I wake up early the next morning feeling groggy and very hungry. I sit up in the sand and am confused when I don't feel the sun beating down on me. I look around and see a shoddy shelter shading me, consisting of a bamboo frame and a roof and two walls of an old tarp and big leaves. Rising from my spot in the sand, I feel momentarily dizzy and am caught from falling by a convenient hand.
I regain my balance and violently turn to be surprised by Jack being the one supporting me. The awkward moment passes and Jack sets me on my feet again. "I was just coming to check on you." Jack places his hands on his hips, seemingly concerned, as he looks down at me, "You were pretty out of it yesterday." I nod. "Do you remember any of it?"
"Yes," I nod again, "I remember being at the river with Walt. Then Kate coming to get me. It's really fuzzy after that; a man came out of the woods yelling at me. He hit Kate then me. But Kate got us out and brought us back here. I remember you asking me a lot of questions, and nothing really after that." I recount.
"You fell asleep." Jack provides. "I think you are alright," he deems, "Just really shaken up. Your memory loss and confusion is probably due to the slight traumatic shock. You'll be okay, Sophia." He smiles down at me.
"Thank you, doctor." I smile slyly, earning a chuckle from Jack.
I see a shadow on one of the walls of the hut, causing my heart to increase in fear, only to see Kate turn the corner and slip in the shelter. Kate crosses her arms, "Hey." She smiles.
"Well," Jack drawls attention to himself, "just get lots of rest, Sophia, and try to keep out of trouble."
"Thanks Jack!" I call as he exits, him throwing a wave over his shoulder.
I sit back down and Kate follows. She searches my eyes for several minutes before she speaks, "How are you feeling?"
"Jack says I'll be alright." I relay.
Kate smirks, calling me out, "That wasn't the question."
I shyly grin and sigh, giving in to Kate. "I feel weird," I admit, "I don't know, out of it, I guess. But I'll live."
We both sit quiet for a beat before Kate speaks again, "Why did he pick you? And why would he want to know about us?" She rhetorically asks, frustrated, like it's been bothering her.
"I don't know what he would want with information about us, but I guess he thought I would be easy. Good thing you were there." I look to her, conveying my gratitude.
She nods, "Of course." Is all she says.
"Kate!" A man with a southern drawl and longer blonde hair calls from the beach. Startle flashes in Kate's eyes and she abruptly stands.
"Oh yeah." She gasps, remembering, and slides another chocolate bar from her pocket. She tosses it to me and I catch it.
"Where do you keep getting these?" I gape, incredulously.
"Sawyer." She smirks, though I don't know who that is. She then hurries off toward the man on the beach, reminding me to take it easy.
I eat half the chocolate bar, then wrap the wrapper around and set it beside me. Heeding both Jack and Kate's advice, I lay back down on the sand and fall back asleep.
It's mid-day when I wake again. This time, there's a wool blanket over me. And instead of feeling the familiar sand, I feel a hard piece of metal beneath me. Must be part of the plane. I push the blanket off me and sit up on the makeshift bed, my feet hanging over the side. My stomach rumbles and it ends up convincing me to get up.
I wander out of my tent to see Walt sitting at the fire-that hasn't been let extinguish since I got here-and I walk over to him and sit next to him on the log bench. "Hey." I simply greet. He hands me an apple, which I begin to eat.
"How ya feeling?" Walt inquires.
"Better." Is my response, between bites.
"Good." He comments.
It's warm on the island, always has been, but the fire has a comforting heat. I allow myself to be relaxed by it for several minutes, finishing the fruit then throwing it into woods.
"Wanna go back to the river?" I ask eagerly.
"I don't think anyone thinks that's a good idea, Sophia." Walt says seriously.
I laugh, lightening the mood, "Yeah, you're probably right."
We both sit next to the fire, disappointed, until Walt blurts, "I think I have an idea." I agree and follow him through the camp.
We soon arrive at a hut farther away than most the other yyshelters in the woods. Walt walks right in and I follow him, slightly shy. "Hey John." Walk greets.
A bald man in cargo pants and a brown shirt turns around from sharpening a wooden spear with a knife. "Hello Walt. Bring a friend?" The man resumes carving at the wood.
"Yep." Walt nudges me with my elbow, reassuring me.
I clear my throat, "My name is Sophia." I attempt to sound confident, and succeed fairly well.
John turns around to look at me, having a genuinely surprised expression, and stops carving. He stands and towers over me, with a chilling smile on his face. "Nice to meet you Sophia, my name is John Locke." He shakes my hand, which I cautiously return. Walt then asks him to teach me Backgammon and I spend the next several hours learning how to play the game's rules and strategy with Walt.
"You're pretty good at this." John Locke compliments, "You must be a fast learner." I smile and thank him, continuing to pick up the game.
It's starting to get dark when I hear Dad calling for me. "Thanks for teaching my how to play, Mr. Locke. Me and Walt will surely be glad to have something to do." I thank him.
"No problem." John Locke nods. I say goodbye to Walt then scamper off back to the hut to Goodwin.
"I found dinner. It's pork." He offers me a leaf of meat. I take it and sit against the tree outside of our shelter. Goodwin sits down beside me.
"Do you have any more names?" Goodwin asks me in a hushed tone.
"Walt. But I'm still checking; I haven't decided about Kate or Jack yet." I say, eating the meat.
Goodwin huffs, "That Kate girl has a dark past."
I shrug. "She seems alright to me." I mumble.
"Anyone else you've been looking into?" Goodwin asks.
"I've only met Walt, Kate, Jack, Claire, Hurley, and John Locke." I admit.
His ears perk up. "John Locke? What do you think about him?" Goodwin seems very interested.
I shrug again. "I don't know yet. I have a bad feeling about him though." I tell him, shifting in discomfort.
Goodwin takes mental note, nodding, and we continue to eat in silence. But something's bugging me. "What's going to happen to them?" I inquire quietly, "To the names we give to Jacob."
"Stop asking questions, Sophia." Goodwin subtly informs me to mind my own business.
But I'm persistent, "They're not going to get hurt, right?"
Goodwin suddenly grabs my wrist, grabbing my attention and freezing my body. "Just keep your mouth shut and keep your mind on your job." He seethes. Only after I nod, accepting, does he get out of my face and releases my wrist. We finish the meal in silence.
After dinner, Goodwin goes to stick his nose in whatever the power duo-Kate and Jack-are up to, leaving me to my own devices. Stomach finally full, I go to the fire and sit down and am soon joined by Claire. We sit, warmed by the fire, and watch the stars as we talk. Comfortable and sleepy, I drift into sleep.
I wake up the next morning to find myself back in my tent. I roll my eyes at the idea of Goodwin making a big deal out of sweetly carrying me to my bed and tucking me in with the blanket and the stuffed rabbit Hurley gave me for effect. I throw the blanket off of me and go off to search for Walt. I find him very soon and he shares some of his fruit that his dad gave him, and I contribute with the rest of my chocolate.
Once we finish eating, we decide it still be best to stay close around camp; we don't know what's in those woods. So we look for Walt's dog Vincent for a while on the edge of the woods, always within eyesight of another person from camp, as warned. We get tired and bored about mid-day and Walt let's us give up.
Hurley conveniently comes around with sandwiches for us, which we swiftly eat and drink some water. Because we are so endlessly bored, Walt and I decide to play of tag. I loose the game of rock-paper-sissors and I have to be it first. But I'm slightly taller than Walt, so I catch him soon.
Walt chases me down the beach and towards the shore. We laugh as I run into the water, slowing and splashing, and barely swerve away from his reach. I lead us out from the water and up the sand and around the corner when I come face-to-face with the same man with the long blonde hair that called Kate yesterday.
I stop suddenly, only inches away from the tall man, as he snarls down at me, annoyed. Walt stops behind me, frozen as well. My mouth is dry as I gape up at him, too alarmed to apologize.
"Where do you think you're goin', Princess?" The man asks sarcastically.
I gulp as I step back and say the only thing that I can figure to make sense, "I'm Sophia." I mentally cringe on how stupid it sounds after I say it.
The man glares down at me for only a second before he relaxes and sighs, glancing over his shoulder and rubbing his chin as the other hand rests on his hip, apparently giving up trying to scare me off. "Sawyer." He nods.
I animate immediately. "You're the one with the chocolate bars." I smile.
"Dammit freckles." Sawyer mumbles under his breath before sighing again. "I guess that's me." He sends me an extremely sarcastic smile.
"Well thank you." I look at my hands.
"Don't get used to it." The man grumbles as he pushes my shoulder as he walks past me. But it didn't bother me. I just shrug at Walt when the man is gone and we continue playing tag down the beach.
When we get tired, Walt and I revisit John Locke and play backgammon and I'm actually starting to get pretty good.
A while later, as the sun starts to set, Walt and I are called to dinner. The rest of the main survivors that I've met so far sit in a circle around the campfire, where Walt and I join in. Clair and a stubby blonde man and Hurley and Walt's dad and Sawyer and Kate and Jack and Dad and Walt and I sit around the fire, eating the fish and fruit found today. Jack and Kate spend several minutes whispering to each other; something is definitely up. But it must not be crucial enough for Jack to inform the entire camp, so I find relief in that. Claire and I watch the stars by the camp fire again, talking, until I fall asleep again.