Author's Notes: I was digging through some old school work and found this, so I thought I'd share.

Disclaimer: Lord of the Flies is the work of William Golding, no copyright infringement intended.

Summary: What happens after the boys are rescued? An additional chapter to the end of the book.

Lord of the Flies - The Final Journey

The black clouds of smoke continued to climb, creating a dark shroud over the island. The final remnants of the fire had burnt out and all that was left of the island of dreams, was ash. It was quiet, the birds and animals had ceased to cry, either having escaped the flaming inferno or died trying.

Ralph was kneeling in the warm sand; the sun had long since faded away, but the suffocating warmth of the fire still hung in the air. He had been startled by the sudden appearance of the naval officer, for his hopes of being rescued had long since been vanquished. Rescue was an empty victory, he thought to himself, the stakes had been too high and they had lost so much to get it.

The naval officers were busy rounding up stray littluns and herding them onto the cruiser. All that were left on the island were Ralph and the last of the hunters, boys armed with sticks; Ralph almost laughed at his earlier statement, for these were not boys anymore, they were savages. An officer approached them, it was time to leave. Many of the boys discarded their sharpened sticks and proceeded to accompany him to the cruiser, Jack reluctantly followed suit. Ralph sat unmoving and watched as the dark shadows of boys boarded the gleaming white cruiser. A figure approached him, it could have been the same officer he had spoken to after the hunt but he wasn't sure. He looked up, his tear stained face cast in shadow by the tall officer.

"Come on lad, it's time to go."

Ralph nodded shyly. He then rose unsteadily, stretching his aching legs. He hadn't moved from his spot in the sand for some time. Ralph hazarded one last look at the island and remembered the excitement of the first day.

"It was a good island." he said to himself before being ushered onboard.

The bright light of the ship hurt his eyes. Ralph squinted as he was lead past various rooms, all of which he presumed served some purpose or another. Finally after traversing what seemed an eternity of metal walkways, they stopped at a door. Inside was a huge room occupied by a pack of imps, scattered unevenly across the floor; in one shadowed corner the hunters were gathered. Ralph entered slowly and carefully seated himself on the cold metal at the opposite end of the room. The officer that had accompanied him, nervously cleared his throat and announced,

"You'll all stay here for the time being, until we sort out sleeping arrangements."

He was met by a curious silence and a small whimpering sound from some of the littluns; the officer paused a second more, casting a glance over the boys and then left.

Ralph looked around him, the steel walls glistened back. A prison, thought Ralph, that's where we'll be when we get back; after all we did, after what happened to Piggy and Simon. He looked up sharply, realising that all eyes were on him; one set of eyes in particular, Jack's. His fiery and unbroken stare complemented by dark flashes beneath his eyes, the remnants of war-paint. Ralph held his gaze for a minute, much longer and he might have turned to stone, then glanced away. It was then that he noticed another set of eyes, Roger. He hadn't noticed him before, crouched directly behind his chief and wearing an expression that betrayed no emotion, as cold as the steel that surrounded them. He whispered something into his master's ear and a devilish grin crept onto the lips of Jack; Ralph knew then that it was not over.

Suddenly, the door creaked open and a young officer marched into the room.

"Which one of you is in charge?"

For the second time of the day Ralph conceded and said tentatively,

"I am."

The youthful officer turned to him and announced briskly,

"The captain wants to speak with you in his cabin. Come with me please."

Ralph gazed at him blankly for a second and then stood up, finally understanding. He was again escorted down numerous corridors and up stairs to the various decks of the ship. Finally the officer stopped at a door that looked no different to any other onboard ship except for a small sign reading Captain's Cabin. The officer knocked and then opened the door. Ralph hesitated for a second; the young officer gave him a sympathetic smile and then nudged him inside.

Ralph stood awkwardly for a moment in the middle of the room, until the captain indicated for him to sit down. The captain was quite tall and well built, with jet black hair that had recently gained a shock of grey. Despite what some may consider a rather stern countenance, Ralph found something comforting in the man's gentle eyes, something familiar; almost like Daddy, he thought suddenly. Of course it wasn't, Ralph knew, after living on the island he now believed such miracles to be impossible. The captain began,

"So, you're the young chap in charge of this band of brave lads then?"

Ralph was silent, forcing the captain to continue,

"I've made a report of what happened to you so far from the information I've gathered; I was wondering if you could check it for mistakes."

He proceeded to slide a piece of paper across the table in front of them, Ralph looked at it. The report noted the attack on the aeroplane, the crash and later the impending rescue. It then struck Ralph how much had occurred between these two points, how much the naval officers didn't know and didn't understand. He handed the piece of paper back to the captain and gave a small nod. The captain understood,

"There's just one more matter. You informed one of my officers that there had been how many deaths? "

"Two."

"Two. Can you tell me their names? "

"Their names were Simon and P..." he trailed off, realising that he had never learned the real name of his wise and faithful friend Piggy. He had been a fool, making fun of the only one who had truly understood things from the start. He looked up and shuffled uncomfortably, realising that he was biting his nails again, then shook his head.

"Alright then. Can you tell me how they died? Was it in the crash? "

Ralph opened his mouth to speak, to tell of the horrible things that had happened. How Jack and Roger and the others had become savages and to tell how they had killed. How he had joined in, how he was chief and hadn't stopped them but had helped them instead. He opened his mouth but the words wouldn't come out. It disgusted him as he thought of his own actions and he could almost hear Piggy saying 'What would the grown ups think?' It was then that he decided that he wouldn't tell the captain how his friends had fallen; not to protect himself and the others, but because he couldn't. Ralph knew that he would never be a great thinker, like Piggy and he would never truly understand all that took place on the island, like Simon. Without these qualities he would never be able to make these grown ups understand the truth, not really. So Ralph just shrugged; it wasn't a lie but he would never be able to fully justify or even understand the truth, who among them could? The captain looked exasperated, but could do nothing more. He thanked Ralph and signalled him to go.

The young officer was waiting for Ralph outside.

"Are you alright?" he said, looking concerned. Ralph was confused, until he realised that he must have looked worse than was now usual for him and nodded. He was then escorted back to the large room, which he learned was the Mess Hall, where food was now being served to the boys. Tables and chairs had been arranged around the room but a majority of the boys were sat on the floor. This had become normal to them over the past few weeks, although the replacement of sand for metal made this a slightly more uncomfortable experience.

Ralph took a piece of fruit and made a point to sit at the table and tried to pretend that all was well. He tried to pretend that his friends were just missing and that he would be home soon, back with Mummy and Daddy. Everything would be like it was before, only he knew that it wouldn't. He could no longer hide from the truth in daydreams; he had left his innocence and his childhood back on that island. Again he knew that all eyes were on him. They were whispering, plotting his fate. The hunters believed he had told the captain all that had happened but he hadn't. He had kept their sordid secret and no one would ever know what had occurred on the island. He felt sick, the waves had become rougher but that was not it. The secret, all that had happened, all that he had allowed to happen; it made Ralph sick to the pit of his stomach.

Jack watched as Ralph stormed out of the room and unconsciously knew what he had to do. He ran his hands along the remaining streaks of war-paint; he knew that he had to put an end to Ralph and his talk. Quickly he rose, sparing a glance at his hunters and darted off in pursuit of his nemesis. Roger sat for a moment longer, grinning in approval and then he too followed.

After a short time of wandering helplessly down corridors, it struck Ralph that there must be signs to lead him to the upper deck and finally he arrived at his destination. He carefully made his way to the stern of the cruiser and peered down over the rail as the savage waves pulled and tormented the ship. It was dark and a swarm of storm clouds was gathering overhead. The sky was lit by one lone star that shone with all it's might despite the losing battle with the storm clouds, as they grew finally engulfing it in a suffocating darkness. Ralph looked back towards the groaning sea and his ears rang with the tumultuous crashing of water against metal. He was so caught up in this powerful display of nature, that he was completely oblivious to Jack's entrance.

"Beautiful." announced Jack, Ralph spun round abruptly and almost lost his footing as the ship bowed to the almighty ocean.

"Beautiful isn't it? And how fitting that you'll end up just like your pet Piggy! "

"Jack! Don't do this! We're going home! Don't you see? It's over! We're going home!"

"No! It's not over until I say so! On the island, you ran like a squealing pig! But now your time is up, the hunters need meat! We need meat to survive Ralph and so we have to kill the pig! " At that Jack flung himself wildly at Ralph. As the first drops of rain began to fall, the battle between right and wrong, good and evil began.

Before long the storm had increased its grip upon the natural world and began mercilessly battering the helpless cruiser. The torrential rain beat against the deck like a drum. As the thunder roared Ralph could almost hear that inane chant, 'Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! '. Suddenly he understood what Simon had meant. There was no beast, only them, the savages. With his new understanding he battled on. As the waves crashed, Ralph fell and smashed against the deck plate; he was tired, tired of fighting, tired of losing. He thought of Piggy and of Simon and of the boys they had once been. He threw himself with all his might into Jack, the embodiment of all that had gone wrong. Jack fell backwards and over the rail, hanging on by only his fingertips.

In a flash of clarity Ralph dashed to his aid. He held out his hand and the two spirits were reunited as one, there was silence between them. Their eyes met in a moment without anger or hatred but of total purity, a final understanding. He couldn't hang on, after what seemed like an eternity of struggling against the inevitable, their hands slipped apart. Ralph could only watch as Jack plunged into the heaving water and was devoured in one final gulp.

"Jack." he whispered helplessly into the darkness below him.

The rain drops had escalated into a thunderous roar, as the naval officers pounded down the ship towards Ralph. Nearby in the shadows stood Roger, the sole witness to the battle between good and evil. Again, his face twisted into that cold smirk, his heart beating fast against his chest. His blood burned with the excitement as he slowly slipped back into the shadows, down to the obscurity of the lower decks.

The crashing chorus of the storm came to a thundering climax as the naval officers came bounding towards Ralph but in his mind all was unnaturally quiet. They would be home soon, he thought. He no longer cared. His thoughts for the past few weeks had been centred around one person, Jack. Now he was gone and the horrific events of the island over. Then there was the secret, but it was no longer a secret to Ralph. He understood now, the darkness of man's heart. He would cherish this final moment of silence, for he would never again know peace.

The End.