Oneshots

|| An End to Everything ||

March, 1954

It was time.  Jack couldn't take the pain anymore.  Every move, every twitch, every adjustment was hell.

I need to find a way out.  I need to escape. 

Jack had been in back pain for years.  It just continued to pile up, and now it was the breaking point.  He had always been sickly, ever since he was a child.  His siblings even liked to joke how a mosquito would get sick from drinking Jack's blood.  It first started back in college, while playing football.  After being tackled during a game, he had injured his back.

Jack smiled as he thought back to World War II, when he he worked as a navy officer and even was given the ability to command his own ship, PT 109.  Everything had gone so well back then.  

Jack's eyes scanned the waters, looking to see if there was any sign of movement at sea.  It was close to midnight, and the sky was pitch-black.  Usually, the sky would be littered with stars, but clouds had settled over, casting Jack and his crew into complete darkness.  

The sound of the water sloshing against the ship made him feel calm.  Being on the water, no matter if it was off the Cape or in the middle of the Pacific, always seemed to bring him some feeling of security.  

Jack closed his eyes and sighed.  The open ocean seemed endless, and they hadn't run into any Japanese forces yet.  They continued to bob along the waves, the quiet nature of their surroundings was starting to get the best of him.  Jack's mind started to wander.  It wandered back to his brother, and to his family back at home. 

I wonder how Joe is doing, Jack thought to himself.   The water was quiet.  Almost too quiet.  As Jack continued to look at his post, he heard running on the deck.  Turning around, Jack saw one of his crew members running up to him, panting.  

"Sir!  The radar is going off!  The Japanese are within range!  They're heading right towards the ship!"  He yelled.  

Jack's eyes widened in surprise.  "Get everyone on deck!"  He yelled, and hopped down from his position, and ran inside of the ship, heading to the barracks.  The crew member began to ring the ship's bell in order to wake everyone up.  

"Prepare for attack!  Everyone to the top deck!"  Jack yelled, and his crew began to hop out of their bunk beds, hastily throwing their clothes on, and following their captain's orders to head to the top deck.  

His small boat was active and open in the matter of minutes, and Jack himself hustled to the front deck  He had only been in the ship for a  matter of minutes, and as he headed towards the top deck, he faintly saw the bow of a ship slicing through the water.  

Jack swallowed.  A Japanese destroyer.  At basic training, they had been told that for fighting in the pacific theater was going to be much more difficult than fighting in the European theater.  

"The Japanese are ruthless!  They will never surrender, and they will fight to the death!  They will do anything to win, and aren't afraid to capture and torture prisoners." 

The sergeant's message flashed through Jack's head, and Jack swallowed.  We're all going to die if I don't think of something.  

The boat was gliding closer and closer, and it was picking up speed immensely.  

"It's going to slice us in half!"  One of  the crew members shouted out, his voice shaking in fear.  

"Get to either side of the ship, and hold on tight!   After that, we're going to have to swim for it!"  Jack yelled, his crew nodding and hanging on to his every word.