Boone, Locke and Sayid carried the body bag down the beach. Charlie and Claire stood on the dune, watching the slow procession. Charlie laid a hand over Claire's, which was resting on her stomach.
"You think they're going to give her a burial at sea?" asked Claire, glancing down at Charlie's hand.
Charlie shook his head. "They always bury or burn the dead." he told her. "My guess would be that they're going to bury Shannon."
Claire nodded, and then gasped. "He kicked!" she exclaimed, and Charlie smiled.
"I felt it."
Sayid and Boone could not look at each other. They knew that the other was still in love with Shannon, and it was something that they would share for a long, long time. A tear slid down Boone's face, and Sayid glanced at him, his own eyes still stinging from the day before. Somehow, a part of him would always hate Hurley. He did not know for sure that it was the plus-sized joker who was Shannon's murderer – he had no motive – but he felt that Hurley was the one he held most responsible. He knew that, with time, he would forgive, but never forget.
Boone was ashamed of the tear that slid down his face, but he could do nothing to stop it. There was nothing for him to be ashamed of. He had known the girl for so long, he was in love with her, and in one night, in one quick fall, she had been taken from him. He grabbed his corner a little better as it slipped from his sweaty fingers, and stumbled up the hill towards the burial ground. He had always been there for her. He hoped that her last thought was not that he had betrayed her. He would have given his life for her.
Locke glanced at the two mournful faces. He felt a pang of guilt, himself. It was his assistant's stepsister, after all, and his lover. He tried to put on a smile, but the others did not want to look at his false happy gesture. Sighing, he put on a somber face like the other two and continued up the hill with his corner of the body bag.
Sawyer rubbed his raw neck and watched the woeful threesome carry the dead body across the beach. He was still shocked that he was not the one in the body bag. He was sorry that someone, especially Shannon, had to die, but he was truly glad that it was not him. He had been joking when he said that he hoped he would be the one to die… He glanced over at Kate. He hoped she had been kidding, too.
Kate watched the procession. She wished she could have been more helpful. She felt as if she did nothing, either to cause Shannon's death or to prevent it, but she felt use-less. She hated feeling useless.