Chapter One

It looked deserted.

A young girl with long auburn hair with green eyes looked around. She was afraid, no doubt about it. Of course, any fourteen year old would be if they were somewhere unknown. The sun highlighted her hair, and brought her freckles into full view. She then ran through some bushes because she heard a snap of a twig behind her.

"Hey!" someone yelled. The girl stopped, and turned. Being short, she wasn't able to see who it was.

"Who is it?" she demanded. "Show yourself!"

Two children-a boy and a girl-walked out, and into the sunlight. The girl had brown hair to her chin, and china blue eyes. Her skin was milky white and she looked about twelve. The boy had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. He was chubby, and had glasses. His skin wasn't as white as the girl's, but it was close to it. The boy looked about ten.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"I'm Sarah, and this is my brother Charles." The girl said.

"Call me Charlie." The boy said. "I hate Charles."

"I'm Lisa." Said the girl with the auburn hair. "Where do you think we are?"

"We're on an island." Sarah said, as if Lisa didn't know anything.

"I know that, smartass. I meant, where on an island."

"Somewhere in the tropics." Said Charlie. "That's all I know."

"That's because you make c's in school." Sarah said.

"At least I don't make f's."

"Shut up."

"You shut up!"

"Make me, fatass!"

"Hey! That's enough!" Lisa yelled.
Charlie, though, seemed unfazed. "She calls me that all the time. I'm used to it."

"Well, it's not nice." Lisa muttered. "Let's go try to find someone, or some people, if we're lucky." She said, louder.

Charlie nodded. Sarah came after giving her brother a little shove.

"Hey." Lisa warned.

```~~~SOMEWHERE ELSE~~~```

A boy with red hair and freckles broke another piece of bamboo.

"Damn things are everywhere." He said. "Jill! Jacqueline! Let's get a move on!" he called over his shoulder.

"Shut up, John!" Jill called. "Jacqueline got her foot stuck in an ant pile."

John looked over the bamboo. "That's not an ant pile, that's shit." He said.

"So THAT'S why ants aren't coming out of it." Jacqueline said. Jill and Jacqueline were twins, only five years old. John was the oldest. He was fourteen. The two girls had reddish-blondish hair, freckles, and green eyes. John had blue eyes. People said he was the spitting image of his father, who was named Jack Merridew. John found it fascinating that his father was on an island and did everything he could do to survive. That's what his father had told him. He also told him about some guy named Ralph who had turned savage and tried to kill everyone, and set fire to the island trying to kill him in the process. But Jack knew damn well it was reversed. But he'd never tell his children that.

John climbed up higher, and saw his sisters grimacing at the shit that surrounded Jacqueline's ankle.

"Let's get a move on!" he yelled.

"Coming!" the girls called.

```~~~LATER-SOMEWHERE ELSE~~~```

Lisa ran into a clearing. Sarah and Charlie were behind her. There was sand and blue water. Lisa thought it was beautiful.

Charlie walked over to her. "What are we gonna do?" he asked. "No one knows we're here. They only knew we were heading home."

"I don't know, Charlie." Lisa answered. "My father didn't either."

"Your father?"

"Yeah."

"Who's your father?"

"General Ralph McAlister."

"General Ralph McAlister?"

"Yup."

"Holy pepperoni!"

Lisa smiled. She was used to it. Her father was well known for what he had done. He had saved someone's life after all. Sarah walked over to her brother, and nudged him.

"You know I didn't mean it, right?" she asked.

"I know." Charlie answered. Sarah smiled, and then jumped into the water. She went deep into the water, almost to the bottom, and saw bones with tattered clothing. Her eyes widened. Being able to hold her breath for a long while, she swam deeper to where she could examine the bones closer. She poked the femur, and it detached from the rest of the body. The skull seemed to have a crack in it, which puzzled her. Sarah swam up and to the shore.

"I saw bones." She panted when she got out of the water.

"Bones?" Lisa demanded.

"Bones."

"You mean like animal bones or something?" Charlie asked.

"Nuh-uh. Human bones."

That puzzled everyone. Including Lisa, who knew the story. She didn't say anything though. She was trying to put the pieces together.

"What are we gonna do now? Wasn't there more people?" Charlie asked.

"Of course there was." Sarah said. "But they're god knows where."

Lisa opened her mouth, and shouted.

"HEY! ANY SURVIVORS COME TO THE EAST SHORE!"

Since her father was able to shout orders loudly and people obeyed, Lisa was able to do the same thing. Her voice echoed, which made her smile. Charlie and Sarah looked around. Not too long afterward, Lisa saw two children come out of the brush. A boy and a girl. They looked to be the same age-fraternal twins-and they walked over cautiously.

"Who was screaming?" the boy asked.

"Me." Lisa said. Something suddenly came to her.

FLASHBACK-1943

"Where's the man with the trumpet?" asked the boy.

Ralph, sensing his sun-blindness, answered him.

"There's no man with a trumpet. Only me."

The boy came close, and peered down at Ralph, screwing up his face as he did so. What he saw of the fair-haired boy with the shell on his knees did not seem to satisfy him. He turned quickly, his black cloak circling.

"Isn't there a ship then?"
Inside the circling cloak, he was tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red beneath the cap.

PRESENT DAY

"Lisa, are you alright?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just zoned out for a bit."

"I'm Michelle. This is my twin brother, Andrew." The girl said.

"I'm older by two minutes." Andrew said.

"Shut up." Michelle said.

"We're eleven." The two said at the same time. They both had brown hair and blue eyes. There was a snap, and the red-haired boy, John, walked through the brush.

"Alright. Who's screaming bloody murder?" he asked.

"That was me." Lisa said. She looked at John for a second, and then shook her head, as if to clear it. "We need to get everyone who survived over here."

"Why? Are you gonna have a meeting or something?"

"Well, I was thinking about it."

"It didn't work out the first time." John muttered, but sat down anyway. His sisters toppled out, and landed on top of him. "Get off. Get off. GET. OFF."

"Sorry." They said, and ran towards the water.

"They're five, and get on my nerves." John explained. Lisa nodded. She saw a small boy run out, and hide behind her.

"There's something there." He said. He had blonde hair and brown eyes, and looked about seven.

"There's nothing there, Peter." Lisa said. Peter was her younger brother.

"Then why did that twig snap?"

"It was only me, my bad." Said a voice. The owner popped out of the brush. He had dark hair and dark eyes, and looked like someone Lisa had heard about. He looked about fifteen. And he was the son of Roger Wilkins.

"I'm Alvin." He said. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Whatever." Peter said.

"Peter, be nice." Lisa said. Peter just watched Alvin suspiciously. Alvin smirked and rolled his eyes. A pair of boys walked out of the brush, and sat down.

"Don't tell me you're twins too." John said.

"No." one of the boys answered. "We were just born on the same day at the same time. We're cousins."

"I'm Ken-"

"-and I'm Noah."

"We're nine."

"Charmed." John said, bored. Michelle and Andrew sat down as more children came out of the brush. Lisa swallowed.

"Are we all here?" she asked.

"Yeah." Said a boy.

"Except for Michael." Said a girl.

"He went to go take a piss." Alvin said. "Michael's my little brother."

A boy, a younger image of Alvin, walked through the brush. "Sorry." He muttered.

"Don't worry about him. He's six, but a strong fighter. He knows how to take care of himself."

"Now we're all here?"

"Jill! Jacqueline! Get out of the water!" John yelled. The two girls ran over to their brother, and sat down.

"Okay, um, wow this is a first…" What did father do?

"We need a leader." Peter said.

Thank God for little brothers, Lisa thought.

"Peter's right. We do."

"I'm leader." John said. "My father was leader. And he was a damn good one, I've heard."

"Who's your father?" Peter asked.

John stood proudly, and smiled. "Jack Merridew."

That's nothing to be proud about that, Lisa thought.

"My father is Ralph McAlister." Lisa said, and whispers went throughout the group.

"Who cares about that bloke?" John asked. "My father was a damn good leader, he was."

"Your father was a-"

"I vote for Lisa!" someone said. The whole group started sayin Lisa's name. Peter looked at John.

"Looks like Lisa won." He said. Lisa smirked. John glared, and Lisa ignored him.

"We need to build shelters, a fire, an-" Lisa started.

"A fire?" asked a young girl.

"Yes. A signal fire."

"But make sure that this one doesn't get out of hand." Peter said.

"Yeah. We don't want half of the island to burn. We also need food. And water."

"We'll find it. Won't we, Andrew?" Michelle asked. Andrew glared. Michelle turned back to Lisa. "That's a yes."

"We need more people to help."

"I'll do it." Ken and Noah said, at the same time. "No, I will. I said it first!" they both said again.

"Listen you two, you can both help find food."

"And what about us?" John asked. "Do you expect us just to sit on our asses all day?"

"How about you, me, Peter, and Alvin scout the island?"

"Fine. But I see anything I'm gonna kill it."

"Fine."

Just like his father, Lisa thought, which worries me.

```~~~LATER~~~```

After larger groups had been made, the four set out to scout. John climbed almost everything in sight. Alvin stuck to business, as did Lisa and Peter. John goofed off.

"John, c'mon. Get to business." Lisa said. John glared at her again, and saw a bird.

"Wait… Hang on a sec." he leaped up, and grabbed the bird. The bird pecked him until he let go, and John fell the rest of the way down, his hands bleeding.

"Damn bird." He muttered. "If it was a pig, I could've caught it and eaten it."

"You want to turn into your father?" Lisa demanded. John looked at her.

"What do you mean? I would've been my father, but you won the fucking election!"

"Your father was not a leader."

"Bullshit."

"Bulltrue. Your father was a savage!"

"No! It was yours that was a savage! He placed the pig's head on the stick! He helped kill that kid that was crackers!"

"Who? Simon? Your father killed Simon! Your father did everything you just listed! Believe it or not, but he did-"

"Shut up. I love my father with all my heart. If you speak against him, there will be hell to pay."

And with that, John stomped off. Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Let's go, guys." She said. Alvin stood still for a minute, and then followed her. Peter followed last, watching for John to see if he would come back.

But he didn't.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Peter called.