Survivor Story - Kong: Skull Island (Captain James Conrad Love Story)

13. Long Live the King

"That's the big one!" Hank wailed. 

Packard's trap for Kong had led the creature right to them.  And with poor Kong caught in the trap, he couldn't help them, or himself. 

"Fall back, go!" ordered James, the group already fleeing.

"Mason!" shouted Tilda when they reached the trees. The photographer had stopped back along the path to try and snap a photo of the fray. 

Mason yelped as James came up behind her, pulling her along from where she had been stopped taking her photo. "Kong's down, let's go!"

"Your a Russian? You're a Russian spy?" gawked Mason as they ran, catching up with Tilda.

"Doesn't matter who I am or where I'm from at the moment - what matters is I'm here with the same goal as you are: save Kong, and get the hell out of here. Now let's move!"

The group gathered, running together.  Dawn was breaking in the distance. 

"This is the edge of the island - Weaver, get up on those rocks and fire a flare," James told her. "With any luck, Brooks will see it. We'll buy you time."

"We'll cover you," added Tilda. 

Mason nodded and began the trek up the rocky hillside slope. 

"Come on," said James, urging the others onward as they parted ways with Mason. "Every second counts!"

As they began to wade through a shallow part of the river, they saw a red flare shoot up through the sky. This urged them onward. 

Everyone followed but one soldier, Cole, who instead threw down his kit and weapons. 

"Cole!" called Mills, a younger soldier who looked up to Cole. "Cole! Come on, man, we have to fall back. Have to keep moving."

But Cole shook his head. "Go, live your life. Get out of here."

Tilda stiffened - she knew a war-weary soldier when she saw one, and also knew a moment when someone decided on a sacrifice. She had seen both many times before. 

"Cole - COLE NO!" The others were desperately trying to drag Mills back, especially as Cole withdrew two grenades and turned to approach the oncoming creature. 

Cole's sacrifice backfired terribly, with the creature batting him with its tail, causing the explosion to only take him and not even harm the creature, who only continued to charge towards them. Mills was in tears as they dragged him along with them. Tilda gave a salute to the fallen solider. 

As they rounded the bend, they saw the Grey Fox  approaching, Brooks and San aboard, clearly having seen their flare signal, and thank goodness! Brooks was firing rapidly upon the creature with the machine gun on the boat, trying desperately to hold it back, but its thick, bone-like skin prevented it from being hindered.

"Come on, you bastard!" James took off running, hoping to lure the creature away from the boat as the others continued to run towards it, hoping for safety.

Kong leapt it then - literally - smashing a giant boulder over the skull crawler's head, then ripping a whole tree out by its roots and bashing the creature with that as well.

"Come on! Hurry!" San called, urging them onward.

"Uh, Marlow, a little help here!" Brooks cried when the machine gun jammed. 

"I got it!" Marlow took Brooks's place before the gun. "She's temperamental - watch out!"

Kong was down again, had been knocked into some rotting shipping ruins, and the creature was crawling their way, on the approach once again, on its two legs, tail swishing and flicking sharply behind it with every movement it made towards them.

However, before it could reach them, a flare struck the side of its head, exploding in the crawler's jaw.

"Thank you, Mason," muttered Tilda. 

"Clear!" Hank got the gun working again and opened fire upon the creature once more.

Kong was up again and he and the skull crawler had begun smashing each other into the hillside, causing Mason to fall and plunge into the water below. 

"Weaver!"

"They need our help, come on!" Tilda charged forward, James on her heels.

Kong had scooped Mason out of the water, but the crawler swallowed his arm - and Mason - whole in one gulp. With a great tug, Kong ripped its tongue, as well as its insides, right out of its body, finally defeating the creature.

Tossing the crawler's corpse aside, Kong set Mason gently on the ground so Tilda and James could help her, before he disappeared into the forest. 

"Weaver! Weaver? Hey, hey, hey, you're okay," James soothed as Mason hacked up a mouthful of water.

"Let's get you up and back to the boat." Tilda helped her to her feet, Mason supported between her and James.

"Kong is king," said Hank with a nod, watching the great creature retreat. "Kong is god." 

They got the boat started and began sailing away, just the few of them. Of the soldiers, only three remained.

"This place will change. Word will get out, it always does," said James. 

"Well it's not coming from us," said Mason, her eyes flicking to Tilda, who agreed.

"No, it's not." 

Hank  began to softly sing Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again:

"We'll Meet Again

Don't know where, don't know when

But I know We'll Meet Again

Some sunny day

Keep smiling through

Just like you always do

'Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away..."

"Look!" Slivko cried, pointing into the distance.  "Choppers!"

Indeed, the helicopters were taking shape in the sky above, nearing them.  

They were going home. 

(I love Vera Lynn! I also love that Hank gets a happy ending with his family! :) This chapter also ended up being a lot longer than I had thought, so that's good too!

One more short chapter left to wrap it all up - see you then and there! 

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))