The sun burned in the clear sky, scorching the skin of anyone stupid enough to stand in its rays. Claire was protected in the shade, a sun hat jammed firmly on her head. It fluttered as she turned left and right, her anxious eyessearching for Charlie. She hadn't seen him all morning.

Sun wandered past her towards the jungle, clutching a handful of leaves in her thin hand.

"Hey, Sun!" The Asian woman drifted over, a rather awkward smile on her face.

"Can you please look after him for a bit?" she gestured to the sleeping baby in the cradle beside her. "I'm just gonna stretch my legs for a bit." Sun smiled and nodded, settling herself down on the sand.

Claire asked around, but no-one had seen Charlie since yesterday. Heart clenching tightly in her chest, she began to drift along the fringes of the Jungle. A thin layer of sweat formed on her skin as she walked across the decaying leaf floor, the hot muggy air thick in her lungs. She stepped over a log, nearly tripping as her foot slid along something. Catching herself quickly, she glanced down.

For a second, she didn't know what she was looking at. Then, as she picked it up and opened it, herinsides curled into nothing.

It was Charlie's shirt.

Something cracked behind her; she jumped and turned around. She could hear soft murmured whispers. Jack and Kate appeared through the trees, talking quietly to each other. The voices of Michael and the rest of the group could be heard from behind them.

They froze when they saw Claire, who showed them Charlie's shirt with shaking hands.

"They've got Charlie."


Jack and Kate bombarded her with questions as the three of them walked quickly back onto the beach. Claire still clutched the shirt to her chest.

"When did you last see Charlie?" Claire glanced at Kate, biting her lip.

"Last night. He was right next to me. When I woke up he wasn't there, but I just thought…." She trailed off suddenly, listening. Faint crying could be heard, drifting from the beach. A baby's crying.

"Oh God." Claire took off, Jack and Kate jogging in her wake.

Sun was kneeling beside the child, frantically trying to quieten him. People turned to stare; Claire came bursting out of the trees, taking in the scene with one glance.

"What happened?" She had to shout over her screaming son. His face was crumpled like a wizened apple. As soon as he was in her arms, hewentinstantly quiet.The silence afterwards seemed strange. Sun was looking anxious.

"He just started screaming. I'm not sure what-" she glanced to her left. About ten feet away was Sawyer, who was just removing his fingers from his ears. He scowled when he saw them looking.

"Oh right, blame Sawyer just because he walks past at the time. Everything's always my fault, isn't it?" the brand on his chest had put him in a black mood. He glared at them all, then turned his back and stalked moodily along the beach. Kate stared after him as Jack and Claire turned their attention back to the shirt, and Charlie.


Michael limped along the forest floor, wincing every time his left foot touched the ground. At last he could take it no longer, sitting down on a log and tearing of a the shoe. A rock fell out, thumping onto the dead leaves. It was closely followed by a large number of leaves and a rather surprised beetle. Michael dug in the toe of the shoe, fingers groping for anything else that had failed to be evicted.

He dropped the shoe and leapt up as something large emerged from the right. Hurley grinned at him, scratching the side of his round face.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that." croaked Michael, his hand pressed against his still trembling heart.

"Dude, do I look like I can sneak?" Hurley sat down on the log.

"What are you doin' out here?" Michael sat next to him, pulling on his sneaker, unaware that the beetle had crawled back inside.

"Haven't heard from you guys in a couple of days, plus the fact Locke doesn't seem to have gone back." He caught the look is Michaels eye.

"What? He hasn't come back, has he?"

Michael tied up his sneakers, trying to think of away to put the current situation into words.

He couldn't.

"You'll see when we get back." was all he could say.


Sayid dumped his bag on the beach, glancing around. He was looking for Shannon. Since her brothers death she had been like a ghost, wandering across the beach with a blank expression, cheeks always wet with tears. Sayid was worried about her, afraid she would not be able to (orwant to) look after herself. His eyes landed on her small form, sitting at the edge of the shoreline. Her thin legs were drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around her knees.

She didn't glance up as he sat beside her, his dark eyes watching her. Though the ragged pain in her heart did not lessen, she was glad he was there. He didn't constantly ask her if she was okay like other people did. He was simply there, silent company that kept her from black despair.


A large group of people had gathered on the beach, Jack in their centre trying vainly to keep order. He had raised his voice to be heard over the top of the unhappy murmurings. Kate watched from the edges as he spoke. her eyes unreadable.

"Most people here know Charlie, right?" there was a few nods, though most just listened warily.

"Well, he's disappeared. We think he's been taken-" everyone began to talk at once. Jack shook his head despairingly.

"Quiet!"

Jack looked over gratefully as Sayid came to stand beside him. The crowd went silent very quickly.

"We're going to look for him. Is there anyone who wants to volunteer?"

About twenty hands went up, some more hesitant than others. Jack nodded.

"All those people get some packs. We're going to leave in about half an hour." Jack slipped away towards his own bag, leaving the crowd to turn to Sayid for information. He began stuffing water bottles into his bag until a pair of feet appeared beside him. He glanced up at Kate, then went back to his packing.

"Jack…."

"Do you realise that Locke's been gone almost a week?" He got up, slinging to back onto his back. Kate looked confused.

"What does that have to do with this?"

"First Locke brought Boone back with fatal injures, disappearing off into the Jungle before he could tell us what happened." He was walking now, so fast the Kate was almost jogging to keep beside him.

"Then Ethan's body is crucified-"

"He wasn't crucified, he was hung up." She jumped in front of him, forcing him to stop. He kept talking, however.

"Then Sawyer gets branded, and Charlie disappears. There has to be a connection there Kate."

"You think Locke did this?" He looked at her with grim eyes.

"Who else could it be?"


Sorry for the rather short chapter. I had to split it up because it was getting too long. Next chapter comes up very soon though.