It was a bit ironic. The military school, built for war. Built for attacks like this- but now, the building was in ruins. Blown apart by a bomb, like most of the city- a bomb that was part of the horrific war that ravaged most of the world. A war that seemed like it wouldn't end until the world itself did first. As the fair haired boy stumbled through the mess, he couldn't help but chuckle at the thought- at the irony, not the impending apocalypse. He untangled himself from a mess of electrical wires that dangled from the ceiling, dodging sparks. Soon, he was out of his classroom, or what was left of it, and into the hallway, following the stream of daylight that poured in from where the ceiling had collapsed just a few yards ahead.
"Hey!" A voice called out to his left. His head whipped around to that direction and he saw the doorway that led into another classroom. A shadowy figure was waving a hand in front if it's face to push the smoke and dust away. Then it emerged and he could see the largely round figure of a boy around his age. The boy coughed violently as he stumbled out, putting a hand on the doorframe to keep his balance.
"Where are the others?" The fat boy asked after he finally caught his breath. He pulled off the circular specs that sat on his nose and began to wipe them off on his black military uniform.
"There aren't any." Came the fair-haired boy's quick reply as he continued on his way down the hall. He didn't look behind him to see if the other boy would follow his lead.
"Hey-" the boy called out again, as he put his specs back on"-Wait for me!" He ran, or at least tried to, after him. The fair haired boy shielded his eyes with his forearms as he finally reached the end of the hall.
-"Slow down…!" the boy was breathing heavily now, "I can't run- on account of my asthma…"
"-Ass-mar?" The fair haired boy repeated, raising a brow.
"Yes, I can't catch my breath. I can't run…" He put his hands on his knees and bent over, breathing hard. The other boy couldn't help but wonder how this over-weight boy crippled with asthma managed to get into such a school…
Massive blocks of cement were scattered around them along with other debris from where the roof had caved in, making a make-shift staircase that led outside. He started to climb up carefully, until he reached the top where he stopped and stood up straight looking over the war-torn city of London. Smoke rose from parts of the destroyed city and fires were blazing in random spots everywhere. It was eerily silent. The sky had turned a red and black colour from the smoke. Behind him, the fatter boy was having difficulty climbing the wreckage.
"What's your name?" He asked as reached the top.
"Ralph." The fair haired boy now known as Ralph replied without looking at him. He squinted against the sun that beat down on them through the red and black clouds. The plump boy nodded, but kept silent as he also observed the sight around them. The light that reflected off his specs made Ralph squint even more, so he refrained from making eye-contact with him.
"How old are you?"
"Must you ask so many questions? I'm 15." Ralph let out a sigh then started to make his way down the rubble. He jumped down onto the dirt; his combat boots were covered in dust now. The boy still stumbled after him and Ralph sighed again, a bit irritated. The sound of footsteps caught his attention. Ralph looked up and noticed a few boys emerge from the entrance, both covered in soot and ash. They looked about 6 or 7 and their knees were scraped.
"Looks like there are other survivors." The plump boy said behind him. However the two boys were not alone. Slowly but surely others trickled out, usually accompanied by one or two others, coughing and groaning about what had happened. Ralph looked around- most of them were young, the oldest being maybe 12. The last boy flocked in and took a seat on piece of rubble, near two other boys, complaining about how his head hurt. Ralph was about to give orders when suddenly, the crackle of static and broken voices stopped him. Piggy and Ralph turned and they saw the body of a guard, an older man probably, who had died in the blast lying near the door under a slab of metal debris. The other, younger boys saw him and whimpered. By his bloody hand was a radio. Ralph ran for it and snatched it up.
"—Hailsham Academy [STATIC] –in- Are there [STATIC] survivors?" The voice on the other line sounded like it was coming from some other military authority. Ralph pressed his thumb down on the black button.
"Yes- hello? This is Colonel Ralph, from Hailsham-"
"-Hailsham come in [STATIC] Hello?"
Ralph couldn't tell if the man on the other line had heard him or not, so he tried again- "Hello, this is-"
"-Hailsham-"
"-Colonel Ralph-"
"-Come in-[STATIC]" Finally the line became overcome with static and the broken voice disappeared.
"Damnit…" he muttered and lowered the radio from his lips. Something must have been wrong with the signal- the radio towers were probably destroyed in the blast. He turned back to the boy behind him who watched anxiously.
"I don't think they can hear you." He stated plaintively. Ralph nodded slowly and stood up.
"No, I don't think they can…"
Then, another voice came in, clearer and younger.
"This is Officer Merridew- who is this?" The voice on the other line had an accent. Ralph's expression lit up and he pressed down the Speak button once again.
"Colonel Ralph- where are you at, Officer?"
"South-side of the school- and yourself?"
"Front entrance. Meet us here, now." He waited for a reply. There came none but he assumed that Officer Merridew was on his way. Ralph faced the plump boy in front of him once more.
"What's your name?" He asked and the boy smiled, as if he had been waiting for this very question since their meeting.
"Well, the older boys called me Piggy but-"
"-Piggy it is, then." Ralph cut him off and Piggy sunk a little in his jacket in disappointment. A moment later the shouts from an Officer arose from the distance. Ralph stood up straight as he waited.
"Look!" Piggy pointed.
Through the rubble ahead of them, two straight lines led by a tall, scrawny looking young man with fiery-red hair appeared. They all wore the same uniform- black caps and dark togs, brown cargo pants stuffed into boots and a belt at each of their sides that wielded small handguns. On the front of each of the togs were silver crosses- all except for the red-head in front, whose cross was gold.
"Halt!" He shouted and the boys behind him came to an abrupt stop. His accent was strong and he spoke with authority. Ralph looked them over and nodded in approval.
"Which of you is the one I spoke with over the radio?" The red-head demanded. Ralph stepped forward.
"I'm Colonel Ralph." The red-dead saluted him- not really with respect but out of pure instinct. Plus, it was mandatory when it came to meeting others in higher authority. "Are you Officer Merridew?"
"Yes- Jack Merridew." Ralph nodded and saluted him in return, before overlooking the other boys once more. They all shifted impatiently, swaying under the smoky clouds, coughing and sniffling. Some of the youngest looked like they had been crying.
"Merridew, can't we sit down yet?" One whined.
"Shut up! " Merridew snapped. "Do you have any idea where the General is?" He turned to Ralph.
"Dead- so is everyone else." Ralph answered. Jack lowered his icy blue eyes as he took this in, and then looked up once more. Meanwhile, Piggy busied himself with cleaning his glasses again. Jack opened his mouth to speak when suddenly the line broke up as one of the boys swooned and fell flat on his face.
"Merridew!" One of the younger ones called out and they flocked around the small boy lying on the floor like vultures. Jack rolled his eyes.
"Leave him be- Simon's always throwing a faint!" The fiery haired boy turned to them. "Go ahead sit down if it'll get you all to stop whining..!" Behind him all the boys sat down, wrapping themselves in their togs against the cool breeze. Two other boys dragged the small body of the boy with them, lied him down gently in the dirt and sat down on either side of him.
"We should take names, so that we know who's who." Piggy said. Ralph nodded.
"Okay then. You're-"
"-Officer Jack Merridew." Jack put in. He couldn't handle anyone else introducing him but himself. Ralph nodded once more.
"And your boys?" He looked to the line of children aging from 6 to 15. Ralph didn't understand why the General's decided to mix such young children with older boys but he didn't question it. He wasn't allowed to. It was silent a moment as none of the boys wanted to be the first to speak.
"Come on now, state your names." Jack ordered impatiently. A boy with messy brown hair quickly spoke up.
"I'm Maurice." He chimed, grinning a bit.
"-I'm Henry." Another younger boy put in.
"-Robert-"
"-I'm Wilbert-"
"-Bill-"
"Harold-" Other voices arose as the boys introduced themselves.
A boy with dark eyes and even darker hair spoke up last. "I'm Roger." He muttered
"I'm Simon…" The boy who had fainted spoke up as he recovered slowly. He was darkly skinned and his eyes were a piercing shade of dark green. There were at least sixteen in all. Jack smiled a bit proudly at his group, and then returned his gaze to Ralph. They then turned to the other children who had arrived earlier. The first to speak up from them were two boys- twins in fact- with light brown and blonde hair and identical complexions.
"I'm Sam-" The one on the right introduced.
"n' I'm Eric." Smiled the one of the left.
"Okay Sam-" Piggy began, but Sam shook his head.
"No he's Sam, I'm Eric-"
"Okay, Sam, Eric- Sam-uh-" The two boys giggled to each other at how much difficulty Piggy was having.
"We'll just call 'em Samneric." Ralph pinched the bridge of his nose, getting frustrated at just watching Piggy struggle. Samneric seemed satisfied with their new name and nodded to each other, then Ralph. Piggy then turned to the other children.
"I'm Percival…"
"-Douglas-"
There was another chorus of names. Of course, Piggy only remembered a small handful.
"Now we ought to have someone in charge." Piggy went on. "Ralph's the Colonel so he-"
"-Shut up fatty, you're talking too much." Jack suddenly snapped.
"His name's not fatty, it's Piggy!" Ralph put in then immediately realized what he had said did not at all help the chubbier boy. The other children giggled and laughed.
"Piggy! Oh, Piggy!" They howled. Jack chuckled to himself then put up his hand, silencing the boys. Meanwhile, Piggy looked down and pretended to be distracted with his glasses, which he cleaned with his uniform for the third time. Ralph sighed and removed his military jacket which was decorated with a few badges and medals, alike Jack's. He laid it down on a piece of debris and turned back to everyone.
"Piggy's right. We need someone in charge. A Chief."
The other children nodded in agreement. "I ought to be Chief." Jack spoke up. "I'm Commanding Officer- my boys have been trained and are top ranking." The boys behind him sat up a bit straighter at the recognition.
"But the Colonel-" Percival said quietly. "Shouldn't he be chief?" Jack narrowed his eyes at the smaller boy, who looked away.
"We should have a vote." Roger said. Jack nodded quickly.
"Alright. Raise your hand if I ought to be Chief." Jack said and all the hands of his group sprang up- or at least most of them did. Simon didn't budge despite the odd glances given to him by the other boys.
"Okay- what about me?" Ralph said. The rest of the hands- Simon included- went up. It was more than obvious that Jack had been outnumbered by a few. He muttered something under his breath and his cheeks flushed with slight humiliation. Ralph smiled to himself and nodded at this.
"I'm Chief then." He noticed Jack. "Merridew, you're in charge of all yours boys." With that, Jack's face lit up a bit, content with this small piece of leadership.
"We'll be Hunter's." He said. The other boys behind him seemed pleased with this. Ralph nodded and smiled at Jack- who smiled slowly in return, but quickly looked away.
"All right boys-" He faced his boys once again. "Remove your togs." As if they had been dismissed from class the boys all removed their black 'capes' and laid them on the debris and rubble behind them., chattering amongst themselves. The younger boys in the other group sat quietly, tugging at their grey sweater vests.
"Now listen everyone-" Ralph stepped forward, taking in his new role as Chief. "- We have no idea what's really happened. We know we've been bombed, but that's it. Now we need to know if there are any adults around to help us. Or maybe the other way around. We'll go exploring first. Me and a few other boys." He looked among the eager faces. "Jack, you'll come." Jack nodded and unsheathed his knife from his belt as if he expected they run into to something or someone deadly. "And…" Ralph searched the faces some more. Simon was still recovering. Finally his eyes fell on the dark haired boy. "And you- Roger."
Roger didn't seem to excited. He stood up and fell behind Jack. There was a pistol at his belt- one larger than any of the other boys' guns. His dark and sadistic appearance gave Ralph a vibe that he might be the most skilled among the others. And the most deadly.
"What about me?" Ralph turned and saw Piggy staggering behind him.
"This isn't a very good job for you-"
"But I-"
"-You heard the Chief." Jack said, agitated now. "Three's enough." Piggy's glasses flashed and his cheeks turned a bit red. Jack and Roger started forward while Ralph stayed back a moment.
"Look. Stay back here and keep an eye on the others. Get names and make sure everyone's alright." Piggy nodded slowly. "That's your job." Ralph smiled hoping to reassure the boy. Piggy finally returned the smile and Ralph patted his shoulder. "So long." He waved and raced after Jack and Roger.
