"If you don't bring her back, I'll kill one of them. And if you don't bring her back by sundown tomorrow, I'll kill another and another and another." Ethan threatened as he held Charlie up by the throat. Then, he lowered the Brit so that they were eye-level. "And, Charlie, I'll kill you last..."
Charlie sticks the end of his shovel into the hard dirt. He digs up shovelfuls of dirt, ignoring Hurley's jokes. Hurley sighs, his friend had never been this quiet. Hurley focuses on digging the grave for Ethan. Charlie's thoughts are all revolving around those six gunshots. The gun he had used to kill the Other. Had he done the right thing? Charlie furrows his brow and scoops up more dirt. He jumps into the shallow hole he has dug and starts to dig more. Then, Charlie looks up at Hurley as if he forgot the Californian had been there.
"You can go," Charlie grunts as he shoves his shovel into the ground. "I killed him, I'll bury him."
Charlie begins to focus on digging again. Hurley mutters a good-bye before turning and leaving. Charlie sighs deeply. Hurley drags his shovel along after him before glancing back at his friend and the body of Ethan. Charlie continues to dig, he wipes his forehead with the dirty back of his hand.
Charlie drags Ethan body. He grunts as he lowers the dead man into the grave. Charlie scrambles out of the hole, feeling uneasy around this man even though he had died. Charlie lifts his shovel and begins to bury the body. shovelfuls of dirt fall atop the blue tarp that wrapped Ethan's body. Charlie shudders and looks up into the purple sky. It was almost night. Charlie looks into the grave. He considers leaving and finishing in the morning, but stops. "Might as well get it over with," he mutters to himself, scooping up the dirt and tossing in into the grave. Charlie finally finishes and heads back to camp. He falls onto his cot and glances over the beach. Then, letting out a weary sigh, falls into a troubled sleep.
The dirt on Ethan's grave shifts as a cold hand juts up from below. Then, the dirt is clawed away and a head surfaces, too. Gasps echo through the quiet night. The moonlight lights up Ethan's dingy face. Ethan pulls himself out of the grave and he rips the blue tarp from around his torso. He sits back in the grass. A chilling smile crosses the Other's lips and he utters a single word. "Charlie..."
Charlie woke up the next day with a stretch and a yawn. He trudges sleepily to the edge of the beach and begins gathering up coconuts. He groups them up before he heads into the trees again. After scouring the ground, he finds a straight stick. He picks it up before turning to head back to the caves. Suddenly, the sound of a twig's snapping enters his ears. His breathing hitches for amoment as he slowly looks about him. Trees and shadows hide whatever could be watching him. Charlie swallows before cautiously taking a step. He then, takes off at a sprint and tears through the jungle. He steps into the safe caves and slows to a walk. People look up at him with curiosity before shrugging and turning back to their routines. Charlie catches his breath and glances back at the trees anxiously. He releases a long breath before grabbing a knife off Locke's things and taking that and the stick over to where his coconuts were. He chops away at the top of the stick until it forms a nice point. Charlie tromps back to the beach, lugging his spear and coconuts with him. Next, he stabs the spear into the sand so that the sharpened end is pointing to the blue sky. Charlie begins to spear the coconuts angrily and rip off their husks. He has ripped apart half of them before Sayid approaches him. Charlie rolls his eyes. Typical that someone sends the soldier to help him.
"I know, you're here to check up on me." Charlie grumbles as Sayids lowers himself beside him. "I'm fine,"
Sayid briefly smiles. "Charlie, I have tortured many people. Sometimes, late at night, I hear the voices of those I have tortured." he tells the Brit.
Charlie furrows his brow and he looks up at Sayid. "Looks to me like you're the one who needs checking up on," he comments.
Sayid lightly chuckles before becoming serious again. "Charlie, to truly get all this behind you, you need to forgive yourself. Don't pretend you're alone...because you're not." he tells Charlie. Then, he stands and pats Charlie on the shoulder before he leaves.
Charlie sighs and tosses aside the coconut he had been working on. He rises to his feet and scoops up his peeled cocnuts. He carries before setting them in the "kitchen" area where the survivors set aside food they had gathered. He strides down the shoreline before something in the jungle catches his eye. He slowly turns to see what it was. He thinks he sees a man slip back into the shadows. Charlie walks towards the treeline and stares intently into the dark shadows. He sees nothing and shrugs, turning away from the jungle. He looks up at the mid-day sun, then, down the beach. He spots Claire and feels guilty for ignoring her before in the caves. He slowly walks up to her. She is staring intently out at the ocean as he approaches. He sits back on his haunches.
"Hey," he says with a smile.
"Hey," Claire repeats the greeting with a wave.
Charlie purses his lips before blushing a bit. "How 'bout that walk now?"
Claire smiles and nods.
Charlie stands with a grin. He extends a hand for Claire and helps pull her to her feet. They go walking off into the sunset as a pair of eyes watch them with a obsessive hatred. Charlie feels the stare and looks behind his shoulder. Seeing nothing he shrugs and continues to talk to Claire. Meanwhile, Ethan releases a laugh from deep in his throat. He slinks off into the jungle towards the beach.
Silently, he whispers to himself, "Charlie, I intend to keep my promises..." He looks out to the survivors on the beach, then, at Charlie and Claire and laughs, "All of them."