A.N.: I just wanted to say that this was an assignment I had done back in eighth grade for reading class and I ended up revising it last year. Our prompt was to either write about the boys' trip back home on the boat or what would of happened if there actually wasn't a boat there. I'm not usually confident with my writing, so even doing this is a big step for me. I'd really appreciate it if you'd read it and let me know what you think of it, or if you have any advice on how i could improve that'd be nice as well.
Pairings: There are none in this one
Warnings: Character death (you have been warned)
So without further delay, here's my Chapter 13!
Chapter 13
Under One Rule
In a last ditch effort, Ralph mustered up all his strength and burst through the foliage onto the beach, eyes burning from the smoke. But suddenly, he stopped a few feet short of the water.
"Why did I stop," he muttered to himself. It was a stupid thought, but he half expected to see someone standing on the beach, a savior in the savage wild that was this day. He turned around just in time to see Jack explode from the forest and lunge towards him. Realizing that he was still grasping the double-ended spear he found in the clearing, Ralph lifted it to help him block and avoid Jack's vicious swipes.
By this time, the other savages had started to appear out of the smoking trees. He noticed Roger step out first holding tightly to both Samneric and, Ralph swallowed hard, the double-ended spear. Roger quickly threw Jack the spear, which he expertly caught. Although Ralph was able to land a few good blows to Jack, he was inevitability forced back into the water by Jack's strong offence until the water level reached up to Ralph's knees.
Suddenly, and using up much of the little strength he had left, Ralph connected sticks with Jack's and knocked said stick from his hand. It landed straight up and down in the water two feet to Jack's right. Without giving him a chance, Ralph took a step forward and placed one of the pointed ends of his spear inches from the skin on Jack's throat. With a smirk spread across his face, Jack turned his gaze from the spear in the water to Ralph's determined but tired eyes.
"Very cleaver Ralphie-boy," he taunted, "but I thought you had learned not to fight back by now?"
"I won't, ever, stop," Ralph panted still trying to regain his breath. "Not while there's still breath and LIFE in me."
"I figured you'd say that. About you that is."
"What exactly are you trying to say, Jack."
"This." He motioned for Roger to wade into the water, dragging in tow with him the squirming, whining twins; still grasping them tightly by their biceps.
"Jack," Ralph spoke, sounding calmer now, "leave them out of this. This 'Blood War' doesn't involve them. It's not their place to be."
"Don't you get it? This is ALL of our 'Blood War' as you call it!" Jack raged while motioning to Roger, Samneric, and the boys still on the beach. He was sounding more threatening now. Glancing at Roger, Jack motioned his hand down towards the water. Shoving Eric to the side, Roger grabbed both of Sam's flailing arms and plunged him under the salty water.
"No!" Ralph's shout was louder than Jack thought it'd be, but it was joined by something else not belonging to him; some sound which didn't belong on this earth. It was Eric; shrieking at the top of his lungs as he sunk to his knees in the crisp, clear water; screaming his brother's name. All the boys on the beach could do was stand deathly still and stare at the ruthlessness of their newfound tribal leader. With a nod from Jack, Roger hoisted the soaked Sam out of the water, letting him gasp for breath while simultaneously coughing the water out of his pained lungs.
"Please," Ralph begged as Eric crawled through the water towards his crying brother, "It doesn't have to be this way!"
A smirk. Another hand signal, the same as before, Sam was dunked and held under the waves. By now, Eric was at Roger's side, pulling, pushing, tugging, screaming, and doing anything to get him away from Sam. One minute the water was a churning chaos around Sam, Eric, and Roger; the next, it was as still and crystal clear as five feet away.
In the voice of a child who just witnessed an amusing scene, Jack sing-sang, "Whoops! Too late!" At that moment Jack grabbed at the unoccupied end of the stunned Ralph's spear and thrust it into his abdomen just below his sternum, withdrew it quickly, and pushed the bleeding Ralph into the water. The boys standing back on the beach were dumb-founded. They couldn't figure out what to do as they were stunned into silence by the scene unfolding in front of them. Roger was looming over the weeping Eric while he clung to the limp body that used to contain his brother's soul; likewise, Jack was viciously hacking off the head of the late Ralph, past leader, and friend.
Jack straightened himself while still keeping his back to the boys and ordered them in a harsh voice, "You are all under one rule now, MINE! Now, go and walk down along the beach. Gather all the unburned fruit you can. Scout out any new pig runs if you can! Leave him in the water with the body," Jack motioned to Eric, "GO!" The boys did as told, leaving Jack, Roger, and Eric in the water. Jack bent over once more to clean the disgustingly pure blood off of his hands and snatch up Ralph's head by the sopping wet hair before watching the headless body float out to sea the join Simon and Piggy.
When Jack stood straight again, Roger had crossed both spears up out of the water and watched menacingly as Jack thrust Ralph's head on one of the spear ends. Since he was finally satisfied with how the head looked on the spear, Jack turned back towards the open sea and waited till the sun set in the sky, turning it a deep red. As he listened to the symphony of waves lapping against the shore behind him, trees sizzling and popping open from the wild fire they had started, and the soft crying of Eric mourning his brother's early death, Jack smiled to himself and thought of how today was the new beginning everyone needed.
AN: This was my first story so please review and leave constructive criticism on how I can improve
