Chapter 3

The afternoon sun was high and hot. The temperature rose another ten degrees and the humidity was unbearable. It was the cool sea breeze that kept the line of survivors going. They kept close to the water, leaving their prints deep in the wet sand. The Nigerian led the line with Ana Lucia close behind. Jin, Roger and Gibb were behind them. Michael and Libby walked side by side with Sawyer not far behind and Valerie bringing up the rear. Faint conversations could be heard from Michael and Libby, Ana and the Nigerian, and Roger trying to make some sense out of Jin's Korean.

Only groans were coming from Sawyer while he kept rubbing the bullet wound. Had it become infected? It burned more than ever and he couldn't figure out why. All he knew was that rubbing it made it feel better and so he kept at it.

Valerie had been watching Sawyer the entire time. There was something about him that seemed so familiar, but she could not place her finger on it. She knew the instant she learned his name. Sawyer was a name common to her ears. It was not a name she liked to hear for it was the cause of a death of someone she loved. Every time she saw him rub his shoulder she wanted to know more about it. And for the past twenty minutes she chickened out.

Sawyer sighed and looked up towards the sky. The sun beamed on his face and he knew by the time they reached camp he would be a burnt turkey. Whatever, he thought. He was used to it. How he wished the sunscreen they took on the raft wasn't blown up. When the wound no longer burned he let his arm fall to the side. Then suddenly he saw someone standing beside him.

Peeking over he saw Valerie had caught up to him. He figured she would just keep walking on, but instead she looked at his arm with interested eyes.

"What happened?" she said nodding towards the wound.

"What?" Sawyer heard her the first time, but he wanted to hear her speak again.

"What happened to your arm?"

"What does it look like? I got shot."

Valerie nodded and looked away for a second. Duh, she thought. Sawyer was just like her. Almost every remark was full of sarcasm. Turning back towards him she replied, "I see that. Did you shoot yourself? Tried to end the pain and realization that no one was coming?"

Now Sawyer looked away. He rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe she thought he tried to kill himself. He was not that depressed to be stranded on an island with a bunch of strangers who are nothing like him to make him want to kill himself.

"No," he said rudely. "I got shot by the gang who took Mike's kid."

"Oh," Valerie responded before breaking out into a fit of giggles.

"What?" Sawyer said even more rudely than before.

"I was just thinking that if you did try to kill yourself you have pretty poor aim," she replied still laughing.

"Ha ha," he said mockingly. "How do you that in the real world I am not a mass murderer whose specialties happen to be guns? Did that ever occur to you?"

"How do you know I'm not?"

After she spoke the two of them just stared blankly at one another. Both their minds were reeling with questions about the other, wondering exactly who they were in the "real" world. Neither of them knew that the other had previously fired a gun before this and that both were driven by revenge. All they knew was that they both spoke in the same language. A language only people like themselves could understand.

Valerie watched while the officer pulled back the white sheet. Underneath was the body of her beloved father. He laid there, cold and pale, his life taken from him long before it's due. Valerie always imagined her father dying peacefully in his bed, but instead he died a painful death. His eyes were still open and they seemed to be burning a hole through her.

"Is this your father?" the officer asked holding the sheet a little higher to expose the man's naked body.

Valerie was at a loss for words. She slowly nodded her head, which killed her to do. She never imagined the day she would be doing something she saw so often in the movies. Her mother had sent her to identify the body. Her mother's heart was already broken and doing this would have killed her. So Valerie had booked the first flight to Sydney and arrived that morning. Making a call to the police she soon found herself staring at the corpse of her father. Moving her eyes from his face, the officer began pulling the sheet back over him. Then she noticed something.

A bullet wound on her father's chest. Is this how he died? Was he robbed? Caught in a shoot out? Now words were filling in her head and were soon coming out her mouth.

"How'd he die?"

"Oh, someone found him in the morning, struck down by a bullet," the officer read from his notes. "All the money in his truck was still there and his wallet wasn't taken."

"So you've ruled out robbery?"

"Uh, yes, we have."

"That wound was directly at the heart. This person knew where to aim."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm studying to be a doctor."

"Are you considering your father was killed out of revenge?"

"I don't know. I don't know who would want to kill him? He hasn't done anything."

"Well, sometimes people have secrets they keep hidden from even their families."

The officer thanked Valerie for coming and left the room. Valerie looked at the sheet. The officer's words would not leave her head. Perhaps her father did keep secrets from her. But what kind of secret would cause the death of him? Finding his hand beneath the sheet, Valerie vowed to find out the truth. She vowed to find her father's murderer and bring him to justice.

Valerie had slowed down that she was now back in the rear. She hadn't realized they were now tracking through the jungle instead of the shore. Many times during the day she would think of her father and her promise to him. And this crash was only delaying justice. Valerie thought more about her father until she found herself frozen in place.

Faint whispering rang through her ears. Whispers that were all too familiar. Looking around, Valerie knew what was coming. She was not alone. The Nigerian had heard them as well. He stopped causing the line to follow suit. Michael asked what was wrong and the response was a quick and quiet, "Hide."

The Nigerian and Ana Lucia quickly ducked behind a large bush while Roger and Gibb pushed Jin behind the large tree opposite them. Libby and Michael buried themselves beneath another bush and Valerie grabbed Sawyer, pulling him behind another tree.

"What the," Sawyer said but was quickly silenced by Valerie's hand on his mouth. It wasn't long before they heard the snapping of twigs coming from the distance.

The whispers had faded, but as the Nigerian, Ana, Libby, and Michael lay on the ground they saw several feet walk slowly by. Roger, Gibb, Jin, Valerie, and Sawyer carefully peeked around the trees to see the dirty and disgruntled faces of the "Others". As they walked by they mumbled, not making sense even to themselves. Suddenly one of them stopped and seemed to sense another presence. He looked around and his eyes seemed to fall on the tree hiding Valerie and Sawyer.

Sawyer had a fear that they had been spotted and quickly he placed his hands on Valerie's waist and pushed her further behind the tree. Accidentally tripping over a rock he fell forward pushing himself into Valerie and against the tree. The sudden jolt hurt, but Valerie was able to keep the groan quiet. All she felt now was Sawyer's body against hers. Their faces inches apart and they just stared into each other's eyes.

Finally, Sawyer peeked around the tree and saw that the man had continued on. Looking further he saw Libby trying forcefully to keep Michael on the ground. Sawyer knew that if she let Michael go he would go and do something stupid, maybe even get killed in the process.

It felt like hours had passed when the Nigerian slowly stood up. Everyone else came out from their hiding place. Looking in the direction the "Others" went, the Nigerian noticed that the sun was beginning to set. Turning to the group he said, "We'll camp here tonight." Everyone nodded and together gathered wood to make a fire.

The day was over quicker than it began. Sawyer was the last to wake up. When he did he noticed Jin surrounded by the others. Feeling as though he were in trouble, Sawyer leapt to his feet and pushed through the circle.

"Michael! Michael!" Jin kept shouting while pointing his finger in the same direction.

"What about Mike?" Sawyer asked trying to calm Jin down. "Where is he?"

"He ran off into the jungle first thing this morning," Libby explained and Sawyer knew that Michael had gone and done the stupid thing he was thinking about the day before.