Author's note: Special thanks to Sasuke0099 and Sai-Narutos-Lover

for reviewing.

….

Chapter Two.

Ralph was lying down on the beach, staring vacantly up at the sky. He had no idea how long he had been lying there. Although the sun was shining down on him, although the warm waves of the sea were washing over his feet, although the sand was sticking to his back, Ralph couldn't comprehend that any of it was real. He felt so numb, like he was frozen in time. His body trembled uncontrollably as he recalled the events of the previous night.

I've killed…no, I've murdered Simon. I've actually murdered a person. Murderer, murderer, murderer!

At first, Ralph's shock had been so great that he refused to believe it had even happened. He kept telling himself that it was just a dream, that Simon wasn't really dead, and all he needed to do was close his eyes and when he opened them again he would see Simon, alive and well, walking up the beach towards him.

Piggy kept insisting on how the whole thing was just a terrible accident and that it was nobody's fault. Part of Ralph wanted to agree with him, as if it would somehow make the pain easier, but deep down, he knew the truth. They were all murderers, every last one of them. Including himself.

Unable to bear Piggy's whining about how Simon's death had been no more than a "mistake", Ralph had fled to the other side of the beach. He needed to be alone with his thoughts at a time like this, and the other boys' constant nattering about rescue and the threat of Jack's tribe was not helping.

Ralph's shock eventually subsided to grief, and he finally began to grasp the consequences of what he had done. He would never again see Simon's electrically bright eyes, which seemed to hold within them a wisdom that was rare to find in most adults, let alone a young boy. He would never again hear Simon's soft voice, always so calm and reassuring. Simon was, without a doubt, the most remarkable boy Ralph had ever met. And now he was gone forever.

Simon was so innocent, so gentle…and I took his life away!

Tears slowly began to run down Ralph's cheeks and the boy sobbed quietly. He sat up and buried his face in his hands, his tears trailing their way down his palms.

"I'm so sorry, Simon…." he whispered in a barely audible voice.

"Ralph!" A voice exclaimed suddenly.

Ralph jumped and quickly rubbed his eyes, trying to brush away the tears. He didn't want anyone to know he had been crying. When he was finally convinced all the traces of his tears were gone, Ralph slowly turned his head.

Piggy was walking towards him from down the beach.

"Ralph, what are you doing here?!"

"I just….I just needed some time to think, that's all" Ralph answered shortly.

"Well, can't you think some other time? We have to focus on the signal fire!"

Ralph's eyes locked with Piggy's, and the fair haired boy glared at the bespectacled boy with such sheer anger and disbelief that Piggy whimpered and looked away.

"Piggy, don't you realise what happened last night?! Doesn't it affect you at all?!"

Piggy kept his gaze firmly on the ground. "It does affect me, Ralph. I wish it had never happened. I wish Simon was still alive and with us now. But we can't change the past. We need to move on and concentrate on being rescued."

"I should've guessed you'd say that!" Ralph snapped with such ferocity that if Piggy hadn't known better, he'd swear that it was Jack speaking to him, not the fair haired chief.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You never liked Simon, did you?!"

"That's nonsense!"

"Well, you never appreciated him, anyway! He was always so willing to help, he was always so loyal and trusting. And what did you call him?! Batty! You just thought he was completely mad!"

"Ralph, please listen to me! When I said we should move on, I didn't mean to show any disrespect to Simon's memory."

"So, what did you mean?"

"Ralph….now I've seen what Jack's tribe are capable of, I…..I'm scared. I don't know what they might try to do next! I just want to be safe, Ralph. I want to go home!"

Ralph paused. He realised he was being unfair to accuse Piggy of such things. It was only natural that the other boy wanted to be protected after what he had seen happen the previous night.

"I'm sorry, Piggy. I shouldn't have said those awful things. It's just….it's just that when we arrived on this island, I promised myself that I would help everyone get back home. Nobody would get left behind."

Ralph had now turned his head to look at the ocean's horizon, trying to prevent the flow of tears.

"I broke my promise, Piggy. I let Simon down."

Through his slightly blurry spectacles, Piggy could just see Ralph's eyes watering slightly. He felt a stab of guilt.

"Ralph, I never meant to…."

"It's fine, Piggy, it's fine!" Ralph cut the other boy off mid sentence.

The fair haired boy turned sharply away from the sea and began walking briskly back up the beach. "Come on, let's check on the signal fire!" he yelled over his shoulder to Piggy.

The bespectacled boy sighed and began to hurry after Ralph, desperately trying to keep up.

"Ralph! Ralph, slow down, please! Remember I've got ass-mar!"

….

Simon groaned and slowly stirred. He had barely opened his eyes before the immense pain from his injuries suddenly surged through him. The boy whimpered and looked down to see that almost every part of his body was cut and bleeding.

Simon turned his attention away from his bleeding body and looked around him. He was on a beach, but it wasn't the island's beach. He didn't recognise this place at all.

Hearing the sound of waves breaking against the shore, Simon looked up as a stream of sea water flooded over his lower body, stopping at his torso. He yelped as the salt from the water washed into his wounds, making them sting viciously.

Simon suddenly realised the danger he was in. If I stay here, I'll get washed away by the tide!

Simon tried to lift himself onto his feet, but as he stood up, excruciating pain rushed through his legs, as if he was being stabbed by hundreds of spears at once. Simon cried out in pain and his legs gave way, making him collapse back onto the sand.

Simon sighed. If he couldn't stand up, he would have to find another way to move himself. An idea occurred to Simon and he grimaced. It would work, but it wouldn't be pleasant. Simon rolled onto his side. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and braced himself. This is going to hurt…

Resting most of his weight on his hands and arms, Simon lifted his body slightly above the ground and began to drag himself further up the beach. He winced as his wounds began to sting more badly than ever, but he ignored the pain and continued to move forward gradually.

Eventually, Simon managed to move off the beach and into a small cluster of palm trees. By now the young boy was almost delirious from the amount of pain his injuries were causing him. Suddenly, Simon began to sway to and fro and his vision began to blur.

Oh no…not again. Not another faint…

Simon tried to fight the dizziness, but it was too late. His feeble body slumped to the ground.

No…please…don't…Simon's thoughts became more desperate.

He tried vainly to lift himself up again, but found he couldn't. All his energy was beginning to fade. Exhausted, alone, injured and weak, Simon let his head lay back and he slowly closed his eyes.