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Chapter Eleven

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It was getting dark and Jack and the rest of them still weren't back yet. I was now really freaking out. What if they were hurt? What if Ethan really was evil and took them all? What if they were dead?

I was pacing in circles. This was going to drive me mad. Finally, when the sun had almost completely set, Jack came walking back to camp. I ran up to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. "You're ok" I mused happily.

"Yeah" he said with a small smile.

"What's wrong?" I asked my smile fading.

"We found Charlie" he said. "But no Claire"

"Oh" I said letting go of him. "Well, we'll find her right?"

"Yeah" he said. "Of course we will"

I noticed that when he said that he wasn't looking at me. I wanted to cry. Claire was the first person I really talked to on the island. She couldn't just be gone.

Charlie came onto the scene. "Oh," I cried in relief. "Oh, Charlie! You're okay!" I hugged him fiercely, then pulled back and looked in his eyes. They were cold. "Charlie," I said, shaking him. He finally stopped looking through me, and looked at me. "Are you okay?" Charlie nodded. The look on his face made me want to cry, but I didn't. Not yet. "At least you did something. All I could do was… wait." I hugged Charlie again, then got up and left.

I slept and woke up to Jack arguing with Sayid. "Sayid, I need you to take me back to the French woman, Rousseau. Claire's still out there. Now, Rousseau mentioned that there are others on this island…" Jack said forming a plan in his mind. I yawned and sat up.

"Her mind is gone" Sayid insisted.

"You heard them yourself" Jack went on.

"I don't know what I heard"

I started, confused. "You said that when you. . ."

"The wind, Jack" he said looking directly at me. "It was the wind playing tricks"

"Okay, then, what about the papers that you took from her - the documents, the maps. I mean, isn't there anything here that. . ."

Sayid cut him off. "I'm skilled at mathematics and decryption, but these equations are beyond anything I've ever seen. There are these notes in French accompanying some of the maps and diagrams. If I could translate them I might be able to make sense of it, but. . ."

"What?" Jack asked.

"Perhaps some things are best left untranslated" he said coldly.

"Yeah?" he asked pointing at Charlie. "Maybe you should tell him that."

I slept most of the next day. When I was up however, I strolled around the beach and did absolutely nothing. I was too worried about Claire and Charlie. He was still acting weird. He had almost died the day before. Sawyer was sitting outside his tent trying to open a case. I watched him for a moment. He slammed his hands on the case. "Son of a bitch!"

Michael passed by with a wheelbarrow. "You're wasting your time, man. If you pick the lock on a Halliburton, I'll put you on my back and fly us to LA"

"You better find yourself a runway, daddy, Cuz there isn't a lock I can't pick" Sawyer said.

I looked at Michael. "What's so special about a Halliburton?"

Hurley passed by."What's he trying to do?"

"Pick the lock on a Halliburton" Michael replied with a look of amusement in his face.

"Good luck" Hurley said laughing and walking off.

"Seriously, what is a Halliburton?" I asked.

"It's pretty much the most indestructible case they make" Michael replied. He turned back to Sawyer. "The only way you're going to open that case is with pure force, man; Impact velocity."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You've got to hit it with something hard, like a sledgehammer. Or the axe"

Sawyer gave an agitated sigh. "Dimples go get the axe" he said.

"You could at least say please" I mumbled going to find it. I looked where we normally kept it by the tables, but it wasn't there. I went up and down the beach looking for whoever had it. I stopped at Sayid. "Hey have you seen the axe?" I asked.

"What do you need the axe for?"

"It's not for me, it's for Sawyer" I said. "So have you seen it?"

"No, I'm sorry I have not" he replied with a sullen look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked with concern.

"I need someone to translate these papers" he said. "Can you read French, perhaps?"

"No, I'm sorry I can't" I sighed, "And Shannon?"

"She won't even try" he said.

"Just wait. I'm sure she'll change her mind" I encouraged.

"I do hope so" he replied going off. I went back to Sawyer.

"What took you so damn long?" he snapped.

"Couldn't find it" I replied. "Someone must have it"

"Son of a bitch" he swore, "Now what?"

"I would take Michael's advice" I said nodding.

"Well aren't you so smart"

"I am" I replied getting up to leave. "Why do you want that case open so bad anyway?"

"Just do" he shot back.

"Well good luck with that" I said leaving.

The day after I went to the beach to get my mind off of Claire, I was surprised to see Shannon with Sayid. They were bent over some maps that Sayid had taken from a French woman in the jungle.

As I got closer, I could tell that both of them were frustrated. The girl was struggling to translate the maps he got when he was with the French woman, until Sayid said something to make her leave in a huff. I waited until she left, then went by him. "What was that?" I asked, sitting on the corner of his table.

"Shannon," he replied. I noticed how short he was. I could tell he was angry.

"You gotta give the girl some credit," I began. "I mean, she was trying pretty hard to translate those papers. Maybe what was written was hard to translate." Sayid was glaring at me, and I shrugged. "Just an idea," I said.

I hopped off the table and went back to the caves. The rest of my day was spent writing in my journal. I had been slacking on it lately. Not that I blamed myself, I had been in a plane crash after all. I spent more time with Sayid and Shannon the next day. Just as I had noticed the chemistry between Charlie and Claire, I saw Sayid and Shannon warm up to each other. They had light, easy conversations, and they seemed to enjoy each other's company. Shannon left to go do something or other, and I nudged Sayid with my elbow once she'd gone. "Yeah?" I asked, motioning to Shannon.

"Yeah?" Sayid gave me a weary look.

I laughed and got up to leave. He liked her and I could tell. I walked down the beach noting everyone I saw. Charlie was still acting funny about Claire's kidnapping. Not that I blamed him.

Kate was going around the beach eating a papaya. She was holding the seeds in her hands. "What are you doing with those?" I asked motioning towards her hand.

"Sun made a garden" she smiled. "Wanna see?" she asked motioning at the jungle.

"Maybe later" I replied shaking my head.

I went towards Sawyer's tent on the beach. "Hey" I said with a small smile.

"Well, hello Shortcake" he said, his face lighting up. "What's up?"

"I'm bored" I sighed sitting on the ground.

"And this is my problem because?" he sighed looking up from his book.

"It's not" I sighed. "But you asked." He looked at me with contempt.

"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked.

"I don't know" I sighed lying back in the sand. I was annoyed with the world. Everyone was so concerned with the maps and moving there things up the beach because of the rising tide, they had forgotten about Claire. She was still missing, and yet no one was out looking for her.

"Then go away" he said, looking back at his book.

I sat up and sighed. "Can't you ever be nice?"

"I always nice" he smiled. I punched his arm. "Someone's touchy today" he laughed.

"Shut it" I growled walking away. I was being moody. Not that I would ever apologize for it. Jack came up to me, with an inquiring look on his face.

"Have you seen Locke or Boone?" he asked me. I shook my head. "I haven't seen them for awhile."

"They've been hunting from sun up to sun down" I said. "Gone all day"

Sayid came up, holding his map papers. "Jack look at this"

Jack looked over at him. He was holding the papers out so Jack could see them. I came over and stared at them too. I never heard what Sayid figured out. "Once I realized these equations were coordinates, latitude and longitude, I assumed the French woman was trying to determine the location of the island. But it was incomplete, the notations fragmented." He pointed.

"Except for the fish song" Shannon added, almost proud of herself.

"MmHmm" Sayid hummed in agreement.

"The what?" Jack asked confused.

Sayid put the papers together so that three lines met. "But when I laid the pages down like this, I realized it wasn't showing the location of the island. I think it's a location on the island. Specifically, here."

Jack looked quizzically at the maps. "So where are we in relation to the triangle?"

"Well, the map is hardly in scale, so I don't know."

"We're not even sure it's a map of this island, are we?" Jack asked shaking his head in dismay.

"We're not, no." Sayid replied. "But this may be the transmitter sending out the distress call and its power source."

Michael joined our confused little circle of discussion. "What are we talking about doing now?" he asked. "Looking for another excuse to get chased down and killed by whatever lives in the jungle? Guys, we can't keep doing this. Building water filtration systems? Playing golf? Making a sweet little home here? We need to get off this island."

Shannon looked at him, annoyed. "You think any of us wants to be here?"

"No, but I don't think anyone wants to get off as much as I do right now."

"You're wrong about that" I mumbled to myself.

"So, are you suggesting something?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, we build a raft." Michael replied.

"A raft?" Sayid asked in shock.

"Look, don't say it like that, man. We need a little optimism here, okay? And we've got to do something because, let's be honest, no one's coming." He said. What happened to the optimism? I thought sarcastically. "Those seats we took off the fuselage, they float. And we've got an axe, and a whole bunch of trees, bamboo. We can do this." He added

"The chances of surviving the rough waters? The odds of finding a shipping lane?" Sayid questioned.

"And I get really sea-sick" Shannon added.

"You know what? Great. Stay here. Grow old. Good luck to you, but I'm doing this. My son and I are leaving. Anybody that wants to help us build, God bless you." He said stalking off in anger.

I watched him walk away, not knowing whether I wanted to help him or not. It was a pretty good idea, I had to admit. However, like Sayid said, we had no idea where we were, let alone if any boats were around to help us out. So, I guess I didn't know what to believe.

Hours later, I saw Walt walking straight into the jungle as though he was running from something. I followed, curiosity getting the better of me. "Where are you going?" I called to him. He must not have heard me though, because he just kept going. I turned around and went back to the beach. He would be fine.

Even later, Michael came up to me, with a frantic look in his face. "Have you seen Walt?" he asked.

Oh shit.

"He went into the jungle a little while ago" I replied, now feeling bad. What if he was dead or hurt or got mulled by polar bears? Michael started at a mad dash for the jungle. I followed. "Want me to help you look for him?" I asked.

"No" he replied. "You go back to the beach. We don't need anyone else getting lost"

I turned around, sighing to myself. I was still treated like a child. I guess I was letting myself be though. Or, at least, I wasn't doing anything about it. I sat down next to Sawyer again. I seemed to talk to him when I needed to say something that I knew no one else would listen too. "Their building a raft" I stated.

"A raft?" he asked, his eyebrows rising.

I shrugged my shoulders. "That's what Michael said" Charlie came strutting up to Sawyer in anger. Charlie stood next to him and said, "Where's Claire's diary?"

Sawyer lifted up a little black book, grinning widely. "Right here," he said. Charlie grabbed for it, but Sawyer yanked it back out of his reach. "Ah, ah, ah! You gotta give me something in return."

"Give it to me," Charlie growled. Sawyer shook his head, the smug look still on his face. Whenever I wanted something from Sawyer and he was being stupid about it, I wanted to punch him. Charlie took it a step up from just wanting to. He pulled back his arm, and clocked Sawyer a good one across the jaw. Charlie grabbed the diary and stormed off.

At first I was a little worried about Sawyer, but then I couldn't help but laugh. Kate gave Sawyer a disgusted look and left. "I'm glad this is entertainment for you," Sawyer hissed, rubbing his jaw.

I covered my mouth, snickering. "You got punched… I laughed. "Oh God, I wanted to do that to you sometimes." I shook with laughter. "Okay, um… do you want me to get you something?" I asked. Sawyer pointed to a black bag in the corner of the tent, and I pawed through it. I was surprised to find an ice pack.

I handed it to him, still grinning. Sawyer sighed at me. "I'm sorry, it's just…" I began, but I couldn't stop laughing. "Okay, I'll stop. Promise." I went to sit behind him on a crate.

"So do you think it's a good idea?" I asked.

"Do I think what is a good idea?" He asked with a sneer.

"The raft" I sighed, annoyed.

"Well hell yeah" he spoke up. "We gotta get off this rock somehow now don't we Blondie?"

I nodded. He went back to reading so I left. I went to the kitchen then made my way back to the caves so that I wouldn't have to walk back later in the dark. I arrived and saw Charlie reading Claire's diary. "What are you doing?" I asked. He waved his hand shrugging me off. I still stood, reading over his shoulder. "You're reading her diary?" I asked. "Nosy"

He stood and went over towards Jack and Sayid. "Jack. Sayid. You have to hear this"

"What is that?" Jack asked.

"It's Claire's, her diary" Charlie replied.

"You're reading her diary?" Sayid asked accusingly.

"Yeah, I know, I'm bloody scum" Charlie said, dismissing the comments. "Just listen to this "I had that weird dream again, the one with the black rock I can't get away from. I try to leave it but it won't let me.""

"Black rock?" Sayid asked.

Jack gave him a dismissing look. "It's just dreams, Charlie"

Charlie shook his head. "No, Sayid mentioned Black Rock before" he pointed out.

"The French woman said something about her team returning from the Black Rock" Sayid said happily. "The triangle on the map. Maybe it's the triangle on the map"

Charlie was equally excited. "Maybe it's where Claire was taken. Maybe she's there?'

"Maybe. Charlie, we all want to find Claire, but there's no sense going out into the jungle in the middle of the night" Jack said, still not going with the idea.

"But, what if she's there, Jack?" he asked. "We have a clue, we should use it"

"Alright, we will" Jack said. "In daylight"

I had to agree with Jack as much as I wanted to go after Claire too. Jack looked at me, and smiled. I gave him a small smile back. "How have you been, Becca?" he said. "Haven't seen you around in awhile"

"I've been hanging at the beach" I said softly. "The jungle creeps me out. With Claire gone missing and…" I stopped.

"And?" he asked.

I gave him a worried look. "It's nothing" I sighed. It's not like I could just say, 'hey, I hear voices in the jungle and saw my dead mother'. Yeah, that wouldn't go over well.

"No, Bex. You can tell me"

"Jack" I sighed. "It's nothing, I promise"

"Alright" he sighed. "But you can talk to me if you ever need to"

"Thanks Jack" I said.

"Becca, maybe you should head to bed" he suggested lightly.

"Ok" I nodded. I lay down in my normal spot close to where Jack laid. I wasn't too tired, but nevertheless, I felt my eye lids drooping down. Man, was I tired. I closed my eyes and fell asleep super fast.

A voice screamed in the middle of the night. "Over here, Jack!" it yelled. I sat up, still groggy.

"Where's Jack?" someone asked. I was glancing around trying to see where these voices were coming from. Charlie walked in a certain direction so I guessed that that was where they were coming from. I followed swiftly. "We need the doctor" Locke said.

"He's right there. Right there" said another voice from a person I couldn't see.

"What happened?" Charlie asked.

People were still yelling for Jack, as he came running up to Locke who was coming through the brush. Locke had someone in his arms. "Claire?" Charlie asked.