I don't think there were ever any dates given, but I am going to assume the book began in 1939. This is the end of 1945 so the boys have aged respectively.

Jack is seventeen. Roger and Maurice are now sixteen. Eric and Sam are around fourteen and thirteen and the youngest ones are around eleven.

I just read the book and watched the movies. (1963 movie is far superior in my opinion). So I thought I would write this. I know it's been done a lot but I wanted to write one, so please tell me what you think. Thanks!

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The hot sand scraped against Kathryn's cheek as she came too. Her clothes were water logged and her shirt was torn to nearly her mid-thigh on the side. A pounded had started in her head and she was sure that it had swelled to three times its normal size. She was thankful when she finally sat up and realized nothing was broken. A small cut was seeping blood from her forehead where she had hit the side of the plane but other than that she was fine.

She looked to her right, squinting against the harsh sun. She saw nothing but endless curves of white sand that met neatly with the thick line of trees. The air was still and hot. The only sound that het her ears were the waves that kept washing up around her ankles and the rest of shore. She pulled her knees up toward herself and removed her shoes. She was actually amazed they managed to stay on her feet. She placed them next to her, out of the grasp of the clawing waves.

She felt herself too tired to try to move at this point and she stayed sitting in the hot wet sand. The feel of the warm water tickling around her feet felt soothing and so she stayed. She looked to her left and lying on the beach was a blob of yellow. Kathryn squinted and tried to make out its shape. It took her a few minutes and she blinked many times but she finally saw it was in the same of a dress. Then, amazingly, from the top of the dress rose a brown head of hair that looked around much as she had.

Kathryn struggled to her feet and stumbled along the shoreline toward the figure. She stepped on a stone and yelped but continued on. The figure struggled to pull herself up and finally Kathryn was there to assist her. Kathryn recognized the figure as a girl that sat two seats down and to the left of her in the plane. She was an American, like her, who was thoroughly excited from her first and most recent trip to England.

"My mother was from London you know," She said to her neighbor. "I'm went to live with my Aunt for the summer." She had come across as an educated young lady. Her accent held the hint of a soft southern twang, northern Virginia probably, and she held herself with poise. That Kathryn got from nearly five hours on the plane. She talked a lot mostly about what she had done during her summer in England. What Kathryn hadn't realized while she was on the plane that the girl could not have been any older than sixteen. She had appeared much older, but now, shaking and confused her age showed.

"It's ok darling," Kathryn said with a maternal comfort beyond her years. "We are alright now."

"Where-Where-"

"I don't know," She told her dazed companion. "Some island. The plane went down."

"Why?" Her big blue eyes stared Kathryn down and the older girl shrugged.

"I don't know." The younger girl opened her mouth to speak. "I don't know how either. I don't know any more than you do. Can you tell me your name?"

"Mary Louise." She answered and looked around the island. Her bottom lip trembled and Kathryn gripped her shoulders and helped her stand.

"Let's get out of the water Mary Louise." Kathryn said and helped lead the younger girl to the middle of the beach. They were an equal distance from the trees and the water.

"You may call me Mary," The girl said. "or Louise. Whichever you like." Kathryn smiled and nodded. They both sat down and were silent for a few long moments. Neither quite knew what to do.

"What's your name?" Mary finally asked.

"Kathryn,"

"You a Yankee?" She asked and Kathryn couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes I am," She said. Mary fell silent again and looked out at the ocean.

"What are we gonna do?" She asked. She rang out the hem of her yellow sun dress. Kathryn was trying to brush the sand off of her clothing and arms when she was posed the question and she stalled.

"I don't know."

"Well there must be others," Mary's voice was becoming more excited.

"I think they would have washed up with us," Kathryn said calmly.

"This was the German's doing," Mary said with her jaw fixed firmly. "I would bet anything Herr Hitler is behind this."

"I don't think Hitler did this," Kathryn said but Mary was not listening. Kathryn listened as Mary informed her about Nazi Germany, as if she did not already know. Kathryn, at nineteen was probably more informed than this young Mary Louise. On top of that Kathryn had helped in the English hospitals when the war started. She had seen what the English were going through and it was not hard to put on friends and family's faces on those ravaged English bodies.

"We should find a place for shelter," Kathryn said and bit her lip. She didn't know if it would be wise to stay on the beach or venture into the woods. She didn't even know how she would make this shelter.

"Won't someone come looking for us?" Mary asked and looked over at Kathryn with a look of absolute fright.

"I don't know how long it will take," Kathryn lied. The truth was she didn't think they would ever be found but she couldn't tell Miss Mary that. The girl was frightened to death, that much was obvious, and her show of anger and knowledge about 'Herr Hitler's' attack the plane was a way to shield herself from that fear. Mary Nodded vigorously.

"Yes, we should find shelter." She concurred as if she had thought it all along. Kathryn looked all around her, getting to her feet. She wished her older brother were with her. He would know what to do. The moment the English landed in France he had gone right out and joined the army.

"There's going to be a war coming. I don't care what anyone says and I'm going to be ready." He had been ready too. He shipped out with the first deployment of American soldiers and come home three years later with a bullet lodged in his calf. He had been a hero. Kathryn always felt safe when he was near. If only he were there now. The war was ending anyway, they wouldn't need him.

Kathryn helped Mary to her feet and the two walked up to the tree line. At Kathryn's hesitation Mary stopped and looked back. "What?" she asked and Kathryn bit her lip.

"Should we go into the forest?" She asked and Mary looked up at the ominous trees.

"We won't find a place to sleep on the beach."

Kathryn nodded and they stepped into the tree line. It was cooler inside the trees; the large canopy of green leaves shielded them from the harsh sunlight. They stumbled through the brush, tripping over large roots and boulders. They walked for nearly an hour when Kathryn grabbed Mary's wrist and stopped her. Mary looked back in confusion at her companion and Kathryn looked at the ground intently.

"What?" Mary asked and tried to see what Kathryn was looking at. Kathryn looked back the way they had come and then to her left and right. The ground was trampled down, rocks had been cleared and the ground was devoid of the brush and weeds that covered the rest of the jungle.

"What does this look like to you?" Kathryn asked and pointed at the line of dirt standing out of the forest. Mary looked down in confusion when suddenly her face brightened with comprehension.

"A trail!" She yelled in a whispered voice. She looked around excitement evident on her face. Kathryn's face remained blank as she ran through the possibilities. Mary suddenly whirled back around to look at Kathryn, her face covered with concern. "Could it be the Germans?" Kathryn shook her head.

"I don't think so," Kathryn replied. She looked at the ground and crouched down. "The Germans wear boots." She pointed at the ground and traced the faded outline of a foot print.

"Do you think this is a resort Island?" Mary asked. "Should we follow the trail?" Kathryn felt uneasiness settle in her stomach and she bit her now partially swollen lip.

"I don't think so," She said and stood back up. She brushed some dust off the bottom of her skirt and pulled the rip together. "We should try to settle down for the night. Then try and find help, I think-" She paused. "It looks like a male footprint."

"So? Isn't that better? A man will make sure we are taken care of," Mary said with complete innocent ignorance. She wasn't old enough and was too sheltered to understand what a man could do to a woman.

"Let's keep going," she said. Kathryn stepped across the narrow trail and into the forest. She looked back when she realized that Mary was not following her. "Come on."

"Why don't we follow the trail? We will find someone." A warm breeze broke through the trees and rustled the young lady's skirts. Finding someone was what Kathryn was afraid of.

"Let's find a place to sleep," Kathryn said trying to keep the urgency out of her voice. She wanted to get away from the trail; away from whoever may have left that foot print. She wanted to find others but on her terms. She needed time to think. The feeling of foreboding grew and she extended her hand. "Come on." Mary stood her ground.

"We should follow the trail."

"Mary Louise-"

"I'm going," she said and began to walk up the trail in the direction of the footprint. Kathryn watched her take a few steps. Kathryn stood still and just before Mary would have gone around a bend she turned back to look the older girl. "You aren't coming?"

"No," Kathryn said and she and Mary looked at each other a few moments. Mary's shoulders drooped and she walked back to Kathryn. With her arguments gone and the fear of being left alone overpowering her desire to find help she followed Kathryn through the jungle. They ventured in deeper to the jungle not taking the time to realize that their own footprints now littered the lonely dirt trail.

"Do we start a fire?" Mary asked as they sat down. Kathryn had found a large rock mass that curved outward at the top and would shield them from wind and rain.

"I don't know how," Kathryn replied weekly.

"It might get cold tonight." Kathryn looked up at the sky which barely peaked out through the thick canopy ahead of them.

"I don't think so," She replied. It was summer and they were somewhere in the pacific. "If it does it won't get cold enough to hurt us." Kathryn leaned against the rock and tried to think clearly. Maybe it wasn't a foot print they had seen. It could have been a trick of the dirt. That lead to the question as to what caused that trail. It was smooth, beaten down from use and frequent traffic.

"Kathryn?" Mary's voice was soft and lacked its normal tone of authority.

"Yes?"

"Are we going to get home?"

Kathryn waited a few moments. She stared into the green surrounding them. A breeze trickled through the thick leaves.

"I don't know," she answered. Mary looked like she was about to cry and she looked down into her lap. She wrung out her nearly dry yellow sun dress in order to distract herself. A hush fell between them and Mary made a pillow for herself out of large leaves she took from a tree nearby. She lay down and closed her eyes hoping to wake up and have it all have been a dream.

Kathryn woke up and it was light. She didn't know if it was the same day or if they had both slept through the night. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She looked around and found Mary still sleeping beside her. Her eyes scanned across her surroundings and froze directly in front of her. She felt herself jump in surprise before she recognized what she was seeing. A boy stood partially hidden by trees only ten feet away. He looked to be only eleven years of age and she slowly got to her feet.

"Hello?" she asked. The boy looked like he had never seen another human being in his life. Complete and utter confusion dominated his facial features and his eyes darted between her and Mary's sleeping form. "Hello, my name's Kathryn, this is Mary." She said and shook Mary's shoulder. The girl opened her eyes sleepily. It took a few moments for her to remember where she was and she sat up. When she spotted the boy her lips parted and she also stood. Once Mary got on her feet the boy turned and bolted. Both girls took off after the boy, imploring him to stop. Kathryn, no longer frightened at the sight of an eleven year old boy, fell countless times, further damaging her skirt and scraping her knees.

The boy was too fast. He nimbly jumped over fallen logs, rocks and avoiding the large tree roots. Mary was faster than Kathryn and lifted her skirts high in order to run. Both struggled, having forgotten their shoes as their shelter and small rocks sliced at the bottoms of their feet. The boy turned onto a trail and the two were able to follow him more closely. Still they were not used to running. Kathryn was on the verge of stopping, her lungs were nearly exploding from lack of oxygen, and Mary was not far behind.

Even when the boy was out of sight they continued to run; both were desperate for rescue. A small boy meant people. They followed along the trail until finally they broke through the line of trees into a small opening in the jungle. Numerous small huts were circling around the tree line and Mary and Kathryn stopped in their tracks.

They noticed the small boy standing with an older boy and pointing toward them. The moments Kathryn saw him she felt her blood run cold. His face was smeared with what looked like white paint and his light eyes pierced at them from across the opening. His hair was the color of rust and his eyes were sharp and looked at them with such intensity that Kathryn took a step back.

She looked around and caught site of others. A few boys were coming out of their lodges. They were also young, eleven or twelve. Sitting around the fire were a group of older boys. They looked around the same age as the boy with white paint on his face. One stared at them with an open amazement. Two others, who looked completely identical, and slightly younger than the other two, had the same confusion as the little boys. Then her eyes landed on the last one and she felt her sense of fight or flight kick in. She chose flight.

The last on sitting in the group had jet black hair and his face was streaked with red clay. His body, like the others, was thin but covered with lean muscle. He had a spear resting across his lap and he appeared to be sharpening it. What scared her the most was the look on his face. It mirrored the boy with white pain on his face but was darker. He leaned toward them, his lips parted. It was the look of a predator. He looked like a wolf stalking his prey.

It took Mary a moment to realize that Kathryn had run. Even Mary in her ignorance understand the look from the older boys and ran after Kathryn. She caught up to the older girl and when Kathryn once again tripped over a root she stopped to help her to her feet. Neither one needed to look back to know that the three older boys were already in hot pursuit.