JACK THE KING (Lord of the Flies reimagined)

Part 20 - UNKNOWN ASSAILANT

Later that day Maurice had gathered together four other boys, these four boys were the ones he was closest to in the tribe and the four who were the least obedient to Jack. Craig (who Roger punished for not showing him respect), Ryan, Liam, and another boy called Darren. Maurice had formed a sort of spin-off clique with these boys, it was not unusual for the five of them to go off on their own and do their own thing

''I am sick of Jack being the king here'' he told his four friends ''He is a moron and the way he accepts Piggy now disgusts me, Piggy will always be Piggy to me, not Jason, and not worthy of respect. Right now I believe he is putting on an act and sooner or later he will falter''

The other four boys nodded their heads in agreement   

''In any case'' Maurice continued ''Jack makes me sick the way he runs this place like a dictatorship, he rubs having Dani as his queen in our faces all day long, and he allows Roger and Henry to carry on their disgusting little relationship. What I suggest is we overthrow him and when I am the king you boys will be my main chiefs. We'll throw Jack and Piggy down the punishment pit for 1 year, Roger and Henry will have a choice, end their sick little fag boy affair, or else we'll kill one of them to keep them apart. Dani will be ours to play with''

The boys all laughed and became excited at the thought of getting their hands on Dani   

''What do you say boys? Are you with me? Want to overthrow Jack and take control of the island?''   

''Yes we're with you'' they all said and began to cheer and jump around with excitement

Then Roger and Henry appeared from nowhere

''What the hell do you two queers think you're doing sneaking up on people?'' Maurice asked them angrily

''We heard everything you just said'' Roger told him ''and you won't get far with it because we will tell Jack right away and he will punish all five of you''

Maurice and the others began to laugh and mock Roger and Henry

''ITS NO LAUGHING MATTER BOYS, I PROMISE YOU'' Roger shouted, going mad now

''OK GRAB THEM!'' Maurice ordered and his friends got hold of Roger and Henry

''LET US GO NOW!'' Roger yelled

''YEAH LET GO NOW'' Henry screamed

The five boys laughed

''Maybe we can tie them both up somewhere?'' Craig said ''then when we've overthrown Jack we can give them both a thrashing they will never forget''

Craig kicked Roger in the balls and made him howl

''And I've just remembered something'' Craig said and put his hand on Roger's throat ''I never got a chance to pay you back for that beating you gave me, did I? Until now that is''

Ralph and Simon were in their cave. These days it was just the two of them alone. The last of the littluns who had stayed in Ralph's tribe had since gone over to join Jack. Only Simon remained loyal to Ralph. They spent their days collecting fruit and nuts to eat and looking after the squirrels. They tried to keep out of Jack and his tribe's way as much as possible but there had been a few run-ins. Ralph wanted to go home but had resigned himself to spending the rest of his life there since there was no signal anymore and he knew under Jack's regime they would not be rescued. Jack used his power as the king to sentence everyone on the island to life imprisonment there. The only escapees had been Sam and Jenny but their method of escape had been a rather permanent one.     

''Come on Ralph lets go and get some more nuts for the squirrels'' Simon said

''Oh Si, must we?'' Ralph complained. He was lying down on the bed of leaves, straw, and shrubs, feeling cozy and sleepy ''I want to sleep today''

''But all you do lately is sleep, you've become lazy Ralph. Come on let's stretch our legs and get some fresh air''

Reluctantly Ralph left the cave with Simon

They walked for a bit and then heard shouting and screaming somewhere close by

''What do you think is going on?'' Simon said ''Sounds like trouble''

''Well whatever it is its nothing to do with us'' Ralph replied, he was not keen on getting involved in Jack's tribe 

''Come on if someone's in trouble we have to help'' Simon insisted and ran off to investigate. Reluctantly Ralph followed and they found Maurice and his gang trying to tie Roger and Henry up and Roger and Henry trying to fight them off

''HEY, YOU STOP THAT NOW!'' Ralph demanded, suddenly finding his spine again and feeling angry

''OH, WHAT BUSINESS IS IT OF YOURS?'' Maurice demanded ''you two outcasts are not part of the tribe so keep out of it''

''Yeah keep out of it'' Liam agreed 

''And what if I don't eh, what will you do then?'' Ralph said, squaring up to Maurice. The two of them began to fight 

Craig, Liam, Ryan, and Darren took their attention off of Roger and Henry and rushed over to help Maurice. Roger and Henry took their chance and escaped and ran away into the forest

''Look what you've done you moron'' Maurice said ''because you distracted us those two have got away!''

Maurice and the other four boys laid into Ralph, he tried to fight them off but he was outnumbered. Simon tried to help Ralph but he had never been a fighter and was no use 

Finally, the beating ended, and Ralph was left sprawled out on the floor whimpering

Maurice looked at him with contempt ''And to think you used to be our leader!'' he said with disgust ''look at you now, you're so pathetic. As much as I hate Jack I have to admit he was a worthy king compared to you''   

Simon helped a bruised and bloodied Ralph to his feet and they started to walk away

''What a pair of losers those two are'' Darren said

''Yeah, pair of saddos'' Ryan said

''Forget about them now, we need to worry about Roger and Henry, they are bound to have gone off to warn Jack by now'' Maurice said ''You four should run on ahead back to camp I'll be there in a minute. I just need to do something first''

The other four ran off leaving Maurice alone 

Maurice walked towards the edge of the cliffs on the west side of the mountain. He picked up a large rock and daydreamed

Maurice walks back to camp with his hands behind his back and a furious and hostile Jack marches over to him

Jack - So I hear you want to challenge me as King, huh?

Maurice brings the rock out from behind his back and hits Jack on the head with it, Jack falls to the floor dead, with blood pouring out of his head  

Maurice grinned ''yeah boy, just one hard knock on the head, and it's light out for you Merridew! Then I'll be the king!''

Then someone came up behind him and pushed him over the edge of the cliff. Maurice did not see the assailant. But, whoever it was, it wasn't an accident