Author's Notes: Sorry guys, I really wanted to get this up sooner, but I was kind of stuck. I hope the last chapter was ok, I considered rewriting it because I didn't like it at all. Oh well : ( Hope you like this one. Thank you so much for reviewing, I love having such a positive response to my story. I can't thank you enough! I'll have the next chapter out definitely by December 23. I'm shooting for having it out on 19th or even the 18th though. Sorry for any grammatical errors, I didn't have time to read through it right now. Enjoy!

Annie, Simon, and Piggy sat on their rocks in foreboding. They might get lucky, not all water had to be boiled before it was drunk. The other boys began to rest beside the stream and lie in the sun. They were fed, they were watered, and the weather was warm shaded. They seemed fine and the air of apprehension surrounding the three rock-dwellers was lifting. Annie's mouth was getting dry and she wanted water. She pushed off of the rock and took a step toward the stream.

"Wait." The quiet voice of Simon said from behind her. "Just wait." She didn't question this wise little boy, she just took her seat back on the rock. They waited for a little while longer as some of the littleuns went off to play. It looked like the water was good, and everything was going to be ok.

Piggy got up and started walking to the brook. "Piggy…" Simon said cautiously. "Don't." Piggy almost went on, but he sat back down.

"Everyone's fine, Simon." Annie told him. "Why shouldn't we drink it?"

"I don't think it's good." Simon explained warily. "I just have a bad feeling about it."

"A feeling?" She asked rhetorically. "You had a feeling. That's why you told us not to drink the water yet?"

"Yeah." He answered, sounding embarrassed.

"Maybe you shouldn't put so much faith in your feelings." She said gently as she got up and began walking towards the water. She bent down to drink, but just as she did she heard a strange noise. One of the littleuns who had hung around the stream, the youngest known as Johnny, was retching.

"Shit!" Jack swore while jumping to his feet. "What the hell is wrong with him?!"

"It's the water." Piggy said while struggling to breath, presumably having an asthma attack. "It's bad."

Soon all the littleuns nearby were vomiting in the bushes, and barely able to hold themselves up.

"We have to get to the beach before everybody starts getting sick!" Ralph yelled. "The sun's gonna set soon, and we don't want to be in the woods where we can't see." He paused for a second because Sam had started throwing up. "Did anybody not drink the water?" He asked in the mounting panic as the older boys started to show sickness.

"We didn't." Annie said. "Simon, Piggy, and I."

"You're gonna have to…" Ralph struggled to say. "Gonna have to…" he tried again, but he too was in the bushed throwing up.

"Take care of the sick." Simon finished his sentence. Annie looked at him with panic in her eyes.

There were so many sick boys, some who could barely walk and would have to be brought to the beach.

"Anybody that can walk!" Annie yelled. "Head for where we were on the beach earlier!"

Ralph, Jack, and the hunters began walking to the beach. "Can either of you carry the little ones?" Annie asked Simon and Piggy.

"My asthma." Piggy answered, while still struggling to breath.

"Yes." Simon said quietly.

"I think I could carry the some of them, but my arm's still week, so I'm not sure how many."

"I'll go back to the beach, and help those guys." Piggy stated as he began walking away from them.

"Of course he will." Annie said, a little bitterly. "Leave us with the real work. Oh, well, I'm sure he'd rather not have asthma. How are we supposed to carry them to the beach while their throwing up?"

Somehow Simon and Annie managed to carry all of the little boys to the beach. It was difficult because some of them were still retching, but they finally managed. Little Simon had some vomit on his pants but he didn't seem to mind too much because he was so busy. Soon everyone had stopped vomiting. All the sick lay listlessly in the sand. They were in two basic groups: those that had been able to walk out themselves, and the much larger group of littleuns.

"They won't listen to me!" Piggy whined in exasperation. "I'm tryin' to take care of 'em and help 'em, but they won't let me! They keep yelling for water, and they need it before they get too dehydrated."

"What about cocoanut milk instead?" Annie asked.

"I think most of 'em couldn't hold it down." Piggy answered.

"We'll have to build a fire to boil water." Annie said.

"Alright, we'll gather some wood." Simon said.

"I can't. My asthma." Piggy interjected.

"Then you can take care of the others." Annie said as she and Simon began to walk to the woods to gather wood. It was quick work. They were able to pick up enough brush and wood off the forest floor itself and they didn't have to use any real strength, which was a good thing because neither of them had much right now.

"The biguns were yellin' at me, they started to throw sand at me so I started to take care of the littleuns." Piggy explained as they put all of the wood in a pile. "They're starting to get fevers and everything.

"Can you finish the fire Simon?" Annie asked.

"Yeah." He answered. She began to walk over to the group of older boys. They were lying in the sand, some groaning dramatically and whining for water.

She was right next to them now, looking down at them. They didn't seem to notice her right away. "Uh, hey guys." Annie said nervously. "How are you feeling?" They all stopped groaning immediately. "Better?" She asked sarcastically. "I know you're sick, but that's no excuse for treating Piggy like that."

"That stupid fat bastard?" Roger asked.

"Yes." She said shortly, ignoring the insult. "He said you all have fevers. Do you?" She asked in an entirely different tone, comforting and worried.

She ended up having to feel each and every one of their heads because Piggy had based his observation on the way they looked alone. She put her hand on Ralph's head, it was hot and he was sweating. "Oh Ralph, you have a fever." She said quietly while putting her face a little closer to his.

"No, I'm fine really." He said while looking up at her, he tried to give a little smile and succeeded weakly.

"No, you're not." She told him. "Just lay down, Simon's getting a fire and water." She put her hand on Jack's head next. He focused on the softness of her skin.

"You have a fever too, Jack." She said, breaking him out of his reverie.

"Oh I do, do I?" He said in a voice slightly husky with lust. She looked into his cold eyes.

"Yeah." She said quietly. "You, uh, should lie down."

"No problem." He said coolly while smirking. She checked everybody else's heads and discovered that only Sam, Ralph, and Jack had fevers, and a few of the boys like Roger and Maurice were feeling fine.

She checked with Piggy and was surprised to find that only one of the littleuns still was sick. They had gotten it all out of their systems with their vomiting. Some of them were even playing and swimming. Simon had managed to start a fire using Piggy's glasses to reflect the sun onto the wood. He also had gotten some cocoanut shells, cleared them out, filled them with water, and boiled it.

She brought it back to the sick boys who were still lying in the sand, along with bringing the little boy named Kevin who was still sick. Eric was sitting next to a sleeping Sam (his twin) and rubbing his forehead carefully. "He'll be all right, Eric." Annie said, sounding a lot more sure than she actually was. Ralph was sleeping also and he looked really flushed. Jack was sitting and he smirked at her as she got closer.

"I think my fever's gone." He told her. She went over and put her hand on his head.

"No!" She said in a shocked voice. "You're burning up!"

"Are you sure your hands aren't just cold?" He asked while raising one eyebrow and smirking at her, and expression that almost any girl would find sexy. She sighed in frustration and brought her face closer to his. His eyes widened a little as she put her cheek to his forehead.

"Yes, you're burning up! Now please Jack, lie down." She practically begged. He did and she sent some of the little kids into the forest to soak cloth in stream to put on the heads of the sick. They came back with cocoanuts filled with the cool water and wet cloth, ironically part of her skirt that jack had cut off earlier.

Jack was now laying in the sand with his eyes closed. He was the closest to her so she knelt down beside him and put a wet cloth on his head.

"What the fu…" He began to say as the cold fabric made contact with his warm skin. His eyes shot open and he looked at her. He stopped mid-swear as he saw her face.

"It's just a cool cloth." She said quickly. "It might help bring the fever down."

"Oh, ok." He said to her. She gave him a little smile and he closed his eyes. She gave Eric a cocoanut shell and rag so that he could take care of Sam. Right now Piggy was sitting and thinking while polishing his glasses, and Simon was taking care of the fire. She moved on to little Kevin and put a rag on his head. He was in the midst of a fitful sleep, caused by his mounting fever. She didn't have a way of telling what his temperature was, but she was sure that it was nearing dangerous highs.

"Shh, shh, Kevin." She said comfortingly while rubbing his head. "It's ok, you're gonna get better soon." Ralph was next, and he was in the same condition as Kevin. The sun was beginning to set and all of the boys were coming back to the beach. They started to gather around and look Jack and Ralph, most of the choir boys focused on Jack, but the others gathered around Ralph.

"Is they gonna be ok?" One of the little boys asked. He was mostly talking about Jack and Ralph.

"Yes." Annie answered quickly. "Of course they are!"

"What if they die?" Another littleun asked.

"They're not going to die!" She said angrily, yet still in a contained way.

"We need a leader." Maurice said.

"Ralph's our leader." Piggy interjected.

"But what if he dies?" The same littleun asked again.

"He's not going to…" Annie began.

"We should elect a substitute leader just incase." Roger stated excitedly. This was followed by a chorus of "yeah".

"We elected Ralph as our leader!" Piggy yelled.

"This'll be just incase he dies, and for when he's sick." Roger explained.

"He's not gonna…" Annie began to yell.

"Just incase, and just for now." Roger said, looking at her dangerously.

"How about Jack!" One of the littleuns piped up.

"Jack's sick too." Maurice stated.

"How about Roger!" Another littleun yelled in exhilaration. This was followed by "yeah, Roger!"

"How about Piggy or Simon!" Annie yelled in a last-ditch effort to make someone other than Roger temporary leader, though she didn't know why. This was followed by a bunch of no's from the crowd. "But they took care of you when you were sick!"

"Piggy's fat with glasses, and Simon's weird!" Robert chimed in.

"Who votes for Simon or Piggy?" Roger called out. This was answered by only Annie, Simon, and Piggy raising their hands along with boos from the crowd. "And who votes for me as temporary leader?!" He called again with much more zest and approval than the time before. The rest of the hands went up, and the large mob cheered.

"I guess I'm leader then." Roger said with satisfaction, as the exact opposite feeling began to root in Annie's stomach.

A/N: There it is, chapter 3! Remember, Roger's only temporary leader… for now. Will Ralph, Jack, Sam, and Kevin wake up? Will Roger end up as the permanent leader? What will happen next? All these answers and more are yet to come. Please review, I love to hear what you think about my story!