The Japanese Zero’s inched closer and closer as we charged head on into a sea of them. The planes articulately weaving themselves into a combat pattern. The must have outnumbered us 5 to 1, and the condition of our planes was no help. We had just finished a bombing raid on the Japanese as retaliation for pearl harbor but our comms had been intercepted and they knew our precise locations. After just a minute of them coming into view we were under fire and extremely overwhelmed. I sat on the nose gun of a B-24. And with every shot to our plane I realized just how dead we all where. Every Zero I would shoot down another one would take its place each one doing more and more damage to the plane. I sat there trying to track the Japanese darting back and forth through my vision almost seeming to mock our slow sluggish bombers. Until one began on a straight path towards the nose of the plain I shot, and shot, and shot, but to no prevail. I looked the pilot straight in the eyes as our cabins collided. I heard a huge explosion in the back of the plane, I jerked forward and hit my head on the handlebars of my mounted turret. I awoke seconds later to feel myself hurtling towards the ground  I struggled around the cabin and eventually grabbed hold of a parachute. The glass dome above was partially cracked and seemed to be my only way out. I kicked, and kicked, and kicked, and kicked, enlarging the crack with each thrust until eventually I was able to fit through. I jumped out just 1000 feet above the ground, heart racing, and deployed my parachute. I look up and saw the fire and fury of the battle. But when I looked down all I saw was lush trees and rainforest. I was thrilled when I saw another person only fifty feet away. I was hoping one of my crew members survived the crash. I slowly descended to the ground I aimed for a clearing in the trees that was caused by a small pond. My feet made contact with the ground I stumbled over and fell face first into mud. As I stood up from my fall I analyzed my surroundings to see the man who had followed stuck in a tree. Examining him closer I suddenly realize the white patch on his chest with a red dot in the middle. Although he didn’t seem to be a threat because as I got nearer I realized he was being strangled by the ropes of his parachute. I quickly drew my M1911 and prepared to end his life quickly and painlessly. But as I stared down my iron sights I couldn't bring myself to do it, because behind his gun and uniform he was still a human being. I rushed over and pulled by knife to cut him down. After sawing through the entanglement of rope he fell and hit the ground. I quickly backed away not knowing what his intentions might be. He rose to his feet and stared at me with a grateful glare. He slowly reached for his Nambu pistol and put it on the ground. I hastily repeated his action so I didn’t seem hostile. We both gathered our thoughts and reflected on what had happened I asked him a question,

“Do you speak english?”

“Yes,” He responded in a thick Japanese accent. As I was pondering what to do next my thoughts were interrupted by a low growl coming from the forest. We both snapped our heads to the source of the sound to be greeted with a deep menacing stare from what I assumed to be a lion of sorts. But immediately expelled that idea because we were on a remote island in Hawaii. I was unsure of what the creature was until I heard a low grunt.

“Wild boar,” I thought fearfully. My new acquaintance and I looked at each other and reached for our weapons. We aimed towards the jungle waiting. My hands were trembling from the trauma I had endured and the fear of this creature. But alas, nothing attacked us. But I could still feel its presence but chose to ignore it and get to know my friend whose name I didn’t even know. I walked up and introduced myself,

“Charles,”

“Riku,” he responded.

“I am going to start looking for a place to sleep if you want to help, it almost dark.”

“Yes,” he confirmed. I started to walk around the pond it was only about thirty feet in length and diameter and was being fed by a waterfall. It was surrounded by lush trees and a sandy layer extending from the water until it met grass and shrubbery. I stopped when I discovered that there was a hole in the wall of rock that neighbor the waterfall it was fairly shallow but large enough for Riku and I to fit in. I walked in and the roof skimmed the top of my head lightly. I decided that this would be our place to stay while we're stuck on the island. The small home gave me comfort from whatever lurked in the jungle. As darkness fell the air battle concluded and Riku started a fire just outside. We both took seats in the sand and sat in silence. That was until I asked him why he joined the war.

“In Japan, If you do not join war, family send away,” he attempted to explain in his broken English. We talked late throughout the night about many things ranging from family to how we plan to flag down someone to save us. Eventually we huddled up in our cave put a large piece of bark up as a makeshift door and fell asleep. I awoke the next morning to find Riku gone. I stepped outside to see if he was possibly across the lake but he was nowhere in sight. I began to panic and suddenly heard footsteps behind me. I reached for my gun and quickly whipped around to see Riku standing with an armful of coconuts,

“Food,” he stated as he shoved his arms toward me. I took the coconuts from him and began to crack them over a large sharp rock. As I was doing this I noticed a small cut on Riku’s foot. A trail of blood followed him out of the forest and stained the sand red. He began to blot it using a leaf he had found as I kept cracking coconuts. I instructed Riku to hollow out the coconuts and save the meat. Once we were finished, the hollowed coconuts would serve as a water container and plates. I decided that we needed should try to locate where our planes had crashed and scavenge for supplies. After trekking towards the noticeable tower of smoke that erupted from the crash we reached what remained of our planes. It was a snarled mess of metal, cloth, and glass. Although a strong breath of air could cause an explosion we decided to approach the crash. The only apparent opening was through the bomb bay which had easy access as a result of the plane being flipped on its side. The inside of the plane was charred and there were wires and loose rope hanging all over. I looked all over for my crew mates but only found one thing, a bloody uniform covered in brown hairs. I slowly crept through grabbing various medical supplies, water and munitions on the way. I was not accompanied by Riku as he was searching his own plane. It was eerily quiet until I heard it. The sound of heavy hooves clanging against solid steel. The sound became nearer and nearer until I turned around and saw a twenty foot boar with a blood stained muzzle staring me in the eyes. It charged  knocking me onto the ground. I attempted to keep it off but its 400 pound mass was to much to support. I grabbed my M1911 and shot it twice in the chest but bit my hand causing me to drop my weapon. I grabbed a loose electrical wire and zapped the beast as it let our a loud roar and bit me in the neck. Its teeth sunk into my gullet as I shrieked in pain. I thought to myself,

“This is it,” until I heard a loud,

“AGHHHHHH!” As Riku ran behind the beast and stabbed it through the back of the head with an iron rod that was inches from my nose. It lifeless corpse lay on top of me as everything around me faded to black. I awoke with men screaming around me and the sound of loud boat engines. I opened my eyes to see an American medic standing over me applying pressure to my neck. I looked towards the sound of the boat to see the men shoving Riku onto the boat violently. I attempted to get up and intervene but the medic held me down.

“Sir you are unfit to walk,” he yelled. I shoved him off of me and began to run towards Riku.

“Hey!” I yelled, “Hey!” They turned towards me and stared, “Let him go! That man saved my life!” I walked up to them, “He didn’t do this to me, he stopped worse from happening,” they looked confused. I grabbed the key out of the soldiers hand and unlocked his chains. I reached out and embraced Riku, “Thank you,” I praised, “Friend.”