What IS that? [open]

[Jack Shephard]

Jack had a tiresome night. He had been busy helping everyone who had survived the crash with their injuries, both real and imagined. It was amazing how many people had thought they were hurt and only had a minor scratch or bruise no worse than they might get from falling off a bike. He took a stick and ground it in to the bonfire building before him. Survivors were sitting around, enjoying each other's company as they continued to be hopeful about survival being on the way. You had to be hopeful. The alternative could be deadly.

As if on cue with the thought, Jack heard a loud, large sound coming from behind him. It sounded like an animalistic and yet mechanical roar. It made Jack think of a large robot creature at first, like a mecha-godzilla. He jumped to his feet and turned around, staring in to the jungle. As he did so it happened again, this time accompanied by a ground shaking thump. Jack looked up at the top of the canopy and saw trees moving as if blown by the wind. They weren't just moving though, they were bending and snapping... It was as if some giant creature was stomping it's way around inside the jungle.

"What..." This was all Jack Shephard could mutter under his breath. He had never seen or heard anything like that. It made no sense. It was ridiculous for something that big to move around that quickly, it was illogical, it was... impossible.

Rescue couldn't come soon enough.

[Hurley Reyes]

Hurley was sitting next to the large bonfire, washing down the last of his chicken airplane meal with a gulp of water from his Poland Springs waterbottle. The food was pretty bland, for obvious reasons. It had been preprepared, just wrapped in foil and waiting for the time at which it would be served. Of course, no one knew that time would come on a beach, following the plane crash, with no attendents to do the serving. still it was food, and it felt good to get something in his stomach after the day they'd all had. He hadn't eaten in nearly 24 hours, and for a guy like Hurley, that was tough. By now, all of the survivors had been given food and water, and people seemed to be in a bit of a better mood. Things weren't all bad, right? They had food and water. There was a black box on the plane, so someone was sure to be coming to rescue them soon. All then had to do was wait it out. Surely someone would be here by morning, and they had a signal fire now, after all. Yeah, things weren't bad at all.

That was when he heard it.

A loud roar that caused Hurley to tremor and slosh some of the water out of the bottle, from which he had removed the cap to drink. The spilled liquid landed on his front, dampening the shirt, but he hardly noticed. His gaze had flown instantly to the jungle from which the sound had come. It was difficult to place, sounding like a cross between something natural and something mechanical; whatever it was, it was like nothing Hugo had ever heard before, nor wanted to hear ever again. The next roar, accompanied by a huge tremor of the ground, provoked Hurley to leap to his feet in alarm. He peered beyond the warmth of the bonfire and into the darkness beyond. He could see a tree... no, multiple trees, bending, some even snapping, with the force of whatever was making the noise.

Ahead of him, Jack had already become aware of the sound, just as the people around him were doing. Hurley's eyes were glued to what was in front of him, but appeared to have ceased at least for the time being, the slightly mechanical wail dying into the background. In its wake, the jungle seemed silent. "Ok..." Hurley began quietly, then at something closer to a yell, "Did anyone else see that? Or, ya know... hear it?"

[Claire Littleton]

Claire tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled out her diary again. She felt like she had so much to write! She sat by one of the many campfires burning slowly and began to write. She was just getting to telling her little blue diary about how strange it was that so many of them survived when a large, loud sound, almost a roar came from the forest. She looked up in shock, the diary forgotten. She put her hand on her belly protectively as the sound was made again.She stood up when she saw some of the survivors looking out at the jungle. She looked over at the jungle and was shocked to see the trees...bending and breaking, almost as if something was moving them. Claire took a fearful breath, and looked down at her belly. Suddenly a second roar sounded, accompanied by a tremor in the ground that made her stumble. She looked out into the darkness in alarm as Jack and Hurley sprang to their feet in front of her. The noise stopped, but Claire kept her eyes glued to the forest. She was breathing heavily now. There was a long pause of fearful silence, then Claire heard Hurley say,
"Did anyone else see that? Or, ya know... hear it?"
Clair looked at him.
"How could you not hear it? That was...was..." She paused, eyes wide."What was that?"

[John Locke]

Locke was one of the survivors who were sitting around the fire. He had made a few friends today, as well as some people he was going to avoid. The jungle provided lots of different kinds of food, I should plan something tomorrow.. he thought and threw a stick into the fire. Locke was positively sure that some of these survivors weren't who they said they were, but how could he prove it? There's no way.

Then the loud roar was heard from the jungle. Everybody freezed and turned around to face the jungle, and so did Locke. That was no boar.. he thought and looked at the other survivors. They all looked scared, some looked absolutely terrified.
"Did anyone else see that? Or, ya know... hear it?" asked Hurley. Locke was just about to say something, but Claire did it first: "How could you not hear it? That was...was... What was that?"

"Well, whatever that was it's apparently going back to the jungle instead of coming to eat us all. I suggest that we sleep over night with one of us as a guard. We will naturally guard in shifts. Then, tomorrow we will go investigate that.. that.. thing. Agreed?"

[Hurley Reyes]

Hurley was still frozen, staring at the jungle where the trees had been bending and snapping, straining his eyes to catch of glimpse of it once more. It truly appeared to be gone now, but that didn't mean it wasn't still making the survivors frightened. Most of the others were on their feet now too, and all of them had at least heard the monstrous noise that had accompanies it when it walked by. Claire was the first to reply, expressing a concern as to what the thing actually was. It was as though she was voicing their thoughts for all of them, because that was probably the question on everyone's mind.

Before anyone else could express their fright, or any other thoughts, Locke quickly cut in. "Eat us? Dude, that's not really the best way to make people feel better." He muttered as he listened to the rest of Locke's words. He couldn't help but think maybe the guy was a little nutty. When they'd been out in the jungle earlier he was going on about some nonsense about miracles, but he was being so cryptic with his words, that Hurley was having a hard time telling whether or not Locke was just messing with him. "Are you crazy?" Hurley stared at him disbelievingly. "If that... that thing is out there, then I'm staying right here."

[Nikki Fernandez]

Nikki had been fixing her camp on the other side of the beach when the noise happened. She threw down the tarp that was in her hands in a starled jolt and whipped her head towards the jungle. Trees and other things seemed to be crashing down as something made its way closer to the beach. Then it stopped and Nikki brushed away the hair that she didn't realize was in her mouth. Flipping her blonde lock behind her shoulder, she sought out the other survivors.

Nikki found many of the survivors in the middle of the main campsite, expressing there concern and fright about the thing that had just wreaked havoc on the jungle. Hurley was the first to point out the obvious and start the conversation on the monster, Clair joined in and then Locke, the usual voice of reason and adventure initiated an investigation on the thing.

Hurley expressed his disbelief by saying "Are you crazy? If that... that thing is out there, then I'm staying right here."

Shortly after, Nikki decided to chime in. "I'll go on an investigation." She raised her hand sheepishy, poking into the group. She placed her hands back in the pockets of her jean shorts and looked around. It would be a chance for her to show that she was part of the group and not just and outsider.