Charlie had hesitated on his return to the beach. He couldn't bring himself to face Claire, he couldn't even look at her without feeling ashamed but he had to go back. He drifted back towards the beach at a record slow pace, dragging his feet and weaving in and out of every tree. He had stopped a few times to ask himself if he'd rather go back to the caves but he decided not to.
He had buried the drugs. It took him forever to do it since he would dig them back up every couple of seconds. He finally told himself to do it and run and he did. As soon as the drugs were out of his sight he took off without even a single look back. He was overwhelmingly proud of himself for not taking the drugs. He owed his strength to Claire. If it weren't for her then he would probably be high right now. Kicking back against a tree, lying in the shade, feeling nothing but elation and not having a care in the world.
He was proud but he was also disappointed. He had lost Claire. He was sure she would never speak to him again, whether he was clean or not. He had lost her trust over a drug and he didn't even get to take the hit. He had screwed up. Living on this island was absolutely in no way different from being back at home. He was still one big screw up and he hated himself for it. He had finally found someone to give him purpose, to give him strength, and he threw it all away for, as Claire said, "a damn fix".
He could hear the water washing up on the surf now. He was close. For a second he felt like he would stay here, just out of sight and admire Claire from afar, that is until he heard his name.
"Charlie!"
It was Kate. She was running over to him at a rather fast pace.
"Charlie," Kate asked as she finally reached him, "Hurley's missing. We need people to go looking for him. Are you in?"
Charlie thought for a moment and then looked over at Claire. She was sitting near the water, cradling a sleeping Aaron when she looked up and their eyes met for a brief second. Charlie could see the disappointment on her face and it made him feel horrible. As she diverted her gaze from his, Kate spoke again.
"Are you in?"
"Yeah," he said, "I'll go."
>>>
"Ok," John said to the very small group of people. "We're going to start the search at the hatch, then we're going to spread out into groups. Each group will search in their designated direction until the sun is no longer visible over the horizon. That means that if you can't see the sun, turn back, even if it is still light. If someone finds Hurley, they should stay where they are. When everyone else comes back to the starting point, we'll see that you're missing and we will set off in whatever direction that person went. Any questions?"
The small group consisted of John, Kate, Charlie, Jack (Kate had argued for him to stay behind because of his leg but Jack ignored her), and Jin. Sun was standing next to Jin only for the purpose of translating what John said to him. After the group had contemplated their mission, a couple of hands rose.
"What happens if we run into trouble?" Charlie asked.
"Same rules apply," John responded, "When we all get back to our starting point, we'll see who's missing and go look for them.
"How will we defend ourselves if we run into trouble?" Kate asked.
John thought about this for a moment. "I didn't really think we'd need these but if you think you need them that bad…"
He wandered off into the woods and came back with a silver suitcase. He fooled with the number lock on the suitcase and then opened it slowly as if savoring the experience. The group at once realized that it was the suitcase that held the hunting knives. Everyone was given one knife and John took the extra.
"Any more questions?" John asked.
Before anyone else could say a word, Shannon made her way over to the group. Everyone was silent as they waited for her to say something.
"I'll go with you all," she said sheepishly. "Hurley was always nice to me and, besides, Boone would have wanted me to go."
When she had mentioned Boone's name she looked over at John and held her gaze. It wasn't a pleasant stare but it wasn't completely hateful either. It was almost as if it could be determined as either/or depending if one was a pessimist or an optimist.
"Ok," Jack said with a smile, "Thanks. We need all the help we can get."
Shannon smiled back at Jack. She heard from someone of how hard Jack had worked to save Boone's life and she was forever grateful to him.
"So," John said, "Let's break up into groups. Jin, Charlie. You two will go eastward…"
"Why do I have to go with the one person who doesn't speak a word of bloody English?" Charlie asked dramatically. Sun, who was still translating for Jin, hit Charlie in the arm. John went on.
"Kate and Jack will go west, Shannon and I…"
"No," Shannon said, suddenly. "I'd rather go with someone else."
John stared at her for the longest time and Shannon stared back. This time Shannon's eyes were somewhat hateful. John didn't appear to be angry. He looked more frustrated than angry. It also looked as if he was deeply ashamed and it showed more as he lowered his head to think of a response.
"Fine," he said slowly as if trying to keep calm, "Who would you like to go with?"
Shannon considered this as she stared at John but it only took her a few seconds to decide. "Jack," she said.
"Ok," John said, "Kate. Looks like you're going northbound with me."
As they headed towards the direction of the Hatch, Charlie cast one look back and his eyes landed upon Claire. She was watching him leave. She wasn't smiling or waving. Just watching. Somewhere deep down she still cared for Charlie and he knew this. This gave him courage. He would have to make up with her in some way when he returned. For now, he gave her a small smile that she did not return, but he could have sworn that the baby she was holding did.
Back at the beach…Sayid had elected to stay at the beach for two purposes. For one, he was the guardian. The other reason was to interrogate their prisoner. Maybe this mysterious man would have some answers to the questions that have been on everyone's minds. Sayid was becoming sick to his stomach whenever he did something here that was reminiscent of his old occupation and he felt that wherever he ended up in life, he would always maintain these habits. He promised himself that he would try to hang on as long as he could without having to torture the man.
The man was tied up to a part of the plane wreckage that was far from the group of survivors on the beach. Nobody would know that he was there unless they came over or if they noticed how frequently Sayid was there. Sayid tried to look inconspicuous as he slowly made his way over. The man was sitting with his arms tied up high and his head lolling to one side. His legs were spread out to the same position that Sayid had left him in when they arrived. He was still bleeding from the bullet wound that Michael had given him but he seemed to not notice it. When Sayid came into view, the man picked his head up and stared at him with burning hate.
Sayid lowered himself to his level and spoke to him in a tone similar to what he would use when speaking to a friend.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The man didn't speak. He only continued to stare.
"Who are you?" Sayid asked again, this time his voice was a little harder.
Nothing.
"If you do not choose to cooperate with me then you will be forcing me to take more extreme measures," Sayid said.
The man was like a statue. He had not taken his eyes off of Sayid and the same hate burned within them like a torch that refused to go out.
Sayid stood up, thinking hard. He did not want to torture this man. He knew in his mind that even if he did torture him he would not talk. It seemed as if he had been on this island forever and if this was true then he had probably endured much worse than what Sayid could provide.
The man seemed to be studying his every move. Watching the way he acted in hopes of catching any weakness or flaw. Sayid didn't like the way he was watching him so he stooped down to his level again. Sayid thought of a better way to get him to talk. He would use psychological methods to try and find his flaws and weaknesses.
"What are you searching for?" he asked. The man still didn't budge. He stared.
"Why did you choose the boy?" Sayid pressed on, determined to make him speak. He looked young under all of that facial hair. Maybe he would be easier to crack.
"Do you have a fascination with children?" Sayid breathed. "Were you not loved enough as a child?"
The man seemed to flinch slightly. The hate in his eyes seemed to change to fear but he still said nothing.
"Were you a horrible son? Did your mother reject you? What is it you are searching for?"
Sayid thought he saw the man's lip tremble. It could have just been because he was staring at him for so long.
"The island won't give you anything," Sayid said. "It never will. Not even for a sacrifice. It's hopeless so you might as well stop trying. You will never leave this island because nobody misses you. Nobody cares about you. You're just a lousy, no good screw-up who probably was dropped on this island by your own mother who didn't want you."
"Shut up!" The man screamed so suddenly that Sayid almost lost his balance. "I will get off this island! Just as soon as I get that little brat back!"
The man stopped and said nothing more. He went back to his slumped state and maintained his hateful watch on him. Sayid stood up to check if anyone had heard. No one. His legs felt weak and they wobbled slightly as he moved away from his hostage. He thought that this method would be easier than torture but he was very wrong. He couldn't believe some of the things that he said and he suddenly couldn't recognize himself. He was a monster. A monster who's job it was to break people down any way possible just for a few bits of information. He needed a drink. His throat was suddenly drier than the sand. As he made his way over to the caves to get fresh water, he considered going back to physical torture.
Westward…"How's your leg?" Shannon asked as she noticed that Jack was limping.
"It's fine," Jack said. It wasn't that bad to begin with. It'll heal quickly."
They had been traveling westward for about ten minutes since they had dispersed into their groups at the hatch. So far, there was no sign of Hurley, anyone one else, or any kind of struggle. There wasn't even any agitated plant life that would suggest any kind of disturbance.
By the looks of it, the sun would only stay visible for another hour. Jack made occasional scratches on certain trees to leave as markers for others to follow if they found Hurley first. He hoped that the others had thought of this too.
"So how long were you guys down there," Shannon asked.
"Huh?"
"In the hatch," she asked, "until Michael and I found you?"
"Oh. Only about an hour and a half."
"Did you find anything else before you found Walt?"
"Nope," Jack said. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her about all of the numbers engraved on the walls just yet. "Vincent found us. I doubt we would have found Walt in time if he hadn't been there."
Shannon smiled. "Well then I guess it wasn't all bad that I lost Vincent."
"Nope," Jack said, smiling back.
There was a brief silence between them as they continued their search. It wasn't awkward. It was almost foreboding.
"Hey Jack?" Shannon asked. Her voice had changed to a more serious tone.
"Yeah?"
"Did…did Boone ever…did he ever say anything about me before…you know…"
Jack stopped to look at her. She was diverting her gaze away from his. He knew that it was tough for her to talk about him at all.
Jack remembered the last moments before Boone died in which he tried to say something to him. It was something about telling Shannon something. Jack never found out what Boone had wanted him to tell her for he died before he could get all of the words out. Seeing as she was now staring at him hopefully, Jack said what he felt was right.
"Yeah, he did," he said slowly.
Shannon's eyes rimmed with tears. "What?" she asked.
Jack looked into her eyes to make it seem as realistic and sincere as possible. "He told me to tell you that he loved you, and he wanted you to stay strong."
Tears leaked down Shannon's cheeks but she didn't sob. She simply wiped them away and nodded as if that was exactly what she needed to hear. "Thanks, Jack," she said in a strong voice rather than a weeping one. "For everything you did for him."
Jack smiled as tears started to form in his eyes as well.
Eastward…"Over here!" Charlie shouted at Jin as he found something suspicious. Jin rushed over and knelt down next to Charlie.
"Look, I found something. It looks like a footprint."
Jin stared at the ground and saw what Charlie was staring at. He nodded and said something in Korean.
"Whatever," said Charlie. He got up and followed in the direction of the footprint. He was frustrated because he was stuck with the one person who couldn't talk to him. Every time Jin would talk Charlie would roll his eyes and sigh saying, "I can't understand you." Jin was probably saying the same thing when Charlie spoke.
Charlie could not keep his mind off of Claire. No matter what he saw out in the jungle he saw Claire. Not physically of course, but mentally. Jin would often try to get his attention but Charlie would ignore him and keep moving. Jin figured that he was ignoring him because he couldn't understand him, not because his mind was elsewhere.
"Charlie!" Jin suddenly shouted. Charlie whipped around fast as he heard the Korean man say something that he finally understood. He raced over to the tree that Jin was standing by and found what he had called him over for. A shoe was lying at the base of the tree. It was a familiar shoe that Charlie at once recognized to be Hurley's. He looked at Jin and pointed to the shoe. "That's Hurley's shoe!" he said excitedly.
Jin nodded. He understood.
CRASHCharlie and Jin whipped around to where the sound came from. It sounded like a tree had fallen over, a very large tree. Then the other sound came. The sound that was only associated with one thing. The monster.
Charlie's face turned white. Jin's eyes were as wide as they possibly could be.
Then they heard screams. Up until now they were staring towards the treetops looking for the monster, but now they were scanning the jungle floor for people. The bushes in the distance rustled and they heard several branches crack. Someone screamed again. It was a woman's scream. It sounded familiar.
The bushes once again rustled, only this time they were closer and the noise was louder.
Charlie and Jin were frozen. They both recognized that voice but they weren't sure if it was a trap or not. Just as the noise of the monster was heard again, two figures appeared out of the bushes and were charging towards them.
It was Kate and John. Kate was running full speed ahead without looking back. John was looking over his shoulder every few seconds but he still appeared alarmed.
"Run!" Kate shouted as she reached Jin and Charlie. As she and John passed them both, she shouted again.
"Hurry up and RUN!"
Back at the beach…Sawyer was bored. He was still sitting in the same spot with nothing to do. He had no books to read and even if he did have a good book he no longer had his glasses. He really didn't want to get another headache.
Sun was sitting next to him still making the same remedy for his shoulder. Sawyer was getting a little annoyed because she was constantly humming an unfamiliar song. He searched the horizon from where he sat, hoping to find something that sparked his interest. Something did.
Over in the distance he saw Sayid walking away from a piece of the wreckage. He had seen him walking over there earlier and he had to have spent at least fifteen minutes behind it. He was curious as to why he didn't go with the others to search for Hurley. Maybe something behind that piece of debris was more important.
He knew that Sayid was very similar to Jack. He was always trying to play the hero. Sawyer resented Sayid for torturing him and he doubted that he would ever like him.
Something was extremely suspicious about that piece of wreckage and it was bothering Sawyer. "Hey," he said to Sun. She looked up at him, slightly annoyed that he didn't use her name although it didn't show on her face. "Do you know if somebody's over there?" he asked, pointing to the old debris.
Sun looked towards where he pointed and shook her head. "No, I don't," she said truthfully.
Sawyer sighed. "I have to go get some more water," Sun said. Sawyer watched her get up and walk out of sight.
"Perfect," he said to himself. He had been thinking of an excuse to get up and away from there ever since the group had left to find Hurley. Sun made it easy for him and left by herself.
He stretched his legs and then put his good arm on the stump behind him. He pushed himself up slowly and heard several bones crack in relief. He had been sitting there so long that the pleasant stretching he felt from finally moving overpowered the pain that was surging through his arm.
As he got to his feet he swayed slightly. He felt slightly woozy but the hours he had sat there resting gave him enough strength to move about for a while. He started across the beach, slowly at first but gaining speed, and headed towards the old debris. He looked around for anyone spying on him and found no one. As he reached the wreckage and saw what was there, his heart started to pound.
The man tied up to the wreckage, the one who Sayid was talking to, was the man who had shot him. In the very quick moment in which Sawyer was shot, he had seen the face of the man who had pulled his gun on him. He had it permanently in his memory. A wide grin came over his face as he noticed the man's injury.
The man slowly looked up at his visitor. He was obviously expecting Sayid because as his eyes landed on Sawyer, they widened. He apparently remembered shooting him as well.
"Well, well, well," Sawyer said in his normal cocky tone. "Look how the tables have turned."
The man started to struggle to free himself but was unsuccessful. Sawyer smiled wider at the sight of fear in his eyes.
"It looks like fate favors me over you, asshole," Sawyer said, "because you're going to Hell."