AN: It's a history lesson loosely masked as a fan fiction.
Warnings: Sad!Alfred and no happiness whatsoever.

He will never admit, no matter how much it showed on the outside, no matter how much they beat him, he would never admit it. He will never admit that this hell was changing it, it was changing his people, it was changing his laws, and it was changing him. He was a strong nation, he was a quickly developing nation, he had strong allies, and he had few enemies… but all of a sudden that didn't seem to matter. Nothing seemed to matter as he sat in the back of the automobile as they sped down the road.

With his legs drawn up to his chest, vacant blue eyes peered out of the window, not taking any of the sights in. Nothing was getting in as Alfred shuffled into another position, heavy emotions settling to the bottom of his stomach. There was a bitter taste in his mouth as he cursed the Japanese man that sent the brothers to their deaths: his stupid torpedoes, his stupid submarines, and Alfred's own naïve and horrible judgment.

Weren't siblings supposed to be separated? If so then why didn't he separate them? On the third of January why didn't he do anything?

Oh God, it was just one big chain reaction of bad decisions after that. Like when Captain Hoover asked him if he should see if there were any survivors in the sinking. What was that man thinking? Asking him? He's just a nation, just a man, and just confused… he didn't know what should have been done!

Alfred's eyes watered in a painful way as he swallowed down his tears. He wiped his nose on the sleeve of his jacket before pushing his hair back, his chest rising with a deep breath. You're a man… you're a nation! He tried to tell himself, picking nervously at his tie. You can't cry, too many people depend on you! You don't have time to cry! He wiped his nose on his sleeve again.

And OH GOD, don't remind him of what happened next. He doesn't want to hear about it ever again. His people— so loyal yet… so destructive to each other. He doesn't get it, a bomber crew got the message of possible survivors, but they didn't want to disobey orders, something Alfred would have commended if it were another situation. And so the message was sent much too late and a cauldron of chaos happens after it.

What possessed them to give it to somebody else who mistook it for a normal report and caused it to get lost in other numerous pending paperwork? Why didn't they report directly like in those movies? Why wasn't anything working out the way he wanted it to be? Wasn't he the hero? What was going on?

Eight days. This all took place in eight days. A hell in eight days for those survivors of the Juneau. Life wasn't fair, life was fucked up… what was it doing? Playing jokes on him? Mocking his incapability of making proper decisions? I don't get it. He thinks to himself as he relives the moment, a hand gripping at his hair, tugging on the blonde strands painfully. How do I go from one hundred survivors to just ten in eight days? Eight fucking days! Alfred stands firm in the belief that Life was mocking him…

Francis "Frank" died instantly… and so did Joseph—fondly called Joe by his friends— and their brother Madison—more commonly known as Matt. Those three brothers died instantly, right on impact. The next day, their youngest brother joined them. Albert "Al" disappeared underneath the ocean to join his beloved brothers, leaving the eldest behind. Damn, Alfred was so damn close to rescuing him! Just a few more days, just a few more days added onto George's four or five days and he would have been reunited with his parents.

Dammit.

"Mr. Jones? We're here…"

Dammit. He wasn't ready for this. He just wasn't ready for this…

"Okay, come on then. We have something we need to do." He stated, wiping a stray tear on his cheek as he opened the door and stepped out onto the ground. The blonde looked behind him at the other two that were to accompany him, before he braced himself for what was to come. America can do this, America can do this, but could Alfred do this?

He quickly walked over to the house before he could answer his own question. He didn't even need to knock on the door when it suddenly opened to reveal the brothers' father standing there, dressed up for work as if it was yet another day.

There was something Alfred promised to himself…

"I have some news for you about your boys."

That day he learned about their deaths…

"Which one?"

He was never going to let this happen again.

"I'm sorry… all five."

AN: The Sole Survivor Policy was adopted because of the death of the Sullivan brothers. It takes place on January 3, 1943 which is the day their parents and sister learn about their sons' (or brothers' in Genevieve's case) deaths. The title of the fanfiction is the title for the movie featuring their lives. I have never watched it before, but I do want to watch it now. I was listening to (Mrs.) Sullivan by Caroline's Spine when I was writing this.