LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 70

"I couldn't eat anymore if they paid me" Samuel Brooks declared as he sat slumped against the couch in the main hall of Bainbridge Military Academy.

"I think I might explode, and it's not gonna be pretty" his brother Eric tastefully added.

"That'd be a sight for sore eyes" Jack scoffed sarcastically from the other side of the table. "Your move" he nudged at the checker board on the table.

Eric reached over and moved his piece, a safe move that kept him from being jumped by any of Jack's pieces but failed to result in any captures of his own.

"I'm bored" Sam added flatly as he watched Jack make the next move on the board. "I think I'm gonna go check out the memorium display."

"K bye" Eric dismissed him without looking up from the checker board.

"Ralph? You wanna come?" Sam asked as he stood, focusing his gaze on the brunette boy who was resting his head on his arms, sitting next to Jack on the other side of the table.

"Sure" Ralph stood up, earning an attentive stare from Jack as he did so.

"You comin' back?" Jack asked curiously as Ralph moved to stand by Sam.

"Maybe" Ralph shrugged in a dismissive tone. He turned to walk away, and Jack shifted his eyes to Sam only for the twin to just shrugged in confusion before running off to catch up to Ralph.

Ralph and Sam entered the assembly hall. The main lights were dimmed way down so most of the light in the room came from the collection of candles across and around the stage. The boys walked down the aisle in the center of the room that divided the two sections of mostly empty chairs. There were several people sitting in the front row, some walking across the stage, others sitting down in tears, all surrounding the photographed deceased military school cadets.

Ralph's eyes immediately found Simon's photo, and he stared at the enlarged image of the one he'd seen on the screen earlier. There were flowers draped over the easel, and around his and all the other photographs. Ralph looked around until he found the photo of Captain Benson at the end, remembering the heartfelt way Simon had cared for him in his final days. He looked back to Simon; too pure, too sweet to have gone the way he did. Why him of all people? He deserved it least of all. Ralph tried a little too hard not see the image in his head of the boys running at the faint, green light in Simon's clammy little hand. Ralph pinched his eyes shut for a second to rid his mind of the thought, but all he saw was Jack, Roger, Tony, all of them, lifting their sharpened sticks and stabbing without taking a single second to think about what they were doing. Ralph and Simon were the only two boys on the whole island who didn't believe in the monster. Even Piggy had expressed concern; a little bit of fear simply because anything that scared Jack Merridew was probably worth being afraid of.

Ralph felt himself shriveling up inside as his eyes scanned the photos of his former squadron, all of who he remembered vaguely and distantly from training sessions, from the dining hall at meal times, from mentoring them, from helping them build their physical and mental strength. He remembered where some of them had been sitting on the plane. He remembered what they looked like as they boarded, in the Grove United States Naval Academy uniforms they wore in preparation for the introduction ceremony they were supposed to attend upon arrival at the RAF Grove Military Base in the U.K. Ralph felt an uncomfortable shiver travel down his spine as the recollection became painfully vivid in his mind.

He then shifted his gaze to the enlarged photo of Piggy. He was broken up at the sight of him; a memory instead of a person, a kid who should've been rescued, whose death was completely and undeniably preventable. Piggy's loyalty to Ralph was abiding and sincere. Ralph never told him how much he admired him for sticking with him, for fighting for what was right in spite of how hard it was at the end. Piggy never gave up, he had so much perseverance when it came to standing up to injustice. He either didn't know or didn't care about the unlikelihood of getting Jack and the others to listen to them in his final moments. He died standing up for what was right, for goodness, for humanity, for peace, and for Ralph. He never lost his way, the light in his heart had shined bright in spite of every reason not to. He deserved better; he deserved the rest of his life.