Mmmkay, hey hey, it's another chapter! I had to divide the raid into like, 3 parts, because it was just to long, I'll try to get the next chapter out to you ASAP!



















Chapter XVIII-The Raid



























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April 18, 1943



~*~







The air in the ship was beginning to itch with excitement and anticipation, in about 2 days, the hard part of our mission would begin when we flew out over Tokyo and dropped bombs on it



Rafe and I had done a lot less talking, as the conversations always led to one thing, and that was either Leanna or Evelyn, neither of whom we really wanted to think about, we needed to be completely 100% focused



This was one of those times, when we would just sit there, I lay on my back in my bottom bunk and Rafe on his stomach in the top one, he was desperately trying to think of something to say, but I was content in my thoughts



"I wonder if Beautiful will have a boy or a girl?" I said suddenly, completely disregarding the fact that we had agreed to not talk about how we were worried about her, but that wasn't what I was doing



The sudden outburst of conversation from me took Rafe by surprise and he thought for a moment, playing with his fingernails



"I don't know" he said finally



"I hope it's a boy, we can teach him how to fish and how to swim-" I started



"-and how to fly, and how to charm the ladies" Rafe finished with laughter from us both



"Plus, if it's a girl, she'll be a heartbreaker, that's for sure" I said with a smile



"Yeah, a boy would be best, then she could name it Rafe Jr." Rafe smiled



I shook my head, horrified, "If anything, she'd name it Daniel Jr."



"What about Daniel Rafe? Will that please you?" Rafe asked, nearly rolling in laughter



"Yes, Daniel Rafe it is" I said, rolling onto my stomach to clutch it



Just then, the siren and red light began going off, making a loud, unbearable noise and flashing across the room



Our laughter immediately stopped and Rafe rolled onto his back with a sigh



"Damn, another drill?" he groaned



I sighed deeply and began to roll off of my bed when a pilot I didn't know ran by the door and skidded to a stop



"Everybody up top! This is not a drill!" he yelled before running on



The entire room bustled to life, I was on my feet very quickly and already had my pants in my hand when a thud sounded next to me that told me Rafe had jumped from his top bunk



It only took all of us about five minutes to assemble on the deck, there was a hushed murmur about how we'd been spotted and we'd have to do it now or never, and that would explain why Doolittle and his colleague were running around the deck talking very heatedly



An order was yelled that told us that this was for real, and that we were about to leave, I wasn't even sure who it was who told us to take everything we didn't absolutely need out of the plane to make room for more fuel, but I did it, and between running back and forth to get fuel cans and ammo and guns, I passed Rafe



"They're replacing our tail guns with broomsticks" he said, sounding panicked and slightly annoyed



"Wow. That'll scare 'em" I said, trying to be sarcastic as hard as it was and turning to walk back to my plane



"Hey Danny" Rafe called from behind me



I turned around, "Yeah?"



"Be careful, ok?" he said



I nodded, "You too"



"I'll see you in China" he called



I smirked, "Not if I get there first"



And walked back to my plane



The takeoff went as well as could be expected, everyone got off the ground, but then again, they had trained us to do that for 3 months, so it would be bad if one of us didn't make it off the runway



Japan seemed like so far away, it seemed that we flew for hours, even though it wasn't that long, until we saw the buildings



Complete organized disorder followed, everyone knew what they were supposed to do, but it seemed so routine, like we had bombed cities and killed people many times before, we hit all of our targets, and once that was done, and we had outflown the guns they were aiming at us, it seemed like we were home free



With a satisfied nod that we were out of danger, I turned to my crew, "Alright boys, we're going to China" I said with a smile



That smile quickly faded when I saw, or rather, felt, the planes coming up behind me, pelting us with bullets



"Holy shit" I cursed under my breath, "Looks like we've got company, hang on!" I said, louder this time over the roar of the engine and the sound of bullets flying over, under, and through the back of the plane



Upon seeing many more foreign planed scattering the sky, my mind instantly faded from my own situation and to Rafe, was he ok? I couldn't see his plane anywhere



I searched the sky blindly for any sign of him, and seeing none, reached for the radio and heading in the opposite direction-towards the ocean



"Rafe?" I yelled into the receiver



A second passed, then another, and silence seemed to consume the plane



All thoughts of Leanna vanished from my mind momentarily when I turned the plane away from the vast blue nothingness that stretched as far as the eye could see and back toward the town that was now glowing with orange flames and black smoke rising from the buildings



"Rafe?! Are you there?" I called again, not meaning to raise my voice



"I've got Zeros on my tail" a voice said, it was Rafe



"I'm coming to get you" I said, searching the skies



"Danny! Go to the water! Get out of here!" he was yelling



I didn't even answer, he knew I wouldn't leave him alone



I spotted him and took a quick look back at my crew, who were very ready to shoot the planes, and all of that got two more on our tail before I even reached Rafe



We tried unsuccessfully to shake them fore ten minutes before Rafe had nearly given up



"Danny, get up in them clouds!" he yelled to me



With a quick look around I did what Rafe told me to, disappearing into the clouds with Rafe behind me



A few minutes of fancy flying and quick shooting and Rafe's voice came again



"I think we lost them"



"Yeah, I think so, let's get outta here"



And as we flew out over the ocean, finally free of the planes that had been following us, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and looked down at the blue ocean below me with a light feeling in my heart



We had made it, the hard part was over, now it was all about getting to China



I looked down at the fuel gauge and then to where my radar was before realizing that there wasn't one there and sighed



It was going to be a long trip...











That's all for this chapter! I know it seemed to go by...really...fast...but I'm not very good with war scenes, so yeah, anyway, I guess I can post the next chapter sometime next week...



As this is almost over, it's time to start thinking about the possibility of a sequel? What does everyone think?



Preview for Chapter 19: Getting to China is harder than they thought...