Knowing LOST

Yes, this episode is a little short. However, it seemed to work best as a very visceral, short episode. with a very fast pace. Next week’s episode should make up for this lack of length.

—-

Footsteps clamoring down the ladder to the Pearl jerked Ryan from his sleep, and he jumped up from the chair, spinning around to see Kevin leaping past the bottom rungs of the ladder, landing in a crouch before pushing himself up.

“Ryan,” he said, staring at him with desperate, bloodshot eyes. “He’s gone.”

Ryan sprinted toward Kevin, stopping a couple feet away. “How?” he asked, shocked.

“How do you think?” Kevin replied darkly. “He’s River freaking Tam.”

Ryan stared at him for a moment. “Is now really the time for a Firefly reference? I mean, I don’t even understand how–”

“He hit me in the head and ran,” Kevin interrupted. “Lighting fast.”

“Ran?” Ryan asked incredulously. “But he’s–”

“Not anymore,” Kevin grunted, gritting his teeth.

Ryan slapped the wall in helplessness. “I’ve gotta go get Claire,” he said quietly.

Kevin nodded. “Bring her here if you have to.”

Ryan didn’t even glance back as he scaled the ladder and leapt out of the hatch, running frantically toward the beach. Read the rest of this entry »

A myriad of thoughts flooded his mind as he descended deeper into the darkness. The ladder was cold against his hands, icy cold, and each step downwards was a frosty shock. Despite the pain, though, he couldn’t help but feel a welling of pride in his chest. He was not only surviving on the Island, but he was thriving. Finding shelter. Even Ryan would have to admit that he was fairly competent.

I should be at the bottom by now, he thought, continuing his cold descent into the abyss. He continued stepping down, more quickly, but each step was simply another rung of the ladder. It was deeper than he remembered seeing it.

A shuffling noise below stopped him momentarily. There was someone down there, he just knew it. He clung to the ladder, holding his breath and remaining as still as possible. Nothing happened.

Eventually, he reasoned to himself that if he was going to be found out, he would have been already. It was only his overactive mind that had heard the noise, which was probably the air conditioner or something like that. He took another step, and his foot met firm concrete. He’d been clinging to the ladder a foot from the ground. Read the rest of this entry »

Shadows leapt across the beach, dancing in the flames of the still-burning fuselage. The crowd had dispersed, the survivors returning to their tents and preparing to sleep beside the strangely comforting firelight of the massive funeral pyre. The air was warm from the blaze, and a smoky smell pervaded throughout the camp, thickening the air. Every few moments, Ryan was able to catch a sharp scent of burnt hair. He would have retched from the thought of the burning corpses inside had he not been thinking of another, more prevalent corpse: his own. Read the rest of this entry »

They passed through the final clearing of trees separating the vast jungle from the sandy beach.  It was hardly reminiscent of the beach camp with which Ryan had become so familiar. It still looked like a mostly empty beach. Locke continued to protest from behind as they kept walking.

“Ryan, we have to go back and find the boar.  The other survivors are counting on us.”  Locke stepped in front of Ryan, blocking him from going any further.  “I know you’re scared, Ryan, but it let you live.  That has to be a good thing.  Now, come and help me kill this boar and feed these people.”  His eyes looked around at the other survivors, none of whom had noticed Ryan or John Locke yet.

“John, I’m not going back in that jungle.  Now please, get out of my way.  I just need some time to myself…  I need to rest.  You’re completely capable of killing that boar on your own.”

“I can’t do this alone, Ryan.” Read the rest of this entry »

They found him lying on the ground in a tangled heap. It took them a while to determine that he was breathing, for his breaths were shallow and silent. He was covered in blood from his broken nose and a gash above his eye, but his injuries were, for the most part, superficial. Once he woke up, he’d be able to walk without any trouble. Nothing was broken except one of his little fingers, which had begun to swell.

They carried him back to their makeshift camp and laid him out a small pallet in front of the fire, where he would remain until he regained consciousness. There was nothing left to do but wait.

He finally came to around midnight, announcing his awakening with a theatrical gasp of air. He sat up quickly, ignoring the pain in his back, and glanced around. Most of the members of the camp had been lulled to sleep by the firelight, and curled up on anything they could find. Only one remained awake, and he sat across the fire, staring at Kevin.

“What happened?” Sayid asked him, and Kevin immediately fell back to his elbows, sighing with relief. For a moment he had been certain that the monster had taken him, too.

“I just went to sightsee,” he said weakly, meeting Sayid’s keen gaze. “Just wanted to see if I could find… anyone else.”

Sayid’s expression didn’t change, and he continued to stare at Kevin across the crackling campfire. No one else was awake, and Sayid wanted to keep it that way.

“Where is the pilot?” he asked softly, his voice a low murmur.

“I…,” Kevin began sitting up again. “He’s dead. Seth’s dead.”

“What happened?” Sayid asked again. “How did he die, Kevin?” Read the rest of this entry »

The beach camp had essentially migrated to surround the pilot, leaving Kevin and Ryan on the outskirts of the crowd. Kevin was still sitting in his fuselage chair, staring hard at the sand. It had been ten minutes since the group had returned, and Kevin hadn’t moved from his spot as the solitary thinker.

Ryan, meanwhile, had wandered over to a dug-out spot under the fuselage, where he had been hiding food and water. Having retrieved an Oceanic bottle of water, he began to return to the center of the beach where the crowd had gathered, stopping briefly to look at Kevin.

“Aren’t you going to go say hello?” he asked, only half-joking. He was proud of what he had done, very proud that he had saved a life, but… There was something that had been bothering the back of his consciousness. He wasn’t feeling regret, but the what if? of the situation was slowly building up. He refused to acknowledge it.

“Go away,” Kevin said plainly. He didn’t sound angry, just mildly annoyed.

“Aw, are you ignoring me now?” Ryan retorted.

“No, idiot,” Kevin said, not even glancing up. “I’m trying to think of a way to fix your mistake.”

“What could you possibly do?” Ryan asked, and paused, thinking. “The only way you could fix this would be to kill him, and you’re not going to do that.” Read the rest of this entry »