Salty Air {LOST Plot} JACK!!

After more trekking through the horribly humid jungle, we took a break to gather our breaths. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead with the back of my hand. I must look like a mess, my hair is tangled and clinging to the wetness of my face and the heat is causing no cease to the sweat dripping from my skin. Through my mess though, Nick still gave me a small smile as he got up, I returned the favor with a small smirk.

Nick suggested we go find water, and with out a word, I followed his lead. Dodging branches and vines, we came to a small stream, deep enough to reach your knees I estimated. Nick collapsed down on the bank and took a well needed gulp of water. I did the same, as well as washing my face of dirt and sweat.

The bliss of it all left me with a grin on my face as the cool water brought relief to my dry throat and cracked lips. I ran some water down my arms as well, taking the left over dirt and sand as it ran down my arm. For the first time in a while the tan of my skin shone though again, also exposing the minor cuts and bruises.

"So what's the plan of action now?" I asked leaning back against a large banyan tree, the slight breeze cooling my damp skin. I felt like Nick had tot ake charge more now, now that his arm was, slowly, getting better. I wanted to tryst him more and depend on him more, because if I couldn't support this group, then who could? Elizabeth was pretty reliable, but in my eyes she was too young to have so much weight on her shoulders. To have 3 lives depend on you? It's tough, trust me. Nick might not be as easy to deal with, but he knew more than a lot of us did. Why not give him a chance?

Nick tucks a piece of loose, wet hair behind my ear as well as complementing me on how much better I looked, with out the mud. If he had done this earlier into the, trip, I wold have probably slapped him. This time though it felt different. A small smile crept onto my lips without intention and it made me feel a little light headed.

What was wrong with me? Why did I feel like this? Whatever it was I rarely felt it. Could it be feeling developing for Nick? I had asked myself this many times before, but this time I was really serious. I was not pushing it aside like I had before. It stayed in my mind the rest of the day and wouldn't go away.

After he helped me off the bank, we were on our way to find what we could. A couple times I found myself glancing at Nick as he lead us through the jungle. To my relief, we came to a clearing ahead. I could hear the crash of waves already, they must me considerably larger on this side. I ran ahead a bit to check it out, and free myself od the humidity wrapping me in a coking blanket.

I took a deep breath of cool ocean air as I stepped into the clearing, searching the beach and examining it for safety and wonder. The waves were huge, towering well above the both of us before they came crashing down onto the sand, spreading the white foam along the shore. "Here t is, the other side of the island."

Almost the same instant Nick followed me onto the beach behind, he threw a fit of frustration. Despite the obvious beauty of the island, it was true that there was bot an island in site. Was it really impossible to get back to District Four? A frown formed upon my lips, I looked down at the sand as Nick took out his anger on the trunk of a palm tree.

I was pretty upset that we might never get back to our home, I only showed a pint of emotion in my face as my inner self cried and screamed at him, begging for a way back. I looked back up to speak, when Nick stopped me dead in my tracks. "Snake." he murmurred quite lowly. I followed his stone cold gaze to a bright green serpent who's menacing slitted eyes glowed in the daily light. It really was a gorgeous creature, but beauty can be deadly.

I backed away from it a bit, hoping it wouldn't strike at my slow moving bare feet. I stopped two paces back, only to see it slither towards us more. My heart race had hightened, I swear the whole island could here it as I feared for my life for the third time. It wasn't the biggest creature, but snake venom held toxins thr could kill minutes, if not seconds, and if this was a mutt, then who knows what secrets it possess.

"What do we do?" I whispered to him as if the snake was listening in on every word and thought we made as it stared at us, the pink of it's forked tongue tasting the air. It recoiled into an S position, brining it's head up. "Nick, take a couple steps back, I've got a feeling were on the menu."

Ooc: sorry it sucked

I take a deep breath and does as Nick says, backing away in the opposite direction from him. I keep my eyes on the green crreature as it follows in Nick's direction. He scrambles for a broken stick and holds it in his mangled torn arm, making my stomach drop. He can't possibly making a killing blow to a snake with that stick, or even that arm. he asks me to search for something to distract it, but just as I look behind for something to veer the snake's attention away from Nick, it comes towards me.

I hear it hiss and spit as it lunges for my leg, which luckily, leap away from n one clumsy step backwards, almost losing my balance. I give the snake a wide eyed, terrified stare as I start to stumble backwards away from it, but it just follows me. I start to panic a little and i can only imagine how stupid I look. "Nick! Nick! Get it! Get it away from me!" I screech at him. This truly brought out the worse in me, mostly becasue snakes were my worst fear. If there was anything that grossed me out more was snakes.

If Nick didn't make a move soon on this damned serpent, I would be dead in a few, or passed out, then dead.

Clumsily, I fall the the sand beneath me sending a stunning pain up my back, but not severe enough to keep me from moving. As the snake slithered towards me it shuffled back with my hands and feet, kicking the powdery sand into its face in hopes of slowing it down, but it really did me no good but piss it off even more. Nick leaps forward, grabbing the serpent by its tail and pinning it down behind its head, making the mouth open wide, revealing it's venomous hollow fangs, at least 3 inches long. As the mouth cloed, the deadly fangs folded neatly into the roof of it's mouth.

It really terrified me to see the creature after me. as he yelled at me for instructions. I stood there with my jaw agape and my eyes searching inside my last sliver of calm for an answer. Before I could move, the snake escaped his grasp and clamped it's long fangs down on my hand hard, sending an electrifying feeling up my hand through my arm and too my shoulder. It was so intense I could hear the beat of my heart in my ears as blood pounded throughout me. Instinct kicked in and I grabbed the snake, snapped it's neck and threw it across the shore in a fit of rage and terror.

I caught my breath and stood there looking at my hand, the two small vampire like holes now bleeding and inflaming. What the hell was I in for now?

I stare blankly at my hand, so many emotions overwhelming my mind yet my face shows none but shock. It's the one thing I find amazing about myself, no matter how many things are thrown at me and no matter how I feel, I can hold it back so easily while others, like Salem, prance and mope around, his emotions on display across his sodden face. I just kept my mouth in a straight line, my eyes a bit wide as I waited for the pain, sickness, or whatever hit me.

Just as I started to think nothing was wrong, my fingers started to tingle and slowly, started to go numb with the rest of my hand. I realized at that moment that I had been tuned out from the world, and I snapped back into my ugly reality as Nick screamed at me. I shot my head up in question, and finally registered what he was saying. The tingling traveled up my arm and ended at my elbow. I could barely move it as the numbness set into my mind and started becoming fully real to me.

"I-I can't feel it. My hand, it's numb." I mumbled just loud enough or him to hear. I knew I had to sit down, get a grip on myself, so I sat back into the sand and regained some sense into my head which was hard when a raging head ache started upon me, sending my eyes momentarily shut. It must just be the effects o the bite, and I hope that's it, but this might just be the beginning of the end, the end to my time on this island, maybe even my life. I just can't think that way right now, I had to convince myself, Nick, and the others I would be okay. If I get back to the others... I thought, but quickly told myself to shut up again.