Chapter 9
Guam Secure

"Sir! The Lieutenant General has committed suicide!"

Alfred has just come out of his tent with Rocket when one of the young marines came jogging towards them, breaking the news. The news did not really surprise Alfred, though. These kinds of things were bound to happen and he had been fighting the Japanese long enough to know this. The blond folded his arms in front of his chest.

"Well… that's one less mouth we have to feed. I'll let the other officers know right away. You are dismissed!" said Alfred.

"Yes, sir!" the young man saluted before carrying on with his tasks.

For a moment, Alfred just stayed glued to the spot, watching his men as they kept walking from here to there, some of them chatting excitedly, for good reason too. Today was August 11. Just yesterday, on Auagust 10, they had declared Guam to be secure and that organized Japanese resistance had ended. Then, on August 9, they found Sione hidden in one of the pillboxes set up by the Japanese. He had been so skinny, to the point where there was hardly any meat on his bones, and very dark circles beneath his eyes. He had been desperately clinging to consciousness. He was rushed to the medics while Alfred, Rocket, and the rest of the marines scouted the area. It was not a pretty sight and it was burned into their minds forever.

Body parts all over the place, most of them victims to the heavy artillery fire from the Americans. What disgusted Alfred the most, though, was that in the trees hung pieces of what used to be Japanese soldiers. They were not limbs, but chunks and pieces of flesh. He had felt the bile rushing up to his mouth once more, but he forced it back down.

Yet despite having gotten the upper hand in this battle, they all knew that their job was far from over. Organized resistance was over, but that didn't mean allresistance was over. There had to be some stragglers still hiding on the island somewhere, they just needed to find them. For now, however, Alfred had other things on his mind, like going to check on Sione.

He and Rocket made a beeline for the makeshift hospital, which was only a large tent, and entered. Among his own injured men was Sione, lying on a mat with a tarp put over him like a blanket. The Guamanian sent him a weak smile. "Hey, took you long enough." he said softly.

Alfred kneeled down beside him. "How are you feeling?"

Sione put on a thoughtful expression before smirking. "Like shit… But I'm alive."

That did not earn a return chuckle from Alfred, only a concerned look followed by silence. Still, at least Sione's attitude was showing that he was on the way to recovery. Rocket sniffed curiously at his face before giving him a lick. A bandaged hand came to pet the dog's head.

"Thank you for saving me, boy. You and your fellow marines." Sione nodded toward Alfred once at that last part.

Alfred returned the nod.

"Where is Honda?" the other asked, still petting Rocket.

There was a long moment of silence before Alfred said hesitantly, "We don't know, haven't found him yet. He may still be on the island, but I doubt it."

Now it was Sione's turn to go very quiet. He ceased petting Rocket and looked up at the tarp ceiling.

Alfred leaned forward. "We'll make sure that he doesn't hurt you or your people again, I give you my word," he said seriously, eyes locked on the other's face.

The Guamanian remained silent and before the blond could throw anything else into the conversation, someone called for him.

"Jones!"

He sighed and stood up. "I'll come back as soon as they let me go," he said to Sione, who still said nothing in return, not even when he was left to himself again.

"You called, Colonel?" Alfred asked, walking towards the officer.

"Yes, there's a letter for you… Here." the Colonel handed him a white envelope.

"Right... Anything else you need, sir?" the blond asked.

"No, you're dismissed."

Alfred saluted and began to head back to the hospital, but just as he was at the entrance, he realized it was from Rocket's owner, Clara Johnson. Rather then going into the hospital, he took a seat on one of the crates at the side, ripped open the envelope, and unfolded the sheet of paper within it. He noticed that there were stains on the paper, as though drops of water had fallen on it.

Dear Mr. Alfred,

I hope you, Rocket, and all the others are safe. I kept praying every single night for your safety.

I also have some sad news… This will most likely be my last letter to you and Rocket.

Alfred's eyebrows arched.

I know I've never told you this before, but I have liver cancer. When the doctors found out, they said I'd probably have a year to live at the most. At first, I was worried about Rocket, I didn't want to leave him alone. My parents have to keep the farm running, so they won't be able to play with him as much as I did. Besides, they'd probably be too sad anyway. We're not rich and with me gone, buying him food and getting his shots would be difficult for them. But then my daddy told me about the program that the marines were doing with the dogs. I thought about it for some time, but in the end I decided that I wanted to have Rocket signed up.

I'll admit that I was scared he wouldn't find a good friend, but once I read your letters I knew that he did and that you'd take good care of him. Now I know he won't have to be alone after I've gone to heaven, he'll have you there with him. I can't thank you enough, Mr. Alfred, not just for taking care of him, but for everything else you've done for our country. I wish we could meet in person, but I think by the time you get back from Guam, I'll already be in heaven watching over you and Rocket.

You know... my mommy helped me write this letter. She cried a little bit, so that's why there's stains on the paper, but she's thankful for what you've done too, and so is Daddy.

Well, I guess this is goodbye, Mr. Alfred. I just wanna say, that even though we've never met, I've come to love you as a good friend. I'm embarrassed to say this, but I might as well say it now! When I saw those pictures of you and Rocket that you sent me, I thought you were a very handsome man, like a prince or a knight.

Anyways, I'm going to go ahead and stop my letter here before I say more embarrassing things. Take good care of Rocket, Mr. Alfred.

-With so much love to both of you,
Clara Johnson.

Alfred's eyes were glazed over with unshed tears and the hand that was holding Clara's letter went limp and drooped at his side uselessly. Rocket looked up at him, tilting his head to the side. Alfred returned the look, wondering if the dog had known about Clara's shortened life somehow, or if he had sensed it. Alfred swallowed hard and put a gloved hand atop the Lab's head. He looked into Rocket's chocolate brown eyes with his own blue ones.

"Well, Rocket, I," his voice cracked on the 'I', "I guess you and me are going to stick like glue longer than we thought."

Those were the words that came from his mouth, but his eyes said much more. He continued to speak with Rocket through their eye contact, with the Lab's eyes never moving away. They just stared at each other for several moments until Alfred finally broke the connection and looked heavenward. The sky was as blue as his eyes, cloudless, and the sun was glaring down on them as always, bringing in the jungle heat.

"You're welcome." he whispered, still looking up. Shortly muttering those words, he felt a small breeze blow through his hair.

Another young marine came out from the hospital and noticed him and Rocket. He approached Alfred, placing a hand on his shoulder. The Nation jumped slightly as his mind snapped back down to earth and looked back at his soldier.

"You alright, Jones?" he was asked.

Alfred nodded. "Oh, yeah, yeah… What's happening anyway?" He was suddenly seeing a lot of men and dogs going in the same direction. Some were walking in single file lines.

"We're getting ready to start heading back south to find any enemies that might be left, so get plenty of rest, food, and ammunition." The young marine gave his shoulder a pat before hurrying off to join the others.

Alfred stood up, but went into the hospital instead. He did tell Sione that he'd return once they let him go.

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song.

Author's Note: I apologize if this was an awful, or choppy, chapter :c However, the way Clara had given Rocket to Alfred is not completely made up. One American marine who was present at the Batttle of Guam in 1944, and was a dog handler, said that when they returned to the United States he discovered that the dog's owner had died of a disease while they were gone. Therefore, leaving the dog into his care. Also, after the war, the marines began to work on training the dogs to be house pets again rather than fighters, or else the ones who came in as strays would be put to sleep. Not all the marines were able to keep their furry companions, for some of them did still have families that wanted them back. However, there were a good few that were able to keep them.

The lyrics right at the end are from a song called "If I Die Young," performed by The Band Perry.

-The Battle of Guam 1944 lasted from July 21 to August 10.
-August 11, the day after American's declared Guam secure, Lieutenant General Hideyoshi Obata, who had been giving orders to the Japanese since July 28, 1944, committed ritual suicide.
-The gruesome sights mentioned in this chapter are based on real statements given by the marines who were there.
-After getting the island back under their control, the Americans made the long journey back to the southern tip of the island, capturing (or killing) any Japanese that were still left on the island. They used flamethrowers to burn any dense vegetation, or any Japanese pillboxes.
-A pillbox is basically a type of bunker, or hardened shelter buried partly or fully underground. Pillboxes in particular were usually equipped with loopholes through which to fire weapons. They got the name "pillbox" due to their perceived similarity to the cylindrical boxes in which medical pills were once sold.

I have a new poll on my profile: "What story should I work on next?" Whichever story gets second place, I will work on that at the same time as the one that gets first pick! Each voter will be allowed to have multi-selection, but it is limited to 2 selections!