Chapter 5:: One Step At a Time.

Kate's eyes remained shut; the shot still rang in her ears. Her body went numb as she thought of Sawyer only feet before her, possibly dead. If her mind hadn't been so lost she would have felt a slight head ache come on from closing her eyes so tightly. All she saw was blackness. Letting the light in would make it all real. She would have to see it; she would have to know the truth. Kate shut her eyes in denial and refused to open them. She had no idea of how longer she stood there with her eye's shut. All her scenes were drowned out. Slowly Kate began to feel again; she felt pressure on her upper arms. Within a few seconds she felt the cool night breeze swing by her. A small wave of warmth rushed over her and she felt more pressure on her arms. Then as if some one was yelling down a long hallway she barely heard a voice.

"Kate! Kate, can you heard me?"

Kate's eyes opened slowly, she was faint. She realized she had been holding her breath, she gasping for fresh air. She then fell; giving way, falling onto a figure in front of her. Although her eyes were now open they could barely see. Colors blended together, making anything before her appear to be a mass of blacks and grays. All she felt was something about her, some form of pressure.

Kate gathered her strength after taking a few more deep breaths. She closed her mouth and deeply inhaled oxygen through her nose. A familiar scent clouded her senses. Kate began to realize where she was and what had happened. Gathering her energy she pulled away from the forced pressure and looked into the eye's of Sawyer.

Kate tried to speak but her mouth went dry.

"Are you alright?" A comforting yet worried voice inquired.

Kate stared straight into his sparkling blue eyes.

"How?" Kate asked.

Sawyer pulled her back into a hug and tucked her head beneath his chin. Not letting her go was all he had. He felt her body tremble. Kate began to mumble quickly.

"I saw his gun, heard the shoot. I… I thought you… you were dead." Kate chocked; feeling her eyes get moist.

Sawyer held her tight, stroking her back with his hand. He just whispered softly.

"Sshhh. It's alright now. We're safe."

Kate relaxed breathing in his scent. Her cheek was pressed against his chest. Her arms hung at her side till she slowly brought them up and wrapped them about his waist. Kate pulled back slightly and asked again.

"How?"

Before Sawyer could answer Kate saw red out of the corner of her eye. Moving so she could see the image, Kate's eyes saw through the dim night light Mr. Pickett laying on the jungle floor all bloody. Kate could tell by the way he landed that his knees had given way first. From where he had been standing Kate saw he has fallen to his knees then fell face forward at a slight angle. One shot had done it; one shot to the back of his neck. Kate saw the bullet hole. It was right in the middle of his neck; next to perfect aim. Her ears heard the familiar cocking of a gun, her eyes followed the noise and she saw London's silhouette against the shinning moon. She held her chin high. The provided moon light made it so her face could be seen. She stood, shoulders straight. A saddened, tired expression lay upon her face. She hadn't wanted to do what she did, and that was evident. Her hands had blood on them from when she had bent down by Mr. Pickett to get his gun.

"Why did you do this?" Kate asked her dryly.

"He deserved to die." London replied quietly but in a sure tone.

"Who says you get to decide that?" Kate yelled back at London, walking toward her as she did so.

London did not move; she didn't change her expression. She understood that Kate's anger and fear from the moment past was being released on her. Sighing deeply she stared Kate in the eyes and listened to her yell.

Kate kneeled down by the body. Blood had flooded into a puddle. Once the blood had formed a puddle it socked into the soft dirt.

"Why did you do this?" Kate asked again.

London knelt down to Kate's level. The body separated the two of them.

"Because it was either y'all's life or his; and I had to make a choice. It wasn't an easy one. But I had to make." London stood back up. She took on a new manner once she rose from the jungle floor. It was one of certainty. "We need to get outta here. Now." London stated looking at Sawyer for the first time since she shot the man. "We were lucky he was alone." Londy walked toward were their guns had been laid during their discussion.

Sawyer and Kate picked up their weapons and backpacks and followed London into the jungle.

After they had been walking through the dark night for several hours with out any words said London stopped and sat her backpack down.

"So where do y'all wanna go?" She asked with a tone that would have seemed to imply that it was the easiest question in the world. "You can go back to your camp, but then you would be where they could find y'all. You guys could be wanderers, moving around the jungle where ever ya want. There are risks no matter what you do."

Sawyer and Kate stood side by side. They were exhausted from traveling for hours without rest. Simultaneously they turned to face each other.

"What ya thinkin' Freckles?" Sawyer asked Kate.

With tired eye's she glanced at Sawyer.

"I don't know." Kate said in nearly a whisper. Her facial expressions gave the impression that she was thinking very intently.

Sawyer thought back to when he had first rushed out of camp only day's before. He had hardly known his intentions at the time. When Sawyer had ran out of the camp the words that Jack had told him days before were the only one running through his head. For hours as he treaded the jungle he thought only of how Jack had told him those innocent survivors had been taken while he had been gone. He had returned from the other side of the island all to find out that in his absence there had been several abductions. He blamed it on himself.

Miss Klugh's statements that she has told him when he had been at their camp echoed in Sawyer's mind; There is a difference between your people and us… you were a hard person to judge. Sawyer understood good and well that those innocent people would not have been taken if he had been there.

Jack's monotone voice has listed off the names when they had been sitting in the cave: Nancy, Steve, Bernard, Hurley, Rose and Mark. They were all being held captive and Sullivan was dead. Sawyer mentally admitted it was his fault. He took the blame upon himself as he always did. He did not acknowledge that it could not have been prevented. Being not willing to take only partial credit he cast the burden upon himself as another from of self torture. Sawyer snapped out of his trance to find an impatient Londy staring at him.

"We are going to save them." Sawyer stated point blank. Once those words had come from his mouth he knew there was no going back.

"It's time we finish this." Sawyer said with an air of aggravation around him.

Kate's eye's had been slowly shutting since they had stopped walking but they bolted when she heard Sawyer's words.

"You want to go and get back our friends?" Kate asked nearly in disbelief.

Nodding yes Sawyer turned to Londy. He took a step forward, physically and emotionally. Sawyer had never leaned upon another, he had never been one to trust. He knew that if this was going to get done he would need some assistance.

"But we are going to need your help."