After initial success,the battle continues, with Alex, Walt, and Michael having to quickly come up with a risky plan to defeat more of the Others.
With the two others unconscious at Walt and Michael's feet, Walt quickly pointed at more manacles chained to the wall near the floor, and told Michael, "We can chain them here."
Michael dragged the Others to the wall one at a time, and searched them for more weapons. He found a manacle key on each. Walt then took great satisfaction in snapping the manacles shut. The Others were badly injured, but he didn't care at the moment. Then he and Michael ran back outside, to Alex, still lying stunned on the floor. They helped her to her feet, and then heard another gunshot. Walt quickly picked up the short hammer off the floor, and then he and Michael hustled Alex around the corner, and into the hallway leading to her room, Walt's room, and eventually the mines.
It turns out that the gunshot had been fired by Sayid. With him and Jin locked in the laboratory, they decided to expend one of their precious bullets on freeing themselves. Sayid had taken careful aim, and shot the lock off the door they had just come through. The first Other they encountered and shot was still there. He looked in terrible shape, but Sayid wasn't going to take any chances at this point. He took some rope and tied the Others' hands to two table legs, and then gagged him with a piece of cloth.
Next, Sayid and Jin carefully went carefully into the corridor, and spotted Sawyer lying stunned on the floor. They picked him up and half-dragged half-carried him back to the room they came from. "What happened?" asked Sayid.
Sawyer did not respond immediately. Jin abstracted a bottle of water from his backpack and held it to Sawyer's lips. Sawyer dipped the offered water slowly, and gradually regained his senses.
"An Other came out of a room with this girl … he was going to shoot us, but she … hit his arm, and knocked the gun out of his hand. The bullet missed. … The girl … the Other smacked her into the wall. Mike and I ran toward them, when … someone blindsided me. I didn't see anything after that."
"We have to follow Michael," announced Sayid. Jin had to guess at the conversation, but was sure to follow the other two. "Can you make it, Sawyer?" continued Sayid.
Sawyer struggled to his feet, took a few unsteady steps, and then some surer one. "You're darn tootin' I can make it. Let's go get them."
Meanwhile, Michael and Walt had gotten Alex to her room. Walt got a cup of water from an adjoining room, similar to the bathroom connected to his room, and coaxed Alex to sip it. In a couple of minutes she had regained her wits. Walt explained how he and Michael had subdued two of the Others, while Michael told about the first Other who had been shot.
"That leaves five," announced Alex. "Two of them should be in the mines, and they will be armed. I hope your friends can take care of the other three."
"I like their chances," replied Michael. "We have a military expert, a man who is a good martial artist and was required to use weapons in his, uh, profession, and another who's no stranger to guns either."
"There was also a gunshot in that main hallway around the corner. We don't know who fired that," added Walt.
"We need to make a plan." Alex thought for a few seconds, and then said, "Quick, we have to get to your room before those Others get back from the mines. They still won't know I'm on your side, and we can fool them long enough to gain the upper hand."
With no further delay, they checked the corridor, ascertained no one else was in it, and raced to Walt's room. Michael nearly gagged in disgust when he saw the accommodations. Most prominent was that bed, really just an old bare mattress on a frame, with chains emanating from each corner. There were also some ropes in a corner, near two small chairs and a table. "Walt, have you been ... uh ...".
"Never mind now, Dad, it wasn't that bad. I'll tell you all about it later."
Alex interrupted by asking Michael, "Do you have any weapons?"
Michael checked his pack. "Yes, I've still got two knives."
"You have knives?" asked Walt. "Have you been practicing with them?"
Michael hesitated, but had to be honest. "Yes, I asked Mr. Locke to help me learn to throw them, and I asked Sayid to give me fighting lessons, in case we ran into a situation like this."
"I'm not good with knives," said Alex. "Walt, give me that hammer. Did you once tell me you can handle a knife?"
Walt looked sheepishly at Michael, and then answered Alex, "I guess better than you. What do you have in mind?"
Alex explained her plan. "I'll let the Others see me unarmed in the hallway. I'll tell them that Walt got excited and started running away from the mines, but I chased him here, and then he didn't seem to know what to do. So I chained him to his bed for safekeeping. But his hands won't really be chained, and he can hide a knife in his hair. Michael can hide behind the entrance to the bathroom. I'll leave this hammer against the inside wall here, and be in position to grab and use it." Alex thought for a few seconds, and repositioned one of the chairs next to the wall. "Here, I'll prop it up behind the chair leg so they won't see it. They'll probably check Walt's chains. When I give the word, we can all attack at once."
Michael didn't like the thought of chaining Walt's feet, even though Walt seemed agreeable to Alex's plan. "I could hide behind this first door," Michael offered as an alternative.
"The Others will be watching out for that. And you could only get one of them. The second would then shoot at least one of us."
"Come on, Dad, Alex knows the Others better than we do, and her plan of chaining me to the wall of that other room worked perfectly. Please trust her, I do."
Alex peeked out into the corridor. "We don't have much time! They're coming now!"
Michael relented, handed Walt one of the knives, and took up a position just inside the doorway to the bathroom. Walt hopped onto the bed and lodged his knife over his right ear. "Please let this be the last time I'm on this bed," he thought to himself. Alex snapped shut the manacles on his ankles. But for his hands, she positioned the manacles so that their openings were face down, and not quite closed. Walt would be able to sit up and raise his arm in an instant.
Alex stepped into the hall. Knowing the two Others could see her, but pretending not to know they were present, shouted at Walt, "Now stay there, and don't cause any more trouble!" She then looked up the corridor, and said, "Oh, hello. The boy got spooked by what sounded like gunshots, and ran back here. I've chained him up to keep him out of the way while we find out what is going on."
The Others looked suspiciously at Alex, and cautiously entered the room. The first one checked to make sure no one was hiding behind the door. Then looking in, he saw Walt chained spread out and flat on his back to the bed. The second Other grabbed Alex's right arm with his left hand while carrying his gun in his right, and forced her to enter the room with him. The first Other checked the manacles around Walt's ankles, and found them secure. He reasoned Alex had been telling the truth, and relaxed a little bit. Then Alex reached for the hammer behind the chair leg with her left hand. As she touched the handle, the second Other noticed the movement.
"What are you doing?" he demanded.
The first Other was about to move forward to test the manacles around Walt's wrists, when he turned his head at hearing the question.
Alex hadn't meant for the second Other to notice her reach for the hammer, and she didn't get a grip on the handle. But having made the move, there was no turning back. In a voice louder than she had ever used in her life, she screamed, "NOW!"