The red headed male walked in, shutting the door behind him.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" he said, his face emotionless, which put Ralph in uneasiness.
"Uh, yeah." Ralph replied, shifting again in his bed, his heart racing rapidly.
Jack smirked, which only made Ralph feel more uneasy, as the red head walked over to him.
"What's the matter, chief?" he spat, clearly full of resentment towards Ralph.
"I thought we were friends. Aren't we, Ralph?"
Ralph remained silent, just staring at the other male, unsure of what to do or say.
Finally, he found his voice, and said, "What do you want, Jack?"
"Your head on a stick." Jack snapped, losing his smirk and now glaring at the other male, with hatred in his eyes. "You are stealing my hunters away. You just can't get enough of the spot light, can you?"
Ralph remained silent for a while, and Jack felt as if he had the upper hand, leaving the other male speechless. "What are you talking about? We aren't on the island anymore, so get ahold of yourself! You and Roger both! We are going home, what more do you want?!" Ralph said, gripping the cup that was still in his hands a bit tighter.
"I want to prove that I should have been chief! That I am better than you! You are weak, and didn't deserve to be chief! I'm sick of you always being in the spotlight!" Jack shouted back, anger filling in the both of them. Then silence. Deafening silence. It was so silent that the waved crashing against the metal of the boat could be heard, and the light buzzing noise the light on the ceiling made, and talking from somewhere else on the ship.
"You all voted me chief." Ralph said after a while of the two staring each other down. "You wouldn't have been able to handle being chief, if this is how you were going to act. You killed people, Jack, all because your pride got the best of you."
There was a moment of nothing once more, until Jack shook his head, laughing a bit. "Do you think you're so innocent? Remember, you helped kill Simon by joining in on the dance. Roger will take credit for killing fatty, but have you thought about what happened to Samneric? The boy you stabbed when hiding in the creepers was one of them. You killed one of the twins with a spear. The other one wouldn't stop bawling like a baby, and refused to leave his dead brothers side. Without him being here, I say it's pretty clear that he died in the fire, so, you really killed them both."
Ralph froze, his eyes widening slight. He couldn't tell if Jack was lying or not just to get to him. But, then again, since Samneric weren't on the ship…
Jack smiled, and turned towards the door. Before opening it, he looked over his shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, you'll be with your pathetic friends soon. Watch your back, chief." And with that, opened the metal door, and left Ralph all alone in the room.
Slowly, his eyes lowered from staring at the door were Jack had once been, to the cup in his hands. He felt numb, but at the same time in pain. There was a sharp pain in his chest, and his stomach twisted and turned every way. Ralph quickly leaned over the side of the bed, grabbed the bucket with one hand, the other still holding the cup, and threw up what was in his stomach. It was only water, and the pills that were supposed to keep his head from throbbing, but that didn't matter now.
Slowly, he set the cup on the table next to the bed, and lied down, covering himself with the three blankets up to his eyes, looking lifeless, but very much alive, and in pain.
The next day, all day, a storm raged on overhead. The ship rocked more than normal by the force of the angry waves. The wind outside howled and screamed every so often. The sky was dark, blocking out all sunlight. The rain hit hard and heavily on the ship, being heard all about the inside of it. Occasionally, the sky lit up brightly, and boomed loudly.
Littuns came in, still wanting to play, but some expressed their worry and fear of the raging storm outside the ship. Sometimes, a nurse or sailor would bring a crying littun to Ralph's room, unable to calm them down themselves. Unlike the adults, Ralph was able to get the littun to stop crying, and even smile and laugh within a matter of minutes. Ralph assumed it was because the adults were strangers, and since they had spent so long on the island with him, and looked up to him to protect them as chief, they felt safe around him.
"Big day, huh, chief?" said the nurse whom asked him about his appearance upon being rescued from the island. She was the only nurse who called him chief, too.
Ralph nodded. "I feel bad for them."
"Why's that?"
"There were a few really bad storms on the island during our stay, so now they are terrified of storms."
The nurse nodded understandingly. "Well, at least they have you to turn to." The nurse continued on with the normal routine, and was about to leave the room, when Ralph said, "Wait."
"What is it?" she asked, turning around to face him, smiling.
"Um.. Well.." Ralph wondered why he was so nervous upon asking. Why couldn't he just go right out and say it?
"Can I go and see the littuns? I know it is almost time for lights out for them, but they must be scared still."
There was a moment of silence as the nurse thought. "Hmmm. Well, your fever has gone down a bit, and being stuck in that bed must be driving you up the wall… Well, alright. Wait here while I get you some fresh clothes." And with that, the nurse left the room.
Ralph smiled widely, happy that she had agreed to let him go and see them. After a few moments, the nurse returned with black pants, and a white, long sleeved button up shirt.
"Now, don't be gone too long, and don't button up the shirt, so there isn't any unneeded stress on your wounds. Also, try not to bend backwards or forwards too much, deal?"
"Deal." Ralph said, nodding as he took the clothing.
"Need any help?"
He shook his head, and after taking out the needle on his arm and covering it with gauze, the nurse left, smiling at him before closing the door.
Quickly, he took off his pajamas, and put on the fresh clothing, which was too big for him, but then again it belonged to some sailor on the ship who had allowed him to borrow it, and was thankful for that.
Walking down the corridor of the ship was a tad difficult, especially one in Ralph's condition. Any normal person would have only slight difficulties with the over rocking ship, but Ralph felt tossed slightly.
Finally, after following his memory, he found the room the littuns had been assigned to. They were scattered all over the room in their pajamas already. Some looked very uneasy, and some looked like they had been crying or were about to again. This changed however, when one littun shouted, "Ralph!" and got everyone's attention. They all swarmed to see their chief, now smiling widely and talking all at once.
"Slow down, let me get through, you lot." He said, and couldn't help but smile at their excitement. They stopped talking so much, and allowed Ralph to carefully close the door behind him, and walk to the closest bed and sit down. Some of the littlest littuns climbed onto the bed with him, and sat down, while the other sat on the floor before him. This reminded him of having an assembly at the island, and a pang of sadness hit him, wishing his friends were beside him.
To the littuns, their chief hadn't changed much. He still looked as fair and golden as he did the first day on the island, except for his hair being longer, his skin looking tanner, and the gauze that wrapped around various parts of his body, but still unchanged.
"I know you're all scared.." he started, trying to figure out what to say that would help them. "But this ship is big, and my daddy told me ships like these can take worse storms. We are safer here than on the island. You all need to be brave, and try to get some sleep. You need to look and feel your best when you finally see your mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and friends and everyone else!" This made the littuns start to look hopeful, and not so frightened. "In the morning," he continued, "this storm will be gone, and the sun will be back. So, just try to stay brave. Think you can do that?"
There were nods and murmurs of agreement with him, and some littuns smiled more.
"Alright then, off to bed with you lot." He stood up from the bunk bed, and the children started making their ways to their beds, some saying goodnight to Ralph, a few coming up to him and hugging him carefully.
He walked back over to the door, and put a hand on the handle before turning back to look at them all. 'G'night." He said to them all, and they replied back with the same thing. As silently as possible, Ralph switched off the light to the room, and walked out, carefully closing the door.
If he had been in better condition, he might have stood on his head in his happiness, but could not at this moment, so instead just smiled widely, glad that he had at least helped the littuns a bit in sleeping easier, and maybe made sleeping easier for the adults too, if none got up due to being frightened.
Ralph walked the halls, in a much better mood and smiling widely. Suddenly, the lights flickered, and went out, leaving the entire corridor he was walking in, in complete darkness. His smile faded, and he realized he couldn't see very well, causing him to sigh heavily in dismay. He put one hand on the wall, and walked, using his sense of touch and hearing to guide him in the darkness.
Some force pushed him against the wall, and before he could react, the force grabbed a fist full of his hair, and hit the side of his head against the metallic wall. In a second, Ralph fell to the floor, knocked unconscious by the blow.