Sawyer was just passing by when he overheard what was going on. From what he could make out, the prisoner had escaped and shot some of the people on the plane crash. All people at the tail end of the plane.
He called them "tailies". Because even though there had been as many of them to start out with as his side, their numbers dwindled until there were only a few. Making them a small group, or a tail, to the semi united group of survivors. A lot of jokes could be made about tailies, like them being the butte at the group. AKA the butte of the joke. Because the plane crash had been some kind of cosmic joke and the fact that the tail section could only hang on to a few of their members was kind of pathetic.
Lots of people from the main part of the plane had died, but there were still well over thirty of them. Not that Sawyer bothered to do an official tally.
So based on what Jack was saying to Libby, Michael (one of their members) had escaped Henry Gale's wrath. Ana had been killed. Looked like Libby was heading that way too.
A few sniffles later from the direction of the gigantic hulk and Sawyer's suspicions were confirmed. Another tailie bit the dust.
Too bad. Libby had been one of the cooler ones.
Also one of the hotter ones.
Not that she was Sawyer's type. Besides, Hurley would probably have killed him with the puppy dog eyes if he had tried to make a move for her.
The obese puppy and the traumatized hot girl. He could see the potential in that couple.
Too bad Henry had killed her.
At this rate, there wouldn't be anyone left by the end of the week.
Sawyer froze as he realized the only remaining tailies were Eko and Bernard.
He'd watched Survivor before. Cassidy had been obsessed with the show, and while he had been living with her, she had coerced him into watching it a few times. The premise was pretty simple. A bunch of people were divided into two groups, or tribes, and would compete against each other. The losing tribe would vote one of their own members out. At some point in time, the two tribes combined to become one tribe.
In theory. In reality, the tribes tended to stick together but there was always someone on the outs who would betray one of their original tribe members in order to join the opposing tribe. Then, they'd vote the other people out with a majority. This would continue until there were only two people. The last seven or so people who had been voted out would vote which of the remaining two was more deserving to win a million dollars.
Sawyer was pretty sure the loser got nothing, but sometimes the loser got a smaller prize. Had to seem like an insult next to the million, though.
People voted based on whether they liked the person, whether they thought the person played a good game—for example, they were a liar but defended themselves for lying. Sometimes based on something stupid like the flip of a coin.
If the tailies had been competing against the rest of the plane, there would have been no competition. The regulars flat out crushed the tailies. Eko and Bernard were the final two in their tribe, and they were forced to live with the dominating tribe and hope people like Jack would find them worthy enough to keep around.
Because if they weren't worthy, by whoever's standards, they either disappeared or got killed.
As was the case with Libby and Ana.
Hey, life was tough. Deal with it.
No one was competing for the million. The dead people weren't going to judge the living for being the direct or indirect cause of their death. The winner, if you could call it winning, was the person who lived the longest. The person who didn't go crazy.
Maybe even the person who lived long enough to get rescued.
Of course, then that person could sue Oceanic for all that company was worth.
So, maybe there was a monetary prize.
Sawyer would have picked Survivor over this in a heartbeat. Even if he had been among the first to be voted out—a virtual impossibility—the axed people went home. They didn't die. Sawyer knew this for a fact because at the end of the season, there was this "reunion show" in which everyone talked about what a great experience almost starving and being betrayed had been.
Well, he'd take that over this. At least they knew they'd be on the island for less than two months and then it was over. Here they were lost indefinitely.
Also, here there were no competitions for rewards. What he wouldn't give for a hot pizza. Or a shower that didn't turn cold every five seconds. Or…
The list was endless.
Sawyer tried not to flinch when he heard Hurley start crying. Really, that guy had gotten a bad deal. Just when the two of them started going out, and apparently this was the day they were going to have a big date, and now Libby was dead. Not just dead the way some of the others had been—Artz had exploded, Boone's lungs had been crushed, and Shannon had accidentally been shot because Ana thought she was an Other—but murdered.
He wondered if Hurley was going to swear revenge, the way he had done, or if he'd just get depressed for awhile and then move on. The latter was probably the healthiest, but Sawyer had always been somewhat of a masochist.
Even if Hurley didn't do anything about it, Jack would. Sawyer could tell that Jack was keeping track of the people killed. He and Ana had talked about starting an army. Maybe now Jack really would do it. Or not even attack formally, just head in the direction of the Others with a gun and start firing. Even the score a little.
Sawyer wouldn't have noticed Kate crying if he hadn't looked in her direction. Her sobs—if you could call them that—were quiet next to Hurley's. Her arms folded across her chest as though she could keep them hidden.
She kept staring at one of the broken statues of the Virgin Mary. As though staring at a broken statue would keep her from thinking about the real loss that had just occurred.
It hadn't.
Sawyer had seen Kate cry before. Not often, but on occasion. Usually, she was angry or ticked off. The first time must have been when Sawyer announced to everyone that Kate was the convict and she had been trying to take Sawyer's place on the raft.
These tears weren't ones of frustration. Sawyer could tell just by a glance that she was extremely upset. Distraught. Even broken hearted. As though her world had just been crashed like the broken statue of Mary.
Sawyer didn't want to look at her. Wanted to give her space. He knew her well enough to realize that Kate wouldn't want him staring at her like an idiot when she was this upset.
Jack, maybe. But Jack was comforting a crying Hurley. He didn't even notice that Kate was in the room.
He was like that a lot with her, lately.
Kate was tough. There was no denying it. Still, Sawyer wondered…
He didn't know exactly what he wondered. Kate wasn't the kind of girl you went up to and asked if they needed a hug. Sawyer certainly wasn't the kind of guy who acted like he cared when women were upset. Let them have feelings, he was in it for the money. For the fun. If they wanted to make things complicated, let them.
He found this out the hard way with Cassidy.
Then why couldn't he look away from Kate? Why did he find himself walking towards her?
He'd just sit down next to her. That was it. He didn't do hugs. She knew that.
She turned away as he took a seat next to her. For some reason, this infuriated Sawyer. Damn her, why'd she have to be so stubborn?
Sawyer's body reacted before his mind did. That was his only excuse. Because if he had been thinking, he would have stood up and left. Maybe throw in a few choice swear words. Give her a new nickname. He was getting tired of calling her Freckles.
As soon as Sawyer's arms found themselves around Kate's waist, he felt her relax. Not a lot, but enough for him to know that his presence there wasn't entirely unwelcome.
So he held her. He meant to put an arm around her waist, but ended up putting one around her face.
To steady her, he told himself. Not because he wanted to wipe away the tears or anything. Because Kate wouldn't let him do that.
Except then she buried her face in his arms, sobs growing louder. He held her tighter, letting Kate hide herself there. Began to whisper nonsense words. It must have helped because Kate remained there longer than Sawyer had expected.
At one point, he even started stroking her hair. She didn't try to stop him.
By the time Sawyer was ready to let go, because his arms were starting to ache from staying in that one position, he heard a new noise emit from her throat.
Snores.
Sawyer chuckled to himself. He wouldn't have pictured Kate as the type to snore.
Or, to be more accurate, he wouldn't have pictured Kate as the type to admit to snoring while she slept.
"Guess this'll be our little secret, Freckles," he whispered, trying to maneuver himself into a more comfortable position without waking Kate up.
He leaned against the wall. His eyes started to grow heavy.
He woke up at least an hour later. The alarm had been going off. The first thing he realized, even before the noise, was that Kate wasn't there.
He saw her return and shut his eyes quickly. Would she go back to him?
Sawyer warned himself not to hope for much. Forced himself not to open his eyes. She couldn't know he was awake or else there would be hell to pay.
To his amazement, Kate nestled against him. Yawned. Her hair tickled his nose but Sawyer didn't dare move. Minutes later, she was sleeping again.
The fact that Kate felt safe enough to do this startled Sawyer. She knew him better than almost anyone else on the island. She'd turned away when he tried to sit next to her. Yet here she was, cuddling against Sawyer as though they'd do it a million times before. She even pulled his arms around her neck so she could lie on his chest.
Ten minutes later, Sawyer realized that Kate was shivering. He paused for a minute, then stood up gingerly, took a blanket from one of the bunk beds, and wrapped it around Kate's shoulders. Then around the rest of her body.
The shivers stopped.
Sawyer felt his stomach gurgle. He realized that Kate would probably be hungry when she woke up. He stood up, went to the refrigerator, and took out some eggs. Scrambled them. Put some on a plate while keeping the others warm in the frying pan. If she didn't wake up right away, they'd still be warm.
Kate slept for hours. The eggs were long gone by the time she woke up. Good thing he had made extra.
Her eyes opened and he offered the plate to her. She gave a slight nod, took the eggs, and began to eat. He watched her eat until they were finished. Almost transfixed.
As though he'd never seen anyone eat before.
Sawyer took her plate. Cautiously, he sat down next to her. Put an arm around her. Adjusted the blanket where it had slipped. Watched her face as he did this. He didn't want to push Kate away.
Knew that he wasn't.
Knew that Kate wanted him there.
Knew he felt the same way.