The gunshot rang out, echoing across the trees. Shannon stood there in shock before crumpling to the ground with a weak, "Sayid?" She stared at her hands, now covered in her own blood, and fought the urge to retch. Without thinking about it, she wiped her hands on her skirt. But the blood kept coming. It made her dizzy to look at, so she closed her eyes.
Sayid ran toward Shannon.
"Hold it!"
He spun around, seeing Ana Lucia for the first time. In his concern for Shannon he had momentarily forgotten about the shooter. He held his hands above his head in surrender and shouted, "Don't shoot! We are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. We mean you no harm."
"What do you mean, you're the survivors?" Ana Lucia asked, coming out of the shadows.
"We were in the front of the plane when it split in half. I don't know what happened to the tail. Shannon, are you all right?" His voice was shaking – Shannon had never heard it do that.
She managed a weak nod.
"I was in the tail," Ana snapped.
He raised an eyebrow, casting a quick glance toward Shannon to make sure she was still breathing. "Then I suppose we're all the survivors."
Ana lowered her gun. "I guess we are."
"May I check on her, please?" Sayid dropped his hands, taking a step toward Shannon.
"Okay." Ana shrugged.
Sayid knelt next to Shannon, hurriedly looking her over to determine the severity of the injury.
"It's just my arm. I'll be okay," she tried to reassure him through tears.
"Would you mind passing me that bag?" Sayid asked Ana, who complied. "Thank you." He dug an extra shirt out of his backpack and pressed it over the wound on Shannon's forearm. "You need to keep pressure on that, alright?" He tucked her hair behind her ear tenderly.
She nodded. "I'll do my best."
He breathed a sigh of relief, then helped her up using her good arm. She leaned heavily on him for support. "Do you feel strong enough to make it back to camp?"
"Yeah, I can do that."
He turned toward Ana Lucia. "You are welcome to come back to our camp with us, as long as you don't hurt anyone else. I'm sorry, I don't know your name." Sayid said.
"Ana Lucia."
He shook her hand. "Sayid. And this is Shannon."
Ana Lucia set her jaw. "Okay. We'll come with you."
"All right."