Widmore's team leads us through the trees of Hydra Island to a set of large cages. "Get in," one of them tells us.
"Uh-uh," Sawyer protests. "No way I'm getting back in those cages."
"Well I've got the gun, so you—,"
But Sawyer grabs the gun out of his hands, pointing it right at the goon. "Not anymore, doughboy."
BANG! A shot rings out over the cages. "Drop the gun!" A familiar voice shouts. Charles Widmore comes out of the trees, grabbing Kate and holding his gun to her throat. "Put the gun down or I'll kill her!"
"You ain't gonna kill anybody," Sawyer says. "Otherwise you wouldn't be throwin' us in a cage."
"I have a list of names," Widmore counters. "Ford, you're on it. As are Reyes, Samuels, and the Kwons. Kate Austen? She's not. It doesn't matter to me whether she lives or dies."
"Don't listen to him," Kate says, but Sawyer concedes, handing the rifle back to Widmore's goon.
"You may not believe it," Widmore says, as we pile into the cage. "But I'm doing this for your own good."
"You're right," Sawyer says, bitterly. "I don't believe it."
Widmore just walks away to give instructions to his men.
I sit in the cage between Frank and Hurley for a good hour, not really talking about anything. Then the power goes out. "Uh-oh..." Frank mutters.
Widmore's men scramble to figure out what's gone wrong, but's it's not use. I hear the ticking noise of the smoke monster deep in the trees. "And we're dead," Hurley mutters.
I run to the edge of the cages when Smokey comes out of the trees, throwing Widmore's goons around the cage site, killing all of them. They try to shoot him, but it does no good. Smokey slams the goon with the keys against our cage, killing him and Kate bends down towards the body.
"I think I can reach the keys!" she says, stretching her arm toward his belt-loop, where the keys hang.
"Hurry!" Hurley tells her. "When that thing's done with them, he's coming for us!"
"Well, I ain't waitin'!" Frank says, moving to the cage door and slamming his foot against it, hoping to break the lock.
"Uh, damn it!" Kate yells, unable to reach the keys.
Out of nowhere, Jack grabs the keys and starts unlocking our cage. "What are you doing here?" Kate shouts at him, over Smokey's ticking.
"I'm with him," Jack says, nodding to the Monster. "Come on."
And we follow Jack away from Smokey's attack zone.
"How much further to the plane?" Jack asks, letting Frank take the lead.
"Say about a quarter mile. Just over that ridge," Frank says, pointing.
"So you're coming with us now?" Kate asks Jack.
"I'm going to take you to the plane but I'm not getting on it. I'm sorry, Kate. I'm not meant to go."
"Thanks for comin' back for us, Doc," Sawyer says. "Appreciate it."
We all managed to grab guns off of the bodies of Widmore's goons and when a rustling in the bushes beside us happens, we all point our guns at it. Sayid emerges, looking not at all like Sayid, with that blank zombie stare. "No, it's okay!" Jack shouts. "Sayid's with us. He was the one who turned off the generators."
"Great," Sawyer says, lowering his gun. "The more the merrier."
"We need to go," Sayid says. "Locke's waiting."
Frank leads the group for about another five minutes and there it is. The Ajirah plane we flew in on. I know it's only been about a week, my time since we crashed, but it feels so much longer than that.
As we get closer, we notice two bodies on the ground. Sayid and Claire bend down next to them. "His neck's been broken," Sayid tells us.
"That's because I broke it," Locke says, coming out of the plane. "If it's any consolation, Widmore knew that I would kill these men."
"What are you talkin' about?" Sawyer asks.
"They were only guarding the plane for show. If Charles had really wanted to keep me from actually getting on board he wouldn't have moved his little fences."
"Well, wait, now he wants us to leave the Island?" Hurley asks, confused.
"No, Hugo. He wants to get us all in the same place at the same time. A nice confined space we have no hope of getting out of. And then he wants to kill us."
"Kill us with what?" Sayer asks.
Locke takes off his pack and pulls out a small, brown box. "With this. Four bricks of C-4. I found them in one of the overheard compartments, wired to the electrical system of the plane. If we would've turned it on... boom."
"So what now?" Jin asks.
"We can't be sure he didn't put more explosives on the plane. It's not safe. If we're gonna leave the island, I think we have to take the submarine."
"Well that's what I've been saying all along," Sawyer says, smugly.
"Dude, wait," Hurley says, pointing to Locke. "He's not supposed to leave the island. I mean, Alpert said that—,"
"Screw Alpert. He ain't here. That's twice you've saved our asses," Sawyer says, turning to Locke. "Guess I was wrong about you."
"Thank you, James," Locke says, before turning to the rest of the group. "That submarine is gonna be heavily defended. We're gonna need everyone."
"I'll help you but, like I said, I'm not going with you," Jack says.
"Fair enough. Let's go."
At the dock, we all crouch behind the bushes, Sawyer scouting the port of the submarine. "Just 'cause there ain't any goons on the dock, doesn't mean they ain't on the sub," he says. "We're goin' in hard. Got it? Lapidus, Hugo, Jin, Sun—you're with me. The rest of you wait 30 seconds, head down the dock behind us." He turns to Jack and Locke. "You think you two can get our backs?"
"Absolutely," Jack says.
"All right. Let's go home," he takes off for the sub, followed by Frank, Hurley, Sun, and Jin. They all manage to make it into the sub and after about a minute, Kate says, "Let's go."
We all jog to the dock. I can hear Jack and Locke talking behind me, but I don't pay attention to what they say. The next thing I know, splash! Jack has pushed Locke into the water. "What happened?" Kate yells.
BANG! Kate is thrown back as a bullet goes in her shoulder. Jack runs after her and I turn toward the trees and see Widmore's goons, all with guns, shooting at us.
I duck behind a wooden box and shoot back. I'm almost positive I hit at least two of them. I see Jack carry Kate into the sub, and I make my move, coming in from behind them, descending into the dark machine.
Jack carries Kate to a ledge which acts as a bed. "What's going on up there? What happened?" Sawyer asks, coming out of a hallway.
"Widmore's people shot her," Jack says. "Tia, I need a first aid kit." I turn and pass Sayid as I start looking for a first aid kit. On a vehicle like this there should be a large red plus sign, but there's nothing. I look for about three minutes and the sub starts to dive, feeling like an elevator going down.
I run back into the room. "Jack, there's no first aid kit!"
"Jin," he says. "My pack. There might be a shirt in there I can use for pressure." He starts speaking to Kate. "It's okay. Just relax. Everything's gonna be alright."
"Here," Jin says, handing him the backpack. "Can you help her?"
"I think the bullet went straight through," he says, reaching in. As he grabs onto something, his expression changes.
"What?" Sawyer asks.
Jack pulls out a C-4 bomb, counting down its detonation on a timer. "Dude, where did that come from?" Hurley asks.
"Locke," Jack says. "We did exactly what he wanted. We have to get to the surface."
"What the hell?" Sawyer asks, still in shock of Locke's move.
"We have to get to the surface now!" Jack yells.
Jin grabs an intercom. "Lapidus, take us up."
"We're divin'!" his voice says back.
"Just do it!" Jin yells.
"Dude how'd that get on the sub?" Hurley asks.
"Locke put it in my pack," Jack explains, going back to treating Kate.
"Why would he do that?" Jin asks. "He wanted to come with us?"
"Damn right he did, that's why I shut his ass out," Sawyer says.
"He wanted you to shut him out," Jack continues, looking at the timer. It now reads 3:08. "Any idea how that thing works? Can we turn it off?"
Sayid inspects it. "This watch is jury-rigged to the battery. The battery detonates the explosives."
Sawyer grabs the intercom. "How much time till we're up, Frank?"
"At least five minutes."
"We ain't got five minutes." He hangs up and turns back to the bomb. "What's it gonna be Sayid?"
"These wires," he explains. "They're leads from the watch. If we disconnect them from the battery, technically speaking, the bomb should be inert."
"Technically?"
"Yes, but you need to pull them out simultaneously; and, I'm not sure—,"
"Step aside," Sawyer says, grabbing the two wires.
"Wait! Wait!" Jack says.
"What the hell are you doin', Doc?"
"Nothing's gonna happen."
"What?"
"Don't pull those wires out. We're okay. Nothing's gonna happen."
"If I don't pull these wires, Locke's gonna blow us to kingdom come."
"No, he's not! Locke can't kill us."
"Uh...what?" Hurley asks.
"This is what he wanted. This is what he's been waiting for. Everything that he has done has been to get us here. He wanted to get us all in the same place, at the same time—a nice, enclosed space where we had no hopes of getting out of."
"I don't understand," Jin says.
Jack continues. "Locke said that he can't leave the Island without us. I think that he can't leave the Island unless we're all dead. He told me that he could kill anyone of us whenever he wanted. So, what if he hasn't because he's not allowed to. What if he's trying to get us to kill each other?"
"Stay out of my way, Doc," Sawyer says, going back for the bomb.
"Now if he wanted that thing to blow up, why would he put a timer in it? Why not just throw it inside?" Jack counters.
"I don't care!"
"Nothing is gonna happen."
"It's not your decision to make!
"He can't kill us!"
"I'm not gonna stand here and do nothing!"
"James," Jack says, grabbing his shoulder. "We are going to be okay. Just have to trust me."
"Sorry, Doc, I don't." Sawyer pulls out the two wires and the timer stops. And just as I'm about to let out a sigh of relief, the timer starts again, this time ticking by faster.
"Listen carefully," Sayid says to Jack. "There's a well on the main Island, half mile south from the camp we just left. Desmond's inside it. Locke wants him dead, which means you're going to need him. Do you understand me?"
"Why are you telling me this?" Jack asks.
"Because it's going to be you, Jack."
Sayid grabs the bomb and starts running. "Sayid!" I call after him, making a move to run, but Jin holds me back.
I hear a loud BOOM! And I black out.
I wake up with a mouthful of salt and sand. Jack and Kate sit above me. "What happened?" I ask.
"Sayid let off the bomb," Jack explains. "The sub sank." He helps me sit up and I see Sawyer passed out and Hurley, staring out into the ocean.
"He's gone?" I ask, already knowing the answer. Kate stifles a cry as Jack nods. "What about Sun and Jin? Where's Frank?"
"They didn't make it," Hurley says, his voice cracking.
And with that, I sit on the beach, looking out into the moonlit ocean, as the tears run down my face for my friends. My friends that I will never see again.