The Blood of One, The Blood of All
Wade Bruffey
"You boys, follow me" Said the officer. Ralph looked up at him in an admiration the man had never seen before. "Did my father tell you I was here? Oh it has been so long." said Ralph. "You aren't exactly what I remembered a grownup to look like."
"Better me rescuing you than nobody." The officer retorted. Ralph and the officer walked along the stretch of beach where the shelters once stood, the platform in full view. "Is it just you coming with us then? Or are the Littleuns coming to?" asked the officer. Ralph smiled.
"No sir, they will all be joining us." Suddenly, a shriek filled the air, and weeping was heard across the island. Ralph looked around, his eyes opaque and malevolent, the savage instinct fighting to control his consciousness.” No!" thought Ralph as hard as he could. "Jack wouldn't try to kill me now, not with the officer-" The world stopped. The running naval officer blurred into the charred remains of the once grand forest.
Ralph saw a vision of himself, tearing through the creepers, running from a shadow. He saw Roger, running with the spear, his eyes red, mouth foaming. Then a sudden calm came over his eyes. As Ralph turned his head to see what was happening, he saw the spear protruding from Rodger's back, the blood came out steaming, much more blood than with Simon or the pigs. Ralph had a sick urge to drink the red liquid pouring from Roger's wound, to give into the savagery that tugged at his mind and begged him to give in. Ralph snapped back into consciousness with a jolt. The soldier was out of sight, he had disappeared into the all consuming scar that covered most of the island.
"Bloody Hell!" Ralph heard the voice of the Officer. Ralph ran along the edge of the once brilliant and efflorescent lagoon now diluted by ashes. Ralph ran, kicking up ash as he sprinted, his heart pounding against his ribcage. The blood boiled in his veins as he thought of Jack’s savagery and of Simon and Piggy, the victims of Jack’s unparalleled rage. Ralph could see the officer’s glinting epaulettes through the dust cloud now, and he ran up beside him. There lay Roger and Sam’s bodies, pierced through the back and into the heart. The officer whispered to himself “what has been going on here? These kids are crazy, those murderers….” Then he turned slowly to face Ralph. “You, who, who did this?
“Jack.”
Ralph was staring down at his feet, shuffling them slowly. Ralph could not meet the officer’s gaze, and he felt a mix of rage and honest fears stifle his ability to think logically. He felt one of Simon’s seizures coming on, and dropped to the floor clutching a rock with all of his strength. “Look for the redheaded boy we saw earlier, he is the one that has been causing all this misery.” The officer stared at Ralph with a fierce gaze, and knew what he must do.
“Thank you boy, I will catch this horrible excuse for a human.”
~~~
Jack tore through the woods, with the still warm blood dripping from his hands and the spear. Frothing at the mouth and with a demon in his eyes, he uttered the call for the hunters to gather. Only loud enough to summon the nearest boy though, for the ululation was faint, and would go unnoticed by an unwary passerby. The boy answered the call, equally as faint. Jack’s eyes were bloodshot and his pupils jagged. He looked like a trapped animal, and his long hair was knotted with creepers, leaves and caked with mud and filth. He looked around like a cornered beast, eyes violent and inhuman. He climbed a tall tree, and waited.
Jack heard the boy he called approaching through the broad leaves of the tree. Like a beast, Jack smelled the blood that wept from the cuts in his thighs, the sweat that gathered on his arms and the dirt in his hair. Jack waited. Falling quietly from the high branch where he had once crouched, the boy was dead in an instant. Blood poured from the boy’s head, and Jack left the spear inside the shattered skull. Jack moved silently from the grove, and made his way toward the lagoon where the littleuns played. The first boys went silently, falling without a sound, the fruit juice leaking from their mouths. Jack got two more making their way toward the lagoon, gagged them with his hand and struck quickly. Jack’s mind was lost to the way of the Lord of the Flies now, savage and out of control. In the time on the island, Jack had completely lost his mind to the beast inside himself, reverting back to a primitive, deadly being, with no regard for life or loss. All he knew was killing. It made him complete and gave him a sort of escape from the entire world. “Ralph will be last.” Jack thought, wiping his spear in the sand. The lagoon was stained now, with the hopes of rescue and a new life back home clouding its waters. Jack heard boys now, probably Eric and Maurice. Jack’s newfound instinct began to take action, and he found himself bleeding and biting his lip. Slowly he made his way through the shadows towards the sounds.
~~~
The Officer ran through the woods after Jack. He recalled his wife, wishing him good luck before he left. He never expected to be afraid of a little boy, but this was different. The boy was a murderer, just as capable as any psychopath adult. The lagoon was etched into his mind forever, the sight of bodies; blood drenched sand, and tainted water. The boy’s head stood on a thin stick, a gruesome tribute to hell and fire. “God damn this child.” thought the officer. The officer thought of the desperate boy he had left in the ash, and thought it was an appropriate metaphor for what the boy was feeling. The ash symbolized death despair and destruction. A tear fell from his eye and splashed onto his uniform. A bright blue patch appeared on the suit, and he felt compelled to help the boy in the ash.
~~~
Jack saw Ralph standing in the clearing away from the platform. He saw his face, red from crying, eyes scared and nervous. He crept up past the burned trunk he hid behind, and made his way slowly across the field
“I can see you there!” wailed Ralph.
“I’m going to kill you Ralph! You better run!”
“I don’t care! I don’t want to live anymore Jack! You go ahead and kill me!”
Jack stood still. He did not expect the answer he got from Ralph. Jack was afraid. The side of his that was still a little boy was not lost on this island after all. But Jack did not care. He had done it before, he would do it know.
“I gave you a warning Ralph!”
Jack held up the spear above Ralph’s head-
A gunshot.
Jack breathed out his last breath, and fell to the earth with a hole in the back of his head. The ash around his became red, and Ralph’s dirty hair was stained with the last vestige of Jack’s life. The officer held out his hand for Ralph to get up, and said to him softly, “Let’s get you home now Ralph.” Ralph wept gently as he walked along the beach.
~~~
Ralph looked back at the fading island, clutching the frames of Piggy's glasses to his heart, and saw the flies buzzing around Jack’s head at the top of the mountain.
The End
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