Inside the Hatch...

The yellow lab before them was undeniably Vincent. He had the same license and collar as the Vincent they knew but there was something different about him. The look in his big brown eyes was uncharacteristic of him. Jack remembered him last as always in a playful mood with what looked very much like a big goofy grin but now he was different. His eyes, although they were still trusting and friendly, had an almost pleading look about them. His mouth remained closed and he did not pant. His nose would twitch every which way as if he were sniffing every smell that wondered past. His ears were on full alert, moving in every possible direction, listening. He was clearly in a serious no nonsense mood.

"How did he get down here?" asked Jack, not really expecting an answer.

"That isn't possible," said John, "Unless..."

"Unless there is another entrance we didn't know about," Jack finished.

Vincent then let out a short bark and wagged his tail once. Jack was reminded of the legendary collie, Lassie. He immediately assumed that Vincent wanted them to follow him. John obviously felt the same.

"Come on," John said. "Let's follow him."

At the entrance to the Hatch...

"I think I should go in after them," Kate said.

"No, I will," said Sayid. "I have more experience in these situations."

"How do you know that?" asked Kate.

"Look, Kate, we don't have time to argue. I'd feel better if you went back to the beach with Sawyer."

Kate was getting tired of everyone telling her what was best for her. She'd heard it all her life. She was worried about Sawyer very much but she was also worried about Jack. She also wanted desperately to prove her worth after damn near everyone found out she was a dirty criminal. She would have argued with Sayid further but he was right, they were very short on time.

"Ok. But what about you and Hurley?"

"Hurley should go with you. I'll be fine."

"We need someone to stay here and guard the entrance," Kate said.

"I'll stay here," said Hurley. "You go back with Sawyer."

"Are you sure? Because we really should have two people guarding the entrance?"

"I got it," Hurley said with finality.

"Ok," said Kate. "Good luck, Sayid, Hurley."

Kate sprinted off towards the beach as Sayid lowered himself into the Hatch, leaving Hurley alone at the entrance.

Back at the beach...

Sawyer drifted in and out of consciousness. The bleeding had slowed but he had already lost a large amount. His breathing was becoming shallow. Sun had made some sort of paste using several small plants and fresh water. She took off Sawyer's bandage and rubbed some of the paste gently onto the bullet wound. Sawyer let out a short, painful hiss as the homemade medicine was administered.

"Hey what is that?" Michael asked as Sun tied another piece of cloth over Sawyer's blood soaked shoulder.

"It's a family remedy. It helps keep the infection out and helps to clot the blood around the wound."

"Your family must have a lot of those remedies. I always see you making a lot of different things."

Sun smiled. "My mother taught me how to make them when I was very young."

"We're lucky to have you around," said Michael. He smiled but it was very quick. He was quiet for a moment, almost frozen in thought. Sun knew what was troubling them.

"We'll find him," she said. Michael looked at her, still silent. "Don't worry. We'll find Walt."

Michael nodded and stood up. "I need to get some air," he said.

Michael walked away from the crowd of people. He really did need some air. He felt like he was drowning in despair. He hadn't felt this helpless since he first learned about his ex-wife's death. He still felt an attachment to her but it wasn't as deep. The real helplessness he felt was for Walt. He still felt very much a father to Walt although he hadn't seen him in years. It was very troubling to know that Walt's mother had died and he, his real father, could do nothing to comfort him. Quite the contrary, he made things worse. He took Walt away from everything he knew. It was difficult for the both of them. The reason that he felt so bad was because once he finally had Walt, he lost him, and he was now powerless to save him. A tear ran down his cheek and he wiped it away. He refused to let his tears fall because he knew very deep down that he would get Walt back.

"Michael!" Kate shouted as she emerged from the jungle. "Where's Sawyer?"

"He's over there," said Michael dully. He pointed to the large cluster of people. They were no longer hanging over him curiously. They were now sitting or standing around him, some were talking to each other, others just staring off at the beach. It looked as if they were guarding him. This gave Michael a sense of security and he finally realized how close everyone on this island had become towards each other, they were like family. Michael recognized at once that Sun didn't just say what she said to calm him down. She said it because she also cared about Walt and that she would go to great lengths to protect him.

"I heard about Walt," said Kate suddenly, jerking Michael out of his reverie.

"Yeah," he said solemnly.

"We aren't going to lose him," she said seriously, "We'll get him back."

Michael nodded as she dashed up the beach towards Sawyer and for once in the past few hours, he smiled a true smile.

Inside the Hatch...

Jack and John had been running after Vincent for about twenty minutes. The dog didn't slow down once. He had clearly found something very important. Jack began to wonder what they might find and occasionally thought that they may be running into a trap. They finally came upon a fork in the tunnel. Vincent stopped and lowered his nose to the ground, sniffing vigorously.

As they took their short pause they heard the sound again. It was more audible. It was closer. They were closing in. Vincent picked his head up and stood stone still, his ears pointed toward the source of the noise. Jack listened carefully and when he heard it again, chills went down his spine. No. It was impossible. Nothing about this made sense. He was right in assuming the noise was human but he couldn't believe his ears now.

John looked back at him. His expression was the same as his: disbelieving. Vincent barked once, let out an ear-piercing whine, and then took off full speed down through the center tunnel. Jack and John tore off after him...

Sayid called out several times but got no response. He was running at full speed down the tunnel for about ten minutes, following Jack and John's footprints. He too noticed the writing on the wall and had stopped once, only briefly, to observe it. He spotted his native language on the wall, Iraqi, and read the six numbers out loud. He noticed that each section of the wall was dedicated to a different language. There had to be at least one hundred languages so far.

As his eyes traveled down the wall dedicated to the Iraqi language, he noticed a different message. It said 'Forbidden'. This made Sayid very uneasy. Few things scared him but for some reason this got to the very base of his spine. He resumed running until something else a few more yards into the tunnel grabbed his attention. There were sets of paw prints everywhere. From what he knew, they looked like canine tracks.

"Vincent?" he whispered to himself.

"Jack! John!" He yelled and waited. Still with no response, he continued his search at top speed.

Back at the Beach...

Michael decided that he would take a walk. He wandered the island hoping to find Walt but his mind kept telling him to give up his search. His heart, however, would not let him forget. He soon could not hear the commotion on the beach anymore and he found himself deep inside the jungle. There was no particular purpose to his wanderings but he just couldn't stop.

But something did make him stop. He heard a noise in front of him, just out of sight.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Michael?" Shannon's voice called out. She sounded very out of breath.

"Yeah, it's me," he said.

"Oh. I'm so glad...I found somebody," she wheezed.

"Whoa, calm down," Michael said. "Take a breath."

"No. I can't."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Vincent...I lost him...I couldn't find him."

"Well that's ok he's probably fine."

"No," Shannon said as loud as she could over her own wheezing. "I found his tracks...I followed them to a tunnel..."

"A tunnel?" Michael asked, perplexed.

"Yes...a tunnel we've never seen before...Vincent went in there...I'm sure of it."

"All right then let's just go find him," Michael said starting off in the direction she had come from.

"Wait!" Shannon said suddenly.

"What is it?"

She took a huge calming gulp of air that slowed her breathing slightly. "We have to be careful," she warned. "There were human footprints leading into it also."

Inside the Hatch...

Jack and John were very close to the noise. It sounded as if they were right upon it and there was a very dim light up ahead of them that was gradually becoming brighter. It wasn't the bright glow of daylight but rather the very soft glow of candlelight. Vincent hadn't slowed once since he came to the fork in the tunnel. Jack was very happy to realize that that fork had been the only one. The walls were still smeared with stains and the writing they saw much earlier hadn't returned.

As they got close enough to the light that the flashlights they carried were no longer needed, Vincent came to a complete stop and let out a very low growl that was almost inaudible. John reached into his back pocket and took out his gun, Jack followed suit. Vincent began to inch forward slightly, still growling softly. Jack's heart was racing. There was an archway about a foot away from them on the left wall of the tunnel. This was the place that the light was coming from.

As they moved slowly in front of the archway, a horrible smell that was far worse than when they first entered the tunnel met their noses. It smelled of human decay. In normal circumstances, Jack would have cursed and covered his nose upon the first whiff, he even may have vomited, but the tension that he felt at the moment demanded his full attention and he could hardly even breathe.

Vincent's growl had gotten louder and he was staring over into the dark corner of the small room they had entered. Jack heard a rustling noise and suddenly, just as if the ceiling had been split open to reveal the bright sunlight, the room lit up to reveal five men, some armed, some very big in size. They were gathered around something or someone in the corner, and as one of the men moved allowing the light to shine through, Jack discovered Walt, wide-eyed and tied to a chair.