Sorry this took so long. I had exams
The search party was gathering near the edge of the jungle, people tensely packing foot and putting on their packs. Sayid was wearily adjusting his bag when he heard the sounds of arguing. He looked up, watching as Claire glared at Jack, eyes narrowed in anger. Her son was nestled in her arms, sleeping gently.

"You gave birth a week ago; you're not up to a trek like this."

"You gave half your blood to Boone yet you're still going!" She snapped. Jack changed tack quickly.

"Who'll look after the baby?" Claire opened her mouth, but no sounds came out. Sayid knew what was going through her head. Unless the baby was sleeping, he couldn't stand being near anyone but Claire and, for some strange reason, Sawyer.

Except things appeared to have changed.

Sawyer stalked passed, scratching at his ear. He brushed passed Claire, gently bumping her on the elbow. The baby woke and started screaming, howling at a deafening pitch. Sawyer tried to say something, but the sound was lost. Claire backed away quickly, heading down the beach with her screaming son. The unhappy cries took a long time to fade. Sayid felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Shannon. There were dark shadows beneath her eyes, but her pale face was determined.

"I'm coming." Sayid paused, watching her unwavering gaze.

"Very well."

Sawyer bristled as he felt the unfriendly stares of people around him, but no one was willing to get within firing range of his acid tongue. Scowling, he half-listened as Jack ordered people into pairs, glancing around for Kate. With a twinge of annoyance he saw she was beside Jack. He glowered and turned around, and realised who he was partnered with.

Hurley.

"Hey, this wasn't my first choice either." Said Hurley defensively as Sawyer looked vainly around for anyone else.

"Okay, everyone go. Be back here by sundown." People dispersed, leaving Sawyer alone with Hurley, who was peering at him with a funny look on his face. As Sawyer turned away, he spoke. "Dude, what happened?"

"What?" Sawyer snapped irritably at Hurley.

"I mean, one minute the babies in love with you, the next it thinks you're the baby snatcher."

"Maybe it just got to know me." Sawyer was only half joking.


For hours they wandered through the Jungle. The sun was dripping down, gold light dropping like goo onto the trees. Sawyer turned around and waited impatiently as Hurley staggered behind him, breathing hard.

"Just….rest….for a minute…..aw man…." He collapsed onto the ground. Sawyer rolled his eyes and wandered forward a bit, scratching at his ear. It had been buzzing all afternoon, until it had nearly driven him insane. As he stepped forward, he felt something. He paused, and stepped forward, then back. Hurley looked on, mystified.

"Er…..What are you doing?"

"Ever had Déjà vu?" he took a step back, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, but I don't start dancing about it." Sawyer ignored the dig.

"I keep feelin' it. It's driving me nuts" Looking increasingly grumpy, he took two steps forward.

"I swear I've been here before." Hurley shrugged, rubbing the receding stich in his side.

"All the forest looks the same Dude. 'Course it looks familiar." He stood up, and took a step forward. His left foot skidded, and he toppled over. Sawyer looked behind him.

"What're you doin' on the floor cheese puff?" he turned around and drifted back, the usual annoying smirk on his face. Hurley scowled and sat up, pulling the thing of the soul of his shoe. It rustled in his hand. Curiously, Hurley peeled open the paper.

Sawyer glanced over as Hurley began to make choking sounds. Looking over quickly, he saw the large man staring at the paper, his eyes popping.

"Dude….." His eyes bulged wider. Sawyer came closer, staring at the grey sheets. It was a newspaper.

"So? It must have come off the plane…"

Hurley shook his head. "No way dude. Look at the date."

Sawyer glanced at it. "Your point being?"

"It's the day after we crashed."


Shannon was having trouble. Back in the real world, she was not prone to do physical exertion of any kind, let alone trampling around in the middle of a jungle. Sayid waited for her, looking at the red that had bloomed on her cheeks. She struggled over the top of the hill, breathing heavily.

"Would you like to rest for a bit?" as always, his voice came out more like an order than a question. A remnant of his army days.

"I'm fine." She snapped. She began to cough, clutching at her sides. She sat down heavily. Sayid knelt next to her. Her breaths were shallow, rasping like sandpaper.

"How are you feeling?" he asked after a moment.

"I'm fine." She said, though her heart wasn't in it.

Sayid reached his hand out, but he froze. He could hear shouting, drifting over the top of the trees.

"Is anyone there? We found…." The voice petered off.

The two of them stood quickly, heads twisting, searching for the shouts. The faint calls came again, and the two of them raced into the Jungle.


Hurley peeled back the sheets of newspaper, but could find nothing; rain had long since washed most of the words away. It was a miracle it had even survived this long. Sawyer was pacing, glancing into the Jungle. The feeling of déjà vu was driving him nuts.

"Hey, it mentions the plane….I think." He peered at the smudged writing. Well, it says Pacific and radar…." Sawyer glanced at the setting sun.

"There's nothing in there."Sawyer said coldly.

He walked into the Jungle, and Hurley scrambled to follow. "Dude, wait!" But Sawyer just kept walking, acting as though he couldn't hear him. He headed forward, staring straight ahead. Hurley gave up shouting, insteadsaving his breath for following. For a long time they walked, until Hurley caught a flash of pale colour floating high in the trees. He sped up, overtaking Sawyer. The shape came into view.

Charlies head flopped forward, eyes shut tight. His pale skin gleamed, contrasting with the black number on his chest. Sawyer swore softly, then began to climb the tree, aiming to cut him down. Hurley stood still, staring at the number.

"Dude, we've missed something." Sawyer slid down the tree, his fingers digging into the wood bark.

"What?" Hurley was oblivious to the snap in his voice. He pointed a chubby finger at Charlie.

"The sequence is wrong."

"What sequence?"

"It goes 4, 8, 15, 16…. They got it wrong." He pointed to the dark number, made of black scorched skin.

16.

"Where's the 15?"


Sayid was ahead of Shannon when he saw the two people through the trees. He recognised one as Shaun, but the other was unknown to him. They both jumped as he approached, apparently not hearing him.

"He's through there." Shaun pointed through a gap in the trees. Sayid walked forwards.

"Wait, it's not Charlie-"

It was Boone. Sayid stepped back, feeling bile rising in his throat. The buzzing flies reverberated in the silence. He heard footsteps behind him. He whirled around, but it was too late.

Shannon was staring up at her dead brother, skin as white as his cold dead flesh.

"Shannon, get back." Sayid moved forward, which turned out to be a good idea. Shannon's eyes rolled up in her head, her legs buckling beneath her. Shaun and his friend came through as Sayid caught her. He glared at them.

"How could you let her pass?"

"We tried man. She wouldn't stop." Sayid walked further away, the unconscious Shannon limp in his arms.

"Wait here. We need to re-bury him." Sayid turned away, his mind already elsewhere. ON the number burnt on Boones chest.

"15"…


Dark. Claire watched anxiously as the pairs of survivors came filtering back. All of them were empty handed. She watched as Sayid carried Shannon onto the beach. She grabbed the arm of a woman passing by. "What happened to Shannon?" The woman looked upset.

"Boone's body had been dug up. She didn't react well." Claire was about to reply when she saw Sawyer and Hurley through the trees, carrying a limp form between them. People gathered around as Charlie was brought into the camp. His face was pale and drawn, blood leaking from his ear. People drew back as they caught a glance of the dark 16 burned on his chest. Sawyer and Hurley lowered (or in Sawyers case dropped) him onto the sand.

"Hey Doctor! Got a patient for you!" There was silence. The sun sank below the horizon, and they realised that Jack and Kate had not come back.


At first, he'd thought the voices in the darkness was his mind playing tricks, that he had simply gone crazy. However they were not the conventional kind of madness. They were logical, methodical; almost mundane. Not today though.

He was flat on his back, staring at the only piece of light in the darkness; a small pale rectangle in the ceiling. It was too high for him to reach. Nearly opaque, only a bare tinge of grey seeping through the hairline cracks in its surface.

"What was it?" this first voice always ordered, commanded. He was the leader Locke turned his head, listening.

"Couple of the survivors wandered through the base." The reply was terse, nervous. The leader swore, and there was a dull thud as he kicked something metal.

Locke sat up quickly, ears straining.

A door slammed, then there was a scrabbling noise, as though someone was trying to run but couldn't move forward.

"What the hell is this?" the first voice was snarling, furious.

"There were two of'm. The other ones ready to be strung up"

"So why is she here?"

"She saw the tower. Went running back to her pal, but we grabbed her before she got to 'im"

There was quiet, and Locke could pick out small muffled noises, almost like crying.

"Stick her with the other one. We'll work out what to do with her later". There was a scrapping, dragging noise like fingernails along chalkboard.

Then the door opened.

After so long in the darkness, it was as though electrified knitting needles had been thrust through his eyes. He staggered back, the blinding white scorching his retinas. Collapsing against the wall, he shuddered as the pain burst like fireworks in his head, raising his arms vainly to protect himself against the light. The door slammed shut, and there was dull click as the locks were slid into place. He was back in the comfortable shadows.

But he wasn't alone anymore.