Part 218: Search and Recon

Sayid and McKay continued their trek through the jungle. They pushed aside branch after branch. The Iraqi thought it might be a good idea to draw a map leading toward the base of the Liberation but he didn’t have the time. He only hoped he would survive the next few days and be able to complete it. The last time he went to map the Island he met Danielle. The next time he vowed not to do it alone.

Eddie continued to lead the way. McKay huffed and coughed, then leaned on the tree. “Five minute break,” he coughed.

“Agreed,” Sayid said, leaning against a tree.

“You guys okay?” Eddie asked.

“Don’t worry about us, son,” the Australian swallowed some water, “We just don’t have your stamina, is all.”

“Stamina?” the boy said confused.

“The strength,” Sayid smiled, “As a child, your stamina is at it’s peak. Over time, the muscles make it harder to push as far as you do.”

“Oh,” he giggled.

“Eddie, one thing I need to know,” McKay looked at him, “How the hell did you know where the Liberation camp was?”

Eddie rubbed his toy and scuffed his shoe on the ground. “You won’t believe me.” He whispered.

“Try me.” The older man assured him.

Eddie took a deep breath and then held up his toy. “Mr. Kangaroo told me.” He said.

Sayid laughed at the suggestion. McKay didn’t laugh, but stared blankly at the boy. The Iraqi laughed a little bit more until he realized no one was laughing with him. “Are you serious?” he asked the child.

“He is not really Mr. Kangaroo,” Eddie told them, “He said he had been living under ground for a long time. He was lonely and the only way he could have any companionship was to talk to me through my toy.”

“How long has he been talking to you?” McKay asked.

“Since I found him washed up on the beach. I thought it was just my head but he told me he did it that way so that I would accept him. He apologized, Uncle McKay and now he wants to help.”

“Did he say who . . . what he was?”

“Nope. Just that he lives underground.”

McKay slowly looked to Sayid. The Iraqi exchanged a confused, then understanding glance. “The child knows the difference between an imaginary friend and actual voices being piped into his head,” he sighed, “Something tells me he is not crazy.”

“He did bring back his mother as proof,” the Australian sighed, “Weirdness aside, I am inclined to believe him.”

“He mentioned that this . .thing that has been communicating with him was underground. The Hatch, perhaps?”

“We can speculate later. Our five minutes, we should-“

McKay froze when he saw Sayid take out his gun and immediately point it at him. The bald man was wondering what the hell got into him. As he tilted toward the left, he then realized, he wasn’t pointing it at him; he was pointing it BEHIND him. Eddie slowly backed off and pointed. “Uncle McKay,” he whispered, “Scary French lady.”

McKay turned around to see Danielle, holding her hunting rifle at them. The older woman slowly approached them. The Australian backed off, motioning for Eddie to get behind him. As the boy got behind him, he slowly pulled out his firearm. “Where are you going, Sayid?” she asked.

“This does not concern you, Danielle,” Sayid said, keeping the gun on her, “Do not start a fight with us. Not today.”

“I asked you a question, “ she repeated, “Where are you going?”

“We are going to the camp of a group of mercenaries that call themselves the Liberation.”

“They are not the Liberation. They are the Others.”

“Look, whatever!” McKay grunted, “They got our friends and we need to know what is going on before we attempt a rescue.”

“A rescue?” she scoffed, “You are fools. Your friends are long since dead. These men are not men but butchers who steal children.”

“Our friends are alive, you mean old lady!” Eddie yelled at her, “And you ain’t gonna stop my friends from getting them back!”

Danielle looked at the young boy, understanding and seeing that his pain was real. McKay held him back, almost worried that Eddie would attack her. The French woman then slowly lowered her rifle. “The one called Seth,” she sighed, “He told me where my daughter was. I could not find her. I suspect . . .the Others have taken her back.”

“That is possible,” Sayid replied.

“Then I will journey with you.” She said, slinging her rifle back over her shoulder.

Sayid smiled, holstering his weapon. McKay then holstered his weapon and then immediately whispered into his ear, “Are you sure this is such a good idea?”

“I don’t trust her anymore than you do,” he whispered back, “But it would be better to have her at our side, then at our backs.”

“Lead on,” she told them.

Eddie took a deep breath and then began their trip back into the jungle. Danielle followed immediately behind him but McKay jogged ahead and got right by his side. She turned to Sayid who smiled as he followed her closely.

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Jack looked out the barred windows. Some of the soldiers were running around, barking orders at others. The big one called Brooklyn was walking toward Pristine and then she motioned for him to go with her. The doctor was worried; he saw them leave this morning in an attempt to get Barbara and the others back. However, there was no sign of them returning, nor any soldiers that went after her. Was it possible she got to Sayid first and then his friend took the soldiers out? On one side, he was happy for them. On the other side, he was worried that he and his friends would pay the price for what transpired. “What’s going on?” asked Kate.

“Nothing good, I afraid.” The doctor sighed.


Inside the cabin of the colonel, Belmont stood with Frakes, Pristine, Texas and Brooklyn, waiting for the soldier named Aaron to finish his report. Fender stared at him in disbelief. “How many?” he whispered.

“Six in total, sir,” he replied, “Titus claimed one of them was killed by Raven.”

“The freak has made his move, “ Frakes whispered.

“How . . .how could these civilians kill six highly trained soldiers?” Fender slowly sat down.

“The HOW is not important, sir,” Belmont stepped up, “But our response will be. Regardless of their prowess, these are determined people. They will be coming.”

Fender cupped his hands together and leaned on the desk. Belmont was worried that the colonel was not thinking of the upcoming attack; but still obsessed with getting access to the main computer. The Colonel then gave him a stern glare. The second in command coughed; forgetting the colonel might be able to read his thoughts. “Do we go ahead and execute the prisoners, sir?” Pristine asked.

“No,” whispered the colonel.

“Begging your pardon, sir but why not?” Frakes asked, “They took out five of our men. If they could do that then, we should respond in kind-“

“NO!” Fender grunted, slamming his fist onto the desk, cracking.

For a brief second in his moment of anger, his eyes glowed a soft red. The others quickly backed down; unsure of what the colonel was capable of doing in a moment of anger. Fender slowly calmed down, and the glow went away. “We execute the prisoners and that girl will not give me access to the main computer,” he hissed, “No matters what happens, we must not let her be aware anything is wrong.”

“And the other passengers, sir? What do we do about them?” Frakes asked.

“THEY ARE CIVILIANS!” Fender screamed, “THEY ARE NOT A THREAT!”

The others backed away from his anger. The Colonel could see they didn’t fully believe him and in essence, he wasn’t sure if he felt they were or were not a threat. Fender massaged his three day beard, thinking. He then looked at his people. “Assemble the prisoners into a human fence.” He ordered, “That should keep these others at bay long enough for Mia to figure out the access code. If not, that will make them easily to execute.”

“Very well, sir,” Belmont agreed; seeing at as semi-decent plan.

“Frakes, assemble the posts as needed, “ Pristine ordered, “Texas, Brooklyn, you help him.”

Frakes bowed his head, and motioned for the twin giants to follow him. Soon Belmont and Pristine left as well. The Colonel slowly sat down, looking at the corresponding door that led to the Awakening Room, then beyond that the main computer room. He hoped that Mia would figure it out before her friends attacked, if at all.


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The survivors had gathered around the main entrance to the cave. Kellye stayed with the other young crowd. She got the vibe that they might be the ones who make the move to help their friends tomorrow. Jilly stayed with Barbara, comforting her on the safe return of her son. Seth held the sword in his hand. He thought for a second that he might need to sharpen it but he remembered Brendon using it to slice open a tree. More than likely the sharp edge remained the same. Shannon held a group of rocks in her hands, gently tossing them to the ground. Vincent stayed by her side, offering the occasional whine. As the tall blonde tossed down the last rock, she then noticed movement out by the wrapped up body of Martin. She looked into the distance and saw a masked man accompanied by a missing member of their group. She quickly tapped Seth on the knee, then pointed. The young bookstore worker turned and smiled, “Jenny!”

“Who . . who is that with her?” Shannon asked.

The group quickly got up and walked out of the cave to join them. Jenny was on her knees with her hands on Martin’s chest. Two tears slowly rolled down her eyes. As they approached, Kristy was the first to get by her side. Seth, Shanna, Kellye, Flower, Andre and Shannon just stared at the masked man. He waved to them, doing his best to be polite. “What happened?” Jenny sniffed.

“A bastard soldier shot him in the chest,” the model sniffed, “He never saw it coming. He was coming to check on you.”

“Same ol’Martin, “ Jenny wiped her nose, “Always the protective type.”

“Before he died, he said you and Kristy were the best sisters he could have every hoped for.” Seth mentioned.

“Yes,” the young blonde closed her eyes, “I always felt that brotherly love coming from him.”

“Hal saw the guy who did. The back of his jacket read Aaron.” Shanna said, putting her hand on her friends shoulder.

“Aaron,” Jenny whispered, “I’ll remember that name. I take it . . .there is some kind of a plan emerging? Did Eddie and his friends make it out okay?”

“We arrived, thanks to you,” Kellye said, extending her hand, “Kellye.”

“Jenny, nice to meet you.” She shook her hand.

“Sorry about your friend,” she said sympathetically.

“He was a good man but . ..I ain’t got time to grieve now.” Jenny wiped her eyes, “I got help you guys figure out what to do.”

“McKay and Sayid will be back and they will have a plan.”

“What is his story?” Charlie pointed toward the masked man behind her.

“Oh, yeah, guys, this is Raven.” Jenny said, patting him on the chest, “He’s on our side. He has attacked the soldiers before too and he is here to help us now.”

“Where did he bloody come from?” the musician still asked.

“It’s a long story,” Jenny said, motioning everybody back into the cave, “I will be more than happy to tell you.”

Raven then made a chirping sound. Everybody froze and looked back at him. Charlie sighed, flopping his hands up. “Well, sodding great,” he shrugged, “We wait for two of our friends to get back, scooping the base of bloody ghost men, while our resident bad ass tells the story of the bird-man-ninja that has graced our presence.”

“It could be worse, Charlie,” Seth walked into the cave.

“How? How could it be any bloody worse than this?”

“The Polliwog could be laying eggs and screaming Bollocks each time it does.”

The group of young adults got a laugh from Seth’s joke to relieve the tension. Charlie just rubbed his hair. “That wasn’t funny, Seth,” he muttered.

“It was a little funny,” the young bookstore worker sat down.

Charlie then leaped as he felt a strong hand pat him on the back. He turned out to find Raven standing right behind him. The masked man then pointed to Charlie, and gave a thumbs up. “Looks like he likes you, dude,” Dutch chuckled.

“Great. The bird man is a fan of Driveshaft.” Charlie returned the thumbs up.

The young musician then was surprised that Claire was walking right up to Raven, holding her baby. The young Australian woman was looking at the masked man. When the mysterious person looked at her, they could tell he was smiling from under his mask.

“YOU!” Claire gasped with a smile.