Part 329: Is it Safe?

Jack winced slightly as Desmond proceeded to sew up his arm. As he was finished, he tied it shut and clipped it off. Kristy gave him the bandage and he covered his arm with it. “You’re all set, Jack.” He told him.

“Thanks, Desmond.” He smiled.

“No,” Desmond said, extending his hand, “Thank you.”

The two doctors shook hands together; a silent from for respect for the two men as they overcame adversary yet again. Desmond then took off his latex gloves and then washed his hands; getting ready to help Hal. The cop rested on the gurney next to them with Libby by his side. He was already asleep due to the morphine. Luckily his wound was nothing severe, same as Jack.

The doctor slowly walked down the hallway to check on the others. Isabella smiled at him, as she was in a recliner, holding onto her sleeping son: who was no longer gasping for air. Sayid was with Shannon, Andra and Flower, telling them everything that had happened. Kristy gently brushed up against Jack’s hand as he walked past her. He stood there briefly, touching her curly hair. It was his own silent way of saying he was glad to see her again. Micheal and Charlie were with Claire and the others as they carried the body of Lydia out of the room. Jack closed his eyes in sadness. He barley knew Lydia but it didn’t change the fact that she was one of them and losing anybody was a hard thing to do.

The sound of the alarm high above made him turn around toward the control room. Within seconds, Locke was already typing in the numbers to give them the medicine. The beeping turned off and then out of the pneumatic tube shot the vial of medicine. “How’s your arm?” Locke asked.

“It’ll heal,” Jack whispered.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” the bald man whispered.

“What does?”

“The conflict being finally over.”

“We lost Lydia, Locke,” Jack sat down on a nearby chair, “ The victory is ours, yeah but when we lose someone, it makes it . . .empty.”

Locke didn’t say anything that the response. Soon more series of beeps came from the Argos machine. The bald man smiled as he began typing away at the keyboard. Jack then leaned over, noticing his familiar expression: a giddiness that told him he found something new. “What is it this time, John?” he asked.

“Goodwin gave us a gift before his passing,” he whispered with a grin, “Jilly said he knew a password to encrypted files in the Argos system. I’m accessing them now.”

Jack walked over toward the computer monitor. He looked at it and saw the files listed on the screen.

CRESTON HEIGHTS
SHARK CAGE SCHEMATIC
STORAGE HOLDS
LIQUID ASSEMBLY
WISHING WELL

“I’m almost scared to wonder was Wishing Well entails.” Jack mentioned.

“Does make you wonder, doesn’t it?” Locke smirked.

“Well . .. what does it say?”

“I can’t get into it. It requires even ANOTHER password.”

“Which ones can you get into?”

“Shark Cage Schematic, Storage Holds and Liquid Assembly,” the bald man told him, “I have a funny feeling that whatever Goodwin wanted is within the hidden files.”

“You reap what you sew,” Jack then pointed, “Is there anything special about the shark cage?”

“Yeah, believe it or not, it had a pressure sensitive door above them. If something lands on it, it will then fall through into the cage.”

“What’s to stop them from using that to get out?”

“The designers were not stupid,” Locke said, pulling up the schematic, “The door opens only inward, not outward. My guess it’s a way to supply them with food.”

“Really?” the doctor blinked.

“Maybe if Desmond feeds them a boar every now then, they might not be so violent.”

“Maybe,” Jack said, his left eye twitching, “I know just what we can start with to give them something to eat.”

Jack walked out of the control room to find Sayid and Hal. He had a job for them to do, one they probably wouldn’t mind.



Jack slowly walked down the stairs into the oceanic observation room. He strode over to the console and pressed the button to raise the metal shield. The moment it was free, he saw one of the sharks plowing toward it. The underwater beast slammed into the glass, making his attempt at cracking it. Then the other two swam up toward the glass, making their presence known. Jack didn’t budge; nor show any fear. The sharks were a little confused, wondering why he hadn’t closed the shields by then. The doctor then raised his hand and pointed behind them. The sharks blinked their eyes, confused by Jack’s gesture. What could he be pointing toward?

One shark caught a sniff of something in the water; blood. They twirled around only to find the body of Goodwin floating down to greet them. Two of the sharks then made a bee-line for him, ripping his legs off. Jack watched the third shark and gasped, as it seemed to wink at him. Then it shot off to begin devouring the body of Goodwin. The doctor watched as they began to pick apart the villain in chunks of body parts and blood.

The thought of losing Lydia didn’t hit Jack as hard as he thought it would. He wondered why? Was it because he barely knew her or had he grown numb to the pain of loss? He hoped it was the first option. Watching Goodwin get eaten could not make up for what had happened. However, Jack was not going to lose sleep over it. He was thinking back to a quote that Tony told him about.

The only way for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

He couldn’t remember if it was Shakespeare or Socrates. He began to walk up the stairs, making a mental note to ask his blind friend when he saw him again.



Barbara finally came outside, holding the blanket. Eddie was standing out in the grounds area, looking at the jungle area. A light misty ran began to form around them. As she approached her son, she held the blanket for him. “I found you one, Eddie.” She said.

“Thanks, mom,” he said, taking it.

“What did you need it for?”

“I needed it for her.”

“Who?” his mother blinked.

“Raven should be picking her up now.”

Barbara looked up when she saw her son point toward the jungle. They saw the swift body of Raven flying into the distance and then he landed ten feet in front of them. The older redhead gasped when she saw he was carrying the body of a dead young girl. The masked man walked up to Eddie and kneeled low. The boy then flapped the blanket on the ground and Raven placed her in it. “Eddie.” She whispered.

The young boy didn’t answer her. He simply kneeled down and crossed Bunny’s arms over her chest. Then he began to fold the blanket up around her. He stopped when he reached her head. He gently caressed her cheek and moved the hair out of her eyes. “So brave,” he sniffed.

“Eddie, who is she?” Barbara asked.

“One of the kids at Lone Wolf station,” he said, finally covering her face, “She helped me and Sebastian escape but it cost her, her life. I thought . . .I should bury her. I owe her that much.”

Eddie then picked up Bunny’s body and held her in his arms. He started to walk away briefly then stopped. He slowly turned toward his mother with tears streaming down his cheeks. “Could you help me?” he wept.

Barbara shook her head in agreement and began to follow her son. The small boy walked out into the distance of the beach ; looking for a place to bury her. Raven said nothing; he started to head into the Shark Tank to find a shovel for the boy. Back at the beach, Eddie sat her down on the soft sand. He then picked up a nearby broken sea shell, found a spot and began to shove the sand away. Barbara kneeled down and started to work with her hands.

Then Eddie heard movement past the bushes. He looked up to Hal, Ecko and Jack walking over with actual shovels. The boy then stood up as the three men started to dig in the area that he was at. Kristy and Natasha then arrived with sticks and rope. Within seconds, he understood they were making a cross. Others began to come out, including Desmond and Locke. When Hal stopped digging, Desmond took over. Eddie smiled brightly, wiping his tears. “Thank you.” He whispered.

The group of adults just nodded their heads toward him. Barbara stood behind her son as the other survivors continued to dig the grave of the young girl they never knew. But they did know Eddie knew her and to them, that would honor her.



Jack took a sip of his water, after he was done digging Lydia’s grave. They had just gotten done completing the second grave for their survivor. Hal helped him up as they wanted to head back inside and get cleaned up. Sebastian walked over toward Bunny’s grave and placed a grouping of tropical flowers near the cross of her grave. Eddie rested at the foot of the grave, gently rubbing his hands over the sand. Isabella then came over to Ecko and handed him a Gideon bible they had in the building. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Eddie leaned open, hoping he would say something. He began to turn to a grouping of pages and then once he found what he needed; he started to read. “But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."” He said, then closed his book.

“Thank you, Ecko.” Eddie told him, standing up.

The young boy began to walk away toward the other parts of the beach. He stopped when he felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder. He looked up and saw the deaf woman he labeled sister. Jilly didn’t say anything; just looked at him. However, that was what became poetic about it; family didn’t need to say anything to understand how the other felt. “I’m fine, Jilly,” Eddie assured her, “I just need to sit by the water a while.”

Eddie kept walking toward the beach where the water connected to the sand, leaving the adults behind. He walked over to find a spot and then sat down, crosslegged. The waves rushed up slightly near his bare feet as he stared into the ocean. He gently leaned back and reached into his side pocket, pulling out Bunny’s locket. Eddie stared into it, holding it into his hands. Who was this girl? Why did she have to become a part of his life? The young boy felt his heart breaking. What would have happened had she come back to America with him? He’ll never know.

Eddie then winced as Vincent licked his cheek. He petted the dog down as Walt and Sebastian walked over to join their friend. The black kid sat toward his right and Sebastian sat toward his left. Eddie smirked at his younger friend; then gently put his arm around his neck as a sign of affection. “Thanks, Eddie.” Walt said.

“For what?” he asked.

“For not waiting on me to go play ball,” the black sniffed, “If you didn’t, then we might have all been kidnapped and I don’t think . . .I would have been brave enough to escape them.”

“It’s no big thing, Walt,” he said, patting his arm, “ The important thing is me and Sebastian came out alive. That’s all that matters.”

“So the danger is really over?”

Eddie took a deep sigh and looked out at the ocean. “Is it really ever over?” he whispered, “Danger comes from all sides, Walt. When we migrate back to the real world, we’ll face dangers there too. It’s only a different kind.”

“You think we’ll ever get off this Island?” Walt asked.

“I know we will,” Eddie smiled, “I got faith in Tony. He’s never let me down and I don’t expect him too now.”

“I wish I had your confidence.”

“You don’t know them like I do, Walt. It’s just . . . .a leap of faith.”

The three boys shared their silence as they stared into the ocean view. A rolling mist started to come into the horizon and the sun began it’s descent into disappearance. The ocean brushed up white foam and seaweed into the sand five feet from them. “It’s gonna rain.” Walt mentioned.

“I know,” Eddie smiled.