Part 233: No Singing Yet

Mia slowly backed up from the wounded colonel. Fender stumbled forward; his eyes barely working. The blood had flooded out but he was still able to see. As he walked forward, he saw movement out of the corner of his bleeding eye. He turned to see words pop up on the green glowing monitor screen; words he had never seen before.

WARNING. POWER USAGE IS HOLDING BUT MEMORY CORE IS NOW REDUCED TO 36%. CONTINUAL USAGE OF WATCHMAN WILL REDUCE MEMORY CORE.

Fender slowly turned toward Mia, with the look of complete shock on his face. “You . .you got access?” he questioned.

Mia shook her head in agreement.

“Why did you tell me?” he grunted.

“Why did you tie my friends up like they were about to be slaughtered?” the Lakota girl retorted.

“You didn’t know that that was my intent!”

“Yes, you’re right but did you honestly expect me to take that change?” she screamed back at him.

Fender then slowly lowered himself and pulled a military style blade from his boot. He began to slowly approach Mia. The screen then flickered again.

WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING, FENDER?

“Huh?” The Colonel was confused. How could the computer have known his name?

YOU ARE HERBY ADVISED TO LEAVE. YOUR ELETROMAGNETIC PATTERN IS DEGRADING. ANY FURTHER ACTIVITY AND WATCHMAN WILL HAVE TO DISBURST YOUR PATTERN.

“What the hell does that mean?” he screamed.

Mia couldn’t see the monitor so she didn’t know what the colonel was finding so disturbing. Then she heard a click behind her. The Lakota girl turned and gasped when the door to the Awakening Room had become unlocked. She quickly got into it and locked it behind her. The moment he noticed she was gone into the room, Fender charged the door. He screamed as he tried to kick it open.

Mia slowly backed away. She wasn’t sure what to do at that moment. He wished she hadn’t emptied the clip on Cassandra. The Lakota girl then began to search through her jean jacket pockets in the hope of some kind of weapon. She remembered the knife that Locke gave, flinching through the pockets. As he pulled it out, her notepad fell and landed on the floor. She quickly reached down to grab it. The moment she tried, it started to slide on the floor. The young woman watched it slide all to the way to the far wall where the shelf was. She then ran over and picked up the pad. Mia looked at that corner of the wall and gently touched the shelf. “What are you trying to tell me, Watchman?” she asked.

The door to the side room then exploded as Fender kicked it open. Mia backed up near the shelf, holding the knife toward him. The Colonel approached her menacingly; ready to kill her with extreme pleasure. Then he abruptly stopped. Fender gazed around the room as if he was in shock; as if he was seeing ghosts. Mia just stared at him; not sure what he was doing.

Fender looked at the transparent figures in the room in front of the Lakota girl. They were all the Native Americans from his dream. They were all looking at him like he was the guiltiest man on Earth. The old woman in front of him, slowly approached him. Fender knew from Mia that this was her grandmother, but she reminded him she had died long ago. “I warned you, white man,” she whispered.

“NOOO!!!” Fender replied, slashing at them.

Mia stared in horror and confusion. What was the Colonel seeing? He was slashing at the mid-air from some unseen enemy. He was acting crazed; as if he had completely lost it. Then there was a faint rumbling under the floor. Mia looked at it, noticing the wooden planks were cracking. Fender then stopped, noticing it too. In a loud rush of air and wood, the floor exploded, revealing a massive shaft-like abyss.

Mia screamed as she quickly grabbed onto the shelf. Fender grunted as he grabbed onto the doorknob from where he came. The Lakota girl looked down in awe as she saw the wood planks plummet into a massive shaft that didn’t seem to have any bottom. Fender growled through gritted teeth as he fought to reach the other room. However, the fact that he had kicked the door in didn’t help matters. The hinges were already started to buckle one at a time. “NO!” he screamed in defiance.

Mia slowly looked at him. He stared at her in complete shock; the shock of a young woman beating him like that. Then the hinges finally gave way. The colonel screamed as he and the door plummeted into the black abyss below. Mia closed her eyes; slightly ashamed over the happiness of the evil man being dead. The girl tried to twist around. How was she going to get to the door? The shelf was the only thing to grab on. Mia then gasped as he felt her feet connect with something solid. The floor didn’t return, however, but a blanket of black smoke.

Mia looked down noticing the black smoke flowed every inch where the floor used to be. The Lakota girl knew this was on of the four security systems called Monoxide. Even though it felt solid, she had it still wrapped around her head that this was a creature made of smoke. She gritted her teeth; filled with fear. What if she let go and fell right through the creature? Maybe that is what Watchman was asking her to do? Maybe he was asking . . .for a leap of faith?

Mia closed her eyes and let go of the shelf. Miraculously she did not fall. Mia opened her eyes and slowly began walking toward the door. She felt a cold shiver down her spine; remembering she was walking on smoke. The Lakota girl squeaked as she finally made it to the other room. She turned around, only to see Monoxide fly back down the shaft. Mia tried to stop her heart from racing over what had just happened.

The young woman quickly ran toward her friend Locke, who was slowly leaning up; rubbing his head. “You all right, sir?” she asked.

“I’m gonna need some Ibuprofen but I think I will make it,” he replied, using the console for leverage.

Mia turned to the monitor. Words began to fly up on the screen.

MIA
WATCHMAN IS PLEASED YOU ARE SAFE

She quickly typed in, “Me too. Thank you.”

Locke looked around, noticing that the man who hit him was gone. “Where is he?” he asked.

Mia pointed toward the Awakening Room. The bald man slowly stood up and began to walk toward the room with the missing door. “Watch that first step, “ Mia warned, “It’s a doozy.”

Locke looked in and then downward toward the bottomless pit. He felt surge of air; almost inviting. He then gulped and turned around; walking back toward the console. Mia looked up at him, smiling. “Is it over?” he asked.

“I think so,” he smiled back at her.

“Well, you go check on everybody and I will join you shortly.” The Lakota girl started to skip out toward the door.

“Where you going?” he called.

“I gotta pee!” she giggled, as she disappeared from behind the building.


John slowly pushed the bushes aside. He walked into the Outpost, immediately noticing the absence of gunfire. However, he smiled when he saw it was his fellow survivors who where standing not the soldiers. Sayid and the cop named Hal moved the last soldiers onto their knees, while Taylor and Shannon started to tie their hands behind their backs. As John walked toward them, Sayid immediately saw him and noticed the wound on his face. “John, are you all right?” asked the Iraqi.

“I’m fine,” he moaned, “Have you seen Mia?”

“I am afraid I have not.”

“Are you sure you are all right, John?” asked Taylor.

“I’ll make it . . .I just have to find Mia,” he started to walk off deeper into the compound.

Two building were ablaze and one buildings pipe was spewing water. Jack and Jenny were holding onto each other while they walked, both looking like they were beaten severely. John then spotted Locke hanging out near a door to another building. The bald man had his arms crossed, like he was waiting for something. He soon spotted the wounded archer. “John, you all right?” he asked.

“Right as rain, “ he grunted, feeling his cheek swell up, “Is Mia okay?”

“Mia is fine, she is behind the building, using the bathroom.”

“Huh?” her boyfriend asked confused.

“We all response differently to adrenaline.” Locke said matter-a-factly.

John smirked, “Yes, I suppose we do.”

“JOHN?” Mia gasped, as she ran toward him.

The archer embraced the love of his life, with a small moan. Mia wept in his arms, happy he was alive. She leaned up and kissed him, making him grunt. The Lakota girl then noticed the bad wound on his cheek. “John, are you-“ she was about to ask.

“I’ll be fine,” he interrupted her, “I am alive. You are alive. That is enough.”

“Come on, “ she said, pulling him, “We’ll get Jack and Tony to check you out. You are gonna need stitches.”

“I figured as much . . .speaking of which, where is Tony?”

At that moment, the group of survivors were taken back by the sound of an obvious motor. John looked at the distance and then on the other side of the compound, he saw a speeding green jeep. Belmont was behind the wheel, Pristine was in the passenger side and the one called Moe was in the back with a M-16. What made the archer grunt was seeing his best friend and his girlfriend in the backseat between them. John immediately side stepped Mia and ran toward them. He quickly pulled out one of his last arrows and aimed.

John quickly fired, making the arrow fly into the distance. The plastic shaft struck the mounted gas tank on the back of the jeep. Moe then opened fire on the archer, making him duck toward the side, the bullets ripping into the building. John turned his head back and saw them disappear into the distance of some straw dirt road. Mia finally caught up with him and then stated what they were thinking. “Where are they going?” she asked.

The group of survivors stopped just shy of the main road. They knew they would never be able to catch them. John stumbled on, feeling weaker by the moment. He then turned to his left and saw the tracks where they came from. In the distance was a garage and another jeep. “There is a second one,” John started to limp off, “ If we leave now, we can catch them.”

“John, wait!” Mia called.

“John, hold up!” McKay ran toward him, “Could you stop being the hero for five minutes?’

“This isn’t about that, McKay,” he hissed, “Tony came and got me when I needed him the most. I ain’t gonna let him down!”

“And you never will but that don’t change the fact that you are wounded,” his Australian friend touched his shoulder, “I’ll bring him back. I promise.”

“John, come with me and I will take care of that,” Jack pointed out.

“John, please,” Mia sniffed.

The archer slung his head low. He then shook his head in agreement, feeling weaker by the moment. “Bring him back, McKay,” he whispered, “He’s . . .he’s our rock. We can’t lose him.”

“We won’t, “ McKay motioned, “SAWYER, KATE, HAL, COME WITH ME!”

The three friends ran toward the jeep. John then walked with Mia helping him and Jack leading the way. Back at the garage, McKay quickly got into the driver’s seat. “SHOTGUN!” Sawyer laughed as he got on the passenger seat.

“Could you be serious for once?” Kate grunted.

“Damn it, “ the Australian grunted, “NO KEYS!”

“Oh, for the love a . . .MOVE OVER!” Kate yelled, leaning forward.

McKay moved toward the right a bit, while Kate leaned down between the seats and began to yank out the wires under the steering wheel. She quickly grabbed two wires and began to cross them, starting the ignition of the vehicle. Sawyer smirked at her and then looked at her butt sitting between him and McKay. His Australian friend just shook his head in mild amusement. They were off to rescue two of their friends from trained killers and he still stopped to admire her rear?

Kate scooted back with Hal’s help and then McKay floored the accelerator, sending the jeep to follow the dirt trail. McKay was thankful for John who managed to hit their extra gas canister. It was leaving a trail on the dry road ahead.

Should make them easy to find.