salute [james conrad] 1

Chapter 24

Charlotte runs with all her might, stepping over tree roots, jumping over rocks, moving tree leafs out of the way.

She pants for breath, every thing going in a blur as she makes her way to where she had left the rest of the team.

She steps into their sight and stops running, her knees hurting slightly.

"Don't shoot" She pants out as Brooks points his gun at her.

She heaves in a breath, sitting down on a dried up log.

She couldn't die. She just couldn't. She looks around, desperation finally starting to sink on her.

Then she takes in a deep breath, leaning against a tree and closing her eyes.

There's a moment of silence, and then she hears the leaves rustling, indicating that James and Mason have arrived.

Finally, Charlotte opens her eyes, watching as the both of them step into the conversation.

Brooks and the rest stand there, now looking at the three of them in confusion,

"Conrad, where are we going?" He asks him, his tone clearly tired from staying up most of the night.

"You three need to go back to the boat" Charlotte pitches in, her voice wavering as she stands up and steps closer to them.

"It's that way" She finishes, pointing in front of them, where the river is. "Wait for us till dawn. If we're not back by then" She pauses, looking at Mason and James, then turning to look at the rest of the team "If we're not there, just go" She says.

Brooks laughs sarcastically as he puts his gun down and turns around.

"You ain't gotta twist my arm" He mutters under his breath as he picks up the other guns and looks at San.

Hank stands up, a confused look on his face as he stares at the other three people.

"Where are the three of you going?" He asks them.

James looks at Charlotte for a moment, who nods at him, understanding.

Then he turns to look back at Hank.

"We're going to save Kong" He tells him.

Hank smiles, shaking his head.

"Not without me, pal" he utters before he takes his sword and puts it in it's cover, ready to go.

Charlotte's eyebrows rise, and she cocks her head to the side, taking a step forward, crossing her arms across her chest.

"You sure?"

____

Charlotte let's out a breath, her blood running cold as she watches Kong's ashy and fire filled body tumble into the ground from a distance.

She curses and holds up her gun, running even faster than before, trying to stop what Packard is about to do.

Finally, the three of them get to the lake clearing and she loads her gun, running in front of Kong's unconscious face and pointing her gun at Packard.

"Packard!" James yells as he too points his gun at him.

Charlotte inches closer towards him, causing the soldiers to point their guns at her, each of them loading it.

Silvko stands there, looking as Charlotte eyes Packard with determination.

And he finds himself doing something he might never had done before if he hadn't ended up on this Island.