Author's Notes: Wrote this last summer. This is the first chapter of The Aftermath (lololo sorry for the fail title), if it were to have actual legit chapters. The Aftermath is just a take on what would happen after the boys left the island, told from the POV of Ralph, Jack, and a tiny portion contains the POV of other characters. I've never felt like writing sequential chapters for this, so its "chapters" are just snippets of the story. If you want a summary of what happens in the whole thing so you can follow along better, I'll write it at the bottom of this. However, if enough people nag me to write chapters in order, I just may, so spoil it at your own risk.

This story desperately wants to be Jack/Ralph, but it won't quite be. (It's Ralph/OC and kind of Jack/OC. And I hate them both just a little.) Sadly enough for all of us shippers (yeah it's my story, and it's not going the way I want it to XD). But it takes an interesting look at their relationship (the shipped romantic one as well as its "aftermath"...well, you'll see) and how it develops. Enjoy.

Disclaimer.

This obviously contains spoilers for the whole LOTF book. Please don't read it if you haven't finished the book itself.

Please R&R!

---

Ralph's breath came fast and hard, though he tried to stifle it. He was wedged into the darkest corner of his little hole; why would they look for him here? Even as he tried to convince himself of this, he knew there was no hope. But the question was, what would get to him first — the fire or the savages?

The ululation sounded in a line behind him again, and a shudder wracked his body. He hoped it would be the fire.

Then — the rustling of the foliage. Ralph tensed; there was someone there. The boy was crouched, close to the ground; Ralph could make out his silhouette. He paced carefully, slowly, ever closer to Ralph's hiding place. Ralph gripped his spear tighter; splinters pierced into his hand. He was so scared; his mouth was dry, his eyes were darting back and forth; his heart pounded so loudly in his chest he was afraid it would give him away. The terror washed over him in screaming waves, drowning his thoughts with its howling. He was going to die; he was going to die today, torn to bloody carnage by his former friends, head rammed onto a stake in the ground. He was going to die, just like Simon, like Piggy…

He stifled a gag at the sickening remembrance of Piggy's brains. The savage crept closer. The boy's face was pointed towards the ground…he stopped just above Ralph's hole. He peered closer; he would be able to see Ralph any second now…

With a wild screech Ralph burst from his hiding place and tore towards the beach. The savage, racing after him, warned the others with the terrible ululation. They all responded; the sound was much too close. Ralph pushed himself harder; was that possible? And what was he to do once he reached the beach? Fight them off?

A humorless, slightly insane laugh choked out of him as the tears bubbled down his face. Right. Well, at least his spear was sharpened at both ends.

He tore into the sand and whirled, ready to meet them when they came out. But then he realized all noise, save the crackling of the fire, had stopped. There was no sound of pursuit. This scared him more than ever.

And suddenly a hand gripped his shoulder. He could feel the point of a spear digging into his back, causing blood to trickle down it. He thought this was the worst; he thought nothing could terrify him more than this. But he was proven wrong. There was a tiny, simple word spoken by an all too familiar voice that would shatter him from inside out with agony.

"Gotcha."

And the spear exploded through his chest.

—

Ralph bolted up as a scream tore through his throat. He was coated in cold sweat; he couldn't think. He wrapped himself into as tight a ball as he could make as the screams ripped out of his mouth, shattering the relative silence of the night.

"Hey! Hey kid, easy, easy…" The navel captain was already by his side, putting an arm around his shoulder and patting him awkwardly on the back. The boy looked up at him with uncomprehending eyes, wide with terror. He was more animal now than human. He shoved the captain away with surprising force, and scrambled into a corner of the cabin, where he made himself as small as he could. He screams faded into whimpers after a while.

"Trouble with the kid again, Kyle?" A voice came through the captain's door.

He sighed, pushing himself up from the floor to go open it. He sat on the bed after his friend and shipmate had come in. "You have no idea," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I don't understand it. Okay, true, the other boys won't talk to each other, but at least they'll stay in rooms together. But this one? Refuses to even make eye contact with the others. I had to bring his meals here before he would start eating, and even that took a while. And every night, he wakes up screaming like this. Scares me out of my wits every time, I tell you."

The other man nodded, sitting on the cot opposite the captain. "Well, sounds like they had a rough time of it. Two killed, did you say?"

He nodded. "That this one knows of. None of them have spoken since we first picked them up."

"I don't know what happened on that island, but I sure as hell know I'm glad I wasn't there. Still, I wonder — what sorts of things happened to make them like this? I mean, did you see that redhead? Clay covering his whole face, like some sort of tribal mask." He shook his head. "They were practically children. What happened?"

They both sat, mulling over this as the ship rocked gently.

After a few moments, the captain stood. "Well," he said, stretching as he yawned, "best be getting back to bed. Looks like the kid's asleep again."

His friend got up, stretching as well. "Poor bugger. Bet he hardly gets any sleep, waking up like that."

The captain laughed as he opened the door for his friend. "I would know. Night, Ron."

Ron waved back over his shoulder. "Night, Kyle."

---

As promised, a huge spoiler of the whole story. After leaving the island, all the boys have scars from the horrors they experienced. However, Ralph is affected the worst, being the only "good" one to survive. After hardly eating or sleeping for weeks, his parents send him to psychotherapy. Jack isn't so lucky; with parents who don't seem to notice how much he's suffering, he takes to alcohol and drugs to drown the memories. Eventually he's caught, and sent to rehab, where he meets Steffen. Steffen's the only one who seems to care if Jack lives or dies, so they quickly become close. Closer than friends, even, but Jack won't take it too far, because his mind keeps returning to a certain blond...

This "certain blond" has meanwhile met the daughter of a psychotherapist who works at the center he goes to. Optimistic and kind, Mackenzie eventually gets Ralph to open up to her. He ends up telling her the same amount he told his doctor, and getting it off his chest a second time helps to close the wounds even quicker. Strengthened by his recovered conscious and his new found love, Ralph decides to finally confront his most deeply wedged fear -- Jack. He and Mackenzie transfer to the same school as Jack and Steffen, and then the real drama begins.

Jack had never expected to see Ralph again, especially only three years after the island, especially at his own school. A whole slew of complications ensues -- Ralph is still avoiding Jack, and only forced confrontations can bring about curt replies; Jack has fallen fully back in love and just wants to apologize; Steffen is being ignored and getting hurt; and when a new boy enrolls in the school and the rooming arrangements shift, Jack and Ralph have to room together. Jack tries to break down his walls, just so he can talk to him, and when he finally forces him to listen to his apology, Ralph only screams that it's too late.

There are quite a few details that I haven't worked out, especially during the school period of the story (for instance: is the new boy at the school Roger? Should I throw him in the story at all?). But at the end, Ralph eventually forgives him, even though they can never be the way they were, or even close. Jack hurt him far too much, and he has a new love, and one that's always good to him. So that kind of sucks, but, I suppose that's the way the cookie crumbles. (you say, "wtf, woman. you're writing this freaking story." i say, "i know. i tried to change the end. i tried to make it jack/ralph and throw mackenzie out a window, but ralph was just kind of like 'oh hell no. i'm not getting back together with the guy who tried to kill me.' (and, depending on how slashy/ohgodwtfwhy you view the story, raped him.) And i was like 'darn.'")

end spoiler.

Being the complete dork that I am, I actually made a LOTF/Aftermath playlist. It starts a bit before the feast where they kill Simon (with Ralph being (sexually) abused), and ends at the end of Aftermath. I mapped out complete music videos for Aftermath for the last two songs on the playlist, so that definitely influenced the exact details of the end of the story. If you want the list of songs and reasons, just send me a note or comment on this. I'd be happy to oblige.