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Dawn spent the next day silently thinking of what Angus had said. That this, here and now, was the land of the dead. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but couldn't helping thinking that some of the slayers would agree. When Faith and Willow came back, Dawn would be sure to run the idea by them and see what they thought.
So far Dawn had been ignoring the efforts of the rest of the group. A small bunch were apparently headed into the forest, hunting. The rest were gathering brush and wood to burn the rest of the bodies. She wasn't the only one who wasn't working. Shannon was tanning, ignoring everyone else, and Sayid had gone off on some strange secret mission. A shadow loomed over her and Dawn looked up to see Michael, Walt and Vincent who took her looking up as a sign that she needed her face washed. After Michael and Walt hauled the slobbering dog off of her, Michael smiled down at her.
"Hey, I'm headed into the woods with Locke, hunting. I was wondering if you'd watch my boy here." Michael asked, ruffling Walt's hair.
"I don't see why not." Dawn answered after a minute. "But why me?"
"Well I asked the Korean lady, but she didn't really seem to understand." Michael started, then stopped and sighed. "I figure you'll stay close to the others and you won't really be able to help with the gathering, so you'll have time on your hands." Without waiting for anything else, he turned to Walt and spoke sternly. "You be good for Dawn." And then Michael was walking away. Dawn looked at Walt, who was frowning.
"So what would you like to do?" Dawn asked.
"I wanna go hunting with my dad and Mr. Locke." Walk pouted, dropping to sit on the sand beside her.
"We'll I'm not up to really tramping through the woods, and I'm definitely not letting you play with any weapons," Dawn sighed and then gave the dog a look. "And Vincent isn't the best animal to take hunting, but..."
"But? But what?" Walt asked, looking excited.
"If we can get someone to dog sit, we can go set some snares." Dawn finished. "It's hunting the easy way."
"What do we need?" Walt asked excitedly, jumping back to his feet and spraying Dawn with sand.
"We need a dog sitter." Dawn said easily, climbing to her feet. "Let's go ask Claire." Walt started running across the sand, Vincent loping happily beside him, the pair spraying sand everywhere. Dawn snickered as Shannon was hit with sand, and then quickly looked away, so she wouldn't get the inevitable lecture. She followed boy and dog across the beach to where Claire was reclining in the shade supplied by a plane piece.
"Hey Claire." Dawn said, sitting next to the pregnant woman and peering at the piles of paper Claire was reading. "Dare I ask?"
"I guess I'm doing a memorial service." Claire sighed. "I asked Jack, but he didn't want to, and someone should say something. Why, what's up?"
"We need a dog sitter." Dawn admitted, with a wry grin. "But you seem pretty busy, so I can ask someone else." Claire took a moment to give Vincent a look, the dog was sprawled across her feet, panting happily.
"You know, I think I can handle it." Claire smiled up at Dawn and Walt. "What are you two planning?"
"We're gonna make snares." Walt announced happily. "Dawn knows how."
"Walt wanted to go hunting, but his dad saddled him with me," Dawn explained, "So I thought I'd teach him how to set a snare so he can catch some food too."
"I thought Faith was the survival expert?" Claire asked, her gaze dropping back to the papers.
"You live with one, you learn. Faith was a fan of booby trapping the backyard. Once you've taken part a trap more than 20 times, you can pretty much figure out how to put it together." Dawn shook her head banishing the memories. "We'll probably be gone for an hour or two. Good luck with the memorial thing." Dawn stood and headed for the shelter that Faith had claimed for them, a dome that had been part of one of the engines.
"What are we going over there for?" Walt asked. "I thought we were gonna make snares." Dawn smiled at him.
"I've got all the materials we need." Dawn said simply. They spent the next two hours setting snares, made of string and brushes. For the most part they set the traps around the area that had been designated the garbage dump. For the simple fact that the trash would attract animals.
Now they were staring up at a pineapple tree. Dawn could see several of the fruit, some that were green but a few that were ripe.
"How we gonna get them down?" Walt questioned. "We gonna shake the tree?"
"I think we are going to throw things." Dawn said firmly. "Because shaking the tree could cause a pineapple to hit one of us in the head. Which would really be bad."
"Would we die?" Walt asked. Dawn shook her head and looked around them. "What are we gonna throw?"
"Those dried out coconuts." Dawn said, pointing at a few brown husks that lay on the sand. She picked one up and hefted it. "They should do nicely." And they had done nicely, except for the fact that neither Dawn nor Walt could aim. They spent almost half an hour throwing the coconuts at the tree. For their troubles they had scared a tropical bird, and almost hit each other three times.
"I vote for giving up." Dawn said wearily. "I'm tired and hot and hungry and thirsty."
"But there's no food left." Walt whined "What are we gonna eat?"
"We'll see if anyone picked any fruit, and then if your dads not back, and we've had a rest, we'll go fishing." Dawn promised, heading back up the beach towards the camp.
There was fruit, and Michael wasn't back yet. They were headed off to find Jin when Vincent starts barking again. Instead of boars, Kate and Michael emerge form the woods, Kate half carrying Michael.
"Dad!" Walt cries and whips towards them, Dawn and the dog following along behind.
"So like what happened out there?" Hurley is asking when Dawn arrives.
"Your leg is all messed up. Does it hurt?" Walt asks.
"It's not that bad." Michael says through tight lips.
"Where's Locke?" Dawn asks. "Is he hurt too?"
"Mr. Crazy went off on his own after I got gored." Michael says with a shrug. "We don't know where he went."
"Let's get you down to the beach." Dawn orders, slipping under his other arm. "Walt, can you find Jack for us?" Walt is gone before she can finish saying the doctor's name, and Michael gives her an odd look.
"He shouldn't be taking off on his own." Michael snaps. Dawn doesn't reply, and aside from Kate and Sawyer bickering, the group is silent.
Time passes and Dawn find herself at the outer ring of a group of people. Claire is reading through a list of names and the tiny bits of information they had learned about each of them.
There was a long moment and Dawn realized that people were looking at her, as Claire, eyes red, picked up one last piece of paper.
"Joyce Anyanka Summers, who was much loved by her mother." Claire read, voice wavering. "And could have been so much." Dawn turned then, and walked away and kept walking, even as she heard the whoosh of fire from behind her. She walked until she tripped over something and fell to her knees. Then she just knelt, alone in the darkness with her back to the light.
End this part.