A Reason To Hang On
Rafe watched the plane come in, guns blazing as it roared across the Chinese sky. With his crew surrounded by Japanese patrols, guns aimed directly at them, Rafe had seen no way out, until Danny's plane came in. Gunfire rang through the quiet of the rice paddy, and several of the Japanese patrols fell to the ground. Rafe watched in horror as Danny's plane sputtered, and took a nose-dive 100 yards away. Explosions shook the ground beneath his feet, and without thinking, Rafe took off at a dead run, Red and the rest of his crew providing cover with their pistols.
"Oh, my God, Danny!" Rafe screamed as he neared the twisted, unrecognizable wreckage of the B-52 that Danny had been piloting.
He neared the wreckage, and saw his friend laying still beside the twisted cockpit.
"Danny? Danny, you okay?" Rafe asked as he knelt beside his friend.
"I got something in my neck," Danny whispered painfully.
A piece of metal was jammed brutally into the side of Danny's neck, and Rafe knew that removing it would cause him to bleed out, if it was indeed impaled in the carotid artery.
With Red's help, Rafe moved Danny a few feet from the aircraft, and laid him on the ground.
"You're going to be all right, Danny," Rafe reassured, not believing his own words.
Danny grimaced with pain, and his whole body felt on fire from the impact of the crash. Just then, more Japanese patrols arrived, and pulled Rafe away from Danny, binding his feet with rope. Rafe struggled to free himself, hearing a cry of pain from Danny. He twisted his head, just in time to see them stick a gun to his best friend's head.
"Oh, Hell no, you bastards!" Rafe thought angrily, and worked to free his feet.
The man holding the gun to Danny's head saw Rafe's movement, and swung the gun his way, screaming something in Japanese. Rafe could see that both his and Danny's crew were also at gunpoint. The gun-man's finger moved to the trigger, and Rafe squeezed his eyes shut tight in anticipation of the gunfire that would mark the end of his life.
"Dear God, I wish I'd told Evelyn I still love her before we left on this suicide mission," Rafe thought to himself, when another movement caught his attention.
Danny. Danny was tied by the wrists to a piece of wreckage from the bomber, but somehow, in spite of his injuries, had managed to pull himself up and place himself in between Rafe and the gunman. More screaming in Japanese; more gunfire filled Rafe's head as he watched in ourtrage as Danny took the shots meant for him. Everything became a blur as rage filled Rafe's brain, running like white-hot liquid through his veins. The patrols lay dead around him, with Danny in their midst.
"Danny!" Rafe pulled his knife out and quickly cut the ropes around his ankles, half-running, half-crawling to his friend's side.
Danny lay on the ground, his eyes unfocused, his breathing laboured. Rafe saw the wounds. Saw the holes in Danny's chest.
"Dear God, Danny," Rafe breathed, as he untied the ropes from Danny's wrists.
Red and Gooz stood silently by, their faces frozen in shock. Rafe pulled Danny against his chest.
"I don't think I'm going to make it, Rafe," Danny choked, blood covering his face and chest.
"No, no, no; Danny, you're going to make it. You have to make it." Rafe's throat tightened as he spoke the words, knowing the wounds were mortal. Danny was right. He wouldn't make it home.
Rafe tried to control his emotions, not let Danny see his fear and anguish, but the tears ran down his face unchecked.
"Do me a favour," Danny whispered, and Rafe leaned in to hear him better.
Rafe knew the others were there; he could smell the acrid smoke from the burning wreckage, and taste the copper-like scent of Danny's blood. It lay on the back of his tongue, heavy and sickening.
"Let someone else write my name on the tombstone," Danny said, and Rafe laughed in spite of his grief. Just like Danny, to always try to make light of the worst situations. He knew Rafe was dyslexic; it was Danny that had helped Rafe pass the pilot's test; it was because of Danny that he'd fallen for Evelyn.
"I'm so cold," Danny whimpered, his face pale, body shaking from shock and loss of blood.
"You're not going to die, Danny. You know why?" He asked, and Danny looked into his face and managed to shake his head.
"You're going to be a father, Danny. I wasn't supposed to tell you, but you're going to be a daddy. You can't die. Don't you leave us. You hear me?" Rafe pleaded desperately.