YOUR POINT OF VIEW
The four of you walk through the jungle and back to the beach feeling unnerved after seeing what happened to the pilot’s body. Or rather, after not seeing what happened to his body.
“Anything?” - Charlie asks as Jack messes with the transceiver.
“You keep asking if there’s anything.” - Jack replies.
“Pardon me for appearing desperate, but before the pilot was ripped from the cockpit, he did say no one‘s gonna‘ find us unless we… get that transceiver working, so… is there anything?“ - Charlie says. Jack looks up from the device with an annoyed expression on his face as you walk in a line, feeling overheated from the humidity.
“No.” - he says, managing to keep his patience.
“Okay.” - Charlie replies. You shake your head.
“What were you doing… in the bathroom?” - Kate asks Charlie as they begin walking side-by-side a few paces in front of you.
“Thought you could tell. I was getting sick; puking. My one tangible contribution to the trek.” - Charlie replies.
“No. I‘m glad you came, Charlie.” - she says to him.
“Every trek needs a coward.” - he says.
“You’re not a coward.” - you cut in, happening to overhear their conversation. Charlie looks back at you with a surprised smile on his face. You return it and continue walking on.
~ ~ ~
CHARLIE’S POINT OF VIEW
You sit there on the plane feeling as anxious as God’s name. You rap your ring on the metal of the arm rest in a fast tapping motion. You push yourself back into the seat and begin biting at the cuticles of your fingers.
“Are you alright, sir?” - the flight attendant asks you while placing a hand on your shoulder. You quickly look around at her with a startled expression on your face.
“I’m good. Thanks.” - you reply as you swallow hard.
“Can I get you a water?” - she asks.
“Fine. Thank you.” - you say abrasively. She pauses and stares at you for a long moment.
“Please.” - you add. She nods.
“Alright.” - she says as she moves down the isle. You continue tapping on the hand rest of the seat with your metal ring. Something doesn’t feel right, so you look back in your seat and see that flight attendant that was just talking to you a second ago, now talking to two fellow employees in the back of the plane. They all turn their heads and look in your direction. You face forward again and rap your fingers on the seat even faster. You glance back once more and clearly see the three of them talking about you and looking over in your direction while nodding about something. The moment the woman turns on her heel and starts to head back in your direction, you quickly unlatch your seatbelt and get to your feet. You make your way through the aisle as swiftly as you can, pushing past a guy in a business suit along the way.
“Excuse me.” - you say to him as you head for the bathrooms.
“Excuse me, sir. Excuse me.” - you hear the flight attendant calling out to you.
“Sir excuse me.” - she repeats as you look back to see her and two guys bee-lining straight for you. You continue to ignore them and make your way all the way to the front of the plane. A guy is in the way, so you take the only other quick option of cutting horizontally through a row of seats.
“Excuse me.” - a blonde girl says snottily as you stumble past her and into the isle opposite the pursuing flight attendants. Suddenly the entire plane shakes from turbulence causing you to stagger a little. You see the fasten your seatbelt light go on and hear them announce it on speakerphone as you finally reach the last section of bathrooms. You find an open one and dart inside, locking the door behind you. You move over by the toilet and take your shoe off; with a huge sigh of relief, you see that it’s inside, exactly where you left it. You take the baggie out and stare at it for a moment before putting your shoe back on.
“Sir, are you alright?” - one of the male flight attendant’s says as he knocks on the door. The turbulence shakes the plane again.
“Just a minute.” - you say as you open the bag and dump some of the powder into your hand. You push the clumps around with your fingertips and suck the residue off of them as the guy knocks on the door again.
“Just a minute.” - you repeat.
“I’m going to have to ask that you open the door please.” - the guy says as you dab your fingers into the powder and scoop it up, applying it to the inside of your mouth and on your gums. The rush is pure heaven as you lean against the corner of the wall, placing your hand on the mirror. You close your eyes as the euphoria peaks in your pituitary gland. You open your eyes after a moment, the knocking on the door coming back into focus and you see your own smirking reflection looking back at you. It slowly fades from your face.
“Open the door now, sir.” - the guy says as you quickly snag the bag from the sink counter and fold it back up. The man continues banging.
“Sir.” - he says as you place your hand over your face and close your eyes for a second in thought. You take a deep breath before dropping the bag of drugs into the toilet. You stare at it for a moment and then reach your hand out to flush it while resting the other on the sink. But before you can even do another thing, you’re being launched into the ceiling of the bathroom, your back slamming painfully into the light up above due to major turbulence. With your adrenalin pumping, you dash out of the bathroom and into the aisle of the airplane amongst all the screaming. You try to walk, but are knocked off balance and into the wall because of the plummeting plane. You fall on your ass and look up just in time to see one of the heavy metal carts that the flight attendants push around, coming down the aisle and straight towards you at full speed! You manage to roll aside while ducking as it crashes to the wall beside you. You crawl through the aisle of the plane, trying not to panic; you can feel your heart hammering against your ribcage and sweat just beading down your forehead. You make it to one of the empty seats and fasten your seatbelt before reaching for the nearest oxygen mask and putting it on your face. With wide eyes, you look around the plane, fearing for the worse.
~ ~ ~
SHANNON’S POINT OF VIEW
You lie on your back on a beach towel in your bikini soaking up the warm sun.
“Hey, we’re going through some clothes, sorting them. I see you found your bag.” - Boone says to you.
“Come on, you wanna’ give us a hand?” - he adds after a moment.
“Not really.” - you reply. He stares at you unbelievingly.
“You’re wasting your time. They‘re coming.” - you say as he turns away from you without saying a word and walks off.
“Is that your boyfriend?” - the pregnant woman asks you.
“My brother… Boone.” - you reply as she nods in acknowledgment.
“God’s friggin’ gift to humanity.” - you say sounding bitter. The pregnant woman takes one of her double layered shirts off and looks down at her large tummy.
“I used to have a stomach.” - she says as she looks from you and back to her belly. You turn to look at her while rolling over onto your chest.
“Do you know what it is?” - you ask. She shakes her head.
“Not yet.” - she says. There’s a long pause in which she looks a little nervous.
“I haven’t felt the baby move since yesterday.” - she says to you. You don’t know what to say to her about that so you decide not to say anything at all and just resort to resting your head in your arms.
~ ~ ~
YOUR POINT OF VIEW
You, Jack, Kate and Charlie arrive at the beach and notice a bunch of commotion. You suddenly see Sayid punch a blonde guy in the face.
“Hey, guys come on.” - you hear the black guy say as the blonde guy head butts Sayid in the stomach. The guy then takes a swing at him, but Sayid ducks and counters with a punch to his gut. The guy cries out in pain before cupping a fistful of sand and throwing it in Sayid’s face who stumbles backwards as the guy charges him. They rustle around on the ground, grunting and groaning as Jack runs forward, thrusting the transceiver into your hands.
“Hey! Break it up!” - he calls out as the blonde guy punches Sayid in the face. Jack restrains the blonde guy by his arms, pulling him off of Sayid.
“Break it up! Get off!” - Jack shouts again as the black man jumps forward to help pull Sayid away from the blonde guy. However, they both fight to get free and continue the testosterone induced attack on one another.
“Son of a bitch!” - the blonde guy shouts out amongst all the yelling as Sayid tries to grab at him. You stand there beside Kate, Charlie, Boone, Shannon, the bald guy, the pregnant woman and the larger stature guy watching with the rest of the survivors at the scene play out before you.
“That’s it! It’s over! Come on!” - Jack says as he continues to pull back the blonde guy, Sayid with a death grip on his clothing and the black man trying to hold Sayid back. The sight almost looks humorous, the four of them on the verge of toppling over like dominos. However, they finally manage to separate the two of them.
“I’m sick of this, redneck! - Sayid shouts.
“You want some more of me, boy?!” - the blonde guy yells back.
“Tell everyone what you told me! Tell them that I crashed the plane, go on! That I made it blow up!” - Sayid shouts while pointing at himself.
“If the shoe fits, buddy!” - the blonde guy yells back.
“What is going on?” - Jack asks.
“Look, my kid found these in the jungle.” - the black guy says as he hands Jack a pair of handcuffs.
“And this guy was sitting in the back row of business class, never got up. Hands folded underneath the blanket and for some reason... just pointing this out, the guy I saw next to him didn‘t make it.” - the blonde guy says as he points at Sayid and gestures with his hands. Jack pushes him back with one hand to make sure that they stay separated.
“Thank you very much for observing my behavior.” - Sayid says.
“You don’t think I saw them pull you out of line before we boarded?” - the blonde guy says before the both of them charge towards one another again. The black guy jumps between them once more.
“Come on, bring it!” - the blonde guy yells out as they’re separated from one another.
“Stop!” - you yell out. Sayid looks around at you and immediately ceases his acts of aggression. He throws up his hands in forfeit while the blonde guy glares, taking deep breaths to calm down.
“We found the transceiver, it’s not working. Can anybody help?” - you say as everyone stands around in a crowd looking at one another. No one says anything at first.
“Yes. I might be able to.” - Sayid finally speaks up while sighing.
“Oh great! Perfect! Let‘s trust this guy!” - the blonde guy says while throwing up his hands in exasperation.
“Hey.” - the larger guy’s voice rings out. Everyone turns to look at him.
“We’re all in this together man, let’s treat each other with a little respect.” - he says, but the blonde guy rudely cuts across him.
“Shut up, lardo!” - the blonde guy says.
“Hey!” - Jack shouts as he walks up to the blonde guy and stops a foot in front of him.
“Give him a break.” - he says. The blonde guy glares at Jack for a moment.
“Whatever you say, doc. You’re the hero.” - he says before walking off.
“You guys found the cockpit?” - Boone says as he walks up to you. You nod. He shrugs expectantly.
“Any survivors?” - he asks after a moment. You, Jack, Kate and Charlie all give each other a look. Jack shakes his head.
“No.” - he replies while fidgeting with the handcuffs. Boone looks down at the ground dismally.
“It’s dual band military spec. Chances are the batteries are still good, but the radio is dead.” - Sayid says with a sigh while examining the transceiver.
“Can you fix it?” - Kate asks.
“I need some time.” - Sayid replies.
“Doctor? The man with the shrapnel, I think you should take a look at him.” - the older black lady says to Jack before he heads off to attend to the guy in need of medical care.
SAYID’S POINT OF VIEW
You pry apart the transceiver revealing its interior guts of wires and diodes to you.
“Chain smoking jack ass.” - the larger stature guy says as he walks up and takes a seat across from you. You raise your eyes from your work and look out along the beach while nodding.
“Some people have problems.” - you say calmly.
“Tch!” - the large guy scoffs loudly.
“Some people have problems, us… Him.” - the guy says while gesturing towards the blonde guy. You smirk at him while picking up a tool.
“You’re okay. I like you.” - he says. You turn and look at him for a moment.
“You’re okay, too.” - you say. He breaks out chuckling.
“Hurley.” - the guy says while holding a hand out for you to shake, but he quickly withdraws it before you can react.
“I’m just…” - he says, but stops himself.
“Sayid.” - you say as you stick out your hand for him to shake. He looks down at it for a second before taking it in his and shaking your hand.
“How do you know how to do all that?” - Hurley asks you as you go back to working on the transceiver.
“I was a military communications officer.” - you reply.
“Yeah? You ever see battle?” - Hurley asks you. You look at him.
“I fought in the Golf War.” - you say.
“No way? I got a buddy who fought over there. He was in the 104th Airborne.” - Hurley replies.
“What were you? Air force? Army?” - he asks as you close your eyes reminiscing.
“The Republican Guard.” - you reply while opening them up again and turning to look at him. He doesn’t say anything so you merely turn back to the project at hand.
YOUR POINT OF VIEW
Sayid comes walking up to you with the transceiver in hand just as Kate joins you with noticeably wet hair.
“Is it working?” - she asks.
“It seems to be, except we‘re not picking up a signal.” - Sayid replies
“Why do we need to pick up a signal, aren‘t we trying to send one?” - Kate asks.
“Yes, but what you want to see here is little bars. The bars would show the radio’s getting reception.” - Sayid explains.
“We need the bars?” - Kate repeats.
“We could broadcast blind. Hope that someone, somewhere picks up the distress call. But that would be a waste of the battery… which might not last long.” - Sayid says while holding up the transceiver.
“There is one thing we could try.” - he says after a moment.
“What?” - you ask.
“Seeing if we can get the signal from high grounds.” - he suggests.
“How high?” - you ask. He stares over your head, so you and Kate turn around; you gaze upon the depths of the island and see just how high the mountain sized hills go. You look at Kate and see an anxious expression on her face as she runs a hand through her hair.
“Okay.“ - you say after a moment.
“Let’s tell Jack.“ - Kate says. You nod as the both of you seek out Jack to tell him of the news. When you find him, however, you see him tending to the man with shrapnel lodged in his mid-section.
“How is he?” - Kate asks, letting him know of your guys’ sudden presence. He quickly turns around and looks at you both.
“Can you do anything?” - you ask as he turns back to the bloody man in front of him.
“Pull out the shrapnel.” - Jack says. You see a reflection of emotion flicker across Kate’s face.
“But you said yesterday that if you took out--” - she says, but is cut off.
“I know, that was yesterday. I was hoping he’d be at a hospital by now.” - he says while shaking his head.
“If I leave him like this he’ll be dead within a day.” - he explains. The three of you stare at the unconscious man.
“If I open him up, if I can control the bleeding and if he doesn’t go into sepsis, and if we find some antibiotics, - he says with an exasperated chuckle.
“he might be alright.” - Jack says. You step forward, closer to him.
“We’re going on a hike.” - you say. Jack turns around and looks up at you from where he’s crouched down near the injured man.
“Sorry?” - he says as if he misunderstood what you said.
“Sayid fixed the transceiver, but we can’t use it. Not from here.” - Kate says.
“Kate, wait a minute.” - Jack says while shaking his head and getting to his feet.
“You’re the one that said we had to send out a signal.” - you say.
“Look, you saw what that thing did to the pilot.” - he says as he steps right up to you, only a few inches away from your face.
“Yeah, I did. What makes you think we‘re any safer here than we are in the jungle?” - you say while staring into his eyes. He looks back at the injured guy for a moment.
“Wait for me. I don’t know how long this‘ll take.” - Jack says, but you cut across him.
“Sayid said the battery won’t last.” - you say. He sighs a little.
“Alright. If you see or hear anything… Anything…” - he says to both you and Kate.
“Run.” - he says.
~ ~ ~
Just as you, Kate and Sayid are about ready to leave, you hear some people arguing in the background.
“Shannon!” - Boone yells out.
“I’d like to come with you.” - Shannon’s voice suddenly issues from behind the three of you. You look around and see her brother and her walking up to you.
“She’s not going.” - Boone says.
“The hell I’m not!” - Shannon retorts.
“She doesn‘t know what she wants, it‘s what she does. She posters people.” - he says.
“You don’t know what the hell I do!” - she shouts.
“Makes really bad decisions that upset her family which at the moment is me.” - Boone continues on while they glare into one another’s eyes.
“Shut up, and stop trying to be charming.” - Shannon says to him before turning to the three of you.
“I’m coming with you.” - she says forcefully.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea…” - Kate says apprehensively.
“What are you? Two years older than me?? Please.” - she says to her.
“You’re going, aren’t you?” - Shannon says to Charlie who happens to be standing nearby.
“Yeah, are you?” - he replies.
“Yep.” - she says.
“Yeah, I’m definitely going.” - he says.
“Look everybody can come, but we’re leaving now.” - you say as, you Sayid and Kate turn on your heels and start to head out into the jungle again.
“You couldn’t tell from that, but she was asking really nice.” - Charlie says as he, Boone and Shannon all follow. As you’re leaving, you look around camp and see that blonde guy that got into a fight with Sayid earlier, sitting on part of the wreckage, holding a letter while watching the six of you. You manage to get about 15 minutes into the trek when all of the sudden you see the blonde guy push his way past you and to the front of the group. He looks down at you as he passes.
“Decided to join us?” - you say to him.
“I’m a complex man, Sweetheart.” - he replies. You glare at him. An hour into hiking, you begin your ascent up the rock face one-by-one. You slip on the loose dirt and pebbles, grabbing at any protruding root or branch strong enough to support your weight as you climb higher and higher; the blonde guy in the lead whilst Boone and Shannon bringing up the rear. You get to a point where you glance up and see the blonde guy hanging from the side of the mountain, holding one hand out for you to take. You grab it as he helps pull you up the otherwise impossible to access grassy ridge before continuing on.
END OF CHAPTER 3
