Day 2 EVENT - Trek to Cockpit to Get Transceiver

[Hollywood Heidi]

Trek Through Jungle to Find the Cockpit and Retrieve Transceiver

Jack, Kate, Charlie, and Ana Lucia trek through the jungle to find

the cockpit and retrieve the transceiver.

Journey goes from box F3 through F4 below:

Each box is 3 miles by 3 miles. It takes an hour to walk 3 miles. But also keep in mind that hiking (like that really steep hill to get to higher ground) will take a heck of a lot longer and that if you're running (like from some jungle thing), that you'll get somewhere faster.

[Hollywood Heidi]

***Ana Lucia, Charlie, Jack, and Kate enter from

F3 - Area of Survivor's Camp - Day 2***

[Simon Tam]

JACK

He found a large branch to serve as a walking stick as they navigated the unfamiliar terrain. Wherever they'd crashed, it was a beautiful location. No arguing that. Most people would pay handsomely for these kind of views, sunny weather and tropical breezes. He could almost imagine this was a hike through the mountains near LA. That is, if they weren't leaving the site of a plane crash to look for another piece of that downed plane in a jungle filled with strange and possibly dangerous things.

[Hollywood Heidi]

KATE

Kate trudged along behind Jack and had made small talk with Charlie, finding out that he was a member of the band Drive Shaft.

"You guys were good," she said.



CHARLIE

He was thrilled to finally be recognized but then his enthusiasm wavered a bit at Jack's lack of being impressed and at Kate's reference to his band in the past tense.

"We are good. We're still together. In the middle of a comeback."

[Hollywood Heidi]

Clouds form and move in over the island. The sound of

thunder grows louder and it suddenly begins pouring heavy rain.

[PMS And a Gun]

"Great." Ana Lucia inwardly frowned when the rain started to fall on them like harsh bullets of water, plus thunder. She had to do all she could not to smack Charlie in the head for going on and on about his band. Now that the topic was up she could finally know where she knew him from. The brunette grimaced and used her own stick to trudge through the muck as she caught up to Jack.

"So what's your theory on this place? Vacation getaway?" her full lips upturned into a smirk and tried to lighten the mood.

[Simon Tam]

JACK

He laughed and futilely tried to wipe the water from his face. ""Maybe," he agreed. "For the person who really, really wants to get away from it all. I'll have to suggest it to all my colleagues at the hospital looking for beachfront property."

A few more rain-soaked yards and suddenly the cockpit of the Oceanic jet loomed large above them as it leaned against a tree at a very steep angle. The next order of business was to find a safe way inside. "Well?" he said, turning back to the others. "Let's do this."

[Hollywood Heidi]

CHARLIE

Charlie stood behind the others looking up into the plane. He could see the arm of a corpse hanging lifeless into the aisle. Bloody grim, he thought to himself. If he didn't need a hit so badly, he would have waited outside.

"Let's get that transceiver thing and get out of here."

Charlie hung back for a bit to make sure that the others were all ahead of him.



KATE

It was eerie, seeing the front of the plane at such a peculiar angle but there was just no way to prepare yourself to climb up amongst lifeless bodies still strapped in their seats. Kate kept close to Jack. She somehow felt safer near him and his calm gave her calm. She concentrated on the awkward climb up, the plane creaking and groaning in protest of the weight of four new people aboard. Kate nearly lost her grip when she'd accidentally chosen the leg of a corpse for her next boost. She closed her eyes a moment as she let go and reached for the armrest of the next seat up.

Finally at the cockpit door, Kate moved over to the left, got a good foothold and propped herself up against the wall as Jack attempted to open the door.

[Simon Tam]

JACK

After an exhausting climb up the aisle and past the lifeless bodies strapped in their first-class seats, he finally reached the cockpit door, which was still firmly locked. Not surprising. He reached for a fire extinguisher and once he had enough leverage, he began hitting the lock. "Come on!" he urged through clenched teeth. "Come--"

The lock finally broke and as the door fell open, a body in flight uniform went tumbling down the aisle. Jack flung himself against the nearest wall and out of its way, trying to catch his breath. He looked over to Kate who shared the same shocked look on her face. "You okay?" he asked.

[Hollywood Heidi]

KATE

Kate screamed when the body came flying down the aisle. She nearly lost her balance and grabbed on tightly to the cords hanging out of the wall behind her.

"You okay?"

She turned her head toward Jack. "Yeah. You?" she said between labored breathes. Her heart rate was starting to return to normal.

[PMS And a Gun]

And just like that things went from weird, to bad and to worse. She didn't climb up into the plane because of the balance of weight. The three would be good up there and she'd stay down here in case anyone got clumsy and fell. Ana Lucia looked up when Kate screamed and then heard rustling and finally a slight thump above where they were.

"You guys all right?" she yelled over the bad weather. Damn, Ana really needed a gun right now. What if that thing came back? "You're pressed for time here!" seeing maybe that the plane might move or fall was her worst fear here.

[Hollywood Heidi]

CHARLIE

"You guys all right?"

"Yah, we're fine!" he shouted down toward Ana Lucia and then to Kate and Jack he said sarcastically, "I'm fine. Charlie's fine, by the way. Okay?"


KATE

She gave Charlie an apologetic look.

"You're pressed for time here!"

Kate agreed. She couldn't wait to get this done and get out of this giant crypt. She pushed herself around, facing downward as she grabbed for another piece of the plane to boost herself toward the cockpit door.

[Man in Black]

The thick, strangely fluid smoke blended against the darkness of crowded trees. It moved with slow whispers of ancient noises deep within. Shadow and smoke becoming interchangeable, for he was both. He was the Man in Black.

He was the Man in Black. That was what they called him, and that was what he was. He was also the Smoke Monster, the Security System, the Cerberus and the Island Ghost. He was all of these things, and his cage glimmered around him with cruel purpose. 2000 years and he could still only see the bars. He moved silently, a splatter of shade that pulsed with something between life and that other place. He was watching and waiting to see what happened. He was watching the Charlie and the Kate and the Jack and the Ana trek through his forest in hope of something that heralded rescue, and he felt something resembling sympathy for them. That sympathy, however, did not extend far enough to stop him from moving those fleshy pieces across the board.

They were almost at the Seth Norris now. He had scanned the Seth Norris as he slept and found the non-candidate to be nothing useful in the long term, but he had purpose in the short term. The Seth Norris had a wife, and had spoken to a blonde pregnant girl in Australia and had a friend named Frank Lapidus and he always wore his wedding ring and there was so much love in this man. Love for those he knew, and that love was returned to him. It would've been nice if the Seth Norris was able to return to that love, but it couldn't be so. The Seth Norris was a sacrifice the Man in Black demanded.

He was silent, and he waited. He had made his presence known to the other survivors, ensuring they would cling together with only small parties sent out from time to time, and four candidates had emerged from the flock. The Charlie-Kate-Jack-Ana knew so little, in truth. He saw the depth of their lies and corruption already, though, even without scanning them. He knew it was there, because it was within everyone. Even the Seth Norris had lies in his love.

The Man in Black remained in shadow, and waited, and was silent. The five of them all had so much work to do.

[Simon Tam]

((OOC: Condensing some of this convo to move things forward faster))

JACK

"Hey. You don't have to come up here," he assured Kate. Seeing one dead pilot was probably enough for anyone, and he could see the other pilot in his seat not moving. But she replied that she was fine, so he helped her pull herself forward into the cockpit and then he followed. "This transceiver...it looks like a complicated walkie-talkie," he explained, looking around and underneath the tree branches that invaded through the broken windscreen.

Suddenly, the pilot sprang back to life with a pained intake of breath. Jack and Kate both jumped in surprise. "Hey! Can you hear me? I need that water," he told Kate, who handed him a bottle. He tried to coax some of the water into the pilot's mouth.

"How many survived?" the pilot asked.

"At least 48," Jack replied. "Does anything feel broken?"

"No, no. Just my head's a little dizzy, that's all."

"Yeah. It's probably a concussion."

"How long has it been?"

"Sixteen hours."

"Sixteen?" the pilot repeated. "Has anybody come?"

"Not yet."

"Six hours in, our radio went out. No-one could see us. We turned back to land in Fiji. By the time we hit turbulence, we … we were a thousand miles off course. They're looking for us in the wrong place."

Jack silently contemplated what all that might mean.

The pilot moved to get out of his seat. "We have a transceiver."

"Good. Good, that's what we were hoping. Listen, you shouldn't try to move."

"No, no. I'm okay. It's okay. Transceiver's right there. It's right there."

Kate saw where he was pointing, grabbed the object and handed it to the pilot.

"Where's Charlie?" Jack asked.

[Hollywood Heidi]

KATE

Kate's head was reeling from the new information. No wonder help hadn't arrived yet.

"Where's Charlie?"

Good question, she thought to herself. She stepped out of the cockpit to look for Charlie as the pilot started fiddling with the transceiver. She listened to their conversation as she carefully made her way down.

"It's not working."

"Charlie?"

A door swung open, startling Kate and Charlie comes out of the bathroom.

"What were you doing in the bathroom?"

"What? was all he had to say and before Kate could question him further, the plane started shaking and there was that sound again. That horrible sound from last night coming from the thing knocking down trees. Everyone froze in what they were doing and looked toward the windshield of the cockpit, hazed over by muddy sludge.

What the hell was that? asked the pilot.

"Kate."

Kate looked over at Jack who was holding his hand out to her. she grabbed it and he pulled her back up into the cockpit with Charlie's help. Jack held her close and for a moment, she almost felt safe.

"It's right outside," she said in a shaky whisper.

"What, what's right outside?" the pilot asked in a loud, somewhat frustrated voice at the cryptic conversation and Jack shushed him.

Kate was terrified. As they heard the thing getting closer, Jack let her go and pushed her toward the farther corner away from the windshield. A shadow of whatever was outside went past the window. Kate watched in terror trying to see past the sludge on the glass. Jack tried to look out the window to see it but there was no way to see past the grime. The pilot moved hesitantly toward the gaping hole in the glass by the co-pilot's seat. She wanted to yell out to him to not do it but she couldn't get words past the fear. She watched as he put down the transceiver on the co-pilot's seat, and then as he climbed part way out of the opening.

[Man in Black]

He was a thousand eyes looking at the same thing. Mechanical clicks and clacks came with his movement as he crept over the head of the plane. The Seth Norris reached his head out, and something gleamed in his eyes. A reflection of something dark and moving. His expression didn't change within the millisecond before he was taken. He merely reacted in the way that most did: with incomprehension.

The Man in Black lunged with a sudden whirling howl, a howl that shook the trees and pushed branches to meet each other. He grasped the pilot by the head and lifted him bodily out of the plane. The creature turned him, and pulled at him, and ripped at him. The sensation the pilot felt would've been that of a thousand little needles puncturing his skin, deeper each time, although the damage done looked far more sporadic. Layers of skin were lifted then shredded, and the Man in Black entered the pilot through his mouth, eyes, ears and nostrils. He lived briefly in the blood, and constricted around the lungs of Seth Norris. He burst them, and withdrew from the body.

It all happened in less than two seconds.

Blood gushed in profuse splatters from the fresh corpse, and the Man in Black flung him out of sight with such force that the body broke the treeline above and disappeared elsewhere. Silence for a moment. Then he rammed the cockpit.

[PMS And a Gun]

Her dark gaze darted back and forth to and fro around the eerie looking forest. No, jungle, it was a God damn jungle. Ana Lucia tipped her chin upward to try to hear any form of conversation above her. It wasn't much that she could make out from the talking and shaking of the atmosphere, not to mention the constant muttering from the three in the cockpit. Her ears had picked up however Charlie's loud sarcasm and snorted to herself in light laughter. That guy was just a barrel of fun right there. Then a new voice joined the ones up top and it sounded deeper and more calm yet also masked something of panic. Was that the pilot? She immediately whirled on her heel to see if she could see anything but failed. This was for the birds. "Any luck?!" her husky voice yelled up trying to reach them with volume. Hell, the Latina shouldn't be shooting off her mouth like that as that was a dead giveaway around here but no one had actually proved there were natives here. That was kind of like that Blue Lagoon movie or something, she didn't know since she had seen it as a kid.

Suddenly a rattling could be heard just small enough to detect until sudden silence. Then, bam! All of the sudden the thing growled all around them and Cortez quickly slammed her body beside a tree as quick as a bat out of hell. Her eyes widened in both shock and fear as something close to an animal of some sort roared with such intensity and volume. And just like that there was blood raining down in mere droplets and then a body had been flung and all she could see was blood.

Now it really began to shake.

"Get the hell outta' here!" the young woman cried in a raspy screech. "NOW!" her form was already on edge and ready to book it as fast as she could. But there was one big problem, those three that were still up there. Mark her words, an officer had to be loyal, ex cop or not she wouldn't let these survivors die or get in harms way. Over her dead body. she thought.

[Hollywood Heidi]

KATE

The pilot was ripped out of the window with incredible speed and then blood coated the window in what felt like seconds.

"What the hell just happened?" came from Charlie's direction.

Suddenly, Kate was thrown back into the wall behind the pilot's seat as the plane jerked as if shoved following by shaking. She saw Jack reach for the transceiver just before it fell to the ground. Then the plane was falling to the ground and the impact as it landing flat jarred her, taking her a moment to get to her feet. She looked over at Jack who was continuing to reach for the transceiver.

"Jack, come on!" she shouted.

"Just leave it!" added Charlie.

Jack grabbed the transceiver and they were off at a run. Kate was the first one out.

"RUN!" she shouted to Ana Lucia as she ran past her.

The sounds of the monster, for lack of a better name for the thing that ate the pilot, pushed them into a faster run through the slick mud. Kate had only glanced back a couple time to make sure everyone was there and then pushed herself harder than she ever had in her life. Unfortunately, over the sounds of the downpour and the monster, she did not hear Charlie call for help.

Up ahead, she saw a bunch of bamboo. It provided far better protection than anything else she'd passed on her run and she wasn't sure if they'd come across anything better, nor was she sure how much longer she could last at that pace. She ran into the bamboo and whipped around to call the others in only to find herself very alone.

Kate thought she'd reached the height of her terror but finding herself alone doubled it. "J-J-J... Jaaaack!" More sounds had tears of terror running down Kate's face, mixing with the rain water. She was on the verge of a full mental breakdown. She needed to be in control of herself or she'd be easy bait for the picking. Kate remembered back to yesterday and the story Jack at told her. She worked hard to compose herself and concentrate on that method.

She could hear Jack's voice in her mind and she replayed that scene. Let the fear in, let it take over, let it do its thing, but only for five seconds.

"One!" she said, the word drawn out in a voice shaking with fear.

"Two!" she finally managed to say, slightly less panicked.

"Three!" a bit more coherent.

"Four!" slightly louder.

And finally, clearly but still a little shaky, she said, "Five!"



CHARLIE

Charlie was running like a bat out of hell. His concentration was all on his speed and he did not notice the vines protruding from the ground. His foot caught and he found himself laid out on the ground.

"Hey!" he shouted to their backs. Kate had been too far ahead but thank God Jack had heard him. After a quick glance to make sure Kate was alright, Jack ran back over to him and made quick work of freeing Charlie's foot.

"Okay, let's run. Jack said as soon as he got Charlie back on his feet.

[PMS And a Gun]

And that was all she needed to high tail it out of there. Ana ran at full speed with her arms swinging at her sides as she crossed and dodged vines and foliage and even a loose branch. What the hell was that thing!? Was it even possible that dinosaurs existed here? This was nuts! Her mind had just come to its senses however and her boots dug into the mud long enough to sidestep in back of a tree. The coast looked clear, but the young woman knew better most of the time then to just barrel into a situation with blunt actions and little to no thought. It had to be planned.

And just like that, a sway of a tree and footsteps. Now she heard voices? "Jack?" the brunette called out as she grabbed onto a thicker branch and broke it at the bottom so that it was not only a walking stick but also a weapon. "JACK!" her raspy voice yelled out loudly enough to wake the dead. Immediately her body slid into action and her heart thudded in her chest.

She had to find them. They had to be here somewhere. What if they died? What if they didn't survive? Don't think like that, chica! her thoughts went wild until she was positive there was at least a shadow.

"If you're there...say something..." Ana kept her voice low enough but it was also getting aggressive and dangerous in tone as she held up that large branch. "Now." Who knew what was on this island? One could never be too careful.

[Hollywood Heidi]

KATE

Kate had finally managed to calm herself a bit. The jungle seemed to be alive with sounds. Hearing something that sounded like it was coming from behind her, she whipped around and stared hard at the jungle, seeing nothing but the sheets of rain falling on the trees and foliage. Another sound, this time so close behind her that she quickly turned back around, ready to defend herself. She lunged at the figure before processing whoever or whatever had sneaked up on her and they both fell to the ground.

"Kate!" Charlie said in defense.

Temporary relief that it was just Charlie but then a quick glance around showed there was nobody else with him. "Where the hell is Jack?"

"I don't know!"

"Did you see him?"

"Yeah, he pulled me up!"

"Where is he?" she shouted over the rain.

"I don't know!"

"How can you not know?" she asked in an accusatory tone.

"We got separated! Look, I … I fell down, and he, he came back for me, that thing was just…"

"Did you see it?" She wanted to know what the hell it was. A big part of the fear of that thing was not knowing what it was.

"No. No! But it was right there. We were dead! I was. An-And then Jack came back, and he, he pulled me up. I don't know where he is."

[Hollywood Heidi]

The heavy rain and thunder stops just as abruptly as it had

begun. The clouds part and the warm sunshine has returned.

[Hollywood Heidi]

KATE

Kate looked up toward the beams of sunlight shining through the trees as if it hadn't just been pouring buckets of rain. Crazy weather but at least it would now be easier to find the others. Kate looked around again for any signs of Jack or even Ana Lucia.

"We have to go back for him."

"Go back? There? Kate, there's a certain gargantuan quality about this thing."

She didn't care. She just had to find Jack. Jack had gone back for Charlie but Charlie wasn't willing to do the same. Her tone reflected her disappointment in him. "Then don't come."

Kate got up and walked in the direction that they had run from, leaving Charlie on the ground.

"Kate!"

Kate glanced back to see Charlie rushing to catch up with her. He seemed reluctant to be heading back in the direction they'd last heard the monster but was probably even more reluctant to be by himself.

They walked in silence, scanning the area and no surprise that Charlie was the once to break the silence with his sarcasm. "I heard you shout. I heard you shout "Jack". I'm Charlie, by the way."

Kate's attention was caught by a gleam in a muddy puddle. She squatted down to look closer.

"What is that?"

Kate grabbed the corner of the object and held it up. Pilot's wings. As they looked at the object knowing who it must have belonged to, their eyes were caught by the water's reflection of the bare tree. And something in it. Kate stood up and turned around, Charlie following suit, as they both looked up into the tree.

Charlie turned his head to a slight angle, trying to make out what he was looking at. "What is...

[Hollywood Heidi]

(OOC: Trying to hurry things along here.)


JACK

"If you're there...say something..."

"Over here," Jack said as he made his way through the foliage toward Ana Lucia's voice. He looked her over for any injuries. "You alright?"

He could hear the voices of the other two up ahead. "Let's regroup." Jack nodded his head toward the voice of Kate and Charlie and headed their direction.

"What is..." he could hear Charlie say as he walked into the clearing.

"It's the pilot."



KATE

She was flooded with relief at the sight of Jack and Ana Lucia, both looking unharmed. "Did you see it?"

"No. It was right behind me, but... I dove into the bushes." Jack said.



CHARLIE

Charlie wanted to get back to the topic of the bloody pilot in the treetop. "Guys? How does something like that happen?" he asked as he pointed up to the pilot in the tree.



JACK

It was a rhetorical question. Jack allowed a few seconds of silence as they looked up at the body of the torn up pilot. "We can't do anything for him," he said with regret. "I think it's best we put as much distance between us and this area. We've got the transceiver." He held it up. "We should head back to the beach."

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Jack thought as he finally looked away from the bloodied corpse. He turned away and headed back toward the beach.

[PMS And a Gun]

"Yeah, I'm fine, you?" Ana Lucia sighed in relief and dropped the branch with a dull thump so that it didn't weigh her down in their jungle journey. Everyone seemed to be situated until Charlie pointed out something, a very disgusting and gory something. It took all she had not to just upchuck right then and there. Her gaze lowered back to the ground in an effort to ignore the part that the pilot had been chomped up by some puff of smoke? Was that what it was? The girl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and then nodded to Jack.

"At least we've got that, what the hell are we going to tell the camp? she asked calmly though with a leader-like tone.

Cortez eyed Charlie and then Kate to get a look at them and see if they were injured at all too. Aside from a scrape on Ana's cheek everything seemed to be all right. So they headed back to camp one step at a time.

[Hollywood Heidi]

JACK


"At least we've got that, what the hell are we going to tell the camp?"

He'd been thinking that same thing over as he'd been fiddling with the transceiver. He stopped and turned to glance at each of them stressing the importance of his opinion on the matter. "Nothing. As far as the plane being off course, it won't even matter as long as we can get this transceiver to work." He turned and continued toward the beach, trying to get the transceiver working as he continued to speak. "And as far as the pilot," he shook his head, "we don't even know what happened or what that thing was that killed him."



CHARLIE

The Doc had a point. Sharing what they'd learned would only cause massive panic. If they could get the bloody transceiver to work, none of what just happened would concern them anymore. He'd already asked Jack a few times about getting the transceiver to work and was getting impatient. "Anything?"

"You keep asking if there's anything," was all Jack said.

Charlie was a little annoyed at that answer, or lack of an answer. "Pardon me for appearing desperate, but before the pilot was ripped from the cockpit, he did say that no-one's going to find us unless we … get that transceiver working. So... is there anything?"

"No." Jack sounded slightly amused at Charlie's snarkiness. At least it was an answer.

"Okay."



KATE

Now that the panic was over for the time being, Kate remembered something that had peaked her curiosity before they'd been distracted by the monster. She slowed her pace to walk alongside Charlie. "What were you doing? In the bathroom?"

A fleeting look of surprise crossed his face before he put on one of his 'here comes the snark' expressions. "I thought you could tell. I was getting sick. Puking. My one tangible contribution to the trek."

"No. I'm glad you came. Charlie." If not for him showing up, she may still be cowering in the bamboos.

"Every trek needs a coward," he joked.

He had seemed scared when she'd bumped into him and yet, still level-headed. Plus, he'd gone with her to go and find the others even after he'd expressed to her the insanity of heading back in the direction of the monster. "You're not a coward." She said it sincerely.

[PMS And a Gun]

"Might as well not start a panic." she nodded to Jack and kept walking also noting Charlie and Kate's conversation. It was sunny out, that was a change. Charlie had kept asking if it worked and it was getting on Ana's nerves. She tried not to say anything but her suspicions rose when he spoke of getting sick in the airplane bathroom. Something didn't add up there, oh well, not her business. Cortez shot Charlie a look as if to say 'you're full of it' and instead looked back at Jack.

"You owe me." saying it with a flirty tone and started to head back along with them.

[Hollywood Heidi]

(OCC: Pushing ahead again. Only one or two more posts and we should wrap this up. Pretending Ana Lucia's comment happened awhile into the trek back.)


JACK

Jack walked along silently, not paying much attention to the small talk of the other three. He was concentrating on heading the correct direction, keeping an eye and ear out for the monster, and trying to get the transceiver to turn on or at least give some kind of sign that it worked or could work.

"You owe me."

"Owe you?" he asked distractedly.

[PMS And a Gun]

"That drink." Ana said as if knocking him out of his daydream. Then again with her luck there was only alcohol and no tonic. Go figure the mixers would be the first to go. But here's to wishful thinking.

"I'm guessing no luck with the transceiver? Might have to find a gizmo nut around here, someone has to know how to fix it." she said quietly.

[Simon Tam]

JACK

"Well, it's a pretty diverse group. Maybe we'll get lucky and find an electrical engineer, or someone that watched a lot of MacGyver," he said with a slight smile.

***Jack leads the way to F3 Fuselage and Surrounding Area, aka Fight Club***