The four men carried the casket very slowly down the aisle of the church. No one spoke or said a word. Only the first four pews of the church were filled to the max, several stragglers sitting alone in long empty pews. Organ music was droning, echoing around the church as though a large choir was singing a lament of sadness.

Sawyer sat by himself in the last row. He had a cane clutched tightly to his side and watched without movement as the casket was laid down on the platform in the front of the church.

He didn't move during the entire vigil. When everyone had gone up to the closed coffin and said his or her good-byes, the church began to empty and only then did Sawyer move.

He limped stiffly out the church doors and onto the steps, gratefully lighting a cigarette. He removed his sunglasses and wiped them on his coat, blowing smoke out as though it were his grief. People were walking past him, glancing but not bothering to wonder who this stranger was.

"Sir?"

Turning, Sawyer was surprised to find a little girl of only about eight wearing a very fine black dress stood before him. The girl looked pale and slightly lethargic. Her tight blonde girls were gathered at her head in a bun.

"Thank you for coming," the girl said automatically, holding out a small hand. Obviously she had been told to say this to anyone she came across.

Sawyer shook the small hand and then removed the cigarette from his mouth.

"Are you James's girl?" he asked her, unsure.

"Um…my daddy's name wasn't…"

"Excuse me."

A voice came from behind him and Sawyer painfully turned too hard on his bad leg and winced, hissing slightly. He came to face a tall red haired woman with piercing blue eyes that looked very much like James's.

"Are you Sawyer?" she whispered, pulling the little girl closer to her.

Sawyer nodded, unsure of who this woman was.

"I'm Elaine. I'm James's sister," she said officially, not sounding sad or full of grief at all. She looked as though she were making a business deal in her fancy dress suit.

"I'm sorry," Sawyer said, nodding. "He was a great guy."

"Yes. Well I've heard your name several times in the police report but they say you were injured in the car-jack. Too bad they didn't get away with the car," her eyes narrowed and she held the little girl closer to her. "Well, I just wanted to tell you James spoke highly of you. Said you were a bit sketchy but a good guy."

"Thank you, ma'am," Sawyer knew she was bullshitting and knew what she was after.

"One other thing," she said as he went to limp away.

He turned to face her, replacing his sunglasses.

"I know what my brother was into. He was never a decent man but he knew how to make a living. He cared about his family and now his daughter is an orphan. I just wanted you to know, she's going to be living with family in Australia," said the woman.

"Wow, don't think you could get her any farther away. Were you first in line but too busy getting pedicures to take the kid?" Sawyer snapped, stomping out his cigarette and lighting another. "Or is yours here too much of a hassle."

"Don't tell me what to do," she barked, giving him a shove. He stumbled on the steps and almost fell but she didn't look concerned. "I'm telling you because I want you to know what you've done."

"I didn't…"

"You should be the one in that casket. You should be the one being buried tomorrow, not that man! Not my brother!" she was falling apart, tears falling from beneath her heavy sunglasses. Her large Sunday hat was obstructing the sun from shining on her face but Sawyer could see her struggling. "It should have been you!"

"You don't know anything," Sawyer whispered, trying to control his voice. "You don't know who he was, what he did."

"If I ever see you again, I swear to the Lord I will kill you. Do you understand me? I will kill you," she spoke so firmly that Sawyer believed it.

The woman stormed away, forgetting to pull her daughter's hand along. The girl looked up at Sawyer, those eyes piercing him. He almost wanted to shoo her but he was transfixed.

"Let's go, Satie!" shouted the woman.

"Have you ever been married?"

Sawyer was taken by surprise by this question and looked over at Satine who was walking next to him.

"Me?" he asked. She nodded. "No, I haven't."

"Why?"

Here come the questions, Sawyer thought

"I'm not the settling down type, kid," he said coldly, strolling faster but she kept up with him. He saw Jack glance back at them curiously.

"When I was eleven, I went camping with my uncle. He took us to this really great area of Pennsylvania where there were these wide open spaces that went for miles. One night I went out of the tent to get something and got lost," she was saying as she walked, looking far off. "I got so lost that I ended up walking five miles in the wrong direction."

"Nice one."

"Well, eventually my uncle sent out a search party for me. When they found me I was sitting in a tree asleep…"

Even Kate looked back this time but didn't say a word.

"A bear had been tracking me and if I hadn't climbed that tree, it would have torn me to pieces when I fell asleep," she said simply. "And my uncle kept asking me why I climbed it. I didn't have an answer because I honestly didn't remember climbing it."

Sawyer watched her carefully and saw she wasn't really watching where she was going in the dark jungle. She was too deep into her own memory.

"I remember, though. It came back to me last night. I climbed it because the tree had looked like a nest. I remember thinking it looked just like a big birds nest. And I was so tired and decided it was safer up there."

Sawyer didn't say anything and they walked on for about a mile before they sat to rest. Sayid was looking at the ground carefully.

"There are footprints here. It's possible they are Kate's from when she was looking for him but they look fresher than that," he said, straightening up. "I…"

He stopped talking when he looked at Kate, who was staring off into the jungle with a terrified look.

"Kate what…"

"Listen," Satine hushed.

They all were quiet and for a moment no one even breathed. It was so quiet Satine swore they could all hear her heart pounding.

"Is that…music?" Jack asked, standing and facing in the direction it was coming from.

"It's like…modern," Satine stood also, looking curiously into the darkness.

"It's moving away," Kate said hurriedly.

"Come on!"

Sayid took off towards the sound, his flashlight bobbing ahead of them as they followed. Jack had a torch lit and they watched it carefully as to not get lost but as they ran, Sawyer, Kate, and Satine eventually fell behind.

"Jack! Sayid! Wait!" Kate was shouting as she ran.

Kate stopped suddenly and Sawyer and Satine almost ran into her.

"What the…"

"Look."

She was pointing at an opening in the foliage. Through a small break in the trees was what looked to be a small fire, smoldering low in the embers of burnt wood. Kate walked slowly towards it, looking around it.

"There are footprints but more than one set," she said curiously. "And…"

"What?" Sawyer demanded, his chest heaving.

"There's blood on the ground," she whispered, looking from Sawyer to Satine. "Come on, we have to keep up."

They took off running again and this time they were able to get back into view of Sayid's flashlight and Jack's torch. They were moving fast ahead of them in the forest and all around them was darkness pressing in on them. Several times Satine stumbled and Sawyer caught her arm, keeping her from falling. When they reached the valley, all of them stopped.

Sayid and Jack stood in the middle of the vast open space, the torch burning high in the air as Jack held it up above him. Their figures were dark and black, and Sayid suddenly turned out the flashlight.

"Smolder that out," they heard Sayid demand of Jack, who immediately obeyed, smashing it into the dirt and stepping on it.

No one spoke and no one moved an inch. The only sound was the wind in the trees and a low rumble of thunder in the distance. Satine felt as though her heart was going to smash through her chest. Sawyer was standing close beside her, his hand still on her arm from when she had almost fallen.

In the distance was the music again but this time it was louder and much closer. Alongside it was what sounded like shouts, and then someone yelling an inarticulate strangled cry. Jack went to run forward but Sayid put out an arm.

"It's a trap," Sayid spoke, his voice carrying on the wind back to the three standing just on the edge of the jungle down a small hill. "Those are not real cries."

"It sounds like real cries," Satine whispered, her eyes wide as she stared into the darkness that seemed to be enveloping them.

"It's not. If it was a real cry, it would not cease so suddenly," Sayid looked back at them. "You stay here."

"No!" Kate said angrily, walking forward. "I'm going."

"Then you two stay!" Jack ordered.

"Oh come on, since when am I the official babysitter?" Sawyer complained loudly.

"SSH!"

Sayid shushed them again and this time the cry was louder and more forceful. But Sayid was right, it didn't sound like pain. It sounded like someone screaming as loud as they could.

"You will follow at a distance of ten feet," whispered Sayid, looking at them harshly. Even Kate seemed to be silenced by the look. "If we yell to run, you run."

They all nodded and Jack and Sayid started slowly across the valley. Above them rose the mountain, green and vast with clouds hovering over the top. The blue black sky seemed to taunt them, promising darkness for many more hours. Stars slid in and out of sight and the imminent rumble of thunder told them there would be another storm before the night was over.

Slowly they advanced, staying a distance away from the dark figures of Jack and Sayid. Sawyer could feel both Kate and the kid trembling beside him, almost shaking with both anticipation and fear. He wasn't that keen himself to be moving towards those horrible screams. It was evident someone wanted their attention.

They reached the opposite side of the valley and slid into the darkness of the jungle. In here it was harder to follow them, preferring to listening for their footsteps rather than watching their dark figures which seemed to blend right in with the twisting trees. For a while they walked like this, no one speaking or walking too fast. Then, the footsteps stopped.

Jack and Sayid stood about twenty feet ahead, through a particularly tight knot of trees. There was complete silent and then, seeming to eminate from the earth itself, there was an ungodly explosion.

Sawyer's hand was wrenched so hard from Satine's arm when they were thrown up and back that it twisted her arm painfully and she screamed. Kate came crashing through some brush and down a slight incline, landing hard in a ditch full of rotted leaves and foliage. For a moment the earth rained upon them and dirt and tree limbs seemed to crash around them. Then there was the silence.

"Where do you think they are?" Charlie asked Hurley quietly as they sat by a fire near the caves. Everyone was on edge having seen the group disappear into the woods, especially after not seeing John Locke for a few days.

"They probably found a Wal-Mart on the other side of the island and aren't telling us that we're living on the other side of some kind of resort," Hurley sighed sadly.

"What's a Wal-Mart?"

Hurley sighed and just looked around.

"I keep wondering if maybe everything is happening because of that girl," Hurley inquired, looking thoughtfully at Charlie. "Maybe she's bad luck."

"You're really superstitious," said Charlie flatly.

"No. I mean, ever since she got here Jack hasn't been seen like at all. Locke disappears, and now they're off running through the jungle at night. Since when has Sayid allowed anyone to go through the jungle at night?"

Hurley was right but Charlie didn't want to admit it. They stared into the fire without saying a word for a long time before Hurley finally spoke again.

"I hope there's a McDonalds in that Wal-Mart."

"Sawyer!" Kate rolled onto her side and pushed herself up, sinking into the leaves and soft dirt. She scrambled up the side of the incline and back up to where she'd been standing.

A clear hole had been blasted in the canopy and the surrounding trees. Branches hung smoking and the leaves on the ground were smoldering. Moonlight shone through the burnt and twisted canopy leaving a kind of circle of light.

"Jack!" Kate shouted, turning in a circle and seeing nothing but darkness. She searched the ground for a flashlight. "Sayid!"

"Over here!"

Kate rushed through the brush and towards the sound of Sawyer's voice. He lay coughing on his back amid lots of burning wood. She held out a hand and helped him up.

"Where's the kid?"

They searched around them, not seeing anything or anyone. They could only see a few feet around them in the pitch darkness.

"Jack and Sayid…" Kate breathed, barely able to contain her thrashing heart.

"They were right on top of it," Sawyer said, looking away.

Kate felt as though she were going to suffocate. She ran forward towards where there were smoldering leaves but Sawyer seized her arm.

"If there are other ones, you could set them off," he warned her but she pulled from his grasp and went running past the circle of moonlight.

"JACK! SAYID!" she screamed, turning in a circle. "Where are…"

Kate was cut short when the ground disappeared beneath her and she was falling, crashing hard into the dirt and falling to her side painfully.

"Kate!" Jack reached down and grabbed her hand, lifting her up. "You're okay!"

She couldn't contain herself and threw herself at him. She hugged him tightly, trying not to cry. Sayid was holding his arm tenderly and when she let go of Jack she saw they were under some kind of trap door. There was only about ten square feet of roughly dug room down here and the door had swung back shut after she'd fallen.

"Sawyer!" Kate shouted.

Sawyer was sure his eyes had been playing tricks on him. It were as though she'd disappeared into thin air. Where the hell had Kate gone?

Walking forward he listened. He could hear someone shouting but it was very muffled. Suddenly he stumbled and fell over what seemed like a vine but when an explosion was let off just beyond the trees, he covered his head.

"Sawyer!" Kate screamed, hearing the explosion.

"Where are you?" he shouted back, right above the trap door.

"There's a trap door! Step on it but jump back!" Sayid shouted through the thin layer of tightly woven branches and large leaves.

Sawyer stepped carefully and felt the ground become too soft. He pressed it hard with one foot and it swung down. Jack and Kate grabbed the edges of it and yanked hard, breaking the spring and making the two doors swing down uselessly.

"Can you throw us something and pull us out?" Jack shouted up.

"Where's the kid?" Sawyer searched all around him.

"Satine? She's not with you?" Jack said confusedly.

"No. I…"

"Get us a rope and we'll help find her," Sayid said through gritted teeth.

It took Sawyer a while to find a strong enough and long enough vine and still it was slippery with dew and hard to grip. He tied it around a nearby tree and held onto one of the ends.

Each of them climbed up and then Kate and Jack helped Sayid climb out. For a moment he lay on the ground, panting.

"You're arm might be broken," Jack said, looking carefully at Sayid's arm. Sayid flinched and drew back. "Or you could have sprained it."

"Where's the kid?" Sawyer repeated.

They all looked around and sure enough there was no sight of her. Sawyer had been thrown back and his grip on her had been broken. But she couldn't have flown more than a few feet.

"Perhaps there is another trap door," Sayid suggested, standing shakily.

"Wouldn't we hear her?" Kate asked.

"Not if she's unconscious," Jack breathed.

They all looked around, uncertain of what to do. For a moment none of them spoke and then a voice came out of nowhere.

"Go back."

They all spun around and facing them from down through the trees was John. His shoulder was cut up and bloody and he was bare chested with many bruises and scratches all over him. His eye looked swollen yet he glared at them blankly.

"John!"

Kate went to run forward but Jack caught her arm.

"Something's not right," Jack whispered to her.

No one spoke and they watched John, who didn't move either. He seemed eerie, almost as though it wasn't himself. His eyes were blank and staring yet he looked terrified beneath.

"Go back before it's too late," he repeated. His voice seemed to echo around them. "Don't return."

"John, you're hurt," Jack said carefully. "Let me help you."

"If you continue, they'll kill you."

His voice suddenly became normal and a look crossed his face that told them this wasn't a joke. Sawyer felt his insides raging.

"Where is she?" he shouted.

"I'm right here."

Satine came struggling out of a tight knot in the woods. Sawyer rushed to her and pulled her carefully into the clearing, not letting go of her wrist.

"You've been warned."

With that, John turned and started walking back through the jungle. He was obviously limping.

"JOHN!" Kate shouted after him. "No! John!"

"Kate, no," Jack was trying to hold her back. "They'll kill you."

"They will."

All eyes turned to Satine and she was looking at them horribly.

"They just had me...and let me go," she whispered, looking back through the trees.

The only sound was the music fading eerily into the jungle, and the sound of the trees whispering.