Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 8:45 A.M. Danny wasn't dead. His head felt like it had been split in two. His hands and knees throbbed. His mind swirled. His mouth was filled with sand and blood; he'd bitten his tongue. His ears were ringing. But he was all in one piece.

He had no idea how much time had passed since that plane appeared. The plane was gone now. The attack seemed to be over. As his mind cleared, he managed to sit up. Over the harbor, one of the battleships was a ball of fire. That was the huge explosion: An entire battleship had been blown apart. That's what had knocked him down. Danny finally struggled to his feet and staggered across the beach toward the road. He saw a car parked at the edge of the beach, the front end partially hidden in a prickly bush. It was covered with bullet holes. The back window was shattered. He didn't see anyone; probably the driver had run away. Danny wondered if the guy would mind if he borrowed it. Earl had not only taught Danny and Finn how to drive. He'd shared a secret for starting a car engine without a key. But as Danny got closer to the car, a man's face appeared through the shattered driver's window. "Hey, kid," he called. "You okay?"

Danny couldn't believe his eyes. It was his mother's friend, Mack. "Dan!" Mack said. "Is that really you? Are you okay? Were you hit?" "I'm okay," Danny said. "Where is your mother?" Mack asked. "She's at the hospital," Danny said, his voice shaky. "At the base. I think it was hit. I need to get there." Mack looked nothing like a fancy Sutton Place man trying to impress Danny's mother. His expression was fierce and determined. "Let's go," he said. "That's where I'm heading. You come with me. We'll find her." When Danny got into the car, he noticed blood spattered on the doors. Mack's arm was bleeding badly. "You're hurt," Danny said. Mack glanced at his arm. "I got grazed by a bullet," he said. "I've had worse." He pulled the car up onto the road and they drove off. "They caught us by surprise," Mack said. "The Japanese blindsided us."

"Why?" Danny said. "To knock out our ships and bombers," Mack said. "To cripple our entire Pacific fleet. That way they can take over whatever they want in the Pacific — China, the Philippines, Korea. Japan is a small country, but they want to be powerful. They need more land. So they're taking over other countries, like Hitler has been doing in Europe. And now we won't be able to stop them." "But didn't we know they would do this?" Danny said. "Shouldn't we have known?" "Some people talked about it," Mack said. "But nobody thought they could pull it off." Mack looked at Danny. "I'll tell you what," he said. "The Japanese made a mistake. A big mistake. They have no idea what they've started. This country is going to rise up and crush them. You'll see." "And what about Hitler?" Danny said. "Him too," Mack said. Mack sounded so sure. And Danny wanted to believe him. But now he was thinking about Mrs. Mills's map, stretched across the classroom wall.

How could America fight two wars on opposite sides of the world? As Hickam came into view, Danny could see smoke and flames rising from the base. Mack swore under his breath. They pulled up to the gate, which was blocked by a smashed car, still smoldering. "Let's go," Mack said, opening his door. Danny followed Mack around the burning car and toward the gates at the base. Ahead, the base reminded Danny of a photo he'd seen in Life magazine of a town that had been hit by a tornado. There was wreckage everywhere — twisted metal all over the ground, shattered glass, pieces of burned wood. He stepped over a tattered hat. He wondered what had happened to the man who'd been wearing it. Some of the buildings had been destroyed; two were still burning. The air was hard to breathe. It smelled like burned rubber and plastic. And everywhere he looked, Danny saw wrecked planes. Some were cut right in half. Two armed guards stood at the gate. They both saluted when they saw Mack, and then they both

started talking at once. "We were hit bad, sir!" "We've lost about a dozen men, sir!" "About a hundred are wounded." "They destroyed the barracks and the mess hall. Two hangars are gone." "We lost a lot of planes, sir. They torched them right on the runways." Mack listened closely to the rush of information. Finally he held up his hand to quiet the men. "Did we get any planes into the sky?" Mack asked. "No, sir." "Hospital okay?" Mack said, reading Danny's mind. "Hospital's fine, sir. No hits. They're treating the wounded." Danny closed his eyes with relief. And then he heard a ferocious roar. Another wave of Japanese bomber planes roared out of the sky, whistling through the smoke, right over their heads. Bombs started pouring down.