Keep Your Enemies Closer (Lord of the Flies)

Prologue

A/N: okay so disclaimer about this first chapter: this was originally written a while ago for an English assignment. It may sound like a little funny, because there was a list of forty words I had to include. The other chapters, however, will sound more like my writing.

   Ralph gripped the rails of the boat, salty ocean air buffeting his face. They had been rescued hours ago, and yet it still felt as though his world was spinning around him. After all of the chaos, this return to civilization seemed so- foreign, although they hadn't been on the island for that long. Almost distantly, for he was still somewhat apathetic from being in shock, the boy realized that he hadn't an inkling of how long they had been gone. How long it had been since he hugged his mother. How long since he complained about homework- oh, the simple tasks he used to abhor. Ralph would give anything to have that simple ignorance again, to not have seen the animosity of human nature pushed to its limits...

The boys would soon be delivered home, Ralph reminded himself. Then they would return to life as it was before. The blond unwillingly shivered, ignoring the corrosive voice in the back of his mind whispering that he would never be normal ever again.

He shifted his bare feet on the deck of the boat. The crew had given the boys spare clothes, which hung over their hands and feet (especially the littluns), but all of the shoes had been too large to even stay on their feet. The boys had showered and were no longer as squalid as before, although their hair still hung lower than any respectable young British boy. The boat was nice enough, although with the influx of island boys, it was no longer exactly commodious. When the other boys were eating dinner, Ralph had refused, despite the sailors' dubious looks at his emaciated frame. He just hadn't felt hungry. He was also apprehensive about seeing the others again, in this civilized setting, without their masking "war paint". As far as he knew, they still saw him as a deviate, needing to be held reprehensible.

Lost in his quandary, the teen (he'd decided that his birthday must have passed while he was gone, making him thirteen) didn't notice the usually vociferous ginger until he was leaning against the railing next to him, spontaneous as ever. The blonde's eyes quickly darted to the side, looking over Jack before muttering, "Speak of the devil." The brash boy's face was clean of its paint, copious freckles showing for the first time in ages. It gave Jack's face almost an ingenuous appearance, though Ralph would never describe him in that way.

"Look," the redhead began. "We wouldn't've killed you. Not really." Ralph let out a laugh meant to deride, but was stultified by his fearful eyes, remembering running for his life. The once suave boy shrunk back a little, as though chastised. Jack continued more hesitantly, as though it were himself he was trying to convince. "You think we would've? No, we're not- we're not... we're not savages..." His voice quieted to almost a whisper.

"Why wouldn't you? You killed Piggy. You killed Simon." Ralph's own voice broke as the unwanted images of his friends' lifeless eyes flashed in his mind.

"Well my condolences, but Fatty wasn't exactly the most helpful boy on the island." Jack's eyes flashed, not wanting to be reminded of the blood on his hands (figuratively, of course. They had showered).

"He was my friend," Ralph snarled.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! You barely noticed he was even extant until I had left. And Simon.. that was an accident." He looked down at his feet in- shame?

Ralph spoke quietly but ardently, full of rancor. "Do you think I didn't see you? You were exulting in the blood, reveling in others' pain. You were basking in omnipotent glory. And now- what? Are you looking for indemnity? Why are you here? Do you think things will just go back to normal after what you did?"

"I'm just here looking to make amends. We were friends before, and we can be friends again. Remember the first day, on the mountain?"

Ralph glared at Jack somberly. "We stopped being friends for a reason, remember? While Simon and I were assiduously building shelters to protect us from the next storm, you were off with your wild hunting fantasies. You let the bloody fire go out! We could have been rescued so long ago, and Simon and Piggy wouldn't have- you know... Then you off and decide to become a renegade, sophomoric as ever, because apparently a little responsibility was too much for you to handle. And then you bloody tried to kill me!"

Ralph could see the capricious redhead growing angry again. "We needed food! Don't you implicate that I did absolutely nothing!"

Ralph only sighed. "We had fruit. We're omnivorous, so we can live off of plants as well. Pig was just more palatable to you. Or can you not discern the difference between wanting and needing?"

Jack glared at Ralph. "Look, I was just trying to be friends again, ok? Since it appears I'm just wasting my time, I'm not going to bother anymore."

As Jack turned to leave, turbulent thoughts raced through Ralph's head. He didn't really want to be friends with Jack after what had happened on the island, but at the same time, he knew. If Ralph didn't end this rivalry now, he would always feel caged, like the prey, as though he were still running for his life on that beach.

And so he reached out, grabbing Jack's way-too-large sleeve. "Wait." The word seemed to echo. Jack turned, curious. Ralph hesitantly began, "I think- I think we should start this over." He outstretched his hand, and Jack shook it.

"I'm Ralph."

Jack snorted but went along with it. "I'm Merridew, Jack Merridew."

And so hunter and prey were again equal, but when their eyes connected, they both knew that the other had not forgiven them, but they would pretend they got along. Oh, they would be best friends, all the while plotting their revenge on the other.  Later on, on the ship and after, people would wonder about the redhead and the blond that now seemed inseparable. Needless to say, the rest of the island boys were quite puzzled