When Ralph awoke, he knew right away something wasn't right. There was strange hotness on the side of his head, running all the way down to his neck. His hair was tossed around, and cold, wet drops fell on him, and there was a lot of noise. He also realized, he could not separate his legs at the ankles, and his hands at the wrists.

His eyes opened, and it was very hard to see in the darkness.

"Oh, he's awake!" he heard a familiar male voice shout out, followed by the laughter of another.

"Good morning, chief! How'd you sleep?" said the laughing voice in a very obvious sarcastic way.

Ralph squinted in the darkness, just as there was a flash of lightning which lit up the whole sky. "Jack?" He said, instantly recognizing the flaming red hair, knowing only one person had such hair.

"Well, at least he isn't brain dead." Said the other voice. Slowly, Ralph's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he was able to make out the figures more clearly now, as well as were he was.

He struggled against the ropes tying his mobility, and looked around frantically. "Why are my hands tied? Why are we on the deck? Jack!" he said, his voice rapid and frantic.

Roger crouched in front of Ralph with a sly grin on his face. "Don't worry, chief. You won't be up here for much longer." And he stood back up.

"If I remember correctly," said Jack, "you are a good swimmer, aren't you?"

Ralph looked at them, with a very confused and frightened look on his face. He then turned his head to look behind him, and saw he was leaned against the railings, and below him, the raging ocean. He looked back at the two male, shaking his head a bit.

"Why are you two doing this?! You aren't savages!" Ralph screamed.

"No, we aren't." Roger said slowly, and the two started walking over to him. "This is just business."

"Payback."

"Revenge." The two boys said in turn.

Jack grabbed Ralph from under his arms, while Roger grabbed his legs.

"You'll be with your pathetic friends soon enough. Tell them we said hi." Jack said, and Roger smirked wider at this.

"Wha- Have you lost your humanity?! Put me down!" Ralph screamed, unsure of what to do as they lifted him up.

The boys were getting ready to throw Ralph overboard. "This is it." He thought to himself. "I'm going to die here, without seeing my mum or dad again. I don't want to die!"

That's when he saw it. Attached to Jack's belt was his dagger he had with him on the island, and Ralph guessed it was never taken by the adults. Maybe their mistake might save his life!

Desperately, he started to squirm and try to get them to drop him.

"Stop it!" Roger said, and Ralph could tell he was starting to get angry with this.

"Don't let him go!" Jack shouted, but just as he did, Ralph kicked as hard as he could at Roger, successfully getting him in the gut and causing his grip to loosen greatly as the air was knocked out of him.

His legs hit the wooden deck, and with all the strength he could muster, kicked against the railing, causing Jack to lose his footing on the slippery deck and fall backwards. The wind was knocked out of the red haired male upon hitting the wood, and having Ralph's weight on top of his own. Quickly, Ralph snatched the dagger from Jack's belt, sat up, and pushed himself away from the two, just as Roger had regained enough breath in him to stand up and function somewhat properly.

Ralph's hands shook, as he used the dagger as a saw and began cutting away at the rope, which made him cut himself once or twice, but he had so much fear and addredelin in him, he couldn't feel it.

"You…" Roger stammered, still recovering, as Jack slowly sat up, coughing slightly.

The rope broke free, and Ralph quickly went to work on cutting the ropes around his ankles.

"Why would you bring that?!" Roger shouted at Jack, who seemed in a rather confused daze, looking at Roger and Ralph rapidly.

The rope gave in, and Ralph quickly climbed to his feet, shaking as he did and dropping the dagger, and ran. Roger cursed, called Jack useless, and ran after Ralph. Before reaching the door to go below deck, Roger caught up, grabbing his wrist and yanking him back, causing Ralph to hit the deck hard and slide backwards, away from safety.

"This could have been easier and painless." Roger said, his voice cold sounding. Ralph looked down, and saw something gleam in the other boy's hand. Quickly, he stole a glance behind him, and noticed the dagger was no longer on the ground, but now occupied in Roger's hand.

Ralph crawled away from Roger, until he could no longer due to the railing that separated himself and the enraged waters below. Ralph couldn't think straight, and wished with all his might that Piggy was there to help and tell him what to do. He was good with those kind of things. A thinker, unlike Ralph himself.

"Maybe.." Ralph thought, time seeming to slow down. "Maybe I do deserve to die.."

There was sudden pain in his arm, which caused him to shout in pain. Hotness now ran down his arm, and he felt like he couldn't move it. Desperately, his eyes looked up, and a crash of lightning filled the sky in light, and he was able to see the crimson stuff on the dagger, and the insane look in Roger's eyes.

"I killed Simon. I didn't save Piggy. I killed the twins." His mind raced, as he watched the blade raise high in the air slowly, and Roger's slight laughter.

"I just hope I see them.."

"Lights out, chief."

The blade swung downwards, and Ralph instinctively flinched, waiting for impact.

"Enough!" he heard someone shout, a bolt of lightning filling the sky once more, and a force shoved at Roger.

The blade went flying into the air, and Roger hit against the railing with a loud thud, and fell to the deck floor, not moving.

Standing there, panting, was Jack, staring at the unmoving body of Roger on the deck. His gaze then turned to Ralph, and he noticed there was something different in his eyes now.

"Are you okay, Ralph?" He asked, turning to the boy. Ralph couldn't answer, however, because the place began getting too blurry, his head throbbed with so much pain, as did his arm and his whole being. For the second time that night, darkness swallowed him, the only noises that he heard before disappearing, was the heavy raindrops against the deck of the ship, and Jack shout his name frantically, as well as a few other words.

Before sight kicked in, his hearing did. There was slight talking that sounded very muffled, as if coming from another room, and the sound of beeping. It was a steady beeping noise, which one could grow to dislike because of it repetitiveness, but in this case it was different.

Ralph opened his eyes, and the brightness was overwhelming, but still tried and opened them. He found himself no longer on the deck of the ship, drenched in blood and rain, but laying on a very comfortable bed, and felt clean and dry.

He felt the familiar hugging and pressure sensation on his chest, but a bit more this time, as well as on his head and arm.

Ralph looked around, noticing the familiar tube sticking into his arm and the clear liquid, and realized that the beeping was from him, as there was something attached to his chest, reading his heartbeat each time it made its bu-dum noise.

His eyes finally fell upon the wall to his right, and noticed that he wasn't alone. In a pile on the floor and leaning on the wall was a few littuns, whose names he couldn't remember at the time, but were all fast asleep, some covered in blankets and some laying their heads on pillows or each other. Finally, in a chair next to were the littuns lay, he saw someone staring back at him, with flaming red hair. However, unlike last time, Jack now had noticeable bags underneath his eyes, and were red, as if he had been crying recently.

At the sight of seeing Ralph move, his eyes opened and awake, he jumped from his seat on the chair, standing on his legs now.

"R..Ralph.." he stammered, clearly not knowing what to say. "I'm... I'm so sorry.."

Ralph tried saying something, but his voice cracked and gave out when he did, so he sighed in disapproval, and gave Jack a slight smile. Of course, Jack wasn't forgiven just yet, but his apology was acknowledged.

With much more effort than it needed, Ralph moved his right arm, and pointed slightly to the bundle of littuns. Jack took a quick glance behind him to see what was being pointed at, and turned back. "Some have been here since you came in, others were taking shifts. It's about midnight now."

There was nothing said or done for a few moments, until Ralph closed his eyes, and looked away from Jack, sighing deeply. "H-how long..?" he asked with much effort, his voice cracking and sounding odd. Seems like everything he did took more effort than needed.

"You've been out for about four days..." Jack . ?docid=37631447

Ralph obviously became distressed by this, as his eyes shot open wide and stared at Jack, disbelief in his eyes. "Wha... What?" He stuttered.

Jack nodded as he walked closer to the bedside, giving Ralph the ability to see him better and not have to turn his head so much to see. "The doctors said you have a concussion, but were really lucky there is no internal bleeding or other damage, you might just have occasional headaches. I didn't think Roger threw you against the wall that hard." He said, frowning and then sighing heavily. "I'm really sorry man."

"Where's Roger?" Ralph asked, ignoring Jack's apology. Slowly, he tried sitting up, but it took more effort than needed, and, oddly enough, he couldn't move his left arm at all. Ralph looked down at it, wrapped in a cast, and stared at it with confusion and bewilderment. "Roger is in another hospital room. He hit his head pretty hard on the railing when I pushed him. He needed stitches." Jack said guiltily, but not entirely. "Your arm is like that because when Roger stabbed you, he hit a nerve. The doctors said it'll heal, but you will have to go through physical therapy afterwards to use it normally again." he explained, noticing Ralph's confusion with the arm.

Understanding, Ralph slowly nodded, and adjusted were he sat a bit to get a bit more comfortable. "What about you? Are you alright?" Ralph asked, now looking at the red haired male, who nodded. "Yeah, just a bruise on my back from falling on the deck, but other than that, I got away without harm."

Ralph noticed now just how much since being rescued Jack had changed as well. Just like his own hair, Jack's was lighter and longer now, but not as long, and his skin was tanned, but his freckles were still noticeable. He also looked more muscular, like himself, but his attitude changed. He no longer was prideful and trying to be in command and get the last word, he actually seemed to be a bit timid with talking. Maybe it was from regret and guilt for what happened on the island.

Jack yawned a bit, and turned to look at the still sleeping littuns in the corner. "You know," he said, "they were all worried about you."

Ralph looked at them as well, and smiled slightly. "They're a wild bunch."

The red haired male laughed quietly and nodded. "Their parents must be worried sick, too."

There was silence between the two older males, just watching the littuns sleep peacefully, until Jack sighed, and headed for the door, turning to face Ralph over his shoulder. "I'll go let one of the doctors know you're up." he said.

Ralph nodded, and watched as the door clicked closed quietly, as to not disturb the sleeping bunch of littluns. He was alone now, no noise except for the slight crashing noises outside, the beeping of the heart monitor, and the slight breaths of the littuns.