Part 296: Distraction

Jenny kept her eyes focused on all the soldiers around her. Mia was still cornered off by herself and they were still separated into three groups. She could see Hal and the others whispering, probably forming a plan for escape. The bad news was there was no way he’d be able to communicate with the others down on the beach with her. The young blonde then twisted around, sticking her head closer to her new friend Kellye. “Kell, that man behind us,” she whispered, “The one on the ground with the big gun.”

“The M-60?”she whispered back.

“Can you operate that thing?”

“Yeah, it’s not hard.” The girl soldier replied.

“Okay, then when I make my move, I am going to get my nunchuks from the soldier next to him. I will take them both out, then you grab the M-60 and open fire to that one on the hovercraft.”

Kellye peered over her shoulder and looked out at the one on the hovercraft. He was just leisurely smoking a cigarette as he waded in the water on the boat. The reason Jenny wanted her to take it out, was due to the fact that he had a M-60 mounted on the front of the hovercraft’s bow. He could easily mow down the beach if something happened. “I got it.” She whispered.

“Jenny, what are you crazy?” Michael grunted, “There is no way, we could handle the rest.”

“You won’t have to Michael. Cause that ain’t gonna be your job.”

“What are you talking about?” the black man inquired.

“The moment Kellye opens fire on that hovercraft, you get Yolanda, and Walt back into the jungle. And you don’t stop running till you don’t hear gunfire anymore. You and Jin grab the rest of as many survivors as you can. We’ll cover your escape.”

Hurley wiped his face, catching his breath. The onset of action was making him feel light-headed. “What do you need me to do?” he asked.

“You run too, Hurley. Take-“

“No,” he interrupted her, “I am sick of running. I can . .like, sit on some of these soldiers or something.”

Jenny smiled briefly, “Hurley, I respect your courage but now isn’t the time. You grab Joscelyn and you high-tail it for the jungle, understand?”

The large man took a deep breath, then looked to the trembling beauty to his left. Joscelyn shook her head in agreement, not wanting to stay on the beach when the fighting started. Hurley then shook his head; he felt bad about leaving others to fight the battles but in the end, it made him more comfortable protecting Joscelyn.

Jenny slowly got to her knees, staring at the soldiers. “It would help if we had a distraction.” She whispered.


Taylor twisted around, facing her friends. Mandy hugged her legs, rocking back and forth. Shannon was near her, holding Andra’s hand who was also holding Flower’s hand. The two wild girls were scared beyond belief, wishing their elder brother Alexander was there to protect them. Jilly had managed to tell everybody in her small group that Seth, John and the wild boy were in the woods waiting on the right moment to strike. “Okay, here is what we are gonna do,” Taylor whispered, “The moment John fires an arrow at somebody, we get up and run into the jungle.”

“Yeah, we need to get off this beach as fast as we can.” Mandy agreed.

“Hold on,” Kristy whispered, “How do you know John is gonna fire an arrow at somebody?”

“He will, cause that is what heroes do. My guess? He’s going to fire it at Frakes for all those pot shots he took at Mia.”

“I wish there was a way we could tell Mia that John and the others are in the jungle.” Barbara whispered.

“I think she’ll be okay. We just got to make sure the rest of us clear a path for John, Seth and Alexander to attack.”

Taylor slowly looked to the soldiers walking back, tucking her curly blonde hair behind her ear. “We have to help John attack,” she whispered, “We’ll have to give him a distraction.”



Hal twisted around, massaging his scabbed up wounds were the rock salt shotgun blast burned into him. Libby had bandaged him up, best she could with the supplies they had available in her reach. Dutch took deep breathes, trying to stay focused. He was tired and wanted to rest but circumstances prevented that. Karleigh rested her head against his shoulder as she said in his crosslegged lap. Ana-Lucia twisted her hair in her finger, trying to think of something to do. Clay didn’t face any of them; still bitter over the Latina cop grabbing his privates. Hal massaged his neck and then motioned for Dutch to lean closer. The surfer did lean closer, holding Karleigh with him. “We’re gonna have to make a move to get out of here,” he whispered.

“I am with you, Hal,” the surfer replied with no objections.

“Are you crazy?” hissed Clay.

Ana-Lucia just looked at him, which made him turn away. Then she turned back to her fellow police officer. “What’s the plan, Hal?” she asked.

“Embry and those bastards next to him are too overconfident, “ he said in a low tone, “That will be their weakness. I will get Embry’s attention and when he comes over to gloat, I will get his rifle away from him. Ana, you dive for Deaf Darren and take away his gun; he won’t put up much of a fight. Dutch, I need you to back up and cover the others while they escape.”

“With what? My swinging cod?” he coughed.

“Calm down, I will get you Embry’s rifle.”

Then as they were discussing their plan, Arizona Spartan maneuvered over; balancing between Clay and Dutch. “Hal, are you formulating a plan to get us out of this?” she whispered.

“I am.” He replied.

“Then whatever it takes, do your best to get my husband a gun.”

“Ari!” Chance hissed.

Hal leaned over and looked at the slightly older man. “Chance, you good with a gun?” he whispered.

“He’s the best,” Arizona replied.

“Ari, I haven’t held a gun in 8 years. I lost the touch.”

“There are some things you don’t lose, Chance. I know you. You can do this.”

Hal was concerned and still inquisitive at the same time. Arizona seemed to claim her husband was an expert with a gun; however, he mentioned he hadn’t held one in 8 years. If he was such an expert, why didn’t he come forward when they were facing off the Liberation at the Outpost to free the others? If they survived this, he’d be curious to why he didn’t help them out. Arizona maneuvered over to her husband, placing her arms around him. “We’ll get through this, honey. I believe in you.” She said, kissing him on the cheek.

“Okay,” he said, quietly.


Claire shifted around as she paced back and fourth, keeping little Aaron happy. However, the young Australian was getting tired. She had been standing for nearly three hours, keeping the baby quiet. She paused for a second, then massaged her back. Aaron made a slight noise at her pausing. Then Charlie abruptly stood up. One of the soldiers quickly pointed his rifle at the singer. “What do you think you are doing?” he ordered.

Charlie held up his hands in defense. “Please,” he whispered, “she’s been standing for too long. She can’t keep the baby quiet forever. Let me do it.”

“Okay,” the soldier replied.

“Thank you, Charlie.” Claire said, gently giving her son to the singer.

He kissed her on the cheek as she walked past him. The Australian woman collapsed near her friend Kristy from exhaustion. The model reached over and let her fall back onto her, as she massaged her shoulders. Charlie began to sing a quiet tune to little Aaron. The baby cooed, loving the sound of his voice.



Mia slowly looked up. The dark sky was becoming a light gray. The sun would be up in a matter of hours. She massaged her back, aching from the pain. Had she really been up all night? The Lakota girl looked to her right, seeing Frakes argue with Eve. The woman was really upset about something but the leader was not backing down from her. He then said something that made her be quiet real fast. Frakes then saw Mia looking at him and then walked over to her. “It’s time again, little squaw,” he commented, “ You finally going to confess where your leader is?”

“Why should I bother to do that?” Mia spit, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Why do you continue to test my patience?” Frakes demanded.

“Because you’re a vicious psychopath and I am fully convinced you are going to kill us all anyway.”

“Nobility is very touching, but it’s not the most important thing in your life right now. It’s deciding which person is going to die.”

“You know I will chose myself, so piss off.”

“Very well,” Frakes then turned and picked up his radio off of his belt, “Embry?”

“Yeah?” he responded over the radio.

“The man holding the baby? Kill them both.”

Mia then turned around, and gasped; seeing Charlie holding Aaron and walking him around. The Lakota girl quickly stood up, cupped her hands together and slammed them into Frakes’s kidney. Not expecting it, the soldier screamed as he collapsed in the sand. “CHARRRLLIEEEE!!!!” Mia screamed.

The singer turned around.

“THEY ARE GONNA KILL YOU!!!! RUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!” the young woman screamed.

Embry then cocked back his rifle. Charlie saw the man, then quickly cupped Aaron in his arms and ran toward the woods. The murderer began to fire his weapon at the singer. The bullets hit the ground, exploding near his feet as he ran. He ducked into the woods, as bullets ripped into the trees. Claire screamed at the sight of a man she cared about and her son being shot at. Kristy held onto her as her screams became cries of sadness. Embry grunted and then pointed toward the distance, looking at Darren. “Go get him, “ he ordered.

The man with one good ear, held up his rifle and ran into the woods, ending the same place Charlie did. Then as Embry turned around, Hal grabbed his rifle and slammed his fist into the man’s nose. Blood gushed out as he fell back from the unexpected cheap shot.

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

Mia winced as she saw the man called Embry shoot at Charlie. Luckily he didn’t hit him, as he disappeared into the woods with the little baby. Then she grunted as Frakes wrapped his arm around her in a headlock. She fought back and then stopped when she felt a gun pressed against the side of her head. She slowly heard the weapon being cocked. “You have gotten on my last nerve.” Frakes warmed.

Mia then blinked as an arrow flew through the woods, heading right near her. The bladed stick sung through the air with a squeak as it landed into Frakes’s ear. The man screamed as the arrow took a chuck of his ear with it as it flew into the ocean. He screamed from the pain, then feeling Mia slam the back of her calve into his privates. The leader jolted as she freed herself from his grasp.

Frakes collapsed on the ground. He held his right ear, feeling the blood fill up his palm. Then he stood up and looked into the distance. The familiar roar of the engine of the Butterfly Rogue could be heard as the yacht came into the distance, shooting up water from both sides. Frakes stood up, and then blinked when he saw two men sitting on the bow of the both. One had blonde hair and flannel shirt; the other a middle easterner. They quickly began to open fire on his men at the beach. Frakes cursed himself, as he then finally realized why Mia never revealed where the true leaders were.

They were stealing their boat.