captured // lord of the flies

chapter one

2018

ralph looked at himself in the mirror, unable to fall asleep on the lazy excuse for a bed. he ran a hand through his blonde hair and sighed. ralph was exceedingly tired of this place. this prison. he doesn't know what day it is, but guesses he's been at the lab for about three years now. he looked up at the clock on the wall above him. the hands told him 2:34. a.m. that is, but everyones clock said something different. they were all about two hours apart. one of them is right, but the kids don't bother figuring out which.

ralph walked to the front of his cell, and peeked out. he saw almost nothing at first, but his eyes automatically shifted towards motion at the end of the hall.

he watched one of the big steel doors swing open, and dim light spill into the room.

ralph's least favorite soldier, the bald one, dragged another body along, pulling at their hair, and arms. he couldn't quite tell who it was, but it sounded like a girl. there was only two girls here, paige noel, and alexandra. elizabeth is dead. they killed her. so obviously, it couldn't have been her.

paige is a very aggressive girl, ralph was positive it wasn't her either.

so it was alexandra, who likes to go by alex.

alex was quiet. she was with body guards at all times, and no one could touch her, and can only talk to her when the body guards allowed. but it wasn't always like that. when alex arrived, she seemed so much happier. almost too happy for someone who just got kidnapped. but after maybe a year or so everything changed.

ralph truly missed her bright personality.

she had long blonde hair, and green eyes with constant dark circles surrounding them. she was quite tall, not taller than ralph, or jack and roger, but taller than the rest. she was also very slim. she wasn't fed as much as everyone else. ralph once tried to ask if she can have his food for the day, but the soldiers took it away from him too, for "questioning scientific research."

alex's body was tossed into her cell, which was across from ralphs. ralph rushed into his bed and pretended to be asleep to avoid getting in trouble with the soldiers again. he knows what happens in the discipline room (DR), and never wants to go back.

"no food tomorrow." the soldier growled, sliding the bars across the floor, and latching them shut. "оgnashdan nonoshnitza" ralph heard the soldier mutter. "the fuck did he just say?" ralph whispered to himself. he had picked up a little bit of russian over the years he was here, but the only thing he understood in that sentance was the word "learn."

ralph sat up, and watched alex.

she was still in the location and position that the man threw her. she struggled to stand up. ralph looked at her confused. "why is it so hard for her to move?" he whispered to himself.

she pushed herself onto her feet, and stumbled over to her bed. she sat down onto the mattress, and whimpered. her feet stood off the side of her bed, and she hid her face in her hands.

ralph made a quiet gasp, baffled at her condition. sure, everyone in that hellhole isn't exactly in perfect shape, but she looked terrible.

ralph got off his bed, and tiptoed to the front of his cell.

"alex?" he whispered. the hall was slim enough that you could almost reach out and touch the person across from you.

the blonde girl lifted her head up. she and ralph had made eye contact, her tear stained cheeks reflecting the small total of light in the hall.

"you can't be talking to me, ralph." she whispered softly. her voice was so smooth. 'she sounds like an angel when she speaks.' ralph thought.

"why not? you're just a girl." he smiled gently. "no. im just a number. and so are you. i don't want to get in trouble again. goodnight." she said coldly, and covered herself in a thin blanket.

ralph stayed quiet for a moment, trying to avoid getting her upset. although it seemed to late for that, being hers soft sobs were still clear to him.

"are you okay?" he asked, as he held onto a bar attached to his cell door. he stroked the bar with his thumb while looking down at his feet, waiting for an answer that he didn't receive.

"you can talk to me. no ones here." he said calmly. he heard her sigh in her bed. "i can't ralph. it hurts." she whimpered. ralphs head shot up. "what? what hurts alex?" he asked with a concerned tone. "it hurts to talk... and move. my lungs, and my head. its that medication." she groaned in pain. "CFr? we all have to take that-" she hardly let ralph finish. "no, no. they give me different pills with it. sometimes they're white, sometimes they're blue. they're never for a good reason." she told him, with a frown that was barely visible through the darkness of the night. "what do you mean? what do they do to you? they don't bring you to the DR do they?" ralph questioned, tripping over a few letters. it was almost hard for alex to understand him. she was american, and ralph had one of the strongest english accents she had ever heard.

"no. not the DR. they bring me to a dark room, with straps and stuff. im not allowed to talk about it." alex said. ralph noticed her words sounded shaky, and began to worry. although it could just be her voice from crying, everybody knows ralph has devastating anxiety. he knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

"where is it? maybe i can get in trouble and ill be there with you." he offered with a smile. "no. they won't take you. and i don't even know where it is anyway. they knock me out before they take me." she said, with sorrow hidden in her voice. "oh come on. im sure if i do something really bad they'll take me." he tried to be witty to lighten her mood, but it didn't seem to be working.

"its not because im bad, its because im weak." she muttered. ralph looked at her with sad eyes. "im confused, alex. why do they punish you for no reason?" ralph asked, scared to hear the answer. "...because the soldiers can't seem to figure out how to get pussy on their own." she said, and turned her body over to go to sleep.