His heart was pounding like a jackhammer when he rested and concealed himself in the forest. The fires around him emitted a terrible smell that twisted into his nostrils and poisoned his lungs. He knew he couldn't hide there for long, but going out would be dangerous as well. It was death either way.

When he heard someone call "Jack!", Ralph knew it was now or never. He sprung up and dashed through the trees. In only a few seconds, his pants were joined with the yells of discovery and rapid feet slamming onto the ground, crushing the dead, burnt leaves beneath them.

Ralph's whole body began to pulse and his head began to spin, but he pushed himself on, trying to ignore the burning feeling in his thighs. Don't trip, he begged inwardly. Please, don't trip.

The view of the beach was entering his vision, but his vision was so blurred by the smoke and something that looked like tears, that he couldn't make anything out besides the sun kissed sand. A bitter feeling wrenched at his gut as he remembered the first few days on the island.

The yells came closer and Ralph tried to pick his feet up faster, but he stumbled and slammed onto the ground. He tried to pick himself up, but his arms were useless and he knew it was the end. It was only when he saw a pair of combat boots that something resembling hope entered his mind. Boots?

His gaze moved upwards and he saw the perplexed face of a man in camouflage. Ralph felt his heart quicken, but this time, it wasn't out of fear, or the screams that grew louder and louder.

The man remained silent until the savages walked onto the beach. When they saw the man, they all grew silent and stared as though in a dream.

"What on earth are you kids doing?" he asked in a steady voice.

Ralph stayed on the sand and burst into tears. There was nothing to be said that wasn't known amongst the boys. They were savages and monsters and the cause of despair in their paradise. The rest of the boys grew emotional as well, but only stared at either the man in the army outfit or Ralph helplessly.

"Playing some sort of war game?"

Ralph nodded because he lacked initiative to explain the truth.

"Who's your leader, here?"

Ralph finally picked himself up and stared, his watery eyes wavering. "I am."

A boy with flaming red hair and a mask of green and black took a step forward, then stepped back.

The army man chuckled. "Anyone die in this war of yours?"

"Two," Ralph hic-coughed. He wiped his tears and accidentally smudged mud on his face.

The man wasn't sure of what to think. He dismissed it as a reluctant joke. "Well, then, let's go on and get you boys home, hm?"

The savages dropped their spears at the same time and slowly walked to the helicopter. Ralph felt two people on either side of him, and without looking, knew it was Samneric. They supported him until Ralph pulled away.

"I can only take two of you boys at first. Then I'll drop you off and the rest of my crew, and we'll come back with more helicopters. Who wants to go home first?"

Samneric pushed Ralph, who was still stuck in a daze and a nightmare, forward at the same time that a few of the choirboys pushed Jack forward. Without any time to dispute, the army man grabbed both of their arms and dragged them to the helicopter.

Jack and Ralph sat next to each other and felt drowned by the sea of green adults. They remained silent for a long period of time and didn't bother to look out the windows when some of the adults suggested it. There was no reason to say good-bye to a place they never welcomed.

Ralph, for a long time, stared at Jack's face. When Jack caught him, he didn't react, then, slowly, he transferred his gaze to his mud-caked hands and bruised legs. Jack suddenly remembered that he was wearing blood and whatever else on his face, and felt the need to have a bath. He felt dirty.

"So, how did you boys survive this long?" one of the adults asked conversationally.

Ralph bit his lip. "We had rules," he responded softly. "But they got us no where."

"Oh? Well, yes, sometimes rules are made and broken. Did you find a lot to eat?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Pig."

"So, you hunt?"

Ralph's voice became firm and cold. "I would never kill a living thing." The face of a small boy with clear eyes and an honest smile flashed before him.

The man was taken back, then regained his composure and replied, "Of course you wouldn't. Horrible thing, to kill."

"Then, why do you kill?" Jack blurted suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Why do you kill people in war?"

"Well, they're our enemies," the man answered lamely, and the man beside him backed him up.

"We have to, or they'll kill us and everyone else in our country. We have the responsibility to keep our country safe."

"So, it's okay to kill if you're doing it for the better good of everyone?"

The man fell silent. He sensed a certain aura emanating from the boy with the mask. Something that didn't feel right for a twelve year old boy.

"I'm not saying that. I'm not saying anything. Look, things are different in the grown-up world. We have to handle issues you kids don't. Maybe one day you'll understand."

"I don't want to," Ralph deadpanned. "I don't want to grow up if it means that one day I'll realize that it's fine to kill another human being."

The rest of the helicopter fell silent. The man had no response, and no one else had any other input. Ralph stole a glance out the window and saw nothing but the bright, deep cerulean sea below. It sparkled and winked back when the sun shone at just the right spot.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered abruptly. It was a blanket cast over all the events in the past few weeks. An attempt to warm up the cold, true nature of mankind.

"I am, too," Ralph responded. There was nothing for him to apologize in Jack's opinion. Ralph had done nothing but try to keep order and sanity, and to get them rescued with the fire.

But Jack knew. It was an apology meant in a superior way, apologizing for the way everyone acted. The way everyone in the world really was. The way they were evil at heart, the way innocence was so willingly traded for power and authority, and the way that freedom, the thing they all greatly wished for, was the poison that corrupted them and turned them into the monsters within.

Something I wrote up after reading the novel and read the movie. It was the end in the coloured movie, when Ralph was crying and Jack looked shocked that my inspiration derived from, as well as the whole book in general. No particular reason for writing this. I just wanted to.