LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 2

Ralph boarded the yellow school bus that was brought in to transport the boys from the airport to the hospital. He thought about the last time he'd ridden in a bus; the military school coach bus that took the boys to the airfield to board the plane to England. That bus was much bigger than this one had been. But there had been 40 of them going, and only 22 had returned.

Ralph found an empty seat in the middle of the bus. He watched Roger plunk down near the very front, he too by himself. Ralph realized that Jack hadn't boarded yet; he was probably still inside the airport with Ralph's dad, talking with the soldiers they'd approached about Jack's unplanned for situation. Thanks to Jack, Ralph hadn't gotten a chance to say goodbye to his dad before he boarded the bus to the hospital. What if the bus crashed en route? What if they didn't make it to the hospital?

It was only a 26 minute drive. Ralph knew he was being paranoid, that his fear was an unreasonable and unrealistic one, but he couldn't find it in his heart to dismiss it. It wasn't long before Jack, the last to board the bus, got on. Ralph watched as he stopped in front of and began talking to Roger. Ralph pressed his head against the school bus window and glanced out at the airport parking lot. When all of a sudden, he felt someone plop down beside him.

Ralph felt his soul leave his body when he shot his head around to find himself face to face with Jack Merridew. Ralph couldn't force a single word out of his throat as he stared dumbfounded at the blond boy sitting beside him.

"Hey" Jack said simply, as if the last five months were now obsolete.

Still, Ralph couldn't find the words, or the strength to respond. And when the bus started moving, he realized there was no escape from Jack now. He couldn't move, he just stayed frozen in time, staring at Jack, the fear of god in his brown eyes.

The other boys in the seats around them stared at them in the same stunned way Ralph was looking at Jack. It was merely tweleve or so hours ago, early this morning that Jack was trying to end Ralph's life with a sharpened stick. It had been months since the two could be seen together without throwing their fists in each other's faces. It was only a matter of minutes before word spread across entire bus that Jack had sat next to Ralph.

"Look, we need to talk" Jack said, his voice shaking despite his perseverance.

"Another bad idea" Ralph responded as he turned to focus his gaze out the window on the traffic travelling alongside them.

The island had eventually become a representation of chaos that handed Jack all the power. Civilization was where Ralph's power lied, and now that they were back in his element instead of Jack's, a natural shift in power was bound to occur between them. Ralph was now able to resist Jack's attempt to control him without life threatening consequences.

Jack knew that Ralph's use of the word 'another' was a shot at the decisions he made in the last few months on the island. A shot that, on the island, could've left Ralph with a stick through his chest. But here, in the confines of the school bus; a staple of orderly American childhood, Jack couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"I'm not asking to be friends or any shit like that, I just need to know what you're planning on telling the flag state" Jack pleaded as the other kept his focus out the bus window. Ralph didn't answer.

"If we don't get our story straight, we could all be in a lot of shit, you know" Jack warningly persisted.

Ralph whipped his head around to face Jack, an angry look in his eyes.

"Our story?" he scoffed furiously. "Are you kidding me? I didn't kill anybody."

As Ralph's volume slowly rose, the heads of the other boys on the bus turned as their conversations quickly died out. Ralph cleared his throat, unsure of whether or not it was smart to be drawing attention to them. They were in the middle of the bus, and if the bus driver up front had heard Ralph speak, he certainly hadn't heard the words.