There was no time to get away. Ralph flattened himself against the ground. Jack reached him and pounced.

Ralph collapsed further under Jack's weight, pressed flat to the ground on his stomach. Jack forced Ralph to turn over onto his back, with knees bent. Ralph struggled and brought his knee up to hit Jack in the crotch. Jack grunted with pain and rolled to the side and off of Ralph, eyes squeezed shut and watering.

Ralph scrambled to his feet to get away, but he was not quick enough. Jack flung himself at the escaping Ralph and caught his legs, then pulled him toward him to get at his back. He straddled the struggling boy and pummeled his back and neck with his fists. He stopped for a moment and Ralph, his current energy and strength deceptive, scrambled out from underneath him.

Both boys were on their knees now, panting. The circle of boys around them watched intently, with breaths bated. Trapped within the tight circle of boys, spears in hand, and accosted by Jack the hunter, Ralph knew he was in the middle of a pig hunt. He prepared himself to fight to the last until he was brought down and caught for good. His animalistic instincts had taken over.

Jack scrambled toward Ralph, confident that he could bring him down. As he reached out to grab Ralph, Ralph leaned back slightly on his left wrist and brought his right leg back to kick Jack in the stomach. Jack grunted and fell back on his haunches, surprised at the boy's vigor.

Ralph took this opportunity to jump on top of Jack and punch him in the face, viciously, drawing blood. Jack eventually shoved the boy off of him, but then Ralph saw his exposed back. With the fury and desperation of a wild, cornered animal, Ralph clawed at Jack's back, sinking his nails into the soft flesh, with the intent to hurt and injure in order to buy time so he could escape.

Jack was astounded at his ferocity. Ralph had ripped deep gashes in his back, which were now bleeding freely. Jack cried out as Ralph continued to rip at his back until a pair of arms grabbed Ralph from behind and pulled him off of Jack. Ralph knew the arms belonged to Roger because he held him tight and wouldn't let him go.

"No, Roger." Jack gasped, blood trickling down his lip. "Leave him, I've got him..."

Roger roughly released Ralph and he fell to the ground.

In an instant, Jack was on top of him. The boys rolled over each other, frantically lashing out at each other. Both boys' blood now stained the sand as blood was smeared from rolling around.

When they stopped rolling, Jack remained on top. Ralph's good arm was caught between his and Jack's body, but his right arm, though bad, was free. He brought his trembling right hand up to Jack's face and slowly raked his fingernails across Jack's left cheek. Jack growled and quickly grabbed his broken wrist, stopping him from scratching his face further. Ralph closed his eyes and almost passed out with the pain of Jack's cruel grip, which was clearly meant to maim the already injured wrist. Among many, he had found Ralph's weakest point.

As Ralph struggled to remain conscious, he opened his eyes and saw Jack's eyes directly above him. Ralph was shocked by the hatred and contempt in his eyes. He couldn't imagine how anyone could hate him so much. While still holding Ralph's wrist, Jack fisted the knuckles of the other hand and brought it down onto Ralph's stomach with all his might.

This hit knocked all the wind out of Ralph. His body went limp momentarily and he lost his defensive stance. He had lost the battle in a few short seconds.

Jack was all over him. Not having much hope, but not one to give in easily, Ralph managed a last attempt to escape. With his last reserve of energy, he squirmed and thrashed frantically against the body on top of his own, but Jack easily contained him.

Ralph knew he was caught. He had lost too much blood and was too weak to fight back; though he had injured Jack, his own injuries were worse. He realized he was finished and relaxed his muscles. Jack felt the relax in his muscles and released his wrist, letting his arm drop to rest on the bloody sand beside his battered body. Ralph dropped his head back onto the sand, giving in to Jack. He was completely drained and could not resist anymore.

Jack pulled out his knife and held it to Ralph's throat. Ralph knew he was enraptured in the excitement of a pig hunt. He knew HE was the pig.

The bloodlust shone in Jack's eyes as he licked his lips and held the knife to his prey's throat.