Sawyer had pursued Kate once before. He had caught her too, but then she had been hampered by a heavy metal case, and he hadn't been limping. Now, as she fled through the jungle, he knew that there was no way in hell he was going to catch her. He could hear Jack shouting just ahead, his voice cracking; Charlie was stumbling behind, breath rasping painfully through his chest. The flashes ofmovement ahead of him were fading; his leg muscles strained as he fought vainly to keep up; But soon they were gone, and he was alone.
Kate hadn't been running long, but alreadyher tortured feet began to bleed. She glanced back in terror, and saw that she had lost two ofher followers. Only one came after her now, the man with dark hair and penetrating eyes. She staggered up a hill, and the man kept after her.
She knew who they were. Although it was daylight, she recognised their faces. They were the men in the shadows from the night, who had carried the body of a woman between them. And now they were after her.
Her heart was nearly bursting from her chest; he was getting closer, the shouting louder. He was calling her name. How did he know that? She stumbled and fell heavily. What if he caught her? He would take her to the lightless room under the ground again. Fear jolted through her and she lurched up, running faster.
Kate had disappeared over the top of the hill. Jack called out again, but the sound was lost in a long horn-like called that made the trees tremble. The ground shook, and his entrails turned cold with dread.
Kate froze as a light flickered over her face. She took a step back, staring up in horror at the thing above her, that had been waiting like a giant spider for the flies to come to its nest. A pair of lights burned into her like glaring eyes, and everything turned white. Blind, she staggered backwards as the thing moved slowly forward, studying her.
Chains clanked, and instinct threw her flat. A tree shattered as a whirling chain whipped forward, ripping into its trunk. Razor splinters showered the earth like rain. Kate panicked, running blindly forward. The machine roared, whirling chains flinging themselves after her.
She screamed as a pair of arms grabbed her, dragging her behind a tree. A long thick chain sliced into the ground, slashing the earth right where she had been standing. She felt powerful arms hauling her back, but saw only white fog. The man dragged her under the roots of the tree as the machine attacked.
Pain thumped like a second heart in his side; Hurley wondered numbly why it was there. His thoughts grated like old cogs as he drifted in an out of consciousness, and soft spoken words began to slip into his dreams.
"Will he live?" that was Sayid, his voice tight with weariness.
"I don't know. If his immune system holds out he might make it. Though it's bound to be lowered, the diethere's terrible…." Hurley vaguely recognised the voice, though he couldn't think where.
"Is there anything more we can do?"
"No. I'm sorry." The conversation went on, but Hurley couldn't catch the words. The pain was thumping in his ears now, and the black fog was sinking back…
Sayid left the tent, brow furrowed anxiously. The injuries from the night before had shown their true extent in the daylight. A bone had broken in the injured mans' leg, and hadhad to bepainfully reset; Sun's face was swollen and bruised. Hurley was barely clinging to life, and with no fully trained medic, his chances were narrowing rapidly.
The beach camp was much more crowded. Sayid had brought in all the people from the caves in for safety,packing the survivorstightly together. Tension was running high; arguments broke out like wildfires as people fought for space and wreckage, venting their fear and frustration on the people around them. Sayid had even broken up a fist fight.
Sayid stopped. Without really realising it, he had walked up to the outside of Sawyers tent.
It was empty; even with Sawyer gone, no-one had dared to take anything from it. Resolutely, Sayid went in and began systematically emptying all the bags inside, searching for something that would help him to understand why he had attacked them.
Sawyer had been busier in his beach combing that Sayid could have ever imagined. Cameras, Laptops, jewelry…. Everything of value had been collected and brought back like a bower bird for its nest. Sayid open the last bag.
Guns.
He picked one out carefully, quickly snapping open the canister. Loaded. He emptied the bag, counting the weapons. Fifteen. Every single one of them was loaded. He placed them back into the bag, his mind working quickly. These must have been the guns Jack had spoken about. So why were they here? His brain worked quickly. Sawyer could have taken them from the Jeep. He had been there, after all, when Jack had told him about it. But Jack and Sawyer were the enemy. Why would he tell them about the weapons? It didn't make sense.
Shouts echoed from outside. Sayid dropped the weapons quickly, slipping through the tent flap.
Danielle had come back. She ignored the others, heading straight for Sayid.
"I've found the woman who was taken." She said softly.
"Where is she? Is she alright?"
"She is unconscious." Sayid thought for a moment, then went back into Sawyers tent. He came out carrying the guns. Danielle's eyes widened in sudden interest as he handed one to her.
"You may need this."
Michael glanced up from the boat as Sayid slipped quietly over to him.
"How long before it sails?" he asked.
"If we rush, probably in a week." Michael saw something flicker in Sayids eyes. "That's not what you came to ask me though, is it?"
"Danielle has found Claire. I need someone I can trust at my back, while we go get her."
"Yeah, but we trusted Jack, didn't we?" Michael pointed out. Sayid galnced over Michaels shoulder. He turned and saw Walt, playing fetch with Vincent. As he turned back, Sayid handed him a gun, eyes cold. The message was clear.
Danielle silently led the way as the three of them walked through the stifling hot jungle. They had slipped away along the beach, not wanting to alarm the other survivors. As they walked, Sayid came up beside Danielle.
"The sickness. What was it?" She said nothing, her eyes still staring ahead.
"We didn't know what it was." She said after a moment.
"It started when we went to the black rock.We were attacked by the thing in the Jungle. We scattered. I found Montand, but his arm was mangled beyond repair. I had to amputate it." Sayid winced slightly.
"The two of us returned to the camp. The others came back later, all with a fever and blood trickling from one ear. Montand and I didn't suspect that anything was wrong, instead giving them medicines. Then next morning Montand was dead, his throat slit. The others were quiet, and their eyes were different. After they took Alex, I knew who they were. They came for me too. So I shot them." Sayid felt a chill at the lack of emotion in her voice. He paused suddenly, listening. Far away, he could hear the metallic cry of the monster in the jungle...
Jack clung to Kate, dragging her deeper into the roots of the tree. The machine, for he knewthat's whatit was, tore into the bark, wrenching the trunk back and forth in its fury. The tree above them screamed as branches were ripped apart, and Jack knew they was going to die. Vainly he stared about for an escape, but the thing seemed to be everywhere, chains whipping through the air. Something cracked in his arm as part of the tree collapsed onto it. He tugged on it vainly, blinding pain lancing deep through the bone. Kate was crouched beside him, hands over her blinded eyes.The tree was being tore out, rocking back and forth as the machine tried to wrench it free. Light speared through a gap. Jack covered his eyes as the world shook. Something crashed against him, and his vision turned watery. For a second he saw Kate, eyes wide in terror. Then the world faded, and he was in darkness.
A lonely wind gushed through the trees, crying softly as it whistled through the trembling leaves. Charlie shivered slightly as he tramped through the featureless jungle, lost. The sky was rumbling, black clouds swirling above as rain threatened to fall. Lightning speared the sky, exploding a tree a foot from Charlie. He yelled and stumbled back, raising his hands as splinters shot through the air. He fell backwards.
"Ow." He sat up and glared reproachfully at the tree.
Fire crackled alongits trunk, devouring the dry wood. Charlie stared in horror as the fire raced along the branches. The tree beside it caught fire.
"Oh Sh-" Charlie turned and hurtled through the jungle. Behind him, the fire began to spread.
