Kate and Jack didn't know it but as they fell asleep against the wall, the sun was rising over the ocean. The trees were wet with the dew of a rain that had fallen gently during the night. On one side of the island, people were emerging from their tents and preparing fires to make breakfast. On the other side, Sawyer lay in a semi-catatonic coma while Jack and Kate slept uncomfortably side by side, leaning against one another.

The door banged open and Jack jumped up, his eyes blurry.

"Let's go."

Someone grabbed his arm and started pulling him away as he tried to wake himself up. He looked back and could see Kate sitting against the wall, her eyes wide with fright.

"Where are we going?" Jack asked as he was yanked along the long hallway by one of Tom's servants.

"We have another job for you," said the man, pushing Jack ahead into the room he'd gotten the scrubs on in. "It's a complicated one."

"More surgery?" said Jack, still half-asleep.

"HEY!"

They had just closed the door when someone pushed it open and poked their head in.

"The woman! Something happened!"

Jack didn't even look at the man before heading for the door. He swung open the door and went barreling down the hallway past the man who had called into the room. He stopped outside their cell and pushed open the door to find Tom bending over Kate who lay motionless on the floor.

"She fainted or something," Tom said, standing up.

"Get away from her," Jack snapped, bending beside her.

The door to the cell closed and Jack looked up. It was only Tom and his servant in there. Looking at Kate he turned her over and felt her pulse, all the while keeping an eye on Tom who was directly behind him.

"I need help moving her," Jack said to Tom, who bent to help.

With a sharp elbow, Jack jabbed Tom in the face feeling his nose crack as he stumbled back, fumbling for his gun. But Jack caught the strap before Tom fell and ripped it away from him, twisting Tom's arm in the meantime. Tom hit the wall and fell to his bottom, holding his bleeding nose.

"DON'T MOVE!" shouted the other guard who held only a club.

Turning around, Jack shot him. The bullet hit the man in the chest and he looked down at the small dot of blood before stumbling backwards and finally falling to his side, not moving.

"Jack!"

Kate sat up. She looked wildly from the dead man to Tom, who was partially unconscious as blood continued to pour from his nose. She couldn't believe Jack had just killed a man.

"Come on!" Jack grasped her and yanked her up. He seized the dead man's club and handed it to Kate. As they reached the door, which had been propped open with a stone, he looked back at Tom.

"Now you'll know how it feels to be locked up."

Sliding out into the hallway Jack looked up and down. There was no one. Kate stood closely behind him, watching Tom with wary eyes through the crack in the door that they had not let close yet. He was barely conscious, moaning as he slid further and further to one side. Blood soaked the collar of his shirt.

"Jack, what if Sawyer…"

"He's dead," Jack snapped, turning to face Kate. In his heart he somehow wanted to believe Sawyer was alive but the only chance of getting Kate out without a struggle was to tell her what she didn't want to hear. He knew he was sacrificing Sawyer for Kate but he had made the choice. "If we want to live we have to leave."

"Why is there no one in the hall?" she whispered as they slid out, letting the door close behind them.

Jack didn't speak and slowly slid out and along the wall towards the other end, opposite where he'd gone in to get ready for surgery. They started at a walk, Jack holding the large shotgun awkwardly as they hurried. But then Kate started to run so Jack followed suit.

They ran as quietly as they could and reached the end which split into two halls that went terribly far in both directions.

"No signs," Jack cursed.

"What do you expect? A sign pointing to the exit?" she asked.

"Kate."

Jack had slowly turned and saw the man walking up the hallway towards them. He grabbed Kate and yanked her behind him. Raising the gun, Jack shouted a warning.

"Don't come any closer!" he shouted. "I'll shoot!"

But the man had no gun on him as he strode quickly towards them. Kate was breathing heavily. Jack raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

The man ducked in time but there was a second gunshot and Kate fell hard against Jack, and then to the floor.

"No," Jack saw she had been hit in the upper arm and it was deep. He bent beside her and grasped it, putting his hands on top of hers to stop the bleeding. Looking back down the way they'd come, he saw two people with rifles striding towards them from the other way. Kate was breathing heavily, holding her arm and clenching her teeth. She knew this was it, they'd kill them.

"You missed," snapped one of them, shoving the other as they finally reached them and turned their guns on them.

Jack remained kneeling beside Kate, his gun raised and pointing at them both.

"Put it down or we'll shoot her. There's two of us, whichever one you don't hit will shoot her," snapped the one who had shot Kate.

Jack had no choice. Slowly he lowered it, and placed it on the ground. He looked down at Kate's arm and applied more pressure to hers but blood was flowing through his hands.

Then he was hit with the butt of a gun and knocked out.

………………….

Robert was alive, lying on the sand looking around in pain. Penny looked down and saw his leg was broken very obviously because there was bone sticking through the skin. She held down her nausea as she raised his head.

"Can you hear me?" she pleaded, laying his head down on her lap. "Robert?"

"Penny," he coughed and she saw blood in his mouth. He was more banged up than it seemed. "Penny."

"It's me," she began to sob. Tears streamed down her face. Robert was all she had left, everyone else was dead. "Please stay with me."

"I wouldn't leave for the world," he said, still in his official tone. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," she looked up and down the deserted beach. "But we can't stay here we need to get off this beach."

"Dear, maybe we can find some help," he looked delirious as he spoke, his head sweating. She could see the blood on his leg and knew the pain had to be excruciating. But then she saw it. There was blood soaking the sand behind his head. With her hand she felt the back of his head and felt the gash, and how deep it was. "Maybe a lifeguard."

"There are none," she cried harder, laying his head back down on the sand. "I'm sorry."

"Did you see the sharks?" Robert asked, looking sadly at her. "They were beautiful."

She remembered them, and had also seen them dead.

"Why did he shoot me?" said Robert shaking his head and sighing as though having a conversation. "What did I do?"

"Who shot you?" she asked through her tears, playing along knowing he had no time left. "Dear, who shot you?"

"Michael," Robert coughed and blood spewed from his mouth. "Oh dear, why did he?"

Penny didn't know a Michael. She just sat there, watching the only other living person here with her slowly die. The sun was beginning to set low in the sky as she sat beside him listening to him babble on about stocks and bonds. He was gone, talking about things that had happened thirty years ago. As the sun reached the horizon and colored the sky pink and orange, Penny looked down and saw Robert wasn't moving much anymore.

"You should have pressed it," he whispered, his breath shallow. Blood was at the corners of his mouth and streamed down his cheeks towards his ears. "Why didn't you press the goddamn button?"

"I'm sorry," Penny cried. She cried for Robert because she had made him come on this trip. She hadn't wanted him to die like this, smashing his body on rocks. It wasn't fair and it wasn't right. She could see his chest had stopped moving up and down and his eyes had turned glossy, staring up at the now twilight sky.

"Shannon…."

Robert died there on the beach as Penny sat over him. She had known him for years, but had only gotten closer to him after asking him to help her find Desmond. She wondered what his wife would say. She knew he had kids, and that they were in college.

Why didn't I die, Penny asked herself? Everyone else did, what made her so special that she could live through something like that?

For a long time after dark she sat beside Robert crying. She wanted to go home, she missed her daughter and wanted to go home.

Then slowly she rose and started walking.

…………………………….

"What is that?" John asked Sayid who had looked up at the sound of the rumbling.

"No," Sayid leapt out of the bathroom and hopped into the hole. He peered down it, saw the shape of Desmond huddled at the end and knew it hadn't collapsed. But the slight rumbling continued and the puddles on the bottom of the tunnel quivered.

"Desmond is down here," Sayid said breathlessly, climbing back out. "He's disoriented. I think the blast may have effected him."

John was looking strangely at Sayid as though he'd never seen him before. Charlie noticed this too and looked from John to Sayid.

"You okay, John?" Charlie asked.

"I think I hit my head," John put a hand to his baldhead. "I'm okay."

"Charlie, I need you to find some kind of blanket. If we can string it between us and put Locke on it, he can help move with his arms and we can pull him through the tunnel," Sayid stood, ready to get started but Charlie didn't move.

"I don't feel well," Charlie held his stomach.

"What is going on?" Sayid asked.

"IT HAPPENED!"

They all turned to the doorway. In it stood Desmond, his hands red with burns and his face pale and almost ghostly. His eyes were wide and he looked as though he'd gone crazy.

"The world has ended!" Desmond shouted into the bathroom at them, raising his scolded hands to them. "It's over!"

"Okay then," Charlie shook his head, still holding his stomach. He stood and looked at Sayid a bit weakly. "A blanket? Anything else?"

"If you can find some steel rods. You might be able to take them from the ping pong table," Sayid looked down at John.

"Is this the end of the hatch?" John asked a bit sadly.

"I think so," Sayid turned away.

John had found this hatch with Boone, he had dug it up with him and then failed to open it. Boone had died because of this hatch, and now after so long they couldn't use it? It's damaged yes but it's also a shelter. John knew that if they could dig most of it out it'd be fine.

What was he thinking? John couldn't walk anymore. He reminded himself of that. Somehow he wouldn't let himself get upset about it. He'd lived so many years that way, why should t change now?

Because it wasn't meant to, his mind reciprocated. It wasn't meant to change back. The island had cured him and now it was taking it back. It made no sense and it scared John to know that someone had that power.

Sayid moved Desmond to the couch and was able to get him to sit. Desmond had gone crazy, and was babbling about the button. He asked who was on shift and how long it had been.

"I want to go to those DHARMA bastards and just give them all a hello!" Desmond was bellowing as Sayid and Charlie tried to rope together a harness. "Maybe with a big bomb!"

"I think we've accomplished that," Charlie panted.

"Charlie, he's gone mad. Don't antagonize him," Sayid ordered.

"Oh," said a voice behind them.

They turned and were shocked to see Sun standing in the hole to the tunnel.

……………………….

Sawyer finally awoke. He knew he'd been asleep almost an entire day. Many of the bodies around him had changed, and others were there, looking just as sickly and pale as he was. The pain had lessened, because Alex had given him a painkiller. Her remembered waking up for less than two minutes and then going back. When he was out, he dreamt about home, and food and different kinds of cuisine's.

When he was awake all he heard was the screaming. People screamed in agony all the time and unless he was in pain himself Sawyer couldn't block it out. He knew they would try to escape and fail, it was just like the doc to do that. But why leave him behind, because he's injured?

Alex opened the door and came in while Sawyer was awake. She saw this and hurried over, bending.

"Don't panic. But your friends tried to escape."

Sawyer's stomach fell.

"They caught them. The woman, Kate, she got shot but only in the arm. They're….they're roughing up Jack pretty bad but they're mainly targeting the woman because Jack will do anything…."

"Is Kate okay?" Sawyer demanded.

"Yes. I think they're helping her right now," Alex looked up.

Sawyer gripped her arm tightly and Alex looked down in shock.

"Tell them I'm alive," he ordered, his heart pounding. Every strong pulse of blood sent pain waves through his body. "Please."

"I can't," she tried to pull from his grasp.

He let go, too weak to speak anymore. As she stood, ready to go, she remembered something and bent beside him, whispering.

"I already did."

As she stood to leave, Sawyer knew that someone had been listening and had she told him that she had, she'd be in trouble. As Sawyer drifted off the sleep he felt the familiar feelings of gratitude in his mind before dropping off.