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Post by Belle MacFarlane on Jul 28, 2009 10:59:53 GMT -4
Three months had passed, and Carrie was now visibly pregnant. She'd found she could fit into the Tennessee way of life easily - something which her dad said was because people were made naturally for living in the country.
Carrie had been having troubles learning to ride a horse - made worse by her ever-growing bump. But now, with the help of her father and her sister (who Carrie found she got on well with), Carrie had improved.
One Sunday morning, Carrie and her dad had gone out further across the fields, so Carrie could improve her long-distance riding. While they were getting the horses back into the stables, Martin decided to speak to his daughter about something he had been aching to tell her.
"Carrie, I gotta tell you something," he said, while she was brushing her horse down. (About two or three weeks after Carrie's arrival, her dad had gone out to buy her a horse. She'd easily thought of a female name, and a male name. Her dad had returned with a male horse, so it wouldn't mate with Destiny's horse. Unless it was gay, Carrie had remarked. Hoping it wasn't gay, considering how ironic it would be, Carrie had called the horse Richard.)
"Listening."
"About four years after I came here, me and Lorlai, we had a kid. But I wasn't ready to try again at fatherhood, so we gave her away," Martin explained. "You have another sister."
"I know," Carrie said casually.
"You know??" Martin frowned. "How the hell do you know?"
Carrie paused. "I just know," she said.
"How can you 'just know'?" Martin asked, utterly bewildered.
Carrie sighed. She didn't want to tell her dad she'd shot her sister. "Mars is ... was my friend. I knew her before I found out she was my sister."
"From where?" Martin pressed Carrie for answers, "from that island?"
"Yeah," said Carrie, almost reluctantly. "Yeah, from that island." She turned to face her dad. "Don't worry about her. She's fine."
Carrie went past her dad and out of the stables before he could ask her any more questions. Martin stood there, taking it in. For the last three months, Carrie had known the whereabouts of his other daughter, and hadn't mentioned it. He was hurt, confused, and not to mentioned scared.
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Post by tigerlily on Jul 28, 2009 12:57:39 GMT -4
Day 84
Jo watched as Charlie walked away from Zoe, shaking his head in confusion, and waited a few minutes before approaching her.
"Are you up for a bit of a hike?" Jo asked Zoe cheerfully. Zoe shook her head and seemed upset about something. Maybe it was the wrong time to approach her, Jo realized, but Desmond's sense of urgency drove her on. "It'll give us a chance to be with the friends we've missed. Hurley's going, and Jin, and...er, Charlie..."
Zoe looked Jo squarely in the eyes. "You do believe me, don't you? About Jake?"
Jo's hesitation spoke volumes. She and Jack had discussed Zoe's story, and concluded that she was suffering from head trauma, probably a concussion, from her fall. It went against her doctor's training to try to convince Zoe to join them for the camping trip, but again Desmond's certainty that their adventure would result in being saved compelled her to ignore those instincts.
"Forget it," Zoe growled. "I'm not going." She began to walk away, but Jo persisted.
"Zoe, wait. I really want to believe you. Desmond is leading this camping trip. Hurley told me that he knows things; he might know this Naomi person that you told Jack about. Maybe you'll get some answers, if you come along."
Zoe stopped in her tracks. "Desmond is going?"
Jo nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. It's his idea."
"Did he say why?"
"Not really," Jo admitted. "He just said it's important that you and I come along." She could tell that Zoe was reconsidering. "I'll be with you every step, if you're worried about the baby, and we can turn back anytime you want. We're heading off in a few minutes - will you join us?"
"I'll join you," Zoe finally conceded.
Jo breathed a sigh of relief. "We're meeting up by the ping-pong table, I'll see you there!"
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Jo rummaged through Jack's tent to find the first aid kit, and he caught her redhanded.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing," she smiled sweetly. "I'm going on a hike, and I just wanted to be prepared."
"A hike? I thought you had enough adventures. Who's going on this hike?" Clearly, he was suspicious. Jo didn't have the energy to explain everything to him.
"Hurley, Charlie, Jin, Desmond, and Zoe."
Jack remained skeptical. "You've never said more than two words to Jin since you met him, and Desmond you only met yesterday. Why are you really going?"
Jo stood up to face him and wrapped her hands around his neck. "I need an escape, Jack. I want to forget everything that's happened, and when Desmond suggested this it seemed like a good idea. Plus, I'd really like to keep an eye on Zoe, and she's determined to go. I'll be fine, Jack, and I'll be back soon." She stood on her toes and kissed him lightly. "Don't worry about me, okay?" It bothered her that she could lie so easily to Jack.
She didn't give him a chance to reply before skipping out of his tent with the first aid kit. She stopped by her own tent to pick up her backpack, and headed towards the ping pong table. Desmond, Charlie and Hurley were already there, waiting.
"Zoe's coming too," she announced. Desmond smiled.
"Let's get going, then."
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Post by Belle MacFarlane on Jul 28, 2009 15:39:07 GMT -4
Carrie slowly made her way downstairs, one hand clutching the banister and the other supporting her back. She could barely walk anymore - it had been weeks since she'd last caught sight of her toes.
It was rather quiet in the house. Carrie went into the kitchen, where Destiny was standing at the stove, making some breakfast. "Hey," Destiny smiled when she saw Carrie come in.
"Hey, Destiny," Carrie replied. "Where's Dad? And Lorlai?"
"They've gone out to the market," Destiny explained, cracking some eggs. "Said they'll be back soon. I'm just making us both some omlette."
"Thanks," Carrie smiled, before making her way into the living room. She sat in the comfy armchair, which her father had adamantly designated hers, as it helped support her back. She moved the cushions around a bit, until she found a comfy position.
Carrie sat with her eyes closed for a few minutes, listening to the horses from the stable neighing and Destiny making breakfast in the kitchen. She opened them again, and her eyes wandered along the row of pictures. They pretty much told the story of the family - there was Martin and Lorlai's wedding picture, pictures of Destiny growing up, some pictures of the three of them, or two of them, or just one, with some of the animals. There were no pictures of Carrie. None from before, and none from now. It was largely to do with the fact Carrie refused to be photographed with her bump, but yet she couldn't help but be reminded of what Isabel had told her Jack's tattoo meant - "he walks amongst us, but he is not one of us". Carrie knew, as much as she loved her dad, Lorlai and Destiny, she wasn't supposed to be there, with them. She was meant to be on the Island, with Richard. Carrie felt a pang in what was left of her stomach as she thought of Richard. She missed him incredibly, even more so than she thought she would. She missed him, the Island, camping out in the cold, hiking up large hills ... hell, she even missed Ben. She hated the fact she had to leave, but she definitely didn't hate why she had to leave - the baby. She could never hate her child. It was the product of her and Richard's love - there was no possibility of her hating it.
Carrie was pulled out of her thoughts by a quick and sudden pain below her uterus. She recognised it immediately - a contraction. She'd had a few recently, which according to Lorlai, was her body getting ready to give birth, meaning the baby was gonna be born soon. She'd asked Lorlai how she'd know when the baby was being born and it wasn't a practise contraction. Lorlai said she just would. Carrie wasn't sure if she would, but now she was - this was it, she knew it. She was going to give birth to her child ... but the only person in the house was her 12-year-old sister.
"Destiny!" Carrie called.
Destiny sensed the urgency in Carrie's voice and rushed into the room. "What is it?"
"It's the baby," Carrie said. "It's coming."
"What?" Destiny was shocked.
"I need you to phone Dad, tell him I've gone into labour and need him here now," Carrie instructed. Destiny hesitated, shocked by what was happening. "Destiny! Go!"
"Okay." Destiny rushed into the hallway, and quickly dialled. After a few minutes, she spoke. "Dad! It's Carrie, she's gone into labour. ... Just now, she shouted me. ... Okay. Okay, I'll try. Bye." Destiny hung up and came back into the living room. "Dad said we need to get you into the barn, and they'll be back as soon as possible."
"Okay," Carrie agreed, not in the mood to ask why she had to be in the barn. "Okay, you're gonna have to support me, Destiny." Carrie stood up, and Destiny put her arm under Carrie's back, helping her stand. As they made their way to the barn, Carrie found Destiny's support paticuarly helpful, as her legs buckled over every time she had a contraction.
Eventually, Carrie sat down, relieved, in a bundle of hay, which luckily had no poo in it. The contractions were coming quicker and quicker. Carrie knew, if her dad didn't get back soon, Destiny would be the only one there to deliver the baby. But Carrie didn't want her sister to do it, the girl was only 12.
15 minutes later, Carrie was relieved to hear the sound of her dad's car parking on the driveway, and he ran to the barn, faster than Carrie had ever seen him run. "Destiny, go and help your mother," he instructed. Destiny did as she was told, obviously not too happy to see her sister give birth. "How are you doing?" Martin asked her.
"Apart from the feeling of a keg of lager trying to emerge from a pencil sharpener, I'm fine," Carrie replied. "How do you think I'm doing?"
At that moment, Lorlai entered the barn. "She's putting the bags away," she answered Martin's question before he asked it. "I'll deliver it, Martin you watch her. That okay, Carrie?"
"Yeah," Carrie nodded, out of breath. "Yeah, that's fine."
Lorlai gently pulled Carrie's legs apart. "It's nearly there. I can see the head!"
Carrie looked up at her dad, who was holding her hand. "It's okay, I'm here," he said comfortingly.
"Carrie, I need you to push!" Lorlai demanded. Carrie did so, and cried out in pain as the baby emerged a bit further.
"Richard..." she said. "Where's Richard?"
Martin ignored his daughter's question, cursing Richard for not being there, even though Carrie had explained he couldn't.
Upon Lorlai's command, Carrie pushed again. "I've got the head!" Lorlai exclaimed, a smile evident. "Come on, Carrie, one more big push."
"Richard ..." Carrie was sobbing now. She knew Richard was far away, not knowing his child was being born, but she couldn't help but call for him. "Richard..."
"One more push, darlin'," her dad said, trying his best to calm Carrie down. "One more push, and it's all over."
"I can't," Carrie sobbed. "I can't do it. I need Richard!"
"Yes you can, Carrie, you can do this," Martin encouraged her. "Richard's not here right now, but I promise you, if he was, he'd be saying the same thing. Just one more push."
Carrie screamed as she did as her father told her. It was long, and painful, but suddenly it stopped, and all Carrie could hear was a crying baby.
Lorlai scooped the child up, and handed it to Carrie. "It's a girl," Lorlai smiled. Carrie took the child in her arms, smiling. The little bawling, wrinkled-up girl fit perfectly in her arms. She held the child close, before falling back onto the hay and drifting off into a deep sleep.
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Post by tigerlily on Jul 29, 2009 11:25:43 GMT -4
Day 84 Night
Jo drifted over to Desmond while the others set up camp at the treeline by the cable that Jin and Hurley had located. He sat against a tree and gazed longingly at a photograph. Jo plopped down in the sand behind him.
"Who is she?" she pointed at the girl in the photo with him.
"That's Penny."
Jo was moved by the extreme love and sadness in Desmond's eyes, and her heart leaped a little in her chest. His expression reminded her of the many days and nights that she had longed for Jack, back when they worked together at St. Sebastien's and remained fixed in an unfulfilling friendship. The depth of his love for Penny was obvious, and Jo wondered how he had lost her.
"How did you end up here without her, Des?"
"'Cause I'm a coward." he replied without hesitation, clearly believing strongly that this was the truth. Jo didn't buy it. Hurley had told her that Desmond saved Charlie's life a number of times; these were not the actions of a coward.
Jo didn't know how to respond to this. She impulsively decided to make a pledge to Desmond. She placed her hands over his and looked into his beautifully expressive eyes. "When our flight crashed, Jack and I were separated on opposite ends of the island. He was all I could think about, and the pain of not knowing..." Jo felt a lump rising in her throat and found it difficult to continue. Desmond was listening intently, and this gave her the courage to swear her promise. She took a deep breath. "I swear I will do everything in my power to return you to Penny," she vowed. "And you're going to prove to yourself that you're no coward."
Tears fell from Desmond's eyes and he thanked Jo. She left Desmond to walk along the beach in solitude to ponder why she felt such a strong connection to a man she had only met two days ago. Her heart felt heavy, and she began to regret making a promise that she doubted she could ever fulfill.
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Jo fell backwards off the log she shared with Hurley when Jin reached the climax of his Korean ghost story. She laughed heartily as Hurley helped her back up. A serious belly laugh was something she sorely needed. Once they recovered from their laughing fit, Hurley began his own ghost story. Charlie got up with his guitar and wandered over to where Desmond and Zoe were locked in deep conversation.
They were interrupted by a whirring sound that increased in volume. It was the sound of a helicopter's propellers, and it was approaching the island.
"Rescue!" Jin yelled joyfully.
A red flashing light soared over their heads and into the jungle behind them - it was a person parachuting out of the damaged helicopter.
They began arguing about what to do next. Desmond insisted they follow the person into the jungle immediately, but Charlie fought him.
"We have to go, all six of us, now." Desmond demanded. That's the way it's supposed to happen."
Charlie refused to give in. "Right, well I guess its supposed to happen without me."
Desmond stared at Charlie for a moment, then conceded reluctantly. "We'll leave at first light then. Together."
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Post by Belle MacFarlane on Jul 29, 2009 12:33:25 GMT -4
Day 84 night
Carrie crouched down by the stream, filling up her water bottle. They'd been walking for three days now, and she was exhausted. Her feet ached, and she was desperate to get to wherever they were going. She looked around - most of the Others were filling up their water bottles, some were bathing their sore feet, and some were just sitting down, glad to stop walking for a bit.
"In about two days," Richard said, sitting down next to Carrie, "we'll make camp and stay there for a few days before moving on again." He began filling his own water bottle from the stream. "I know how hard it must be for everyone to walk so much without a rest."
"Must be great being you," Carrie remarked. "You could probably walk to the end of the earth and back without so much as a blister."
Richard laughed. "I couldn't, there is no end of the earth. The earth's round."
"Ah, I see you've finally caught onto the modern way of thinking," Carrie joked, sitting back and leaning on the rocks. "Good move."
Richard laughed again and sat back too, putting his arm around Carrie's shoulders and gently stroking her hair. She leant her head on his shoulder, smiling.
"What do you think of him?" Richard asked. "Of John Locke?"
Carrie looked in the direction Richard was looking, where Locke was sitting under a tree, smiling and not doing anything. "Very zen Buddha," she commented. "Auuum," she mimicked. "I am John Locke ... auuum, I am at one with the Island ... auuum, I wish I had some hair ..."
Richard laughed hard. Before he could say anything else, Ben appeared in front of everyone. "Let's keep moving!" He said to the group. "We need to get to a clearing to camp before nightfall." As everyone started to get up, Ben turned to Richard and said, "Richard, would you like to take the lead? You know the Island better than I do."
"Sure." Richard stood up, and picked up his bag. "Come on, Carrie."
"Actually, Richard," Ben said, "I'd like to talk to you alone while we walk, if you don't mind."
Carrie stood up, picking up her own bag. Ben could talk to Richard at any other point. He just wanted to seperate him from Carrie. Before, she couldn't really understand Ben's cold shoulder towards their relationship, but she could now - he was jealous that Jacob allowed Carrie and Richard to be together, but not him and Sophie.
"Go ahead, Richard," she said. "I'll catch up later."
"Okay." Richard kissed Carrie, before walking ahead with Ben. Carrie sighed, and followed at the back of the group. Whatever Ben was going to say to Richard, she didn't wanna hear it.
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Post by tigerlily on Jul 29, 2009 13:41:22 GMT -4
Jo snored very softly. She had fallen asleep at her desk at St. Sebastien's, her head nestled on her arms and her hair falling over her face. Papers and x-rays were scattered messily all over her desk and three empty Styrofoam coffee cups were lined up beside her.
Dr. Griggs opened the clear glass door and poked his head in. He cleared his throat to rouse Jo, but she continued to snore, completely oblivious to the world around her. He chuckled, and ushered his visitor into her office.
"Ermm, Jo?" She remained motionless, even after he poked her in the arm. He looked quizzically at his visitor, a young doctor with long blond hair and a mischievous smile. The blonde doctor was trying to contain his laugher at the situation.
One more poke from Dr. Griggs finally woke Jo from her dreams. She raised her head and pushed her hair back. "Wha.." she grumbled, still groggy.
"Jo, I'd like to introduce you to our newest Diagnostics Department Fellow, Dr. Robert Chase. He'll replace me when I leave for London at the end of the summer."
Jo straightened up, embarrassed and flustered. "I'm sorry, I...Jack and I were going over x-rays until very late, I completely forgot...I'm sorry, I..." Jo bit her lip and consciously pulled herself together. She offered her hand to Dr. Chase. "Pleased to meet you, Dr. Chase. I'm Joanna Woodhouse." She was instantly charmed by Dr. Chase's dazzling blue eyes as he shook her hand firmly.
"My pleasure," he responded in an impossibly adorable Aussie accent. Jo liked him immediately.
Dr. Griggs grinned, pleased to see the instant chemistry between them. 'Maybe this new colleague would help to finally take her mind off that moody Dr. Shephard,' he thought to himself. Dr. Griggs felt protective towards Jo. They had developed a solid friendship in his time at St. Sebastien's, and he was tired of seeing her struggle with her feelings toward Jack while Jack seemed hell-bent on keeping their relationship strictly professional. She deserved better than that.
"Looks like you could use some coffee," he observed aloud. "Do you want to join us in the cafeteria?"
Jo was still visibly flustered from being woken up. "Yes, I'd love to. Why don't I meet you there?"
"I'm looking forward to it," Chase replied, and winked ever so subtly at Jo as he exited her office with Dr. Griggs.
Jo pulled her handmirror out of her top drawer and attempted to fix her hair. She smiled at her reflection and pushed all thoughts of Jack Shephard out of her mind. Maybe Jack's right, maybe we're better off as best friends after all, she acknowledged, then gathered her purse and headed to the cafeteria to learn more about Dr. Chase.
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Post by fearandloathin on Jul 29, 2009 17:33:08 GMT -4
Day 85 Night
In her deep conversation with Desmond, Zoe was finding it extremely difficult to restrain herself from blurting at Desmond he had it all wrong, that for whatever reason he really believed he needed to help that random parachuter was not for good cause. They were in danger, and Zoe knew that she had to figure out a way to stop her. Jin and Desmond were both determindly sure that they were in for rescue, and Zoe hated knowing they were to be disappointed again.
Zoe could feel eyes burning at the back of her neck as Charlie sat near her and Desmond, playing his guitar, but he wasn't watching what he was playing, he was staring at her, and Zoe thought suspiciously why. The tone in his voice when he had asked her if there was anything she needed to tell him. She thought he might have figured out the baby is his, although there was stilla glintnessless look in his eye of disbelief and impossibility, she appeared too far along afterall for it to be possible to be his baby. However, as everyone knew on this island, some, the acknowledgment was in their back of their minds with refusal to admit to anyone else about the strange and unique properties of the island that made extrodinary things possible.
Finding the acknowledgement of Charlie's eyes burning a hole in her back unbearable now she turned and sat next to him and pulled his guitar away from him.
"Charlie?" She spoke softly.
"Yes?" He responded, his eyes locking onto hers. She took his hand and placed it on her stomach, on her small bump.
"I can feel him or her move now." She told him. "It's a strange feeling, something I can't describe. He's not....or she's not grown enough to kick obviously, but, you can feel the movement. Can't you?" Charlie didn't move his hand away, he felt the baby inside her, and a strange warmth spread through his body, and he couldn't stop a smile forming on his face.
"He feels beautiful. I bet he'll turn out to look just like his mother." He replied.
"He?" Zoe questioned.
"I've got this feeling he's going to be a he." Charlie mused. "Just a hunch." Zoe smiled at his charm, she loved many little things about him, his abrupt and out the blue theories being one of them. Before she could stop herself, she leaned in and kissed him. He looked at her with a look she couldn't decode, and she withdrew back.
"Sorry." She mumbled. "I know you prefer Claire...but I can't help you are so adorably irresistable sometimes."
"It's ok." He smiled his familiar cheeky grin, his hand still on her bump, and his beady ocean blue eyes stayed bright at he and Zoe sank into a comfortable conversation.
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Post by lostali75 on Jul 29, 2009 17:35:40 GMT -4
René quickly got dressed and picked up all the firewood she could muster in her arms. Guilt had began to quickly sink in. She refused to look Eric in the eye at this point and only told him she was heading back to camp. He didn't follow her. She was sure how Eric felt about what had just happened but she wasn't about to talk about it either. She hadn't been with a man since her husband and it seemed like a betrayal to her. Deep down in the dark depths of her soul where no one traveled her mind wandered to. Amongst those thoughts she festered upon was a betrayal to Ben. She didn't know why, she wasn't his. Contrary to her feelings and thoughts she felt her eyes begin to tear up. She just kept walking, not looking back at Eric.
She had gotten half way back to camp when she came upon a figure in the distance. He was gathering up some twigs and small logs himself. She tried to get a look at his face but his back was always to her. As she got closer he said hello. Slowly the man stood up and dropped all the wood. He turned to face René and she immediately recognized him. It was the man from the swing set from back at the barracks that morning. He was tall with blondish-red hair and piercing blue eyes. He spoke very gently to her. "René," he smiled "you're distressed. You're meandering off course aren't you?" He gave her a disappointed glance.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"Don't you know René? You're here to help me. And more so, you need to help him." He motioned towards the camp pointing his outstretched hand in the direction of her people.
"I'm sick of this cryptic bullshit," before she could finish her thought he vanished from her sight without a trace. Suddenly surrounding her were whispers from every direction. René was frozen with fear and closed her eyes as tight as she could.
"You ok?" A hand touched Renés shoulder and she screamed at the top of her lungs. She turned curtly and swung as hard as she could. Unfortunately for Eric, it was his jaw that she made contact with and as it turned out, René's left hook was much more powerful than anyone would have thought by looking at her frame.
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Post by Belle MacFarlane on Jul 30, 2009 5:49:57 GMT -4
Day 84 night (even though it's day 85 today, but sshh!)
Carrie surpressed a yawn. It was getting very late, and they still hadn't set up camp. The pack she was carrying was starting to feel heavier. She wanted to lean on Richard as they walked, but he was still talking to Ben.
"You okay?" A voice came from nearby, and Carrie looked round to see René. "You look a bit tired."
"Understatement of the century," Carrie replied, surpressing another yawn. "I think when we set up camp, I'll end up throwing my bed down, and collapsing on it."
René smiled. "Why aren't you walking with Richard?" She asked.
"Benjamin wanted to talk to him privately," Carrie said, rolling her eyes. "Whatever he wants to say, he can say in front of me. I bet Richard will tell me later anyway, if I ask him. Benjamin just wants to seperate me from Richard as much as possible."
"Why do you keep calling him Benjamin?" René asked. "And I don't think Ben would purposely try to seperate you and Richard. He knows how much you love each other, everyone does."
Carrie sighed, mostly out of exhaustion, but partly out of exasperation. René was such a suck-up to Ben, she refused to see the bad in him. "I call him Benjamin, René, because he calls me Carolyna. We've always called each other by our full names, it's just what we do." She paused, before continuing, "I don't think Benjamin does know how much Richard and I love each other. If he does, he doesn't care. He just sees me as a distraction for Richard. Plus, he's jealous that me and Richard can be together easily, but it's difficult for Sophie and Benjamin." René didn't reply. She had seemed ready to dispute, but she'd fallen silent at the mention of Ben's relationship with Sophie. "I know how you feel about him, René," Carrie said. "I see the way you look at him."
"I don't know what you're talking about," René quickly tried to deflect the statement, avoiding eye contact.
"Yes, you do," Carrie said simply. "You love him. Can you deny that? Right now, René, can you say straight out that you don't love him?"
René didn't speak. Then, she said, "is it that obvious?"
"To me it is," Carrie replied. "But body language and facial expressions was always my strongest point. Everyone else is probably oblivious."
René breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't want to spoil his relationship with Sophie," she said. "I know they love each other. But I can't help but be pained by the fact he can never be mine."
Carrie nodded. "That is the hardest kind of love. I've been lucky, I've only ever been in love once before Richard, and he loved me back. It is extremely brave of you though, to take the stance you have. If Richard had been with someone when I came here, I would have pushed her off a cliff to get him."
"What am I supposed to do?" René asked.
"Find someone else," Carrie shrugged. "You may never love them the way you do Benjamin, but it's better than wishing for something you'll never have."
Finally, the group emerged at a clearing. It was too small to put tents up, but it would have to do. As Carrie was rolling out her bed, Richard came over to her and rolled out his too. "I saw you talking to René," he said. "What were you talking about?"
"Benjamin," Carrie said casually. "What were you and him talking about?"
"He has a crazy idea," Richard replied. "He wants to go and confront Shephard in front of the whole group of survivors. I tried to convince him it was a bad idea, but he seems determined to do it."
"And why couldn't he say this in front of me?" Carrie asked, climbing into her bed.
"Guess he felt he just wanted me to know," Richard replied, also climbing into his bed. "Night," he said, kissing Carrie.
"Night," she replied, kissing him back.
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Post by tigerlily on Jul 30, 2009 12:51:49 GMT -4
Day 85
Jo was only half-awake as dawn broke over the little camp they had made on the beach. Her dream reminded her of Chase’s message to her back at the Barracks. “Please forgive me. I’ll find you soon – wait for me. Robert.” How was he going to find her? Now that Juliet was based at the survivors’ camp, Chase was the Others’ only doctor. She doubted Ben would allow him to leave, wherever they were now. She felt fairly certain that it had not been his choice to leave her behind at all, but it simply wasn’t in his nature to defy Ben’s orders. He admired and feared Ben, and his loyalty appeared to be much stronger than any lingering feelings he had for Jo. Why, then, had he promised to return to her? And why did Jo believe him?
She was startled out of her reverie by Desmond, who shook her gently. “It’s time,” he whispered, offering his hand to help her stand up. The group was preparing to search for the ejected helicopter pilot. Jin doused the fire and they fell into line behind Desmond, ready for whatever awaited them.
Desmond took the lead, followed by Hurley and Charlie who passed the time by debating the superiority of the Flash versus Superman. Jo and Zoe hiked side by side, and Jin took up the rear, whistling to himself. They had just found the parachutist’s backpack and discovered the photo of Desmond and Penny, and this renewed Desmond’s resolve to locate the parachutist. Desmond was convinced he was going to find Penny herself. Zoe, however, became increasingly agitated about the whole situation, and the photo seemed to inflame her even more. Jo considered telling her that she knew Charlie was the father of her baby, but decided against it. The time wasn’t right.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Desmond yelling “Duck!” and lunging for Charlie just as an arrow whizzed by Charlie’s head, narrowly missing him. The group was speechless, and Zoe rushed to Charlie’s side in terror.
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Charlie sputtered, and gave Desmond a penetrating, meaningful stare as he realized that his death had been stalled by Desmond’s visions yet again.
They continued on their way, shaken but still determined. It was Jin that spotted the parachute caught in the trees.
"I'm sorry Penny, I'm sorry," Desmond moaned. He climbed up and used his knife to free the parachute from the tree. The others prepared to catch the stranger that dangled from the chute and gently eased her onto the ground.
“Stand back! Get away from her!” Desmond cried as he dashed to her side. He lifted the helmet off her and his expression immediately changed from one of eagerness to one of bewilderment. It wasn’t Penny after all.
“Desmond…” she murmured, then promptly passed out.
“Her name is Naomi,” Zoe explained coldly. Her spooky expression gave Jo chills. “And she’s not here to save us.”
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Post by Belle MacFarlane on Jul 30, 2009 14:06:12 GMT -4
Day 85
It was just gone daybreak, and Richard searched among the trees for fruit. He was up before anyone else, as he usually was, but for some reason there wasn't much fruit around. He ventured deeper into the forest, not wanting to go too far in case Carrie needed him.
He finally found a tree with some fruit on. Richard tried to reach up, but the fruit was too high, so he tried to climb up, but the branches were too high as well, and he kept slipping. He was just debating how to get up there when he saw an apple lying several feet away from the tree. He went to retreive it, but he stopped when he heard a scream in the distance. Richard looked around, trying to locate the sound. The same person screamed again, from deep within the dense jungle, in the opposite direction to the camp. He wasn't quite sure how, but Richard knew it was Carrie screaming. He sprinted off in the direction he'd heard the scream. He emerged at the waterfall where Kelso had died - which confused him, as they were miles away from there, and he hadn't walked that far.
Carrie was standing on a rock next to the pool, covered in blood, screaming. There was a body on the floor, blood seeping from it, slowly moving towards Richard. He looked back at Carrie, and realised she had a bloody knife in her hand. He rushed forwards to comfort her, but she noticed him and screamed again.
"NO!" She shouted. "Not you!" Carrie held up the knife and held it up towards Richard. He looked at the body on the floor again, and realised it wasn't a fully-grown adult like he had thought, but a child. "It's all your fault!" Carrie shouted, backing away from Richard. "You did this! You killed her!" She backed away further, and fell into the pool.
Richard darted forwards and grabbed Carrie's body from under the water, pulling her back onto the rocks. He saw more blood, seeping from Carrie's side where she'd hit the rocks when she fell in. "Carrie!" He exclaimed, turning her over.
Carrie started speaking, her words barely distinguishable. "He gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days," she whispered, "and his sons buried him."
"What?" Richard looked at Carrie's wound, which had now expanded suddenly, so he could have reached his hand inside.
She looked at him, little life left in her eyes. "God is growing bitter," she muttered, so quietly Richard could barely hear her. "He envies man his mortality."
Richard woke up, drenched in sweat. He looked to his side, relieved to see Carrie sleeping peacefully next to him. He reached over and kissed her cheek, clutching her tightly. He stayed awake, scared if he went to sleep the dream would start up again. He held on to Carrie as if his life depended on it, glad to hear the rhythm of her breathing.
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Post by fearandloathin on Jul 31, 2009 9:28:54 GMT -4
Everyone stared at Zoe with peculiar expressions, Naomi remaining motionless and unconcious on the ground, she had a branch has peirced through her lung, and she needed immediate medical attention.
"What are you talking about?" Desmond spoke first.
"She'll tell lies. She'll say she is here to rescue us, but she's not. It's a lie! She will kill us all!" Zoe continued.
"How are you so sure?" Desmond asked.
"Jake told me!" Zoe persisted. "She works for this evil guy, Charles Widmore. The man responsible for destroying my family, friends, and my home back in L.A." Zoe responded, her voice highly strangled and hysterical. "And Widmore is trying to get to this island to kill us all."
"That's impossible." Desmond reacted. "I know Widmore, he's the father of my Penny, and although he is a difficult man, those actions you describe are far off from his capability." Zoe didn't notice Jo giving her a wary glance, but she could see the anxiety in Charlie and Hurley's eyes.
"It's true! Jake wouldn't lie to me!" Zoe insisted, and at this, Charlie walked over to her, resting his hand on her shoulder.
"Jake is dead Zoe, remember? How could he possibly have told you such thing?" Charlie asked softly, feeling Zoe's body shake under his hold.
"I-I- I don't know how!" She admitted. "But he did! He appeared to me, and it must be true! It was real, I just know it was!" Charlie gave her a pitiful and sympathetic look, which angered her.
"I'm not crazy Charlie! I know what I saw!" She insisted.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we need to help her. I have no idea who she is, but she knows me, and I need to know why." Desmond interrupted. "I'm going to find Jack."
"No, it's too dangerous Dez. It's going to be dark soon, and it took us hours to get out here. Eight hours to be more precise!"
"Then I'll run." Desmond replied stubbornly.
"You out of your mind? Its not safe. Its gonna be dark soon, who knows whose out in this jungle, in case you haven't forgotten, there are people on this Island trying to kill us." Charlie argued.
"Nobody knows we're here!" Desmond pointed out, and just as he spoke, Hurley interrupted them with a shot of a flare shooting up through the jungle and into the sky, everyone turned to stare.
"Oops." Hurley responded.
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Post by tigerlily on Jul 31, 2009 11:06:34 GMT -4
Day 85 - Dusk
Jo glared at the lot of them and pulled the first aid kit out of her backpack. "We don't have time for this nonsense," she snapped, clearly losing patience with their endless arguments. "She needs immediate attention, or she'll die and we won't get any more information out of her. I need someone to help me now."
Desmond obediently kneeled on the opposite side of the parachutist and helped Jo clean Naomi's wound. He followed her instructions but Jo knew she needed someone with at least minimal medical knowledge, or the operation could easily go terribly wrong.
As if in answer to her silent plea, Mikhail suddenly burst through the foliage, seeking the source of the flare. He spotted the group gathered around Naomi and immediately turned and fled. Jin took off after him, quickly caught up and dragged him back to the others.
"Who are you?" Desmond demanded roughly.
"He's Mikhail, and he's one of the Others," Jo spoke up. "I met him in the Barracks once."
Hurley looked confused. "I thought Locke killed that guy with the electro-fence thingy."
At that moment Naomi murmured something in another language. Jo moved closer to listen. "I think she's speaking Italian."
Mikhail spoke up. "She said she's dying, she needs help. I was a Soviet Army field medic, I can offer you my services."
"I can use your help. She's punctured her lung." Jo motioned for him to take Desmond's place.
"If I fix her, you must let me walk away as if I never came upon you."
Desmond agreed to his demands, despite vocal protests from Charlie and Zoe. Jo and Mikhail worked quickly to release the pressure from Naomi's lungs and, to everyone's relief, succeeded.
"Eu não estou só," Naomi moaned. Jo noticed an expression of comprehension on Zoe's face, but she said nothing.
"What did she say?" Desmond asked Mikhail frantically.
"Thank you. She said thank you for helping me," Mikhail responded.
Desmond honored his pledge, against Charlie's persistent complaints, and released Mikhail into the jungle.
"Give my best to Ben Linus," Jo yelled bitterly after him.
Once Mikhail had departed, Zoe spoke up. "He lied."
Jo, Desmond, Charlie and Hurley stared at her in confusion. "What are you talking about, Zoe?" Jo quizzed her. Zoe was acting increasingly irrational, and it distressed her. Her fixed belief in her hallucinations of Jake worried her most of all. She desperately wanted Jack's advice, maybe even Juliet's. Something was terribly wrong here.
"She wasn't thanking him. She said 'I am not alone.'" Zoe's face was ashen with fear, but Desmond, Hurley and Charlie cheered happily, and Jin, guessing the reason for their joy, joined in.
"How do you know Portuguese, Zoe?" Jo asked cautiously. Zoe was incredibly smart, and it didn't surprise her that she would be fluent in an uncommon language. Still, her erratic behaviour and insistence that Naomi was here to harm them made her doubt her friend.
"Growing up, my best friend was half-Portuguese. I spent so much time with Rachel and her family that I learned quite a bit of the language," Zoe explained matter-of-factly.
"But you still think she means us harm," Jo continued.
"I'm certain of it." Zoe folded her arms across her chest defiantly.
Jo remained skeptical, but Naomi's wounds demanded her immediate attention. "We need to build a stretcher if we're going to bring her back to camp. She won't be interrogated until she's fully recovered, is that understood?"
The others murmured their agreement and went to work building a stretcher. Zoe stood apart from the group, lost in her own thoughts.
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Post by fearandloathin on Aug 1, 2009 4:48:34 GMT -4
Day 86
Hurley, Jin, Charlie and Desmond began to build a stretcher when they had noticed that the satalite phone was missing. Jin headed off into the jungle after Mikhail while Zoe silently disagreed with Jo. Allowing Naomi to fully heal would give her time to come up with an adequte cover story, and interrogating someone while they were injured was likely to be more successful for information compared to interrogating someone fully healed. At the mention of interrogation, Zoe thought of Sayid, who was an expert, and despite his totrute type ways, he had sworn to himself afterall he would never torture again, but despite this, he was a good judge of character of knowing when someone was lying or not.
Moments later, Jin reappeared with the satalite phone and Mikhail, Desmond insisted he still be set free, despite the betrayal after Mikhail pointed out he wouldn't be respected by his people if he hadn't attempted to take the phone.
Being so sure of who Naomi was, Zoe wondered what she was supposed to do to stop her. Killing her was out of the question. She refused to allow herself to be manipulated into doing such a thing, killing someone is something that she could never do, unless in self defence of course.
Her thoughts then lingered to Mikhail. She went over to Jo, pushing her thoughts of Naomi being the bad person for one moment to voice her concerns about Mikhail.
"Jo, do you realise that Mikhail is going to tell Ben everything that happened here? He is going to tell her about that woman, and everything she has told her in all those other different languages, which could be god knows what, about that satalite phone...and just how long after that do you think it will be until Ben sends some of his guys over to get her? It could implicate the entire camp!" Zoe spoke urgently.
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Post by Belle MacFarlane on Aug 3, 2009 7:24:42 GMT -4
Day 85 (late)
Carrie sat alone outside her tent, waiting for Richard to come back. She was worried about him, and he seemed to be worried about her. He’d suddenly become very protective – not overly, but more so. That wasn’t the thing that worried her – it was the question why. It had happened almost overnight, and Richard didn’t seem to want to tell Carrie why.
He’d barely left her side recently, so now was very rare. The only reason he’d gone was because Ben wanted to talk to him urgently. Carrie didn’t really care what. She knew Ben wasn’t really the right person to be the leader. Richard didn’t seem to think so either. Or at least, he’d started to doubt him. Ben wasted their time with things like fertility issues – seriously. Fertility issues. Like anyone really cared about that. They’d resolved the problem of having no children by recruiting people from the outside world. End of story. But resolving the issue seemed to be all Ben cared about. Richard had said he had a thing about children, because he’d had a bad relationship with his father and never had a mother. So, Richard had been okay with Ben being so concerned about it, but Carrie reckoned he was getting tired of it now. Juliet had been recruited three years ago, and she hadn’t got very far. Okay, she saved Claire, but Aaron hadn’t been conceived on the Island. Zoe was in danger unless she didn’t get off the Island.
Carrie was snapped out of her thoughts by Richard returning. “What did Benjamin want?”
“Leader stuff,” Richard replied vaguely. Carrie rolled her eyes.
Carrie frowned as she saw, in the distance, a light. It emerged from the trees, before exploding in the air. She recognised it as a flare. “Richard,” she said. “Did you see that?”
“See what?”
“There was a flare. Just over there, above the jungle. About 5 miles away I think.” Carrie pointed in the direction the flare had come from. “I’ll go check it out.” She went to stand up, but Richard stopped her.
“No, wait,” he said. “Mikhail!”
Mikhail emerged from a nearby tent. “Did you call me, Richard?”
“There was a flare,” Richard instructed. “Over there, about 5 miles east. Go there, see what’s happening. If it’s the survivors, find out where they got the flare gun from, why they fired it, and if they have anything else.”
“And if it’s someone who just crashed?”
“Take them,” Richard said. “But knock them out first.”
“Of course, Richard.” Mikhail picked up a handgun from his tent, and ran off in the direction of the flare, as Richard sat back down next to Carrie.
“Explain to me,” Carrie said, “exactly why did you send Mikhail instead of letting me go?”
“Mikhail has experience as a field medic,” Richard said simply. “If someone’s hurt, he can patch them up.”
Carrie frowned. “Ethan didn’t have any medical experience,” she said. “He still went to the middle section.”
“They already had a doctor.”
“So did the tail section.”
Richard sighed. “Why are you interrogating me about this, Carrie?”
“I was ready to go. My gun’s right here, his was in his tent. They trust me, they tried to kill him. They won’t trust me once they find out about Mars, but they don’t know yet.” Carrie paused. Richard didn’t say anything, but looked at Carrie in a way that told her to keep talking. “You seem very protective of me recently, Richard,” she said. “I know it’s natural for you to want to protect me, but all of a sudden you’re coming with me when I go to chop firewood, you're always by my side, and now you’re not letting me go see what’s going on, when you know it’s easier for me to do it. What’s going on, Richard?”
“Nothing,” Richard refused stubbornly. “It’s fine, you’re right, I’m just being overprotective.”
“I never said you were being overprotective,” Carrie replied, “just more protective. Did something happen that I should know about?” Richard didn’t reply. “Richard! Tell me, please.” Carrie refused to relent.
“Okay,” Richard agreed reluctantly. “I had a dream. Last night, about you. You were by the waterfall, where ... where we first bumped into Mars. There was a child on the floor, dead. You were standing over it with a bloody knife, screaming and shouting that I’d killed it. You fell in the pool. I pulled you out, but you’d hit yourself on the rock and your wound was getting bigger. Then you said something ... something about God being envious, and ... you died.”
“It was just a dream, Richard,” Carrie said, slipping her hand into his. “Nothing to worry about.”
“I know,” Richard replied, “but since then, I’ve been really worried about you. I know nothing like that could ever happen, the only child on this Island is Walt, and in the dream you said the child was female. But it just worries me that something might happen to you if I’m not there to protect you.”
“I’m not a kid,” Carrie said. “I can look after myself. Remember, before I met you, I’d been looking after both myself and Kelso for 16 years. And I was okay when you left the Island, to recruit Juliet, Zoe, Mars and whoever else you’ve gone after.”
“I know,” smiled Richard, “but I still worry.”
“And I worry about you, I know you’re perfectly capable of looking after yourself, you have done for an inhumanly long amount of time. It’s natural.” Carrie leant forwards and kissed Richard lightly on the cheek. He turned his head and caught her lips.
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