HEY! Thanks for you reviews!

This chapter has a bit of the Hunting Party in it, do be warned!

And I apologise for any mistakes or anything that seems out of place – but it will all get cleared up I PROMISE!

Charli92- thanx! I did take ur review as five – plus my own inability to resist to update! Lolz

Thanx to everyone else! I will update Love Bites too soooooon!

xXx Tiana

'Are we actually followin' a trail, or just trekkin' Doc?'

Jack was focusing on getting to Michael as much as he could, but wit sawyer right behind him, it wasn't so easy. Jack rolled is eyes and, for like the millionth time that week, he resisted the urge to hit him. Or shoot him with the gun in his hand,

'Why do you ask, James?' Locke replied from ahead. He turned to look over his shoulder to see his reaction at him using Sawyer's real name.

'Whad'ya call me Sarge?' Sawyer asked, now speeding up to over take Jack so that he could be beside Locke. The smirk on Jack's face was enough to make Sawyer want to punch him but he resisted that urge too.

'James. That's your name isn't it?' when Sawyer didn't reply, instead he had scowled, Locke continued. 'Does any of this look familiar to you?'

'Yeah. There's my favourite leaf, how could I forget? Hell no! The place is a jungle for God's sake!'

'Hm. Well, I think this is right.'

'Whoa. Wait. You think?' Jack asked, coming up so that the three men were now in a line.

'Well, the rain washed away most of the footsteps and such of a trial. But the disturbance to the trees and grass should be enough. And that's what we are following.'

Jack nodded. He had to admit, that was the best that they could do. Well, we wouldn't have to do this if Michael hadn't gone AWOL! But Jack replaced his anger with the thought that the poor guy was probably going mad with the thought of his son with Them.

As the three of them continued, the day seemed to draw on and on. Every now and again, they would talk, mention this and that. But none of it was helpful in the situation that they were in right now.

Suddenly, Sawyer started to sway. As soon as he did, he stood up straight again, and continued to walk on, pretending that nothing had happened. But Jack wasn't fooled. He caught up with him.

'Hey. You alright?' Jack asked, whispering a bit, so that Locke couldn't hear.

'Fine.' Was all that Sawyer said.

'You sure? Wanna take a break?' Jack was genuinely concerned. If he were back in America, then he would still be in hospital. If he were back in America, then he wouldn't have been shot in the first place!

Sawyer shook his head.

'Nah. I'm good. Anyways, ain't got my nurse here, have I?'

Jack felt a pang of jealousy that he had just bought up Kate. But he was glad that she wasn't there. Jack smirked.

'What?'

'Nothing.' Jack replied solemnly.

'You know, she looked pretty pissed off that she couldn't come. I'm surprised that she didn't follow us. If she were mine, then I sure would've let her come.'

Jack contemplated what he had just said. How could he put the life of the one he loves at risk like this? But he came back to one answer, and one answer only.

'But she's not yours Sawyer.' With this, Jack walked ahead, smiling inside that it was true.

After that, the only time that they talked was when they had to decide which way to go.

As the sun began to set, the three of them started to wonder whether they should set up camp, or keep going. This question was, however, answered when Locke came upon a tree.

'Look here. This has been disturbed very recently.'

'So we're on the right track then?' Sawyer asked.

Locke nodded and carried on.

After what seemed like two seconds, the sound of gunshots rang through the jungle. The three of them stood still as seven shots were made. Then, as soon as it had came, the noise died.

'Where did that come from?' Sawyer whispered angrily as Jack queried to Locke,

'Michael?'

Locke shook his head.

'I dunno. But it was close. Really close. C'mon I think we're close.' With this Locke led the way, all three men running faster than they had ran all day.

When Locke stopped abruptly, the other two were amazed to see the scene before them. There was a clearing in the bushes. In the middle was a space where a fire would have been burning if it weren't so deserted. The dark sky had finally came, but none of them had noticed much.

Jack pushed his way to get a better view, like a child in the classroom at show and tell. Before he could pass through the bushes, Locke grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back.

'Jack! What are you doing? I think we have to think this through.'

Jack was startled. He was taken aback by the clearing in front of him, as it sowed life of The Others probably living there recently. And Locke's voice brought him back.

'Why? It's clear ain't it? And it doesn't look like anyone's been here for a while now.'

'Why? Let's see, Sherlock. Maybe cos this is where the shots came from, and cos it looks like hell!' Sawyer whispered harshly.

Jack had to agree, for once. It did look like hell. He looked back between Locke and Sawyer, and sighed. They walked back a couple of metres, so that they could talk quietly.

'What do you propose we do?' Jack asked, mainly directed at Locke. He had had enough of Sawyer's quips, and agreeing with him once today was enough for him.

But before any of them could say another word, another gunshot was heard. This time, the bullet flew right bedside them, and hit the tree next to Locke.

'Come out, or it'll be something else next time!' A rough voice yelled.

'Well, looks like we're wanted guys.' Sawyer whispered, walking first to where the shot had came from, gun ready. The other two followed him, following suite.

They came to the clearing once again. But this time, there was a man standing on the other side. He looked rough, like he were a fisherman, and had a leader type impression about him. Jack noticed blood on him, but he tired hard to look straight into his eyes.

'Why are you here?' the man asked.

Before Jack could think of anything to say that would make the situation seem less threatening, as if that was possible, Locke came forward and spoke.

'We are just looking for our friend. That's all.'

The man looked at him for a moment as if he were mad. And then he snorted and smirked.

'Then why are you here?'

'Hey! I know you. You're the one who shot me, you bastard!' Sawyer yelled out before the other two could stop him. If they were in trouble before, they were dead now.

Sawyer had raised his gun up at him. But another shot had came and hit Sawyer. Or so Jack had thought. The bullet had skimmed his neck and just left a trail of blood. Jack sighed a sigh of relief.

'Son of a bitch!' Sawyer yelled. Jack took the event as a warning. But he had to get to the bottom of this. And Sawyer wasn't helping. If he wanted to get Michael back, then he would have to take this situation into his own hands.

'What do you want from us?' he asked.

The man didn't look taken aback by this. In fact, he hadn't changed a bit. But Jack couldn't really tell, as the only light source was from the fire torch that he held.

'What do I want?' he mocked. 'What we want is for you to leave. That's it.' The man finished as if that was the simplest thing to expect.

'Sorry, but no. We are here looking for someone, and we are not going to leave because you tell us to.' Jack snapped back, somewhat tiredly. If this man would just leave us alone, we would be close to getting Michael back!

'Well, I'm not asking you. If you leave now, we will forget his ever happened. Stay on your side of the island, and we'll never have to se each other again. If your friend has wondered over here, ten I'm sure it'll be taken care off.' The tone of his voice made the other three uncomfortable.

'Taken care off? What's that supposed to mean Zeke?' Sawyer asked. He was scared as hell, but he would die before he let anyone else know. Therefore he was glad that his voice was steady.

The man laughed. Not a nice laugh; but a dry, nasty, almost evil, laugh. It made the other three cringe.

'What do you think? You think that just cos you've crashed here; you can take over the whole place. We were here first, and we will be here long after.' These words hung in the air long after they were said. The silence that followed stretched until the other man broke it. He clapped his hands and fire torches all around them came on as if by magic.

'Last chance, Jack. Take your men and leave, or…' the man left the sentence hanging.

'Or what?' Locke said. His voice was almost as bad as the other one's, but not so harsh.

'Let's hope it doesn't come to that.' He smirked.

'No. Look, we came to get our friend, and that's what we're gonna do. There are three of us, and one of you. Two maybe. So just let us pass by, and that is it, ok?' Jack said, anger now rising in him like fire burning.

The man's faced turned in anger. It was the first time any of them had seen any kind of pure emotion on his face, and it wasn't a good sight.

'No. You do not get to call the shots. Go, or face the consequences.'

Locke shifted on his feet. Jack turned to look at him, knowing what he wanted to do. He wants to blot. He turned to face Sawyer and saw that, to his relief, was not moving on bit, but facing the man he called Zeke in the face. When none of them made any other sign of going, he sighed and carried on.

'I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this. She would have been a great leverage later on. But never mind.' He looked to the right with a quick glance. 'Give her to me!'

A girl was dragged to him. When she was let go, Zeke grabbed her hands, which were tied behind her, and took off the bag covering her face. Her eyes were blindfolded, and her mouth taped. It took them a couple of seconds to register the information, but when it did, they all came up with the same thing.

Kate.

Yeah I know – boring? Please say no!

I know it's a lot like the Hunting Party, but without it, my story wouldn't make sense!

I'll update tomorrow again, if I can, hopefully you'll be interested…

Please review!

xXx Tiana