Part 245: Wake Up Call

The morning sun peered through the high jungle canopy, making the dripping dew glisten in light. The outpost was not that much busy with activity. Most of the survivors were awake and had already taken showers; making use of the system they found. The fact that the water was luke-warm didn’t sit well with most of them but others were just happy to be clean. Sawyer had all of his stuff that he found, ready to go. They rest gathered what items they could. They wanted to take the jeep with them but they knew there was not trail through the jungle back to the caves big enough for the vehicle. They would have to hoof it through.

Clay gently stepped out of the office, massaging his neck. He felt it would be wise to keep some distance between him and the others. They still considered Marita’s assault his fault, but he still refused to believe it. He didn’t get dropped on this Island to be brave enough to attack wild children with knifes. The rumble in his stomach signaled he was hungry, so the billionaire began to walk toward the mess hall. As he did, he noticed Tony standing by himself in the morning light, looking up to the trees. The man did his best silent walk by the doctor. “I know you are there, Clay,” Tony said, stopping him.

“Oh!” he stopped abruptly, “Yeah, good morning, Tony, I was just-“

“Trying to sneak past me?” the doctor concluded.

“No, of course,. . . not. So, uh . . .watching the sunrise, are ya?”

“I am blind, Clay. I can’t watch the sunrise anymore.”

“Oh, Jesus, that’s right, I am sorry, I, uh . .”

“But I can feel the sunlight caressing my face. Thank you.”

“Uh, sure.” Clay said, trying to edge closer away from the blind man.

“What do you do exactly, Clay?” Tony asked, still not turning around to face him.

“I am . . .The CEO of Kane Industries.” Clay replied, “We specialize in mergers and accquistions.”

“You buy up other companies and sell them?”

“Yeah, that is essentially it.”

“You get to that role through hard work or did you become CEO some other way?” the blind doctor asked.

“I worked with Kane Industries for 10 years in the head Employment division but when my father died, he named me CEO in his will.”

“Well, that explains a few things.” Tony sighed.

“Oh? What exactly does it explain?”

Tony finally turned around and walked toward him. Clay stepped back a few paces before the blind man stopped in front of him. “You’ve had everything given to you, you’ve never truly earned it,” the blind doctor said, “That is why you don’t seem to care about anybody but yourself.”

“I did earn it!” Clay protested, “I did my job for ten years and I did it well.”

“And how many people did you burn along the way in order for your Daddy to hand you the keys to the throne?”

“That is none of your business!” he screamed back at him.

“I am just trying to judge what kinda man you are and I think I already have a good idea.”

“You don’t get the right to judge me!”

“A while back, I had a nasty fall and my friend John grabbed me before I could plummet to the bottom,” Tony whispered, “He had no one to help him so you know what he did? He hauled me up one armed. Do you know the kind of courage that takes? He is an archer and he nearly sacrificed his gift cause hauling a 200 plus man up with one arm could have pulled it out of it’s socket.”

“Is there a point to this melodrama?”

“The point is, is that being selfish isn’t going to work here. If you want respect from me or anybody else, you should try a selfless act. I would give you time to think about . . .but actually you are out of time.”

“I’m . . what?” Clay said with a raised eyebrow.

Tony took one step closer to him, clenching his jaw. “You remember what I warned you about?” he hissed.

“Yeah . ..” the billionaire said, remembering the threat.

Tony inhaled deeply. “Marita died during the night.” He said coldly.

Clay felt his heart stop for a brief second. Tony then began to walk past him, toward the mess hall. The man turned to what the doctor continue walking and entering the mess hall area. A cold sweat rolled down Clay’s back. Was Tony going to retrieve a knife or something? He didn’t think Marita would die, she seemed like she was going to make it. Clay then bolted toward the medical cabin as fast as he could.

Clay ran up the ramp and opened the door. He gazed in to find Locke standing next to Marita while Jack held up her wrist and was looking at his watch. The Latina then smiled at Clay, waving to him. “Hey, Clay,” she giggled, “Where have you been?”

Clay said nothing, just stared at her.

“Is something wrong, Clay?” asked Locke.

“He . . .he said . . . .” the man stuttered.

“Who said what?” the bald man asked.

“Are you all right?” Jack asked as he stopped checking Marita’s pulse.

Clay gently closed the door behind him. He turned around, his face covered in sweat. He also felt like he was about to empty his bowels. The billionaire slowly sat down, feeling his heart race. He slowly stared at the mess hall. “That man is psychotic.” He whispered.


The small group was assembled at the picnic table, laughing profusely. Tony had his head buried in his arms, leaning on the table. John and McKay were laughing at his sight over the cruel joke he played on Clay. Kate couldn’t stop giggling, and Ana-Lucia was bawling so bad, she had tears coming out her eyes. Hal just smirked as he sipped his coffee with Libby sitting next to him. Sawyer chuckled so hard he too had tears coming out of his eyes. “Oh, my God, Tony!” John laughed, “You are psychotic!”

“I wish I could have seen Clay’s face when you told him that,” Ana-Lucia laughed, wiping her tears.

“Actually so did I,” Tony said, laughing.

“That was one hell of a joke, co-cheese,” Sawyer finished his coffee, “You might be worthy of me yet.”

“I can be a bad man when I want to be,” the doctor said, wiping his last laughter tear.

“So Marita’s okay?” asked Kate.

“Oh, yeah, Jack pulled her through. She’s gonna be fine. She’ll a minor scar to show off at the swim meet but no, she’s gonna fine.”

“Well, then I think the day is off to a good start,” John smiled.

“What are going to do about the prisoners?” asked Hal, drinking his coffee.

“Never mind,” the archer sighed.

“It’s a problem that we just can’t ignore and hope it will resolve by itself.”

“Actually, It might,” McKay said, “Alexander has expressed concern to me that he would be more than willing to execute the prisoners should we decide to do that.”

“That boy?” asked Libby.

“He’s not just a boy, Libby,” the Australian looked at her, “He is the leader of a tribe that has been wiped out by this animals. If anybody here is gonna want revenge, it’s him.”

“But are we going to let him execute them?” Kate asked.

“Having second thoughts, Freckles?” Sawyer asked.

“Now that I slept on it, yeah, I am,” she confessed.

“She’s not the only one,” Ana-Lucia agreed.

“Well, I had thought of an idea where we could take care of them and yet, give them a fate they deserved. Truth be told, death is too good for them.” McKay mentioned.

“What you got in mind, Outback?” Sawyer listened.

McKay began to explain his plan. The group moved in closer to get every detail.



Tony slowly walked into the medical ward. Marita was sitting upright on the bed with a shirt over her bandage on her chest. The shirt was one size too big but she didn’t mind. Jack was busy stuffing a large black duffle bag with as much medicine as he could carry. The blind man found his way toward the bed, working his way toward his love. The Latina helped to glide him closer, and then kissed him on the lips. Tony enjoyed her soft kiss almost more than anything. “How you feeling?” he asked.

“Little groggy but I’ll make it.” She grinned.

“Can she walk Jack?” the doctor asked the other doctor.

“Yeah, but take it slow. The wound shouldn’t re-open but it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Jack said, hoisting the duffle bag up toward his shoulders.

“I’ll say, “ Marita agreed.

The Latina then turned and noticed that Tony had something behind his back the whole time. “Tony, what are you hiding?” she giggled.

Tony then brought the object into light, when turned out to be a female safari hat. “Merry Christmas.” He chuckled.

Marita kissed him on the cheek and put the safari hat on. “Was this Pristine’s?” she asked.

“Who cares? It’s yours now.”

“You always take care of me, Tony.” She hugged him.

“And I always will.” He said, enjoying the embrace.

“C’mon, you two,” Jack smirked, “The others at the caves are probably worried sick about us. We need to get moving.”

Marita gently slid off the table, taking Tony’s arm. They helped each other in unison; she helped him to see and he helped her to walk slowly. As they walked out of the cabin, they were joined by the rest of the group. The majority of them had their own duffle bags and military knapsacks full of stuff they found. Jack walked over to Jenny, who only had a handful of blankets. “That all you found, mei-mei?” he asked.

“I was gonna bring back some blankets for Kristy,” she said.

“You want me to carry those for you?”

“I got it, Jack,” she said, emotionless, “I am fine.”

Jack shook his head in agreement. He motioned for the others to follow him. The group began their walk through the compound. They continued as they approached the prisoner bunker. The old man Kreegan was looking up through the barred window. “Ya’ll leaving us here?” he asked.

“In a manner of speaking,” Jack said, “We’ve decided to not kill you, just leave you in that bunker.”

“We’re gonna starve to death,” the old man pointed out.

“I don’t think we’re gonna lost sleep over it,” McKay said, stepping up, “But we are not without mercy. We’re gonna give you a fighting chance.”

“What does that mean?”

McKay then pulled out a shot gun he found. He then pulled out two shells and showed it to Kreegan. “Two shells, “ he loaded the gun, “That should be enough for you to blow the lock.”

“You’d be a full to give us a loaded gun,” the old man laughed.

McKay walked a few paces toward him and then stopped. He gently placed the weapon on the ground, about 8 feet from the barred window. “I never said I was gonna give it to you.” The Australian said coldly.

“What?” Kreegan gasped, “We won’t be able to reach it!”

“It’s time to think outside the box, old man,” McKay replied, “You got your clothes on, you got any number of sticks in there. I am sure you can be creative enough to get the gun.”

McKay took another stepped forward and kneeled down to stare at the older man. “One last thing.” He whispered.

Kreegan screamed as he felt a strong hand grab him by the hair and pull his head into the bars. Alexander leaned down with a blade on the man’s cheek. The boy was near foaming at the mouth with rage. “This boy hopes you will die in this bunker,” McKay pointed, “But if you do manage to get out, I advise you to not come looking for us. I guarantee you then, we will not hesitate to protect ourselves. And Alex will take revenge for what you did to his tribe.”

Alexander let the old man go as he grunted back to the ground. McKay stood up and picked up his gear. Without words, the group began their journey into the jungle. Libby felt a little strange about leaving the prisoners there, almost thinking the punishment was too severe. But it was the compromise she fought for, making sure these people wouldn’t be outright murderers. Some had crossed the line and some still didn’t. Hal looked at her, tapping her on the shoulder. She stopping looking at the bunker and looked to him. “Get them out of your mind,” he said, “They don’t deserve your sympathy.”

“I know,” she said.

Hal held out his hand. Libby stared at it for a few seconds and then took it. She wanted to be far away from here and what the Outpost represented. She only hoped that the area she was headed to was much more inviting.

How did Hal and the other survivors live this whole time?