Michael and company go around the island in search of evidence of Walt
The second morning after he was found on the shore, Michael was determined to start the search for Walt. Sun and Jin had agreed all along to help, and Sayid welcomed the opportunity to complete the mapping of the island that had been interrupted by his discovery of Danielle and one of her traps. Michael hadn't forgotten about Vincent, who was officially in custody of Shannon.
Of course Shannon had known that a search would be imminent, and that Vincent's help would be requested. Her first inclination was to give the Labrador back to Michael and sincerely wish him luck. But during the previous night visions entered her dreams. First there was her promising Walt she would take care of Vincent while he was away; not give Vincent to anyone else, even if it was Walt's father. Then she alternately heard Boone calling her useless, and then challenging her to do something for the greater good. When she woke, she desperately wanted to shake her spoiled rich brat image, and show Boone that she was no longer going to be useless. Then there was the added bonus that Sayid would be coming along. That settled it: she was going for a hike, and would be holding Vincent's leash.
Claire naturally was nursing and taking care of Aaron, and Charlie was not about to leave her side for any length of time. Sawyer was still in no condition for any physical exertion, and might need Jack's care for some time. If Sawyer seemed okay, Jack might accompany Locke, Kate, and Hurley on a trip to the hatch, but Jack could not remain away from his patients for an extended period of time. The nameless castaways had heard of Arzt's death and Hurley's rantings about the hatch, and were none to eager to investigate that. Some of them returned to the beach camp, and others made small improvements to the cave dwellings, but there was always someone awake keeping watch in case the Others struck again.
The quintet packed enough supplies, food, and water to last more than a week. Michael had overconfidently packed all of his and Walt's clothes on the raft, not that there were that many of them, and borrowed a couple of old shirts from Jin. Sun hadn't shared Michael's optimism and saved plenty of Jin's things just in case. Surely Vincent recognized Walt's scent, but Michael located the backgammon set that Walt had handled within the past week to be sure. From Vincent's reaction there was no doubt he understood the mission. Sayid had gotten Jack's approval to carry one of the guns, and Locke lent the group a few of his knives.
Sayid led Michael, Jin, Sun, and Shannon with Vincent northeastward along the beach; the same route he had first embarked upon just about a month before. In half a day they encountered the cable Sayid, and later Hurley, discovered on their previous treks. One end led into the ocean. Some day they might build another sea craft and find out where that led. The other end, they now knew, led to one of Danielle's hideouts, but which was no longer in use. There had been no trace of anyone having been anywhere along the beach for weeks. After a quick lunch, the group continued northward along the island's perimeter. After an uneventful day, they made camp for the night shortly before sunset.
Following a simple dinner, the group went to bed in a makeshift tent made up of some pieces of wood and tarps. Michael lay awake, wondering what Walt was doing at that moment. The truth would have confounded him; the answer was that Walt was getting a back rub by the French woman's long lost daughter, while chained to a bed after his second day of hard labor in the mines. But Michael was a long way away from finding out the truth.
The group broke camp early the next morning, and continued northward along the eastern edge of the island. Again, nothing of interest was discovered. Sayid tried to cheer the group up by saying the maps he was constructing would prove very valuable in the future. Sun was trying to teach Jin English, and he was making some progress. It might have gone faster if there was more conversation among those more fluent in that language, but they were not in a particularly talkative mood.
The third day of the hike they encountered a difficulty. The nice sandy shore ended, and the coastline became a long series of jagged rocks. The region was getting mountainous; in fact the mountain Michael and Jin had seen from the raft now loomed ominously in front of them one kilometer distant. They made some attempts to continue, but the steep slopes and treacherous currents at the shore prevented them from making headway. They reluctantly agreed that they would need more serious mountain climbing equipment if they really wanted to go that route, or build yet another water craft to explore the north shore of the island. Thus they skirted the southern edge of the large mountain, and made camp inland for that night.
The fourth day brought them to the northwestern shore. Here the sandy beach returned, and following the shore was much easier. Still there was no sign of anyone having landed on the island there. Frustration was starting to set in amid the mapmaking and English lessons.
The team had started southward down the west edge of the island on the fifth day, when a torrential downpour hit in mid-morning. They had no option but to make shelter in their tent, and they had to hold on tight to keep it from blowing away. The words of Arzt echoed in their minds: they were at the beginning of monsoon season, and these storms would become more frequent and intense over the next few months.
The storm did not let up until the morning of the sixth day of the journey. As the group continued southward, suddenly Vincent started barking excitedly. Shannon had a hard time hanging onto his leash, but had wrapped it around her wrist so she managed to hang on. Soon Jin's sharp eyes spotted a familiar object: the yellow lifejacket Walt had been wearing when he was abducted.
Michael exclaimed, "Walt was here!" as the group rushed to examine the jacket. He couldn't contain his excitement at the discovery of the evidence that his son could be around here. Soon Vincent strained in another direction, dragging Shannon over to one of Walt's shoes. Michael confirmed the identity, and asked, "What went on here?" The group spread out to search this beach. Sun found a sock, and Sayid found the other shoe.
In his excitement, Michael optimistically announced, "My boy's a genius – he left us a trail!"
"It certainly would be an odd trail," thought Sayid cautiously, as he watched Vincent drag Shannon away from the beach and toward the jungle. This time Vincent had located some piece of material, roughly shaped like a rectangle.
"What?" Michael's enthusiasm waned as he reached Shannon and Vincent. "This looks like a piece of Walt's shorts. Whathappened here?"
Meanwhile Vincent led Shannon up a trail, with Sayid walking quickly in pursuit. Soon Shannon recognized a torn shirt that had an unmistakable horizontal stripe pattern – the shirt he had been wearing when he gave Vincent to her. "Look here!" she shouted, as she picked up the dirty piece of clothing. For some reason it didn't come up easily, and she had to give it a second tug.
"Nooo! Watch out!" shouted Sayid, not quite in time. He should have recognized the trap similar to the one Danielle had set up when he and Charlie momentarily thought they had found Aaron wrapped up in a blanket. A wire had been looped through a sleeve of the shirt, and connected high above to a tree branch loaded with rocks. Sayid sprinted at Shannon, who was startled enough to let go of Vincent's leash, but didn't comprehend Sayid's concern. While Vincent ran off just in time, Sayid tackled Shannon just as the shower of rocks descended upon her. Both of them got hit several times, but it could have been worse since Sayid's momentum did take them out of the cascade before the whole load came down upon them.
Shannon had been hit on the head. Rather delirious, she was cackling, "Just like Boone! I messed that up just like Boone! Here's to you, dear brother, I hope you're proud of me!" Like Boone, she caused harm to herself in a rescue attempt. Then, "I'm really sorry I lost your dog, Walt. Please forgive me."
From their allotment of medical supplies Sun quickly cleaned and dressed the wounds of Shannon and Sawyer. Each had several gashes and deep bruises, but those shouldn't be life threatening, especially if they got back to Jack promptly.
Michael was devastated. It was now apparent this was just a trap to throw them on the wrong track. Walt certainly hadn't deliberately left this as a clever trail. "What have those sick bastards done to my son?" he shouted to no one in particular. Walt could be anywhere, but probably far from here. Then suddenly Vincent reappeared, with an uncomprehending look on his face. Did he realize that he had helped cause the injuries, even though it was no fault of his own?
Getting back to the caves and the doctor proved to be a little problem. They didn't know the direct route to the caves from the west side of the island, so they played it safe and completed the circuit to the south side where the bulk of the plane originally crashed, and then followed the well known trail back to the caves. With Shannon and Sayid moving at less than top speed and frequently leaning on Sayid and Jin, respectively, for support, and Michael now holding Vincent's leash, this last part of the journey took another day and a half. The emotional gut-wrenching journey had lasted one full week.