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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 3, 2019 21:07:33 GMT -8
Cockpit and Surrounding Area    Located in box 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. |
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 4, 2019 17:33:49 GMT -8
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Sept 6, 2019 15:22:32 GMT -8
The campfire crackled and the foil rustled as Gwen pulled another pretzel out of the small snack bag in her hand. It was hard to tell whether it was physical or emotional fatigue that had settled on their party. They weren't far from the final resting place where they had buried the passengers and crew's remains. Perhaps they should have gone farther, but the sun was setting and it was judged too dangerous to continue through the jungle in the dark.
In addition to the navigation equipment that Spencer sought, they had managed to find some food in the first class galley and medical supplies that would be helpful to Jack. Gwen tried to focus on the task, not on the sights or smells around her. Tried to think of what these decomposing skeletons had looked like before the crash -- row after row of servings of orange juice, soda, coffee, vodka tonic if they needed something stronger. Yes, it was an empty mangled shell of an airplane now, but it still felt like losing a home. One that had hosted miles upon miles of her life.
"What do you think the chances are of his plan working?" she asked Kate.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 14, 2019 9:27:38 GMT -8
Kate sat staring at the flames, the bag of pretzels momentarily forgotten in her hand. She wondered if people were worried about them for not having returned, Jack in particular as he'd gone out of his way to pull her aside to try to convince her not to go. She tried not to look beyond that fact for a deeper reason as to why it was him in particular that she'd honed in on.
"What do you think the chances are of his plan working?"
Happy for the distraction, Kate pulled her gaze from the fire to look at Gwen. "Based off our track record, I'm not letting my hopes get too high." Kate put in a grin to counterbalance the pessimism. "At this point, being realistic is much easier and less draining than being optimistic."
Kate retrieved a pretzel from her little airplane snack bag and chewed while she waited for Gwen's take.
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Sept 14, 2019 12:34:35 GMT -8
"Based off our track record, I'm not letting my hopes get too high. At this point, being realistic is much easier and less draining than being optimistic."
Gwen nodded in agreement. "Though I do think Spencer has enough stubborn optimism for all of us," she remarked, glancing over at the man keeping watch while fidgeting with a piece of the plane's equipment. "I know Sayid had high hopes once he'd fixed the transceiver, only to have them dashed. I suppose we just keep trying."
Silence settled in again, and she found herself listening for anything that didn't sound particularly jungle-like. But for the moment, their chosen spot seemed calm. "Thank you," she told Kate, "for coming back out here. I mean, you've certainly done your fair share of exploring. You didn't have to. I just ... it was important to lay those people to rest. I didn't want them to be left out here, forgotten."
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 14, 2019 19:12:03 GMT -8
"Though I do think Spencer has enough stubborn optimism for all of us," "I know Sayid had high hopes once he'd fixed the transceiver, only to have them dashed. I suppose we just keep trying."
Sayid. She'd been so caught up causing worry for them camping out for the one night that she'd forgotten he'd gone out there, all on his own with no plans of returning any time soon. Now she became silent again as thoughts of him consumed her mind.
"Thank you,"
Kate pulled her mind back to the present, lifting her eyebrows slightly in question to Gwen.
"for coming back out here. I mean, you've certainly done your fair share of exploring. You didn't have to. I just ... it was important to lay those people to rest. I didn't want them to be left out here, forgotten."
"Of course," she said with a fervent nod. "They deserved a proper lay to rest just as we'd done for those in our section of the plane. Are you alright?" She asked, angling herself a bit more toward Gwen. "This must have been harder for you than anyone else."
Most of the rest of them had been strangers to each other, but Gwen had had to bury coworkers. The pilot, Seth, Gwen had told them his name was, had been the hardest. His bloodied and mangled body had still been sprawled across the top of the small, barren tree. They'd had to chop it down in order to get to him and give him a proper burial along with the others. The memory of him being yanked from the cockpit window threatened to replay with the thought of him but she pushed it aside.
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Sept 16, 2019 15:39:36 GMT -8
"Are you alright? This must have been harder for you than anyone else."
"Well, at the risk of being very un-British," Gwen began dryly, "I'll be honest and say no, I'm definitely far from alright." Keeping busy kept her emotions at bay but now the still night and Kate's query brought them to the surface. Imagining what the unidentified occupant of the jungle could do was scary enough, but seeing what it had done to the pilot Seth -- someone who had been her friend and confidante on more than one occasion -- sent a fresh shiver up her spine. He didn't deserve to die like that; none of them did. Even those passengers who had been rude and entitled since takeoff.
"That was home, y'know?" she mused. "That was where I knew who I was, what I was meant to do. I felt the same way the night we burned the fuselage, like a part of me was gone and it wasn't coming back." Tears in her eyes caused the fire to blur, but she could easily blame the smoke as she brushed them away with the back of her hand. "I'm going to have so much to tell my therapist when we get back to LA," she mused in a less mournful tone. "Were you headed back to LA as well, or catching a connecting flight home?"
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 28, 2019 20:14:51 GMT -8
"Well, at the risk of being very un-British," "I'll be honest and say no, I'm definitely far from alright."
Typically people put on a smile and said they were fine when asked if they were alright. Gwen's honesty pulled Kate's full attentiveness. Arms loosely encircling her upraised knees, she angled her head toward Gwen, resting her chin on her forearm.
"That was home, y'know?" she mused. "That was where I knew who I was, what I was meant to do. I felt the same way the night we burned the fuselage, like a part of me was gone and it wasn't coming back."
Kate quietly listened, seeing the reflection of the flames in Gwen's eyes becoming more prominent as they took on the shine of tears. She pulled her gaze back to the fire, allowing Gwen the privacy of the emotions that had overtaken her.
"I'm going to have so much to tell my therapist when we get back to LA,"
Kate chuckled. "You're not alone there."
"Were you headed back to LA as well, or catching a connecting flight home?"
Well practiced in lying and cover stories after all her time on the run, Kate didn't let any reaction show over the question. "Connecting," she easily lied, pulling from the cover story she'd given to Ray back in Australia. "Canadian," Kate turned her face back to Gwen again and gave one of those easy Canadian smiles that seemed to say 'hey there', 'nice to meet you', and 'sorry if I've done anything to offend you' all in one.
"So what do you think," she began, steering the conversation away from her and attempting to make light of their situation. "Bring up the polar bears right off or wait a couple of sessions?"
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Oct 6, 2019 15:51:01 GMT -8
"So what do you think? Bring up the polar bears right off or wait a couple of sessions?"
"Oh, gosh, I'd nearly forgotten about the polar bears!" Gwen sputtered. True, only a few of the survivors had actually seen the animal -- Kate being one of them -- but such intriguing news had quickly made its way throughout the camp. "Yes, we should probably leave that until the third or fourth session. I mean, there's plenty of subjects to cover before that. Jungle monster, skeletons in caves, random holes in the ground, in addition to the standard post-traumatic stress and survivors' guilt...."
She silenced her musings by popping another pretzel in her mouth. "And perhaps this place, this...situation is meant to make us face our fears," she offered. "To learn what we're capable of, who we really are."
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Oct 6, 2019 16:04:08 GMT -8
"And perhaps this place, this...situation is meant to make us face our fears. To learn what we're capable of, who we really are."
"Ah, screw that!" Gabe interrupted, dropping a bundle of sticks near the fire. "I had plenty o' time in basic being yelled at and crawling through barbed wire to know what I'm capable of. This place is a friggin' paradise. Why you gotta' be so dramatic, Poppins? And as to who I really am, well...." He let the question hang in the air above the crackling fire as he took a seat and looked solemnly between the two women, as shadows danced along his serious browline. "I'm Batman," he declared in a husky whisper.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Oct 19, 2019 16:57:49 GMT -8
What Gwen was suggesting was crazy and implied that something or someone had put them in this situation. Nonetheless, Kate looked thoughtful at Gwen's suggestion. She didn't buy into the whole spiritual thing, but it was definitely something interesting to contemplate just for fun during a time when they needed all the distractions they could use.
"Ah, screw that!" "I had plenty o' time in basic being yelled at and crawling through barbed wire to know what I'm capable of. This place is a friggin' paradise. Why you gotta' be so dramatic, Poppins? And as to who I really am, well...." "I'm Batman,"
Kate suppressed a chuckle and looked at Gwen with a serious expression that held the hint of amusement. "Hopefully we're not pushed beyond our limits and end up like Bruce Wayne, here," she hitched her thumb toward Gabe, "with a one way ticket to Arkham once they find us," Kate said in a stage whisper.
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Oct 25, 2019 15:08:54 GMT -8
"And as to who I really am, well....I'm Batman."
"Hopefully we're not pushed beyond our limits and end up like Bruce Wayne, here, with a one way ticket to Arkham once they find us."
"Psh, I don't think Bruce Wayne would be flying economy class on Oceanic," Gwen scoffed at Gabe's assertion. "And he would have already found us a way off this island."
She nodded toward Spencer, who was still quietly keeping his distance. "How's the Boy Scout?" she asked. "Any luck figuring out his new toy?"
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Oct 25, 2019 15:25:09 GMT -8
"How's the Boy Scout? Any luck figuring out his new toy?"
"Oh, he's great! Like a kid on Christmas morning," Gabe replied. This little venture, even if it proved futile, had at least given the brash pilot something to focus on besides his bragging about past exploits or trying to tell Kate and Gwen how things should be done when they seemed perfectly capable of handling themselves. "I'm not a comms guy, but he seems hopeful he can get this SATCOM working and able to send out a signal.
"Shame Sayid isn't around to take a look at it. Maybe our Iraqi friend will have rethought his little walkabout by the time we get back to the beach," he mused, leaning back against a tree and stretching his legs out. Forgetting in his exhaustion that Sayid hadn't exactly announced his departure to everyone, which prompted a confused look from Gwen on his left, or that he and Sayid had known each other before the crash, which had likely aroused Kate's suspicion.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Nov 9, 2019 17:21:16 GMT -8
"Psh, I don't think Bruce Wayne would be flying economy class on Oceanic," "And he would have already found us a way off this island."
Kate chuckled at the first part but gave a semi-serious look and 'spot on' point toward Gwen at the second.
"How's the Boy Scout?" "Any luck figuring out his new toy?"
Joking forgotten, Kate put her full attention toward Gabe, very interested in the answer.
"Shame Sayid isn't around to take a look at it. Maybe our Iraqi friend will have rethought his little walkabout by the time we get back to the beach,"
"Hopefully," she said, injecting an actual hopefulness into her tone, despite her doubt that he'd be back anytime soon. She knew what had led him to leaving. The guilt he'd radiated over it alone would have kept him away for a good while. But his claim to want to map the island, that was a feat that would weeks. Months, even? Who knew without getting a full view from plane. The views from her various hikes and especially from higher ground showed that the island was not the compact type one generally thought of when picturing a deserted island.
There was something about the way Gabe had spoken about Sayid that had her studying Gabe. True, it had been a couple days since Sayid left and maybe word would have gone around a little, but people generally didn't tend to pay attention to people outside their social circles, especially when it was something that didn't directly affect them. But as far as "social circles" went on the island, she and Sayid were a part of the same one and she didn't recall Gabe ever spending much time amongst any of the people within her circle, not even Sayid.
"How'd you know about Sayid's walkabout?" she asked. Her tone was not accusatory, only curious. Kate had used the same term for it as Gabe had so as to not give away why Sayid really left and what he was doing, always working to keep to her "social circle's" agreement of trying not to give false hope or panic. Not that mapping the island would really contribute to either of those categories.
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Nov 11, 2019 16:00:42 GMT -8
"How'd you know about Sayid's walkabout?"
"Hmm?" he addressed Kate lazily. Her expectant expression enhanced by the fire's dancing glow served to wake him up. He had to mentally rewind what he'd just said, what he might have revealed. "Oh, uh, he came to me for some supplies before he left on his mission to map the island. Guess I'm the island lunch lady now," he chuckled to himself. He could totally rock a hairnet.
But he could anticipate the next curve to Kate's line of questioning, and thus he decided on a pre-emptive strike. "We know each other from Iraq," Gabe informed both women. "Neither of us tend to talk about it. On my last deployment, Sayid was attached to our unit as an interpreter. One of the few we could trust. Saved the asses of me and my men more times that I could count, so ... if the man needs a couple of mangos, he's welcome to 'em."
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Nov 11, 2019 16:09:55 GMT -8
Gwen had turned toward Gabe as he spoke, resting her head on her hand as her arm was propped up on a tree root. Perhaps it was exhaustion or grief or a mix of both, but she found herself getting lost in his story. Reminding her of the man that she had loved and lost in a faraway war zone. Would it be such a leap for Gabriel to have known him as well?
"So, you and Sayid fought alongside each other in Iraq," she mused, wide hazel eyes gazing upward at the tree canopy. "And then all those years later, you two end up on the same flight out of Sydney and get trapped on an island together. That's either the worst, or the best premise for a romantic comedy I've ever heard," Gwen declared, not even trying to stifle her laughter.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Dec 1, 2019 13:59:34 GMT -8
"Hmm?" "Oh, uh, he came to me for some supplies before he left on his mission to map the island. Guess I'm the island lunch lady now,"
Supplies? What kind? And why go to Gabe? Had she ever even seen the two of them talking? Kate might have chuckled at the lunch lady comment if she hadn't been distracted with all the questions flying into her head. Kate was still working on exactly what to ask first when Gabe beat her to it.
"We know each other from Iraq," "Neither of us tend to talk about it. On my last deployment, Sayid was attached to our unit as an interpreter. One of the few we could trust. Saved the asses of me and my men more times that I could count, so ... if the man needs a couple of mangos, he's welcome to 'em."
"Huh," was all Kate had to offer. That surprising revelation had certainly wiped out all existing questions in her mind. She was still processing it when Gwen piped in.
"So, you and Sayid fought alongside each other in Iraq," "And then all those years later, you two end up on the same flight out of Sydney and get trapped on an island together. That's either the worst, or the best premise for a romantic comedy I've ever heard,"
Kate chuckled and looked to Gwen. "Battleground as the meet-cute setting? I'm going with worst," she injected with her own humor. Kate looked back at Gabe, scrutinizing another puzzle. "That just seems like too crazy of a coincidence," she said, gesturing to Gwen in reference to her conclusion that they'd randomly ended up in this exact same place and situation all these years later. There had to be a more plausible reason, right? Despite being on opposite sides of the war, had the two ended up bonding and forming a friendship? That in itself didn't exactly sound realistic but perhaps a bit more so than randomly ending up deserted on the same island. "Were you guys traveling together?" She asked, again, no accusation, only curiosity in her tone.
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Dec 7, 2019 20:02:12 GMT -8
"That just seems like too crazy of a coincidence. Were you guys traveling together?"
"No, no," Gabe answered with a casual shake of his head, well aware that his story was stretching the bounds of plausibility. "I didn't even realize we were on the same plane until after ... well, our unexpected layover on Mystery Island. Sometimes it really is a small world after all." He leveled his gaze at Kate and gave her a curt smile, hoping that was the end of her interrogation. At least until he'd had a chance to confer with Sayid and get their cover story straight. He was slightly angry with himself for letting it go unresolved for this long.
"But hey, if this bromance was meant to blossom, who am I to argue with the universe?" he continued in a jovial tone. "Just sucks for Gwenny here, since she fancies the guy," he added, pointing toward her with a branch that he'd been using to stoke the fire. "And I can't really blame her. He is totally dreamy."
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Dec 7, 2019 20:21:08 GMT -8
Unbelievable as Gabe's story may seem, it was no more incredible than the fact that they had all survived the plane crash in the first place. So Gwen was perfectly fine with shrugging it off and letting her weary eyelids close, until she found herself under scrutiny.
"But hey, if this bromance was meant to blossom, who am I to argue with the universe? Just sucks for Gwenny here, since she fancies the guy. And I can't really blame her. He is totally dreamy."
"Wait, what?!" Gwen sputtered. "I didn't -- I don't -- I never said that," she declared plainly to Kate. Sure, Sayid was very attractive and capable and by all outward appearances a gentleman. But Kate may have felt the same way, and she had been spending a lot of time with him. If there was a relationship there, or the beginnings of one, she certainly didn't want to interfere.
"And you clearly can't be trusted with anyone's secrets," she taunted Gabe, rapping him on the arm with her now empty water bottle.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Dec 14, 2019 1:58:20 GMT -8
"No, no," "I didn't even realize we were on the same plane until after ... well, our unexpected layover on Mystery Island. Sometimes it really is a small world after all."
"Huh. Small world," she repeated in agreement. It felt like there might be something more going on but Kate wasn't going to push. A person who didn't want their own lives pried into knew to keep their mouths shut. The more questions you asked someone, the wider the door opened for them to ask you questions in return. Best to leave things alone.
"But hey, if this bromance was meant to blossom, who am I to argue with the universe?" "Just sucks for Gwenny here, since she fancies the guy,"
Kate looked over at Gwen with an 'oh really' raise of her eyebrows.
"And I can't really blame her. He is totally dreamy."
"Wait, what?!" "I didn't -- I don't -- I never said that," "And you clearly can't be trusted with anyone's secrets,"
Kate laughed. Her amusement went against any notion that there was something between herself and Sayid. She was too busy trying to keep her mind and emotions off of two other men she kept finding herself drawn to when she'd already learned a hard lesson about letting herself get attached to anyone.
"Looks aside, he's also a good guy." Kate gave Gwen a supportive smile that also promised digression. "My money's on you winning out." Kate gave Gwen a good natured nudge, then looked over at Gabe. "Sorry, but she's prettier than you. And she has that accent."
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Dec 14, 2019 18:39:02 GMT -8
The rest of Day 13 and all of Day 14
pass by fairly uneventfully. It is now:
Day 15 - Mid-Day
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Aug 12, 2023 21:19:03 GMT -8
The rest of Day 15 passes by. It is now:
Day 16 - Morning
Thursday, October 7, 2004
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