"This battles been going on since the ninth, so things are obviously rough there since it's been a few weeks." Commander Morrison warned the soldiers in training.

"However, we have the advantage. We have forty-five Guatemalans on our side, as well as a radio crew, some airships, a couple dozen navy boys, and four hundred forty nine marines already there." Captain Schied chimed in as he walked over to stand next to the Commander.

"Don't worry men, we can do this!" Amy encouraged her shipmates, earning courageous cheers back that made Mark smile despite the aching weariness in his bones.

"So here's the plan. We're leaving the Dreadnought out here while we ride to shore on lifeboats, taking only what we need. On the first wave of fighters I need Arin, Danny, Mark, Thomas, Amy, Matthew Fredrick, Matthew Patrick, Nate, Christina, Barry, Wade, Bob, Ryan, Matt, Kathryn, and Captain Schied. Go!" Commander Morrison barked at the people he named.

Mark scrambled out of his hammock and followed the others called out to the lifeboats with his gun in hand, relieved when he was able to find a boat with Amy, Matt, Bob, Wade, and Thomas inside.

"You ready for this?" Thomas asked him as he sat down between him and Amy.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Mark admitted, swallowing hard.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you." Amy promised him.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that to you instead of the other way around?" Mark remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"Please, we all know that you can't shoot and have no experience, I'll just be glad when you learn how to hold the gun properly." Amy countered, earning amused snickers from the others.

Mark fell silent as he felt his face heat up in embarrassment, folding his arms over his chest with a moody expression.

"Good luck out there!" Commander Morrison called out to the soldiers in the lifeboats before quickly lowering them into the ocean.

The joking atmosphere immediately dissipated once the boat hit the water. The six placed their guns at their feet and grabbed the paddles, making their way to the island with the other boats beside them.

It didn't take long to reach to Mark's mild disappointment.

"Thank god you guys are here, we're in way over our heads!" A man with tan skin exclaimed as he ran towards us, his chocolate brown eyes wide in panic.

"Wait, Bryan?!" Matt blurted.

"Matt? I had hoped I wouldn't see you here." Bryan sighed, pulling him in for a brief hug once he stepped off of the boat.

"We have to move, we've been caught in close combat for hours." Bryan urged the soldiers, motioning for all of them to follow him.

The soldiers ran across the sand as fast as they could without falling, doing the best they could to not breath it in as their steps kicked it up in the air, causing it to swirl around them and blur their vision.

Bryan led them to a bomb shelter where there was only a few men stationed, all of them looking in rough shape.

"Thank god reinforcements are here." One man sighed in relief, his right shoulder wrapped up in a white bandage that had fresh blood still seeping through it.

"The name's Winfield S. Cunningham, but you can call me General." He introduced himself to the newcomers.

"Mark Fischbach sir. There's more help on the way." Mark chimed in, earning cheers from the hopeless fighters.

"Guys they're advancing and we're all that's left, everyone has been captured or worse." One of the soldiers spoke up, peering looking through a pair of scratched binoculars.

"Alright men, it's time to show those bastards that they made a mistake coming here!" Bryan exclaimed, rallying the others.

Together the small army of survivors and the sixteen soldiers gathered in a trench dug outside of the bunker, their hearts pounding as they watched the nine-hundred manned Japanese reinforcements storm onto the beach with a terrifying battle cry that made chills run down Mark's spine.

Mark stayed in a crouched position as he lifted his gun up barely over the edge of the trench, his hands shaking as he forced himself to pull the trigger and ignore the fact that he was ending lives.

He winced as he fell a man with a headshot, his breathing quickening as he ducked his head to avoid a bullet flying towards him.

Mark ducked down lower and fumbled to reload, watching Thomas and his friends fight with anger and determination shining in their eyes.

Just as Mark raised his gun to continue fighting, he saw something small and shiny sail through the air before landing beside him with a muffled thud.

"Grenade!" Mark yelled as he scrambled out of the trench with the others following his lead as the grenade exploded, kicking more sand up into the air that suffocated Mark.

Mark saw nothing but fire and chaos around him, blood sprayed across the ground with bodies of his friends lying on the ground, some dead while others cried for help.

Mark looked around and saw that everything changed.

Instead of being on the sandy shore of Wake Island, he was back at Pearl Harbor standing over his dad's corpse, the fire reflecting off of his lifeless brown eyes.

"No!" Mark cried out, falling to his knees at his side as tears rapidly welled up in his eyes before spilling down his dirty cheeks, his head bowed as grief that he had tried to ignore for weeks rolled over him in painful waves.

Everyone was dead.

Everyone was gone.

Amy.

Captain Schied.

Wade.

Bob.

Nate.

So many more.

All gone.

"Mark snap out of it!"

Mark blinked in confusion, looking around again to see Thomas kneeling beside him with concern shining in his eyes.

Japanese were surrounding them from all sides, barking in their own language while gesturing at the survivors of the onslaught.

"We are Commanders Shigeyoshi Inoue and Sadamichi Kajioka, do you surrender?" One of the Japanese soldiers spoke up in broken English, stepping forward with his co-conspirator.

"We surrender." General Cunningham told Commander Shigeyoshi Inoue calmly, slowly laying his gun on the ground before holding his hands up as a sign of peace.

The other soldiers followed suite, defeat etched in their features as they glared hatefully at their enemy.

"Take them away." Commander Kajioka directed the soldiers dismissively.

One Japanese soldier dragged Bryan over with him, pressing a gun to his side to keep him from struggling.

"LET HIM GO YOU SONS OF BITCHES!" Matt screamed in rage as he scooped up his gun, charging towards the soldier with the intent to kill.

"Matt stop!" Bryan pleaded desperately as he was dragged away where other people were trapped.

Matt ignored Bryan's words and ran towards him as fast as he could, eyes blazing.

He never saw Commander Inoue point his gun at him pull the trigger.

Matt cried out in pain as he fell to the sand face first, blood rapidly flowing from the wound in his side like a waterfall, his face twisted in pain.

"American swine." Commander Inoue sneered, kicking Matt in the stomach with the tip of his black boot.

Mart groaned in pain, curling up in a ball as he waited for the next attack.

When nothing happened, he started to use his arms to crawl forward after Bryan, even though he was far from him.

"Stop squirming!" Commander Kajioka snapped at him, firing another shot at him that embedded in the sand inches from his head.

Reluctantly Matt stopped moving, his breaths labored as he looked up at the two commanders with a light smirk.

"What are you smiling about you piece of shit?!" Commander Inoue demanded furiously.

"I'm...just imagining...how great it'll...be...when...I kill...you." Matt gasped out, each word seemingly harder to speak than the next.

"That's it!" Kajioka huffed, aiming his gun at Matt's head while cocking the gun.

"Stop!" Mark intervened, stepping in between the gun and Matt.

"You dare defy me?" Kajioka snarled in a dangerously calm tone.

"Leave him out of this, he's already dying." Mark ignored him, keeping a brave face on for the sake of his friends.

"And you'll be too if you continue standing in my way." Kajioka threatened.

"Go go go!"

Mark whirled around to see his friends dart towards the life boats they had ridden in to get to the island, only Amy, Bob, Wade, Thomas, and Nate staying behind.

As the Japanese fired at them, Mark hastily scooped Matt up in his arms bridal style and ran with him to the last boat remaining, climbing inside with just as the others started paddling.

"How is he?" Amy shouted over the sound of gunfire as she shot back, hitting a soldier in the chest.

"He's bleeding out fast, we don't have much time." Mark stated grimly, tearing off his shirt so he could use it as a bandage.

He tried to ignore Amy's stares as he  wrapped the fabric around Matt, making sure he stayed low so he wouldn't get hit.

"Guys the boat got hit, we're going down!" Bob yelped in alarm, watching as water started flooding into the boat.

"Guess we gotta swim then." Thomas sighed reluctantly as he dived into the water.

Mark hauled Matt with him, wincing as he screamed in pain and begged for Mark to stop.

But he couldn't.

Not when Matt had a family at home that needed him. 

Mark felt his muscles scream in pain with Matt as he got closer and closer to the Dreadnought, his arms getting heavier with each stroke.

"C'mon Mark!" Amy encouraged, reaching out towards him after helping everyone else aboard.

Mark lifted Matt up, waiting until he was aboard before Amy helped him up next.

"Well....that was...fun." Mark panted, smirking weakly at Amy before he felt his exhaustion take over, his mind giving into the blissful darkness looming in the corner of his vision.