A/N: This is the third book of the Adrift Series. If you have not read the first two books, I suggest doing so before reading this, or you will be very confused. Enjoy!

Three.

Two.

One.

Four gunshots rang out against the formerly silent air. Surprisingly, Lena didn't feel any pain. Was that what it felt like to die? But as she looked around, she saw that she hadn't been shot, and neither had any of her friends.

Lena Hale Ashford was alive.

Lena looked over at Sayid, with tears still in her eyes from thinking that she was about to die. He looked equally relieved, clearly also believing that the Others were going to shoot them.

Two of the three Others, Pryce and Tom were arguing about their decision to fire into the sand, and not into the heads of the four survivors who had stayed behind. The third Other was still pointing a gun at the four of them, a fresh reminder that they were nowhere near close to being out of the woods.

And then Hugo Reyes drove a van out of the jungle.

Lena didn't quite believe what she was seeing at first, but it became clear that it was real as Hurley ran over Pryce, killing him instantly.

The third Other aimed his gun at Hurley, and for a horrible moment, Lena thought he was going to get shot. However, before that could happen, Sawyer ran out from the jungle and fired his gun at the Other. But, before the man could do anything, Sayid kicked the Other's legs out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground. Then, with one quick move, Sayid broke the man's neck with his feet.

Holy shit.

As she was still tied up, Lena couldn't do anything but watch as the third member of the rescue party, Juliet, stepped on Tom's hand before he could reach his gun.

"I give up." Tom gasped, talking to Sawyer, who was standing over him with a gun in hand. Instead of letting him surrender, though, Sawyer shot Tom in the chest.

"That's for taking the kid off the raft." Sawyer growled. Lena could only assume he was referring to Walt, who had been taken from Michael's raft by Tom and other Others.

"We're alive." She whispered. She could barely believe it, thinking that they had been dead for sure.

"Congratulations, Blue." Sawyer replied as he untied the four of them. Lena rolled her eyes as she jogged over to grab her sword. Really though, she was glad to be back in the usual routine of nicknames and sarcasm.

"What about Charlie and Desmond?" Hurley asked. "Are they back yet?" Lena shook her head, and Hurley sighed, although she was sure that they were fine.

Hurley went to use the walkie-talkie he had taken from Tom to contact Jack and the rest of the group, and Lena slid her sword back into the sheath, feeling it fit snugly into place.

"Guys!" Hurley shouted from down the beach, waving the walkie-talkie in the air. "I just talked to Jack. The plan worked, we're getting rescued!" Lena looked up at him happily. It hadn't really seemed like a reality until that point. They were really getting off of the island.

Hurley had decided to do a cannonball into the ocean, which didn't seem like such a bad idea. Just as Lena decided she would do something to celebrate, a canoe arrived on shore, carrying Desmond, who had apparently returned from the Looking Glass station.

But where was Charlie?

"We need to get to Jack!" Desmond shouted, not bothering to give any sort of explanation. "He can't get in touch with that bloody boat!"

"Relax, Scottie, everything's fine." Sawyer replied. "The boat is on the way." Desmond's eyes widened and he muttered a long string of curse words.

"Hey, where's Charlie?" Hurley asked nervously. Desmond either didn't hear him or he didn't want to answer the question. Lena hoped it was the first option, because if not… something horrible might have happened.

"No, no, no!" Desmond said. "That Naomi woman, she lied. The people on that boat aren't who they say they are!" The rest of the group continued to ask him questions, and Desmond tried to answer them. But in Hurley's case, there seemed to be only one question on his mind.

"Where's Charlie?!"

"I- I'm sorry, brother." Desmond whispered. Tears filled Lena's eyes as she realized exactly what had happened: Charlie was dead.

Charlie was a genuinely good person, even if he had bad moments. He really did care about everyone else, which was made clear by his sacrifice. Desmond had tearfully explained what happened. How Charlie turned the communications back on, but Mikhail, who was somehow still alive, had blow up the window. Charlie had drowned, but not before writing one last message on his hand: Not Penny's boat. It seemed that the boat coming to the island did not belong to Penelope Widmore after all.

There was also a whole argument about whether to contact Jack, or act upon Charlie's words. It had ended with Hurley throwing the walkie-talkie into the ocean and saying that they had to meet up with Jack and the others.

So that's exactly what they did. And, along the way, Locke had found them as well, finally returning from his time with the Others. Something was off about him, although Lena couldn't place what it was.

They had, though, found the other group, and many people reunited happily. All but Claire, who looked through the smaller group for Charlie. The look on her face made Lena want to break down and cry.

In the end, it was Hurley who broke the news. It was heartbreaking to see them cry together.

Still, there were other things going on as well. Ben had finally been captured, and it was Danielle who was keeping watch over him. Jack, meanwhile, was pointing a gun at Locke, for some reason.

Something interesting must have happened.

"You're not going to shoot me, Jack." Locke reasoned, although Lena wasn't so sure. "Not anymore than I was going to-" Jack interrupted him by pulling the trigger, startling the rest of the group. No bullet was fired, however.

"It's not loaded." Locke whispered, utterly shocked that Jack actually tried to kill him, even though it didn't work.

So Jack did the next best thing. He started punching Locke.

He was quickly pulled away, however, by Sawyer and Sayid, who both seemed to always do that sort of thing in situations like those. If Lena had a dollar for every time Jack was mad at Locke, she would have a whole lot of money.

"Do you know what he did?!" Jack shouted. None of the people that came from the beach did actually know what he did, so they let him explain. "You killed Naomi, and you blew up every single chance we had of escaping this place." Naomi was dead? Maybe that had something to do with the whole 'Not Penny's boat' thing.

Maybe, for once, Locke had been right.

"She wants her people to come here." Locke countered. "And when they do, we need to be far away. The Others abandoned the Barracks, so I'll go there. It has a security system, and that will have to do until I can come up with something else. If you want to live, come with me."

"You're insane, John." Jack said. "No one will go with you, because-"

"What about Charlie?" Hurley suddenly exclaimed. "He went down to that station so we could be rescued, and whatever he did worked. But something must have happened, because he changed his mind. And the last thing he did before he died was to warn us that those people aren't who they say they are. So I'm listening to my friend. I'm listening to Charlie." After his big statement, Hurley went to stand with Locke. He made a convincing argument, and it would be truly awful if Charlie died for nothing.

"Anyone else?" Locke asked. "We don't have much time." And many people did join him, including Claire, Sawyer, Danielle, and Ben.

Lena thought about her options. She didn't have much time, and she needed to chose. She didn't trust Locke, not one bit. But she didn't believe that the people on the boat had the best intentions either.

Coming to a decision, she walked to Locke's group.

"Lena, what are you doing?" A voice asked as she felt a hand grab her arm. She turned to see Sayid, looking surprised at what she had chosen to do.

"I don't think we're safe if we stay." Was all she could manage to say before wrenching her arm out of his grip and officially joining the other side.

"If you change your mind, you know where to find us." Locke said before turning and walking into the jungle. The rest of the group gradually followed, including Lena. She only hesitated for a moment, glancing back at those she was leaving behind. Looking back at Sayid.

But she stuck to her choice, and she followed the rest of them towards the intended destination, not looking back once.