Sawyer had searched for Claire in the hatch and hadn't been able to find her. It was now almost completely dark and as he headed back through the jungle realized how hungry he was. No one had really eaten much since no one was brave enough to venture into the jungle to look for the fruit trees. Sawyer had heard a rumor that Jin was no longer catching fish for everyone, but only for himself and Sun.

As Sawyer headed back to the beach, darkness fell quickly around him and the blackness of the jungle pressed in on all sides. Sawyer stumbled down the path back to the beach and took a different way that had less canopy so the moon could light the path. He walked slowly as to not fall and he was about to take out his lighter when he fell over something lying across the path and fell hard.

"What the…"

Sawyer looked down and his eyes widened. Lying facedown across the path was Charlie. Sawyer saw the blue of Aaron's blanket under him and shoved Charlie over onto his back, but the baby wasn't under him. It was just the blanket.

"Charlie?" Sawyer shook Charlie hard but he looked like he'd been hit hard over the head with something. "Charlie?"

Slowly Charlie groaned and his eyes opened wearily but closed again.

"The baby," Charlie muttered, feeling around him. "Aaron. Where's Aaron?"

"Who hit you?" asked Sawyer desperately, fear filling him.

"Took him," but Charlie couldn't even keep his eyes open. He struggled to stay conscious for a few more moments and then passed out again.

Standing, Sawyer knew he couldn't carry Charlie back to the hatch. The beach was closer, so he'd have to run and find someone. Taking off, he flew through the woods at top speed, drifting from the path to follow a straighter way. He was only a few yards from the end of the jungle when he heard a baby crying.

Slowing down, he listened, barely breathing. It was definitely Aaron and he sounded close. Had someone dropped him in the jungle? Searching the ground, Sawyer realized it sounded like it was coming from the beach.

He knew what he'd see before he even got there. He could see the baby lying only feet from the surf and then to his left stood Satine, her eyes wide as she stared at the baby.

"KID!" Sawyer bellowed. "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer but continued to stare. Looking over Sawyer saw the tide had reached Aaron and was beginning to wash over him. Darting across the beach, Sawyer fell and scrambled back up, jumping back up and reaching Aaron just as a wave washed over him completely.

Sawyer wasn't good with kids or babies, but he scooped up the kid as it coughed and gagged on the water, crying loudly. Unsure of what to do, Sawyer made sure the baby was still breathing and held it to his chest. Aaron was sopping wet and he wore only his nappy, which was beginning to fall off.

"Where is Claire?" Sawyer demanded of Satine as the baby cried hard and squirmed against him. He didn't know how to hold it, afraid he was hurting him. "Satine!"

A scream erupted from the jungle and Sawyer looked up to see Claire, John, Sayid, and Hurley scrambling down the beach. Claire looked terrified and hysterical as she practically fell over herself getting to Sawyer. When she reached him she practically wrenched the sopping wet baby from his arms and just as Sawyer was about to explain, Claire had hit him hard with a closed fist across the face. She was small but the hit sent Sawyer stumbling back.

"I saved your god damn kid!" Sawyer snapped, putting one hand over his face. "I should have let him drown!"

She went to hit him again but he caught her arm and threw it down. She backed away, cradling Aaron tightly to her. Everyone was staring, including Satine, who looked confused.

"Kid! Tell them!" Sawyer shouted at Satine angrily. "God damn it, you were right there!"

Satine looked around at them confusedly.

"I…" she looked ready to cry as she looked from Sawyer to Claire, to Aaron. "I don't know…"

"Charlie is unconscious in the jungle," Sawyer began, pointing towards where he'd come out.

"We found him," Sayid said curiously. "Did you hit him?"

"NO!" frustrated, Sawyer felt ready to throw a punch. "I found him and he said that Aaron was gone so I went to find help and found the kid…"

"He was in the water," Claire said, her voice sounding hysterical. She was feeling the baby's wet skin. "Why was he in the water?"

"He was in the surf. I got him out just in time. She was just standing there…just watching," Sawyer felt like none of them believed him.

"We should get him back and dry," said John, looking worriedly down at Aaron in Claire's arms. He turns her around and started to lead her back as she shot looks over her shoulder.

"Let's go," Sayid said firmly to Sawyer.

"What, am I under arrest?" Sawyer snapped. He looked over at Satine, who was watching with confusion. "What is wrong with you? You saw the whole thing!"

Satine said nothing and just looked at him with fearful eyes. Sayid walked towards Sawyer but stepped away.

"Don't even think about it," Sawyer warned. "I did nothing to that kid."

"Then why was Charlie lying unconscious in the jungle and the baby in your arms?" Sayid asked quietly.

Sawyer didn't answer.

Jack stepped over the small creek and continued walking, the moon barely lighting his path. He wasn't sure how long he'd been walking but he knew that no matter how long it took him, he was going to find answers.

He had to know where they came from, where they had kept Satine for so long. Jack had to know if there were more of them because if there were, he would try to make peace with them and get them to join the other survivors. John had estimated that there were only maybe six or seven left that had run off and one had been a child and the others all women and maybe one young man.

Feeling terrible for leaving Kate, and for just simply abandoning everyone, he pressed forward. Sayid and John had made it clear the trust was gone, all the survivors were either scared of him or despised him. The leaders, the people everyone had looked up to had failed them and killed them.

Having been walking for almost an entire day now, Jack began to doubt himself. He wasn't the doctor he wanted to be, and he definitely wasn't the doctor that his father was. How could he think that he could be the only doctor of these forty people, and somehow lead them? He'd never asked for the job but he'd taken in on and now look where he was.

He had reached a part of the island he'd never seen before. The trees were farther apart, and somehow the ground looked flattened, as though walked on. He went more slowly through here, watching for those traps and listening for the sounds of anything, anyone possibly around.

He began seeing signs of life but they were skewed everywhere. Several scraps of clothing lay on the ground, as though torn up and discarded. Several burnt out campfires lay scattered around, ashes black against the soil. The trees grew sparser and sparser and Jack was soon entering a kind of valley in the middle of the jungle where there were no trees, not because they hadn't grown there but because they had been chopped down. Stumps of trees were everywhere. As he kept walking forward, he could see large distorted shapes in the distance. As he came closer, the moon cast long shadows over the remains of many tents, lined up almost in a row on either side of a long wide path marked by torches. At the end was large mound of burnt, charred wood.

As Jack slowly walked up the middle, he looked on either side. Most of the tents were burned or just torn down, the roughly sewn tarps hanging off the stakes they'd been hung on. He kept walking and it was slightly eerie the darkness. He peered into the tents, shining his flashlight in each. There was nothing inside, only broken bits of roughly made furniture. It looked like someone had gotten mad and trashed the whole camp or they had been instructed to destroy it before they left.

He reached the large pile of burnt out embers and wood. It was huge, as though many bon fires had been there. Almost three feet of ash lay beneath it. Jack slowly backed away, looking at the entire camp. He wondered in what direction they had gone off in after running from the hatch. He wished he had John's tracking skills.

Jack had gone one step too far and felt the ground vanish beneath him and he was falling.

They had reached the hatch and Sawyer threw himself down into a chair angrily. They thought it had been him and he supposed this was some kind of trial.

Charlie sat in a chair across from him, rubbing his head. He looked slightly pale and kind of delirious.

"You okay?" Sawyer asked Charlie, who looked up with squinted eyes.

"Yeah, I think," Charlie looked around, blinking a few times. "I kinda wish the doctor was here though."

"Where is Jack?" Sawyer asked John. But John wasn't paying attention. He was watching as Sayid tried to calm Claire down.

"HE TOOK THE BABY!" Claire was screaming at Sayid as Aaron cried loudly in her arms.

"We need to hear the whole story!" Sayid said harshly. "We cannot assume!"

"He was standing with Aaron by the water. Aaron was soaked, Charlie was knocked out. HOW MUCH MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED?" she was shouting in Sayid's face. He was almost a foot taller than her but he seemed to retract.

"Since when have we had a counsel on this damn island?" Sawyer said angrily, standing up. "Why should I have to prove myself? I saved the damn kid!"

"You say Satine saw you," Sayid said, looking around. "Where is she?"

Sawyer turned around. Satine was gone. He ran to check the computer room and searched the whole shelter and found nothing.

"She was standing right there. Just like in that dream!" Sawyer remembered, looking at Claire. You had a dream she was standing there while Aaron was drowning!"

"No," Claire backed away, holding Aaron tightly. "No I didn't."

"Yes you did!" Charlie suddenly stood up, wavering for a moment and then walking towards them. "You had me go to Satine with the baby to see what she'd do."

"Charlie!" gasped Claire. Obviously it was no supposed to be public.

"Where's Jack?" demanded Hurley from behind them. He had been hovering, listening but not saying anything. "Why hasn't he come back?"

"We don't know," John snapped. He crossed his arms. "Why?"

"Well Charlie's head is kinda bleeding and he always knows what to do with…"

"Jack can't help us. We don't need his help," Sayid said quickly, glancing at John.

Sawyer suddenly realized that those two had probably been planning a takeover the minute they heard the great Doctor wasn't such hot stuff anymore. It all made sense. They had been cold with Jack and Kate, and now Jack was gone and there was a crisis. It was exactly what they had wanted except they now had no idea what to do.

"Kate will know where he is," Charlie said. "Someone go find Kate."

"Kate's still injured. She's been asleep most of the afternoon," John said. "Jack disappeared earlier this morning."

"Lock him up," snapped Claire, glaring at Sawyer. "He's a danger to us all."

"Right. Of all the nutjobs on this island, I'm a danger?" Sawyer laughed and shook his head. "Okay then. Be gentle boys."

"This isn't funny," Sayid growled. "Maybe we should lock him up until we can figure out…"

"HELLO?" shouted Sawyer furiously. "I'M RIGHT HERE!"

"Calm down," John said gently. Sawyer knew what they were doing. They were trying to get him to think he really had done something wrong.

"The kid was there. I'll find her. She saw it all," Sawyer turned and ran from the hatch.

Jack looked up, his head spinning. He had fallen backwards into a hole in the ground and blacked out. Now he looked up at the starry sky, waiting for a rush of pain. Maybe he'd broken his leg, or dislocated his elbow. But no pain came. He was lucky.

Carefully he tried to move and stopped. Something wasn't right. He wasn't lying on the ground. It wasn't hard, but rough and lumpy, like sacks of sand were under him. Then the smell reached him.

He scrambled, trying to get up but only fell forward. It was a pit of bodies, rotting and baking in the hot island sun. He fell right into the face of what looked like had been a young man, whose skin was now green and black, the bone showing through. Jack let out a yell and tried to reach the side, but with each movement he sunk deeper. The bodies were everywhere, all of them wearing the same beige outfits. He saw hair, human hair and limbs and legs. Some of them had stakes through their bodies, and others lay as though simply sleeping, except for the fact that their flesh was rotting off their bones.

Jack was very sure that if he did not get out, he would be sick and pass out again. He scrambled and lifted his leg, feeling it go down onto a body and hearing something crunch, probably an arm. He was up to his thighs in bodies and reached up for the side of the ditch where a rope hung from a broken piece of a door that had probably been over the top of it.

He gripped it and it felt as though it was secure. Quickly he put his foot on the side of the hole and heaved himself up. It was a few feet and he only got his torso out but clawed with his hands in the dirt to pull the rest of him up until he was up and out, flipped over and lying on his back in the dirt.

Breathing deeply for a moment, he waited for the nausea and dizziness to pass. The sky seemed to whirl above him, the trees spinning like a wheel. Carefully, he sat up.

He felt lightheaded but okay. Jack climbed to his feet but did not go back near that hole. Instead he backed away towards where one of the larger tents was. It was the biggest, standing exactly opposite the large pile of burnt wood. As sick and terrified as Jack felt from what just happened, he knew he couldn't let it slow him down. He could think about it, and try to make sense of it but just starting to do that made him queasy. So he decided he'd find out as much as he could, keep going, and try to make sense of it when he was done and the smell had left him.

This one tent was the only one not damaged. It was taller than Jack and about ten feet wide. The flap hung down, blocking his view inside. Somehow, Jack felt this was it. This was where he would get his answers. After falling into a pit of dead people, surviving an explosion that dismembered many of the survivors, and being outcast from the only people he knew, he felt this was what he deserved.

Slowly, Jack walked forward and pushed open the flap.