayid and McKay looking out the mouth of the cave, staring into the rain. Jenny and Seth are behind them. “They should have been back by now.”)

THE BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL IS OVER . . . .

(McKay and Sayid inspecting the hatch. McKay feels of the ground, noticing the abundance of footprints)

(Micheal and Yolanda are staring into the jungle from the beach. They have sand over their clothes and faces)

(Taylor, Mandy and Shannon slowly creeping through the woods)

THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM HAS BEGUN

(Locke and Tony being led away from the others while they are placed in an underground bunker. Then it shows Locke being tied to a chair, and two men in army jackets proceed to punch him severely. Tony has been strapped to a metal rack on the wall and he is being electrocuted. His screams can be heard back to the bunker. John is holding onto Marita while she weeps in his arms.)

(Scene cuts to Locke facing the blonde man. “Who else knows about the secrets of the Island?” he asked.

Locke spits blood on him. “Just me.” He confesses.)

(Scene shows Tony still on the rack. A brown haired older woman is interrogating him. “HOW DO YOU CONTROL THE BEASTS???” she screamed.

“Don’t . .know . .what you are talking about,” he replied)

(Mia is screaming through bars in the bunker, as they hang two more members of Red Faction)

(Alexander looks up from a well, where they have him chained. He is screaming in defiance as they dump wet garbage onto him)

(Walt is seen cowering in a corner, while the shadows of two men blanket him)

NEW FRIENDS

(new scene where Jack and the other survivors are inside the metal bunker. They are greeted by 8 other members of the Tail Section. Jack walks up to a familiar little Spanish girl. “Looks like we got to place our drink on hold,” Ana-Lucia smiles at him. Kate is confused by the smile.)

(John gently touching a woman on the shoulder. She is weeping in a corner. The archer recognizes her from her torn dress. “Barbara Trascal?” he asked.

The woman looks at him in shock, wondering how he knew her name.)

OLD ENEMIES

(Tony is tied to a chair. The blonde haired man is leaning on a desk looking at him, with arms crossed. “We have a young man who is dying to see you again, Mr. Largo.” The man chuckles.

A familiar black Faction leader walks out of the shadows, wearing an army jacket. “You like my English, doctor?” he said, in a strained French accent.

“Cedric?” Tony asked.

The young man stares at the older man with hatred. What makes the blonde haired man laugh is that Cedric has eyes again.)

MYSTERIES WILL BE REVEALED

(Eddie in the darkness, staring at Mr. Kangaroo in awe. Next scene shows Mia being thrown into a dirty room. She looks up to see a skeleton in a lap coat with a gun in his hand. To the main room is a giant computer with a green screen. She stares at it in awe.)

ALLIANCES WILL BE FORMED

(Scene shows Sayid pointing a gun at Danielle in the distance while she has her rifle pointed at him. Next scene shows a man in an army jacket crouched on a tree limp. His face is covered by some type of mask. He is looking down on Jenny, who is standing next to two army jacket men lying on the ground)

PLANS WILL BE MADE.

(Sayid and McKay are looking at the camp. The Australian is looking through binoculars. Sayid then stops Danielle from screaming as she saw two men pulling Andra by a rope around her wrists.

Next scene shows them back at the beach. Sayid is talking with the group of survivors he has assembled at the beach. “We must not look at these men as mercenaries. We will look at them as the monsters who have taken our friends.”

Scene flashes between the faces of Martin, Jenny, Seth, Charlie, Micheal, Yolanda and Shanna. “And in order to defeat these men, we must be prepared to lose. We must be prepared to die.” Sayid tells them.

Scene then shows a hand cocking a pistol. Camera pans up to reveal Sawyer with a bandage around his left shoulder. He looks up at the Iraqi smiling and replies, “Check on that, Captain.”

ORDINARY PEOPLE

(Scenes flash between the faces of Tony, Locke, Marita, Mia, John, Jack, Kate, Hurley, McKay, Taylor, Mandy, Kristy, Walt, Yolanda, Sawyer, Micheal, Sayid and Seth)

WILL BECOME EXTRAORDINARY.

(scene shows this man in an army jacket running toward the camera screaming. Then the scene cuts to Jenny planting her foot into his face, and knocking him down immediately. Camera pans to shows the mans face; he is unconscious and a small amount of blood is leaking from his lips. Three other men stare at the young teenager in complete shock. The camera shows Jenny’s face and she is simply smiling at them.)

(The opening to Rolling Stones Pain It Black begins to play in the background)

Scenes began flashing one after the others in quick motion.
(Seth is sword fighting with an Oriental Man in army fatigues)

(Shanna has Flower by her side and they are running through the jungle)

(Sayid firing his gun)

(Jenny leaping through the air with police batons, attacking two men)

(McKay tackling an army jacket man as Taylor screams)

(Eddie running through the jungle with Mr. Kangaroo under his arm)

(Kate is screaming through the bars of the bunker, calling to someone. John, Marita and Ana-Lucia are behind her, looking in a panic)

(Sawyer is seen taking a shotgun away from an older man in an army jacket)

(Locke is wrestling with the Old Blind Woman in the computer room. Mia is looking back at him in panic, trying to type something in the control panel)

(Charlie is alone outside the cave, weeping. He is holding the statue of the Virgin Mary)

(Jack is being held aloft by the throat from this large albino man. Jenny is running toward them screaming)

(John fires an Arrow directly into the camera.)

THE PEOPLE OF THE TAIL SECTION: SEASON 2

(Tony is being held by the blonde man with a knife to his throat. Tony is struggling to get free. The blonde is looking up in fear and rightly so. We see from the view point of the Polliwog; growling at him)

GET READY

SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2005

Part 192: Exodus The Finale-

The group continued their journal through the jungle. It had finally reached nighttime and they had to rely on torches to show them the way. Jack and Locke walked in the front still with Tony and Marita behind them. John stayed with Mia, and Kate followed with Hurley. The doctor looked at his bald companion with a deep concern. Locke noticed he was getting a little too close to him. “We shouldn't be this close to each other, Jack.” He warned.

“If we blow up, we blow up.” He said, getting tired of the whole thing, “What the hell was all that about back there, John?”

“What the hell was what about?” asked the archer.

“I don’t think he was talking to you, John,” Locke chuckled, “What was what about, Jack?”

“You asked me to let you go.”

“That’s right.”

“Locke, that THING . . .was taking you into the hole and you asked me let you go?”

“It wasn't going to hurt me.” Locke said, matter-of-factly.

“No, Locke it was going to kill you.” Jack retorted.

“I seriously doubt that.”

Jack was loosing his patience. Mia watched him from behind. She could tell he was about to pop, not understanding what this Island is. “Look!” the doctor yelped, “Look, I need for you . . . I need for you to explain to me what the hell's going on inside your head, man. I need to know why you believe that that thing wasn't going to-“

“I believe I was being tested.” He pointed out.

“Tested?”

“Yeah, tested.”

“I think-“

Locke then stopped him and turned to face him. “That's why you and I don't see eye-to-eye sometimes, Jack . . .because you're a man of science.”

“Yeah? And what does that make you?”

“He’s a man of faith.” Mia answered for him.

Jack looked at her like he couldn’t believe how Faith played a role in what they were doing. “Do you really think all this is an accident?” Locke continued, “we, a group of strangers survived, many of us with just superficial injuries? Do you think we crashed on this place by coincidence . . .especially, this place? We were brought here for a purpose, for a reason, all of us. Each one of us was brought here for a reason.”

“What brought us here?” asked John.

“The Island did.” Locke replied, “The island brought us here. This is no ordinary place, you've all seen that, I know you have. But the island chose you and you. . .each and every one of you. It's destiny.”

“You talk to Boone about Destiny, Locke?” asked Jack.

Locke sighed; half expecting this to appear in the conversation. Mia quickly stomped up between her friends and then stood in between Locke and the doctor. “That’s not fair, Jack!” she grunted.

Locke gently put a hand on her shoulder. She still looked at Jack with utter contempt. “Mia understands, Jack,” the bald man said, “She has seen the heart of the Island and found something beautiful. Isn’t that right, John?”

The archer looked at his girlfriend. The love they shared, the bond they had made; was it really work of the island? Mia smiled softly back at him. “She is special,” he confessed, “I don’t pretend to understand her Gift . . .but I know she has it.”

Locke looked back to Jack. “Boone would have understood, if I had enough time to explain to him, “ the bald man whispered, “Boone was a sacrifice that island demanded. What happened to him at that plane was a part of a chain of events that led us here . . that led us down a path, that led you and me to this day, to right now.”

“Where does that lead us, Locke?”

“The path ends at the hatch. The hatch, Jack . . .all of it . . . all of it happened so that we could open the hatch.”

“I believe it has led us down this path, Locke,” Tony whispered, “But Boone was not a sacrifice.”

“Then how would you explain it, Tony?” the old man asked.

“I believe in the balance, Locke,” the blind doctor whispered, “I believe in an orderly universe. Boone died the night Claire’s baby was born. I believe that Boone had to die . .so that that precious child could live.”

“I’ll go with that theory.” John smiled.

“The point is I believe it led us to the Hatch as well. Mia was dreaming about it long before we came here. She knew there were other people before we even discovered the drowned woman. I believe . . .we were led here for a purpose. Is it the Hatch? Is it all of us getting to know each other? Did we all need a companion? I don’t know. But our goal tonight is the Hatch. Let’s get it opened.”

“No, we are opening the Hatch to survive, not to catch up with some Destiny.”

“Survival is all relative, Jack.” Locke said.

“I don’t even believe in Destiny.”

Mia patted him on the arm, “Then let’s open the Hatch and see what you do believe.”



After another thirty minutes walk, they arrived at the hatch. The group slowly began to take off their pouches. Locke walked up to the silver dome and placed down the dynamite. He then turned his large friend. “Hugo, take these extra sticks back a couple hundred yards.”

“Me?” Hurley blinked, “Oh, okay. Got it.”

“Be careful, “Tony urged.

Marita handed him a torch to light his way. The large man quickly backed off. “Can I have the flashlight?” he winced,” Because, . . .uh, the whole torch with the dynamite thing, that's not making a whole lot of sense to me.”

Jack then tossed him the flashlight. The large man caught it then slowly made his way away from the hatch. Mia and John then walked over to the side, getting ready for the men to handle the dynamite. Locke pulled the necessary parts out of his pack. “Kate, you run the fuse, “ Tony ordered, “Locke and Jack will rig the charges. Marita, you go with her.”

Kate took the spindle and immediately, Marita grabbed the other end. They slowly began to trail it away from the dome. The two men waited for Tony to tell them what to do. Tony then held up his hands. “The clay around the tip is the softest,” he said, “Jack, you will need to insert the end of the fuse into the stick.”

“I’ll do it.” Locke said.

“No, Jack will,” the blind doctor stopped him.

“But he might-“

“Surgeon hands, Locke.”

The bald man then saw the blind doctor’s point. Jack shook his head in agreement and then took the fuse. He slowly leaned in and inserted it into the tip like Tony said. He took a deep breath, leaning up. Marita and Kate had stopped just about twenty feet from them. “That’s all there is!” Kate called to them.

“It's far enough.” The older man pointed, “I'll light it. You two take cover, there'll be enough burn time for me to get clear.”

Jack then took Tony by the wrist and began to lead him away. He turned around, looking behind him as he walked. “HURLEY!!!” he screamed.

“Coming!” he called.

The others ran toward the far end of the woods, taking cover. Mia, John, Tony and Marita huddled together. Jack and Kate were behind them by about eight feet. Locke slowly out a pack of matches, given to him by Mia. The Lakota girl smiled; remembering that she picked the hotel matches for no reason. Like Tony said, the universe was orderly. She was seeing the reason unfold in front of her eyes. “So, what was that about back there?” Kate whispered behind them.

“What was WHAT about?” Jack mumbled.

“Putting the dynamite in your pack.”

“I made a judgment call.” He responded.

“We drew straws,” the brunette reminded him.

“Sorry, I'm not going to let drawing straws make decisions like that for us, Kate.”

“You had no right to make that choice-“

“Everybody wants me to be a leader until I make a decision that they don't like. You want to keep second guessing me, Kate? That's your call. There's something that you need to know . . .if we survive this, if we survive tonight . . .we're going to have a Locke problem. I have to know that you've got my back.”

Kate looked at him and whispered, “I got your back.”

“What was that about Locke, Jack?” Tony said.

Mia turned to them, wondering what they were saying. Jack saw that she grew interested too quickly. “It’s nothing, Tony,” he dismissed him.

“You said, you are going to have a Locke Problem?” the blind man continued, “What did you mean by that?”

“You misunderstood me, Tony,”

The blind man turned around and faced him. “Oh, yeah . .that’s right . .you forget I can hear better than most people.”

“Jack, please,” Mia begged, “We need to trust each other to get through this.”

“Wait a sec, wait a sec!” Hurley called to them.

He continued on past the hatch but lost his footing on a section of loose ground, making him drop the flashlight. The large man quickly kneeled down and picked up the device. But as he did, he saw something indented on the hull of the dome. He leaned in closer to take another look and realized the horror in front of him.

It was the very numbers that made him a rich man.

“NO!” he screamed, “STOP! WE CAN’T DO THIS! STOP!”

By the time Locke had heard his pleas, he had already lit the fuse. He quickly dropped it and started to run toward the others. Hurley then ran toward the lit end of the fuse. “STOP, WE CAN’T DO THIS!!” He screamed, “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?”

“HURLEY!” John screamed.

“The numbers are bad! The numbers are bad!!!” He yelled as he tried to stomp out the fuse.

“Numbers?” Mia blinked.

“The numbers are bad! The numbers are bad!”

“HURLEY, YOU NEED TO GET BACK!!” John screamed as he jumped up and ran toward him.

“The numbers are bad! The numbers are bad!” he repeated over and over.

The archer quickly grabbed the large man and tackled him. The moment he did, the hatch cover blew open. The metal sheered off and the smoke flooded the area. John covered the large man until he was certain it was safe.

As he leaned up, the other survivors walked up to them. The paused for a second; looking at the top of the dome. It was shifting slightly as the top was finally off. Jack and Locke walked over to the hatch cover. Marita handed them two towels which they used to pull the cover off. The two men grunted as they tossed it to the side.

Locke slowly needed down toward the hole. Jack joined his viewing of the hatch. Mia then leaned down and looked. The darkness filled the hatch; not able to see anything at the bottom.

Nothing but a broken ladder . . . .leading down.

Part 191:Exodus Part 9

Out in the middle of the ocean, rested the homemade raft. Yolanda sat near the front, holding her hands across her arms and chest. She had no idea it would be so cold out in the ocean. Plus it had been such an eventful day. They nearly lost the rudder; making Sawyer reveal by accident that he has a gun. Jin had a unique bonding with Micheal and Walt learned how to work the rudder. Yolanda felt slow glad to be on the raft; but the remembered her promise.

She would bring all her friends home.

Then she felt a shirt wrap around her. She leaned up, pulling it close. Micheal kneeled down beside her, rubbing her shoulders. “You okay?” he asked.

“I am now,” she said, snuggling the shirt, “Thank you.”

“I wasn’t sure how cold it would be out here either.” He smiled.

“You did a great job building this boat.” She replied.

“We did. It was a group effort.”

There was an soft silence between them. Yolanda then looked the other way and smiled. Micheal rubbed his three day beard and looked out at the ocean. “What are you . .uh . . going to do when we get rescued?” he asked.

“Take a shower.” She giggled.

“I meant . . .after that . .”

She looked at her with her brown eyes. “No plans.” She whispered.

Micheal found himself enjoying the look on her face. He could already tell she was a woman who would value loyalty to the man she loved. The black man smiled slightly, remembering Mia and Marita; all the women of the Tail Section didn’t know what the meaning of the word Betray was. “You should come to New York.” He said, “Hang out with me and my boy.”

“I’ve never been,” she smiled.

“Never?” The man laughed, “I thought you were a-“

“Flight Stewardess?” Yolanda smiled, “Yeah, I’ve been to New York but I never left the airport. So, technically, I’ve never BEEN.”

“Then you have to come.” He smiled, “I’ll show you all the great places.”

“I’d like that.” She smiled.

Micheal almost felt like kissing her but then a beep interrupted his thoughts. He turned to see Sawyer staring at the grid. The black man stood up and walked over to him. Yolanda slowly followed. Micheal then tapped on the screen. “I turned it on a little while ago.” He told him.

“Sayid said every hour.” Sawyer reminded him.

“We're 15 miles out.” He protested, “We could be here for weeks. If that battery runs out-“

“The man said every hour.” The redneck hissed.

Micheal grunted and then walked to the other side. “Nothing.” The southern man whispered.

“Five minutes, no more.” The black man ordered.

“Aye, aye.” Sawyer saluted him,” You know what I like about you, Mike? You've got the patience of a saint.”

“Yeah? Why do you say that?”

He then pointed toward the sleeping form of Walt, “I've seen the way he talks to you . . . the way he runs around, does whatever the hell he wants. I'd have showed him the back of my hand a long time ago.”

“You would, huh?”

Sawyer shook his head. Yolanda took a deep breath. “Is that your daddy did, Sawyer?” she said, “Show you the back of his hand?”

He looked at her briefly and then said, “My daddy never got a chance to beat me. He shot himself when I was 8.”

Yolanda didn’t blink. In fact, the statement he just told her made a lot more sense to her. “I take it then that is why you want to die?” she asked.

“Excuse me?” he retorted.

“You fought tooth and nails to get on this boat, Sawyer,” she pointed out, “Why does a guy who only cares about himself want to risk his life to save everyone else? The way I see it, there's only 2 choices . . .you're either a hero . . . . or you want to die.”

Sawyer sighed. He turned his attention back to the radar screen. “Well, I ain’t no hero, darling,” he replied.

Before she could say anything else, a blip erupts on the screen. Micheal and Yolanda immediately look at it. Near the southern region of the radar, a small blip started moving toward them. The black woman nearly screamed but remained calm. “Is that what I think it is?” Sawyer pointed.

“Something is out there.” Micheal whispered.

Jin turned around and strained his eyes into the darkness. Yolanda kept her eyes on the screen. The beeping sound slowly made Walt wake up. Sawyer tapped the screen again. “It’s getting closer.” He pointed out.

“Hold on a sec.” Micheal ordered.

“I'm telling you, it's closer. I'm telling you, look.” The redneck grunted, “Get ready to fire the flare gun.”

“He’s only got one flare.” Yolanda quickly mentioned.

“Is it another ship?” asked the young boy.

“We don’t know yet, Walt.” The black woman replied.

Jin and Micheal were arguing about how dark it was so they couldn’t see anything. Sawyer turned around, disgusted that they hadn’t fired the flare yet. “Hey, Han! You and Chewy want to slow down a second and talk to us here?” he grunted,” We have to fire the flare.”

“It might not be a ship, Sawyer,” Yolanda replied, remembering Seth’s warning.

“What the hell else could it be?” he hissed.

“A floating piece of junk or something.” Micheal agreed with her.

Walt looked at the screen. The blip was going the other way. “It’s moving!” he squeaked.

“Floating junk that knows how to steer, huh?” the redneck grunted again.

“We're moving. It doesn't make. . .”

“Look, are you going to give me the damn gun, or am I going to have to take it?”

Micheal turned to him, “What are you going to do? Shoot me?”

“It’s almost gone!” the little boy jumped up and down,” C’MON!!”

“Micheal, don’t.” Yolanda warned.

The black man grunted. He agreed with her; he didn’t want to fire the flare but he didn’t know if this blip was for real or not. He also knew he couldn’t take the chance that it wasn’t. He quickly turned around and hoisted the gun up into the air. “Please, God,” he whispered.

The gun fired the flare into the air in a steady stream of red haze. The moment it reached up into the sky, it burst in a flower bloom of magnesium. The group aboard the raft waited for a few seconds. The blip on the radar had disappeared. Micheal cursed and threw the gun down. Sawyer was upset but didn’t apologize for taking the risk.

Then the blip came back.

“IT’S COMING BACK!!” Walt jumped.

They start jumping up and cheering; trying to get the other people’s attention. Yolanda was skeptical; wondering if this was something Mia and Seth warned her about. The sound of a boat’s motor shot from the water. Within a seconds a flood light shined against them. Jin, Micheal and Walt leaped up down, laughing. Sawyer was so happy, he didn’t bother. As the boat got closer, they could see the occupants of the boat. A bearded man stood near the flood light, flanked by two men in army jackets. There was an older woman at the helm of the board. “Man, are we glad to see you!” Micheal called.

“What's going on? What are you folks doing this far out here?” he asked.

“We were, we were . . .the plane crashed. We were on the island for months, man.”

“A plane crash?” the bearded man smiled, “How about that?”

“We were on an island . . .oh, flight 815 . . .hey, where are we?”

“Well, it’s a good thing we found you.”

“Yeah, yeah, we survived and there's a whole group of people on the. . .”

“Well, ain’t that something.” He said.

Yolanda started to get worried. The tone of the voice in the man sounded fake.

“Yeah, it is,” the black man laughed.

“Only thing is . . .we’re going to have to take the boy.”

The laughter had stopped. Even Jin was able to tell something was up. Micheal blinked and Walt hugged onto him. “What?” he replied, “What did you say?”

“The boy,” the bearded man hissed, “We’re going to have to take the boy now.”

“What’s going on?” Micheal demanded, “How are you people?”

“Just give us the boy,”

Yolanda gently took Sawyer’s arm and tilted it for him toward his back; toward his gun. The redneck shook his head in agreement; something was amiss. He slowly let his hand rest on the gun’s hilt. Micheal pointed at him. “I ain’t give you anybody!” he screamed.

“Well . . .all right then.”

The two men then stood up. Sawyer quickly shoved out his gun but the older man turned the flood light off; making his eyes not adjust to the darkness. A gun shot echoed through the air and the impact of the bullet struck Sawyer in the shoulder. The redneck immediately went flying into the water. Within seconds, Jin dove into the water after him.

The men then jumped on the raft and made a beeline for Walt. Micheal didn’t hesitate to attack them to defend his boy. The man then swung his fist and connected on the back hand of the black man’s jaw; jolting him. Yolanda then immediately grabbed the radar screen and slammed it again the head of one of the men. Then another man grabbed her by the hair and shoved it to the side. She grunted as he jolted down and landed in the water.

Then Micheal was thrown from the raft. The two men quickly took the screaming boy onto the raft. As Yolanda shot up from the water, she saw the woman throw something onto the raft. The way the device looked and the few she actually saw as a flight stewardess in training; she knew it was a bomb. “MICHEAL, DOWN!!” she screamed.

The black couple quickly sunk into the water as the raft exploded in a mix of fire and bamboo. The shards rained down above their head. Micheal came up out of the water, just enough time to see the boat sailing away. “DAD!!!” Walt screamed, “YOLANDA!!!”

“WALT!!” Micheal screamed, starting to swim toward him.

“NO!” Yolanda echoed, joining the black man.

“DAD!! YOLANDA!!! HELP ME PLEASE!!!”

The couple struggled to swim as fast as they could but within a few feet they knew they couldn’t close the distance with a motorized boat. Yolanda looked back to see their raft in flames and Jin with Sawyer where lost in the darkness of the ocean. She turned to then see the disappearing boat off into the horizon of the ocean.

She was alone with Micheal, screaming his son’s name.

Part 190: Exodus Part 8

The group continued their run. Sayid was getting severely winded and they were losin the light. Shanna ignored the pain in her legs and kept running. Seth was right behind her; get annoyed the sword banging him in the back when he ran. Jenny was flaying her arms, running faster than most any of them. The Iraqi almost assumed she was a possessed girl; intent on doing harm to Rousseau. “JENNY, SLOW DOWN!!” Sayid screamed.

“I’m NOT letting that witch give that baby to a bunch of strangers!” the teenager screamed back.

“She’s hurting just like Claire, “ the Iraqi pointed out, “I won’t let you hurt her.”

“No offense, Sayid, but try and stop me.” Jenny ordered.

Seth continued to run, then heard a loud thud. He quickly turned and saw that Charlie had fallen. The short musician tried to get up, panting. He then collapsed, completely exhausted. “GET UP, CHARLIE!!” Seth screamed.

The rest of them stopped. They turned and saw Seth running back toward him. “CHARLIE, I SAID GET UP!!” the bookstore worker told him.

“I can’t . . .I can’t . . .” he breathed, “My lungs. . .my head . . .I’m in so much pain, Seth.”

“Me too, my friend but you got to push past that. You got to do this for, Claire!”

“Claire . . .” Charlie wept, “I failed her . .”

“NO, YOU DIDN’T!!!” Seth said, “I won’t let you . . .”

“Seth, you . .you got to bring the baby . . .back . .I can’t . . .”

Seth held out his hand. “I ain’t leaving without you, Charlie.”

“CHARLIE, COME ON!!!” Shanna screamed.

“C’mon, man!” the bookstore worker grunted at him, “Are we not the best band in the world? Are we not . . ..TURBOSHAFT???”

Charlie blinked and looked at him through his sweat covered eyes. “TurboShaft?” he asked.

“Yes. Better than DriveShaft! Better than the original! You know why? Because no body can sing like me . . .no one can play the drums like Shanna and no one SURE AS HELL . . .can play the guitar like Charlie Pace!”

Charlie looked up at him, a mixture of tears and sweat in his eyes. Seth smiled at him. “Curtain is going up, Charlie,” he grinned, “Time to Tune Up.”

The short musician then grabbed his hand and Seth hoisted him up. He grabbed him by the back of his best, and pulled him along with him. The other three began to run with them. The friends were united once again; determined to get Rousseau before she gave the baby to the Others.


The night had finally blanketed the area. Sayid continued to run and then stopped. The others stopped and crowded around him. He quickly pulled out his gun and then ran to the small beach. Seth followed closely by Charlie, Shanna and Jenny. They walked down on the beach area. Shanna immediately recognized this as the river they crossed several weeks ago. Jenny looked at the source of the black smoke. It was a cross-tied log with a giant black rock emitting smoke into the air. Judging by the smell, it was a giant sulfur cube. Sayid didn’t bother it that; he was busy looking at the ground. “There's no footprints, no tracks.” He mentioned.

“This is it?” Charlie pointed, “THIS is the black smoke?? Where are they??”

“Dear God,” Shanna whispered, “Did we miss them?”

Before Sayid could answer, they heard a soft baby cry. They all turned to the woods, bathed in darkness. Charlie immediately pulled out his gun and Seth unhooked his sword. Jenny tied her hair into a knock and then cracked both her knuckles. Sayid motioned for them to stay back. “DANIELLE!!” he called, “Danielle, we can hear you! Please come out!”

“COME OUT NOW!!” Jenny demanded.

“Danielle, please . . . the boy needs his mother.”

The French woman then slowly emerged from the woods. She held Aaron aloft in her arms, weeping softly. “They . ..are not here.” She cried.

“Danielle, you must give us the baby.” Sayid demanded.

“I just wanted my Alex back. I thought if I gave them the baby. . .”

“I know, I known” he said, sympathedically, “It’s okay.”

Danielle continued to cry as the Middle Easterner approached her. He slowly took the baby from her arms, then turned around and handed Aaron to Charlie. The musician held the little baby in his arms, happy that he was safe again. “I got him.” He smiled.

Jenny wasn’t so happy. She pointed at the French woman. “There never were any others!” the teenager screamed, “Charlie, . .she started the damn fire!”

“No, I heard them whispering.” Danielle replied.

“You’re a nut job!” Charlie retorted, “You heard nothing, you psycho bitch!”

“Charlie, that’s enough.” Sayid said, motioning for them to leave.

“I heard them say they were coming for the child.” She wept,” The others said they were coming for the boy.”

“You're pathetic!” the short musician hissed.

The group slowly started to leave. Jenny turned around and walked back to Danielle who was standing by the black smoking rock; crying. The teenager looked up at her, curling her fist. “JENNY!” Sayid called.

Danielle looked at her, and Jenny returned her glare. Then she looked back to the group. “Don’t worry, Sayid, I wanted to kill her,” the teenager said, “But now that I look at her again, I don’t need to. Charlie is right . . .she’s pathetic.”

Seth then walked over to the French woman. Danielle wept silently, staring at the dark river. The bookstore worker sighed. “We won’t ever forgive you,” he whispered, “We’ve become a family and we look out for each other. The thought of someone looking out for themselves . . .is foreign to us.”

“I just . ..wanted my daughter . .” she cried.

“I know that, and the sad part is, The Others as you call them . .whoever they might be . ..they don’t have her.”

“What?” she turned to him.

“Your daughter is alive. She’s on the other side of the Island. She told us you were here.”

Danielle was wild eyed. Sayid and the other listened. Then she grabbed Seth by the arms but the young man didn’t flinch. He stilled stared at her. “WHY???” she screamed, “You could have told me back at the beach! I never would have taken the baby!”

“Because your daughter said she would never come to this side of the island,” he said coldly, “and she told us to beware of you . . .she said you were sick.”

Danielle slowly let go of Seth. The young man knew the effect it would have on her. She then collapsed to her knees. “No . . no . . .Alex would never . . .” she cried.

“Your OWN daughter is afraid of you, woman,” Seth hissed, “Based upon that information . . .what the hell made you think we would trust you?”

“No . .NO!” Danielle then took off running toward the other side of the beach. Seth and Jenny watched her disappear into the darkness. The soft cry of Aaron reminded them of their purpose there; to get him back to his mother. They then began their walk into woods, Seth walked close to Charlie who had the baby. To help Aaron calm down, he began to sing.

The other survivors smiled as Seth began to sing See a Little Light by Bob Mould.

Part 189: Exodus Part 7

The group continued their walk into the jungle. They didn’t follow their normal way of walking, just like Tony has suggested. Jack was sweating severely, wondering when the dynamite would go off. The other survivors didn’t speak much; only Hurley. John smirked at the big guy. It seemed he had to talk to cool his nerves. “So, dude? What do you think is inside of that hatch thing?” he asked Locke.

“What do you think is inside it?” Locke countered.

“Stacks of TV dinners from the 50's, or something. . . . and TVs, and cable, some cell phones, clean socks, soap, Twinkies . . .you know, for dessert, after the TV dinners. Twinkies keep for, like, 8000 years, man.”

The old man chuckled. “I like Twinkies.” He said.

“Twinkies rule,” John agreed.

“C'mon, really, what do you think is inside?”

Locke paused and looked at him. “Hope,” he smiled, “I think Hope is inside.”

The group continued walking. Judging by the dead leaves and rotten foliage, they had arrived back at the Dark Territory. Jack looked around seeing if he could spot anything strange. So far nothing. Then he jolted when a bird cawed out of nowhere and flew away into the sky. The doctor stared up at the bird as it disappeared. John looked up at it as well, watching it fly away. “Whoever named this place Dark Territory was a damn Genius.” Hurley moaned.

“That’s wild . . our first bird.” John pointed out.

“Excuse me?” Jack asked.

“Don’t you realize it, Jack? We’ve seen boars, bugs and polar bears but no birds . .until now.” The archer smirked.

“John has a point.” Tony said.

“What do you mean, Tony?” asked Marita.

“Birds migrate, honey,” the blind doctor said, “The fact that we’ve seen that bird means, either it came from this island and this place is huge . . .”

“Or it flew over from some other island?” Locke finished for him.

“Yes, indeed.”

“Definitely an interesting . . theory . . .” Jack paused when he saw something.

In the distance was an emerging shadow, sweeping through the trees. It then started to make an animal like sound, plus an odd metal clanging sound. The footsteps of the thing were started to emit impact tremors in the ground. Marita gripped onto her boyfriend’s arm. “The . .the . . .Polliwog?” she asked.

“No,” Tony gritted his teeth, “The noise is different. No guttural roar. This is NOT the Polliwog.”

“We . .uh . . .we better run.” John said, turning around, and running.

The group didn’t argue with the archer. Kate, Jack and Locke began to remove their packs, then started to run. They heard the weird metal clanging around starting to move faster toward them. They quickly dove into a path area and ran.

John and Hurley ran as fast as they could. Mia was right behind, grunting as she did. Marita lead the way as Tony held onto her hand. He cursed himself, once again for being blind. Jack ran after his friends but then stopped abruptly when he noticed Locke was not among them. The doctor gasped as the crazy bald man was heading toward the beast. “LOCKE!!!” he screamed, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

Mia then heard Locke’s name and stopped. She stared in disbelief that her older friend was heading toward the sound of the new monster. Jack then ran toward the man to help him. John grabbed Mia and forced her to run from the new sound. “JACK!!” Kate screamed.

There was more clanking sounds and then it sounded as if Locke had fallen. The sound caught Marita’s attention and thus she didn’t look where she was running. Her foot immediately caught a hard vine cause in a fallen log below her. Tony stumbled a few feet as she felt, due to the fact he was holding onto her. He rolled and got into a crouched position. “MARITA!!!” he screamed.

“I’m okay!” she called back, “My foot is hung in a vine!”

“Stay there! I’m coming toward-“

Tony was interrupted as the tree next to him exploded into the air, taking him with it.

“TONNNNNNYYYYYY!!!!!!” Marita screamed as she saw the love of her life literally fly into the air.

“OH, MY GOD!!!” John saw his friend skyward.

“RARRRRRRRRAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!” the blind doctor screamed as he landed nearly thirty feet from them.

John immediately ran toward his position. Hurley and Mia ran back toward the Latina and quickly unhooked her from the vine. She immediately got up and followed the archer into the deep of the woods. Where was Tony?

“TONY!!” John screamed, “TONY, SAY SOMETHING, MAN!!!”

The blind doctor wasn’t responding. John knew his best friend might be dead; he went sailing into the air like he was catapulted. The archer couldn’t to run; ignoring the tree branches slicing into him. He ran and felt the ground going into a decline. He panicked when he looked across the horizon and realized they were near a ridge. As he turned, he spotted his friend. The blind doctor was lying on a slopped ridge.

Slowly sliding down toward the edge.

John immediately dropped his bow and took off his quiver. Then he ran and dove for his friend. The man began to slide down the grassy slope, as did Tony. The blind doctor then slid off the ridge, but John caught him in time. The archer then grabbed a vine that was hanging off, stopping their descent. John gritted his teeth as he held his friends immobile body off the edge of the cliff.

Marita, Mia and Hurley finally found them. The Latina gasped seeing the situation John was in. “OH, MY GOD!!” she screamed, “John, where is Tony???”

“I got him! I got . . DON’T COME DOWN HERE!!!” he replied, as he continued to hold on.

“Dude, what do we do?” Hurley called.

“John, hang on!” Mia urged.

The archer breathed through gritted teeth as he continued to hold onto his friend. If he dropped him, he didn’t know if he would survive the bottom. He was thankful that Tony was alive; as he gripped his wrist, he could feel a pulse. “Tony, please wake up.” He begged.

Tony remained immobile and unconscious. John looked back and saw the vine was loosening. “Tony, Please,” he grunted, “I can’t . .hold you . .forever . . .”

John then knew Tony was not going to wake up in time for him to help him pull him up. If anybody came down here, they would tear the vines and possibly kill them both. The archer realized he was the only one who could save his friend. He then braced his feet and held tightly to the vine.

John then began to scream as he pulled up Tony. The muscles in his are were shooting fire to his brain as he strained on the pull. The man continued to scream as he slowly pulled up the blind doctor, and then placed him into his lap. John took a deep breath; holding onto Tony. Marita was spent; collapsing on all fours, after seeing him bring her lover back up from the ridge. John then opened his eyes slowly then wildly. Another set of blue eyes were staring at him.

From a small cloud of black smoke hovering above him.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT???” Hurley screamed.

Before anybody else could say thing, there was a small thud echoing through the ground; like a bomb went off underground. Then the black smoke quickly disappeared, in a straight shot toward the right. John regained his senses and began to climb up, dragging the limp body of Tony right him.

As they reached the top of the ridge, Tony then began to jerk. He immediately caught his foot, and started to shake the cobwebs out of his head. “Tony, are you okay?” Marita cried.

“Oh, god,” he massaged his head, “Would someone answer that phone?’

John leaned up, and massaged the arm he used to pull up his friend. Every fiber of it’s being was screaming pain. Mia hugged him; happy he was alive. Hurley slowly sat down; almost in a daze. He rubbed his mouth and whispered, “Dudes . . .that black smoke . . . was that another security system?”

“I had to be,” John panted, “It . . .looked at me.”

“Looked at you?” Mia asked.

“Damndest thing . . .it had giant blue eyes . . . .I’ve . . .never been so scared in my life.” The archer whispered.

Tony leaned up. “Let’s hope . . .this doesn’t . . .happen again . .” he breathed.

Marita kissed him, and held onto him; almost afraid that if she let him go, she’d lose him. The group slowly got up, hearing Jack and the others calling to them. With moans and groans; they began to walk up the ridge to join their comrades waiting for them.


The group continued their walking back, mostly in silence. Jack led the way, followed by Locke. John and Tony walked together with Marita right behind them. Kate then followed with Hurley and Mia behind him. The large man seemed to be muttering to himself. The Lakota girl didn’t catch it, almost like he sounded like he was reciting numbers or something. “15, 16, 23, 4-2, 4; 15, 16, 23, 4-2, 4; 15, 16, 23, 4-2, 4; 15, 16. . .” he whispering under his breath.

“You say something?” asked Kate.

“Nope,” he replied innocently.

“I thought I heard 23.”

“Does that . . .mean something to you?” he raised an eyebrow.

“What?” the brunette asked confused.

“That number? 23?”

“The guy who called the Feds on me, back in Australia, did it for a 23000 dollar reward.”

“Really, Kate?” Mia asked.

“Yeah,” she sighed.

“Twenty three thousand dollar reward . . . .” the Lakota girl puzzled.

“Why you curious about it, Mia?” Hurley asked.

“Well, Kate has the number 23 tagged to her and we have the number 23 tagged to all us.”

“What do you mean?” asked Kate.

“We were on Flight 815, boarding at gate 23.” She told them.

“That . . .weird.” Hurley whispered.

“Why did you say the number 23, Hurley?” Mia asked, “Does that mean something to you too?”

“Naw,” he shrugged, “It’s just a number. We better catch up to them, can barely see them.”

Mia then grabbed him by his shirt. “Hurley,” she looked at him with concerned, “Are you hiding something from me?”

“What would I be hiding?” he looked innocently.


Up ahead John and Tony walked together. The blind doctor was about to walk right into a bush, until the archer took him by the shoulder and shifted him toward the right path. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Don’t mention it.” He replied.

“How is your arm?”

“Sore as hell. Probably hurt really bad tomorrow.”

“John . . what you did-“

“What I did,” he interrupted him, “I HAD to do.”

“Pulling me up by one arm?” the blind doctor smiled, “Not an easy thing. I weight 215.”

“Probably 200 with the diet we’ve been on.” John chuckled.

“Seriously John . . .I got no way to thank you . . .”

“Don’t worry about it. You saved my life, I saved yours. We’re even.”

“Yes and the moment you pulled me up with one arm, you stopped being my friend.”

John then stopped and looked at him. “Tony . .wha?” he asked confused.

“John, you stopped being my friend . . .and you became my brother.”

John felt a gasp leave his lips. Tony just smiled, hearing his best friends’ reaction. “Only family could have done what you did.” The doctor whispered.

The two friends then embraced. “I can’t lose you man,” the archer sniffed, “You’ve been one of the few things that kept me sane.”

“You won’t ever lose me.” The blind doctor assured, “I promise you that.”

“C’mon, “ Marita rubbed her boyfriends back, “You can do this Male Bonding elsewhere.”

“Yeah, “ Tony chuckled, taking her arm.

Mia slid her arm around John’s waist as they followed the rest. Kate smiled at their closeness; she felt like she was in the right crowd.

They continued on as the sun began to disappear over the horizon, replaced with the darkness of night.

Part 188: Exodus part 6

Sayid ran with Charlie. McKay brought up behind them, follow by Shanna and Seth. By the time they got back to Claire, Rousseau was not there. But Claire and Sun was, and the young Australian woman was bleeding from her head. She was trying severely. “WHERE’S MY BABY??” she screamed.

McKay looked around, the little tyke was no where. Charlie ran over to the carriage and saw that he was missing. “Oh, My god,” the short musician whispered.

“Is he all right?” Claire said, frantic.

“Rousseau, was she alone?” asked Sayid.

“I don’t know.” The woman cried.

“Claire, which way did she go?”

“I don’t know!” she cried, “SHE TOOK MY BABY!”

Before Sayid could ask another question, Charlie punched him. McKay blinked, seeing what the short musician did. He pointed to Sayid. “THIS IS YOUR FAULT!” he screamed, “You brought her into the camp. If you had just given me a gun-“

“Charlie, don’t do this!” Shanna yelled.

He tried to hit the Middle Easterner again, but Sayid blocked it by grabbing him by the throat. “Do not hit me again.” He sneered, “You want to waste time assigning blame? There's plenty to go around! She has a head start. If we leave now we can catch her.”

“How are you going to do that?” asked McKay.

“Because I know where she's going.” He said.

“Then let’s bloody get after her!”

“McKay, I need you to lead the group to the caves.” The Iraqi asked him.

“Can you track her? You are SURE you know where she is going?” the Australian asked.

“Yes,” he said with a positive voice.

“Seth, Shanna, you two back them up!” their older friend ordered.

“HEY, GUYS!!” Seth said.

The group turned to face him. The young bookstore worker slowly turned around and show them the small blue back pack that they all knew belonged to Jenny. “It would seem our resident Karate Master is already hauling ass toward Rousseau.” He said with a slight smile.

-------------------------------------------------------,

Tony stood next to Marita who gripped his arm. John waited next to Mia and Hurley. There was a much heated debate about who should carry the dynamite, considering how unstable it was. It got so bad to the point where Kate wanted to carry them but Jack refused. Locke settled it by drawing straws. In the end it was Kate and Locke who got the option to carry them. Mia worried about the safety of her older companion. John was slightly ashamed but he was glad he and his friends were not chosen to carry the dynamite. “We ready?” asked Tony.

“Yes,” Jack said, slowly placing the pack on Kate.

“Then lead the way, Locke,” the blind man replied.

“The sun sets in 90 minutes, give or take. If we want to get back to the hatch we're going to have to hustle.” The old man mentioned.

“Okay, this is how we do this. I'll lead ,” Jack said, Kate, you're right behind me, then Hurley, then John, then Mia, Tony and Marita, Locke, you bring up the rear. If you start to see me heading the wrong way. .”

“We should stagger our formation,” Tony said,” Keep a safe distance from each other.”

“All right, we stagger,” Jack agreed, “If anyone hears anything or sees anything. . .”

“Like the security system that eats people?” Hurley said.

“It’s the Polliwog,” Mia told him.

“Right, . . .Polliwog . . .my bad,” the large man sighed.

“Regardless of it’s damn name!” the doctor made them focus,” you take your packs off, you put them down and you run. You got it?”

“Got it,” Kate responded.

“Yes, sir,” replied Locke.

“Okay, let's do this.” Jack said, leading the way.

-----------------------------------,

Sayid ran as hard as he could, to the point where his knees were hurting. He was being followed by three people way younger than him. He almost laughed at the irony of running in combat but instead of seasoned soldiers; he was being followed by a band. “ARE YOU BLOODY JOKING?” Charlie screamed, “Why would she go for the black smoke? Isn't that where the others are supposed to be?”

“The others are precisely why she would go there!” Sayid huffed,” Rousseau told us she saw black smoke the day her own child was taken 16 years ago!”

The Iraqi then stopped by a tree, diving on his knees. He quickly grabbed a silver case underneath a fallen tree and shifted it over. Then he pulled out a key to unlock it. Shanna blinked seeing the pile of guns in the box. “They took something from her, and now she believes she has something that they want.” Sayid said.

“She’s making a trade?” Charlie said in disbelief.

“Oh, man, that is sick.” Seth rubbed his forehead.

“Don't try to apply reason to her actions.” The Iraqi said,” She's a mother who lost her child, just like Claire.”

Sayid then handed Charlie a gun. The moment he took it, the Middle Easterner held onto it, not letting him have it yet. “This isn't about revenge. Don't make it personal.” He warned.

“I won’t.” Charlie took the gun.

Sayid then handed one to Seth. The young bookstore worker held up his hands in protest. “No thanks, man. “ he whispered, “Something tells me I ain’t gonna need it.”

“Me neither,” Shanna agreed.

“Very well, “ Sayid locked the case, “Perhaps only two guns will be needed to overpower her until we know the baby is safe.”

“I’m coming with you,” Claire said within earshot.

They all abruptly stood up. Claire was stomping after them with Sun in tow; begging her to stay at the caves. Sayid put the gun in his pack and stood up. “That is not a good idea, Claire.” He said.

“This is MY baby, okay!” she wept,” I let her take him.”

“Claire, this is not your fault!” Seth told her.
“Claire, you need to go back,” Charlie urged her.

The moment he grabbed her, she starting to hit him in the chest. “HEY, HEY!!” he tried to hold her.

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!” she screamed.

Seth then grabbed her too, trying to get a hold of situation. “CLAIRE!” he begged, “PLEASE CALM DOWN!!”

“It’s my baby and I am coming with you and YOU CAN’T STOP ME!!” she said, grabbing both of them.

“It’s all right, Claire,” the short musician said, hoping for her to calm down.

The woman continued to struggle but then stopped. She was emotionally spent. Seth felt like crying with her, but one of them had to remain strong. He gently stroked her hair. Claire had a steel grip on both their shirts. She struggled for a few seconds, then finally relaxed, crying into Charlie’s chest. He leaned forward, kissing her forehead. “It’s going to be all right, Claire,” he whispered, “I promised.”

Claire raised up and looked at him, then to Seth and then to Shanna. She sniffed and looked at them all. “You get him back, guys,” she whimpered,” you . . .you bring Aaron back.”

Seth’s eyes lit up. “Aaron?” he said.

“Aaron,” Charlie stared at her.

“Please, get him back, Charlie.”

“I will, Claire. I promise.”


Another twenty minutes and the quad were running through the bushes and leaves. Sayid let the way with Seth behind him. Charlie struggled, feeling his lungs practically on fire. Shanna kept up the rear for a second until her musician started to fall behind slightly.

Sayid leaped out of the jungle and landed on the rock face near the shoreline. Seth did the same thing, and when Shanna jumped, she stumbled and fell. Charlie leaped down and helped her up. “You okay?” he asked.

“Ow, “ she grunted, “I skint my knee.”

“We're losing the light!” Sayid screamed, “Try to keep up!”

“WE’RE COMING!” Seth screamed as he grabbed on arm of Shanna’s and Charlie grabbed the other.


Another thirty minutes and they hadn’t stopped for even the briefest of seconds. Seth felt like his heart was going to explode. Shanna was certain their wasn’t a shred of air left in her lungs. Charlie the worst of all; already a triangle of sweat forming down his shirt. The much fit Sayid had a good ten feet head start of them. “SAYID!!!” Charlie called to him.

Sayid paused and looked at them. He forgot he was running with young people; not soldiers. They definitely were not use to running at full speed over miles. He then jogged to his left and pointed. “Over here!” he called to them.

“Sayid, where are you going?” Charlie called.

“We’ll rest over here.” He told him.

“REST?” the short musician yelped, “She’s out there right now-“

“Charlie, listen to him,” Seth stumbled forward and fell on all fours,” we can’t . .get Aaron back . . .if we run . .ourselves to death.”

“He’s right, in another mile you will collapse,” the Iraqi pointed, “We will rest here.”

They jogged a few more feet and they had wound up at the Nigerian Beechcraft crash. Sayid stopped and pulled out a water bottle from his pack, gulping it down. He quickly threw it to Charlie. Seth collapsed on a log, breathing severely. Sweat trickled down his forehead, onto the ground in almost a steady stream. His musician friend sipped on the water and asked, “Is this where Boone fell?”

“The plane was up there.” Sayid pointed.

“Where did it come from?”

“Nigeria.” Seth panted, “If you can believe that.. .”

“Anyone on board?”

“Two men, dressed as Priests.” The Iraqi said.

“Priests?” Charlie said in confusion.

“Yeah, drug runners in disguise, just like the Autobots,” Seth said, picking up a Virgin Mary statue and tossing it to Charlie, “The plane was loaded with heroin.”

“Okay, now we should go.” Sayid said, picking up his pack.

Sayid then started to run into the jungle. Shanna was the firs to follow him. Seth then motioned for Charlie to follow. The short musician didn’t follow immediately.

He stood there, staring at the statue.



The group ran for another twenty minutes. Sayid was finally starting to feel the pain of the constant running. He was slightly worried the wound in his leg would re-open. Seth grunted, feeling like he had just injected acid in his lungs. Shanna had to tie her hair back cause it kept getting in her face. Charlie ran as hard as he could to follow. The young musician was able to catch up but then stopped when he saw Sayid had stopped.

The trio came to an abrupt end as they stopped running. All three then looked at the Iraqi who was just staring up. Then they turned their heads skyward toward the direction in which they were looking at.

Only to find a familiar teenager hanging from a tree.

Jenny swayed in the wind, with one leg snagged on a noose in the tree. Seth almost laughed; he had never seen her more pissed in her life. Her face was red from the blood rushing to her, which didn’t help matters. “Could you please cut me down?” she said through clenched teeth, “I got someone I need to kill.”

Sayid then ran to the rope and proceeded to cut it down. Seth and Shanna got under the teenager to ease her down. It wasn’t too hard to see she was mad beyond belief. “Stupid bitch!” she grunted, “I had her. I freaking HAD HER!!”

“Which way did she go?” asked Sayid.

“She went that way . .GET THIS FREAKING ROPE OFF OF ME!!” Jenny said, fighting to untie the rope.

While Seth, Shanna and Sayid helped her, Charlie jogged into the direction where she said Rouseau went to. As he walked few feet, he gasped. There was a blanket shaped baby in front him. “HEY, GUYS!!” he screamed, “I THINK SHE MAY HAVE DUMPED AARON!!”

“Who is Aaron?” Jenny asked.
“The baby,” Shanna helped her up.

“Since WHEN?” the teenager demanded.

Sayid jogged toward him. Charlie immediately picked up the baby. “CHARLIE, WAIT!!” he yelled.

The short musician unwrapped the blanket and it was a large log. Then a net full of rocks erupted above him and smashed into his head. The group quickly ran to him. Jenny threw the rocks off of him and they held him up. “Let me see, Charlie,” the Iraqi said.

Seth winced at the sight of his friend. There was a severe gash just above his left eye. It was already pouring blood into his eye, making him blind. “It’s bleeding,” he grunted.

“We need to put pressure on it,” said Sayid.

“Okay, OW!” Jenny took a towel and placed it on his head.

“Hold it down, Charlie,” the Middle Easterner demanded.

“Ow, that damn animal . . “ the musician grunted.

“It’s not stopping,” Seth pointed out.

“Charlie, you have to go back.”

“HELL NO!!” he screamed, “You have to fix this!!”

“I am not a doctor.” Sayid pointed out.

“You're a soldier. What do people do when you get wounded? I'm not going back without that baby, Sayid!”

Sayid paused for a second then reached for his pack. “Don’t move, “ he said, then looked to the others, “You . .you HOLD him.”

Seth then grabbed Charlie’s arm and Shanna grabbed the other. Jenny placed her hands down on both of his knees. Sayid then pulled out a bullet from the clip and broke it open with a knife. He then proceeded to dump the gun powder into Charlie wound, making him flinch. “What is that?” he asked, because the blood was flooding his eye.

“Oh, man, Sayid,” Seth raised an eyebrow.

“This will not be pleasant,” he said, pulling out a box of matches.

“What is he doing?” asked the musician.

“Nothing, man . .he’s . .uh . .he’s. . .he’s making cotton candy.” Seth fluttered.

Jenny looked at him like he was crazy. Charlie knew full well, that that was not what Sayid was going to do. “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Just try to remember one thing, Charlie,” Seth held his arm tightly.

“What’s that?”

“Chicks dig scars.”

Sayid lit the match then shoved it into the gunpowder. It immediately erupted in a burst of flame, caulderizing the wound. The three friends held down the musician as he screamed in agonizing pain.

Part 187: Exodus Part 5

Eddie watched all his adult friends around him. They were packing their gear, getting ready to move to the caves. The little boy wasn’t really sure of the threat; he didn’t know who the Others were. But he remembered what Tony told him to do; stay near Uncle McKay. The little boy was going to do like he was told.

The Australian then came over with the small child’s backpack. He motioned for Eddie to turn around and he did. He gently put it on his arms and got him saddled up. “You okay, little man?” McKay asked him.

“Yeah,” he said quietly, “I miss Tony.”

“Don’t you worry, partner. Tony will be back before you know it.”

Taylor and Mandy came over with their packs, fully loaded and ready to move out. Shanna had come over with her gear and looked to Eddie. She playfully messed up his hair, which made him laugh. Seth came over, taking off his backpack. He quickly shoved Brendon’s sword in the side, hooking it with the straps. The straps were normally supposed to be used to carry a water bottle; he never thought he’d have a sword by his side. As he stood up, he looked to his right. Charlie was talking to Sayid about something; more like arguing. Something about Claire and her being protected. Seth though for a minute that he should go talk to him about it, but he changed his mind, opting to stay with Shanna, Mandy and Eddie first.

Seth then felt Eddie tugging on his finger. “You miss Mia?” he asked.

“Naw, I don’t miss her,” he winked, “She was beginning to be a certifiable pain in the ass.”

“Geez, Seth, “ Mandy groaned, “Could you watch your language around the boy?”

“Oh, c’mon, he knows I am joking! I’m just trying to lighten the mood here.”

“I was just wanting to know if anybody misses anybody like I miss Tony and Marita.” The boy sniffed.

“Don’t miss them, Eddie. They’ll never leave you. They’ll be back soon and you guys will be sharing bananas and fish before you know it.” Seth promised him.

“You think Tony is having a good time?” he asked.

“Sure, “ Seth laughed, “I’m sure he’s having a blast!”

------------------------------------------------,

Tony kneeled down in front of the box of dynamite. Sweat dripped on his nose on to the ground. Jack was on one side and Locke on the other. “You guys ready to listen to me?” the blind doctor.

Locke waved his hand,” Tony, we-“

“Poteet didn’t listen to me and got eaten by the Polliwog,” he interrupted the bald man, “Underwood didn’t listen to me and his brain popped. Now Arzt didn’t listen to me and he was vaporized. People who don’t listen to me seem to have a habit of dying.”

“We get the point, Tony,” Jack whispered.

“Okay, now that you two get it . . .PLEASE . . .pick up the dynamite sticks that have no yellow residue on them.”

Behind them, John, Mia, Kate and Hurley sat down on the log. Mia had finished wiping her face with a towel getting the blood off. She was doing her best not to freak out. Neither was John. He had already seen some strange things, happening here; however, a man exploding he never thought he would see. Kate then looked to Hurley who was just staring at the ground. “That was messed up.” He finally whispered.

“Yeah,” John said blankly.

“You okay?” Kate asked the large man.

“He just . . .exploded in front of us. He was just trying to help . . . this is because I came.”

“What was that?” Mia said, overhearing what he just said.

“I'm kind of bad luck.” The large man confessed.

“Hurley, don’t talk like that.” The Lakota girl assured him, “It was an accident.”

“An accident? Yeah . . .right . . .”

Locke slowly removed a stick of dynamite at a time. He followed Tony’s advice and removed each stick that was the cleanest. He slowly put one down and began to remove another. “How many do we need to blow the hatch?” Jack asked.

“Truth is, I wish we didn’t have to carry any of this crap.” The blind doctor wished, “We are going to need at least two to rupture it . . .probably three to be safe.”

“Safe?” the other doctor said it as if the word had no meaning at the moment.

Locke could tell the tension was building up. “You guys ever place Operation?” he asked.

“Yeah, don’t touch the sides,” Jack responded.

“I always got caught on the funny bone,” the bald man then picked up a stick and said, “BZZZTTT!!!”

Jack flinched and Tony grunted. “JESUS!” the blind doctor grabbed his chest.

Locke smiled as he placed down the dynamite and then reached for the fuse. “You like games, John?” asked Jack.

“Absolutely.” He smiled with his massive grin.

----------------------------------------------------,

Mandy, Taylor and McKay led the way for the others to regroup with Sayid. He was going to lead the group toward the caves. As they past, Mandy then looked around for the others and immediately spotted Shannon. The tall blonde was hauling at least three suitcases and trying to hold onto Vincent the dog. She continued to struggle, until Sayid walked up to her. Mandy quickly broke off from the others and ran to the girl. The Iraqi looked at her. “Do you really need all that?” he asked.

“Yeah, I do.” She hissed.

“Why do you have to bring so much?”

“DON’T YOU HAVE A HIKE TO LEAD?” she grunted back.

As she continued to move, she dropped one of the suitcases and it spilled out. Mandy then came over and proceeded to help her. The blonde then stopped when she realized she was packing male clothes. Shannon grabbed them and began to put them back. “I’m fine,” she squeaked.

“These . . .these were Boone’s clothes?” Mandy asked.

“I need these things. I can't just leave them.” She then began to cry, “What are we doing? Hiding? As if they won't find us. It's just . . .it's too much. It's too much.”

Sayid began to stroke her hair. She looked at him, still crying. “It won't be too much if I carry it for you.” He whispered.

The Iraqi then touched the handle but Mandy stopped him. He looked at her, only to be returned with a smile. “It’s okay, Sayid,” she said, “I’ll help her. You lead us out of here.”

Sayid shook his head. “Stay close to me.” He ordered.

Mandy quickly helped her pack her bags. She gently took Shannon by the arm and pulled her up. The tall blonde mouthed Thank You to her as they started to walk toward the crowd. Taylor came over and helped them get into the group, ready to move out.


Jenny quickly packed her bags. Martin and Kristy were reminding her to move out. They had already joined the others in the group, ready to hike to the caves. The teenager then stood up, placing on her pack. In her view of sight, she saw Charlie running toward the other direction. The young girl blinked when she realized Claire was not with him. That was odd. Jenny then walked down to the beach area. She looked to see her short friend running toward the crowd as if something was wrong.

Then Jenny heard a yelp.

She quickly ran toward the sound, fearing it sounded like Claire. Then she heard the little baby crying. Jenny as hard as she could, feeling her leg muscles strain. Within seconds, she arrived at the beach area where Claire and Charlie camped. The teenager panicked seeing Claire on the ground unconscious. Then she looked up toward the distance and that French woman, Rousseau, was running into the jungle and a familiar baby crying echoed with her.

Jenny then threw off her pack and ran toward the woman. She crashed through the bushes and trees as she hauled toward the woman. The teenager was thankful that the baby was crying, otherwise she might not be able to keep track of her through the jungle. “GIMME THE BABY!!” Jenny screamed.

Rousseau turned and saw that the young blonde was getting closer and closer to her. She head to run harder but in order to do that, she would have to drop her rifle and that wasn’t an option. The older woman looked. The eyes on Jenny were on fire; determine to protect the baby at all costs. Danielle, for a second, admired such noble loyalty. “IF YOU DON’T STOP!!” Jenny screamed, “I PROMISE I’LL KILL YOU QUICK, BITCH!!!”

Rousseau continued to run. The only advantage she had over the teenager was that she knew these jungles like the back of her hand.