Part 201: Prisoners

“I was in the middle of Brain Child by John Saul,” Ana-Lucia whispered as they all sat in the bunker, “When the plane got shook. It was a hard thud, like something hit us from underneath. The masks came down, and I grabbed one. Then the plane . . .ripped off from us and I remember a hard dive, kinda . . .swirling and then I past out.”

Jack sat across from the Latina, hearing her tell her story. John sat next to him, holding onto Mia. Kate sat next to Marita, who had finally stopped crying after she had heard, hopefully, the last of Tony’s screaming. Hurley massaged his forehead, hoping he wouldn’t vomit from the sound of the constant screaming.

Clay sat in the a corner, watching the sky from one of the barred windows. Joe sat with Karleigh and Kellye while Jilly sat with Barbara, holding her hand. Libby sat next to Ana-Lucia as she continued her story. “When I woke up, I was wading in the shallows. I couldn’t believe I was still alive,” she whispered.

“I am sure we all felt that feeling.” John smirked.

“Go on, Ana,” Jack urged her, “what happened after that?”

“I got to the beach, where the tail section was sticking out half in the water, half of on the beach. I do remember it looked smaller than I expected. Now I realized with you guys here, the tail section split in two parts.”

“Or three, we aren’t sure.” Mia mentioned.

“I awoke on the sand,” Libby rubbed her hair, “I can’t for the life of me fathom how I survived. I immediately started to help anybody else who was still alive.”

“I was still in my damn seat,” Clay chuckled, “It almost felt like winning the lottery, I couldn’t have imagined myself that lucky.”

“Yes, and as I remember Clay, the first thing you did, instead of helping the others, was head off into the woods to take a crap.” Kellye grunted.

“We all deal with adrenaline in different ways, cupcake,” he scoffed, “I had just survived a plane crash! What did you expect me to do?”

“All right, guys, this isn’t helping, “Ana-Lucia yelled at them.

Jack waited till everybody was calm again. The Latina massaged her face and kept talking. “There were nine of us alive and three dead. We covered the dead with a bunch of rocks we found on the beach. Then we began to ration our food. We stayed together and hoped somebody would come to our rescue.”

“Thirteen days out, a boat comes by the beach,” Kellye closed her eyes, “But it wasn’t a rescue boat.”

“It was them,” Libby pointed, “The Liberation. Apparently, we had crashed closer to this compound of theirs. It was . . .horrific. Imagine our hopes shot through the roof and then dashed when they pointed their rifles at us.”

“And you’ve been their prisoner all this time?” Jack said in disbelief.

“Unfortunately.” Ana-Lucia sighed.

“Have they . .like . .you know . . .tortured you guys too?” Hurley said with concern.

“No, they didn’t have to ask us any questions. They already knew everything,” Libby leaned forward, “The crash, what caused it, everything. They had said the only thing that confused them was why they didn’t detect where the tail section had landed.”

“Yet, they knew where the main crash was?”

“So they said.”

“IMPLIED, Libby,” Clay grunted, “They implied it. They never actually said they knew where the crash was.”

“Then you explain it, Clayton!” the tanned woman said in frustration, “how is it, they know all of this? How is they talk about Monsters that we hear howl at night sometimes? I need an explanation, jackass and if you are so eager to give it, then friggin GIVE IT!”

“I can’t explain it.” The millionaire moaned.

“Has this Liberation group given you any info as to who they are?” asked John.

“They are mercenaries,” Clay responded.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I have worked with their kind before,” he said, leaning back, “About two years ago, I was buying up companies in south America that had gone under. One of my top executives was kidnapped by drug runners. The government wouldn’t do anything about it, so I hired my own group of mercenaries. They pulled him out and it only cost me 2 million.”

“Only two million?” Hurley chuckled.

“Where I come from, that is a drop in the well, fat boy,”

“Me too,” the large man smiled.

Before Clay could ask him about his smile that implied he was a millionaire also, John then leaned up and looked at everybody. “Ana, you said . . .9 of you survived, “ he whispered, “I only count eight.”

“Oh, yes, by all means, Ana, tell them what happened to dear ol’Bobby,” Clay laughed in a mild form of depression.

Ana looked at him with complete scorn, a slow tear running down her cheek. Jack looked concerned at the sadness in his new friend’s face. “Ana,” he whispered, “who is Bobby?”

“Bobby . . .was the other man who was stranded with us,” she said, wiping her tear, “He was a former firefighter. A true hero. The. .uh . .the Liberation makes us gather our own food. They escorted Bobby to the jungle where he was picking fruit. He did this . .for a few weeks and noticed that every day they walked him out there, they were walking past a radio tower.”

“Radio tower?” Mia leaned up.

“Yes, and he said the next day, he would take them by surprise and try to send it out a signal. He did what he said he would and managed to get in the radio tower. I don’t know if he sent a signal or not. But they . . .they hung him for his defiance.”

“Oh, god,” Jack whispered.

“Ana, the . .the radio transmission,” Mia looked at her, “Do you happen to know when Bobby managed to do it?”

“Mia, I . .I don’t know if he ever did.”

“Please, try to remember . . .when was this?”

“I don’t know . . .Nine, maybe ten days ago.” She said, wiping her tears, “We stop counting the days here.”

Mia thought hard about what had happened in the past ten days. Then it clicked into her brain about what had happened ten days ago; Boone’s death. Then it occurred to her, what she had heard when she was trying to rescue him. “Oh, my god,” she whispered.

“Mia, what’s wrong?” asked Marita.

“Boone heard Bobby’s transmission.” She sighed, “When he was in the plane, he tried to send a signal. I got above him and I heard someone reply. It must have been Bobby.”

“What?” Jack exclaimed, “Mia, what didn’t you say anything?”

“Boone was dying, Jack! I wasn’t sure what I heard; I was in the middle of trying to save his life. Had I been a few seconds quicker, I would have. I just . . .It never donned on me what actually happened . . .until now.”

“Bobby knew it too.” Jilly cried, tears coming out of her eyes.

Barbara shook her arm, letting her to see her lips. “Jilly, what do you mean, Bobby knew?”

“Bobby was being hanged . . .he looked right at me . .he knew I could read lips and he mouthed the words . ..You are not alone . . .” the deaf girl wiped her tears, “ I thought at the time . .he was just trying to tell me to not be afraid but now after what she said . . he was telling me that we were not alone on the island.”

“Oh, this is freaking great.” Clay buried his head in his hands.

“How many more of your friends are out there, Jack?” Ana-Lucia asked.

“Just shy of 50 people.” The doctor answered.

“So . .can we expect a rescue?”

“Oh, come on, Ana!” the millionaire grunted, “We’ve been stuck in this damn bunker for over a month! We got no idea the size of the Liberation force. They could have a hundred men in those old cabins.”

John looked at him and motioned for him to shut up. The archer stood up and looked at everybody. “I don’t know what type of rescue we can expect, people,” he said, “But you can definitely expect one.”

“How do you know that?” asked Clay.

“Because I know my friend McKay,” John smiled, “When it comes to certain things, like friends . . .he is relentless.”

Before they said anything else, the metal door to the bunker swung open. They all turned around and looked at the small entrance while the door was shut. Then Marita gasped as Locke came in, as Tony leaned on him to walk. The blind doctor smiled and tilted his head around. “Everybody getting along?” he smiled.

Marita and John ran to him and helped him off of the bald man. Locke then grunted as he slid to his knees. Jack came over to check on him. Mia checked on Tony then looked to her older companion. His arms were sporting blue bruises near his upper arm past the elbow. His face looked like he had received one too many punches. “How are you feeling?” asked Mia.

“I know . . .what a juicer feels like.” He smirked.

“Tony, I heard your screaming and I could only think terrible thoughts,” Marita wept in his arms.

“I know, baby. “ he embraced, “I tried not to scream but it’s difficult when you are getting fried.”

“What kinda questions did they ask you?” asked Kate.

“Stuff I didn’t know,” the blind man huffed, “Which unfortunately made them torture me even more.”

“Well, Tony, I want to know what they asked you but,” John said looking back, “I think a nice woman hear wants to extend her thanks to you.”

“Huh?” the blind doctor paused, “What did I do?”

Barbara then slowly kneeled down next to him, taking his hand. She was amazed at his courage and bravery. “Thank you, doctor,” she wept,” for saving my son.”

“For saving your . . .” Tony’s face lit up,” Mrs. Trascal?”

“I understand Eddie has taken a fond liking to you and you . . cremated his father for him,” she wept, “I can’t fathom . .any stranger who would do that.”

Tony then took her hand, holding it in his own. “You son and I have come a long way in a short time, Barbara,” he smiled, “He stood by me when I needed someone the most. I swear to you, in some way, I will get you back to your son.”

The group gathering together around the wounded men, as they started to tell them what Belmont and Pristine spent the majority of the morning ask them.