GMO is this an actual update?
I know, I suck. I've pretty much rewritten chapter one, aswell, but its not quite finished.
Anyhoo, read this. Don't expect a new chapter for a while.
"So where were you guys headed?" asked Ralph.
The survivors had settled in a clearing in the forest, and Jack had consented (with a little reluctance) that they could build a small fire for the sake of warmth, after the temperature had plummeted rapidly as the sun went down.
"A little island off the coast of Sydney," said Julie, "we were going to do some research into whatever plankton grows there."
"Coccolithophorids," put in Lynnie, "Little phytoplankton who float near the surface of the sea and photosynthesize all day.
"Er." said Ralph, whittling with his knife. "Fascinating."
Lynnie shrugged.
"It kinda is."
Ralph snorted.
"Fine!" said Lynnie, rattled, "where were you going?"
"Devil's Lair," said Jack, "ancient cave thing in Australia."
"Fascinating," echoed Lynnie with a wry grin.
"Kinda is," said Ralph, "they only recently discovered it…its like, a big cave in Australia with a bunch of artefacts from ancient man, about 46 thousand years BC."
"Which is really old," put in Jack, seeing Alison's expression. She scowled at him.
"Just because I don't have an infinite level of knowledge about history, which by the way is just stuff that has already happened, does not mean I'm stupid. My talents just happen to lie in a more useful area."
Ralph let out a low whistle.
"I think I preferred the naked savages," he muttered, "to the rampant feminists."
Jack's brain exploded into alarms and sirens, flashing and blaring.
"Pardon?!" spluttered Julie as Caroline had what appeared to be some sort of stroke, "naked what?"
"Ah…" stalled Ralph, realizing he'd spoken out loud, "um…y'see-"
He caught Jack's eye, attempting to suggest they told the girls the truth.
"No way," said Jack, adamant, "not a chance."
"What are you going to tell them, Jack, that we've been visiting some really odd clubs? They're going to find out eventually!"
"They don't have to," said Jack.
Ralph let out an exasperated snort.
"Yes they do!" he said.
"Don't." fired back Jack.
"Excuse me!" said Lynnie, shocking the boys out of their argument, "as thinking, feeling, understanding human beings, I think we have an ethical right to know your big secret, especially if its going to affect our little stay here, which I believe it will from what's slipped out so far."
She took a breath, and Alison took the opportunity to butt in.
"Yeah, so just spill!" she said triumphantly.
Ralph looked to Jack for consent, and there was a long, hard second where some grand internal workings went on in his mind.
"Fine," he said finally, "tell them whatever you want. It doesn't matter."
As if to illustrate his point, he sat down further away from the group, facing outwards towards the beach.
Ralph heaved a sigh, and then collected himself, organising the points in his mind whilst monitoring Jack through his peripheral vision.
"So basically, when Jack and I were 12, a plane we were on crashed onto this remote desert island. There were about 20 of us, aged between 5 and 12, stranded on our own for about a month and a half, and after a while, things went…wrong. I guess you could say our civilized natures broke down, and before we knew it…the tribe had split. Some for democracy, some for fun. I lead the democrats, and…"
He paused and stoked the fire, deliberately avoiding naming Jack.
"There were deaths," he settled for finally, "at the hands of the other tribe, but we were all involved to some extent."
Jack looked over his shoulder, surprised by the omission. Ralph shrugged and went on with his story.
"So anyway," he finished, "in the end we got rescued by a ship, but not until we'd burnt down most of the island, and killed a…a friend of mine. So you can understand why we're cautious?"
"Wow," said Julie, "I guess we can."
"What happened afterwards," asked Alison, a kind of hunger in her eyes as she moved closer to the fire, "did you just go on with life as normal? What about the rest of them, the leader of the fun pack, what happened to him?"
"Alison!" chastised Julie.
"No, its fine," said Ralph, "it was a long time ago, and I don't know what happened to anyone…I think we all wanted to forget what happened, knowing each other would have kept it all alive. It's only because Jack and I ended up at the same university that we got back in touch."
"What about the fire?" said Lynnie, her voice low as if she wasn't asking a question, but thinking out loud, "why didn't you want a fire?"
Ralph shrugged.
"I'm okay with the fire," he said, "you'd have to ask Jack about that."
Collectively, they all turned where Jack was silhouetted against the sky.
"Maybe it can wait," said Lynnie, voicing the thought that everyone had been thinking.
"It can wait," said Ralph decisively, turning back to the fire.